Here's a little bit of information to give you an idea of just how big the sun is. The diameter of the sun is some 100 times greater than that of the earth, and it is more than 300,000 times more massive. And the sun is only an average sized star.
Welcome to the Utah Skies Report.
Brought to you from beautiful Park City, "View-tah".
Weekend Viewing Conditions Outlook
It looks like skies should clear starting Saturday
night. The coming week is looking great. Hopefully this is the start of
continued clear skies.
| Sunrise: 6:22 am | Sunset: 8:26 pm |
| Astronomical Twilight Ends: 4:35 am | Astronomical Twilight Begins: 10:12 pm |
Our
Star - The Sun
| I was enjoying the sun this past weekend.
Both for the warmth and the stellar detail which it provides. The
sun is the only star upon which we can see any detail. While we are several months past the solar maximum, there are still a large
number of sunspots currently visible on the sun's surface. It's interesting to
think that each of those seemingly tiny sun spots is larger than our entire
planet! Sunspots are essentially dark spots on the surface of the sun.
They look dark because they are cooler than the surrounding surface areas. A
sunspot may be 7000 degrees while the remainder of the surface is close to
10,000 degrees.
Remember... The sun can only be viewed safely with proper solar filters. Viewing
the sun without proper protection will cause blindness! Got it? Here's a little bit of information to give you an idea of just how big the sun is. The diameter of the sun is some 100 times greater than that of the earth, and it is more than 300,000 times more massive. And the sun is only an average sized star. |
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Lunar Phase
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The moon will be approaching full this weekend and is said to be in it's waxing gibbous phase. It is a beautiful site. Many people have ascribed magical powers to the full moon. The full moon has long been feared and revered. The full moon is the brightest object in the sky except for the sun itself. The full moon rises at sunset and sets at sunrise. Since it's going to be up all night, you might as well get out there and check it out! |
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Planetary Report
In our planetary report today we'll briefly continue to monitor the red planet, Mars.
Mars continues to grow almost daily. It's currently at 15" on its way to
over 21'' this summer. Mars is growing approximately 1" each week. This growth is quite
apparent, even to the naked eye.
Telescopically, details are coming into view almost daily. Mars will be
rising in the southeast at about 11:00pm and will be at it's highest point in
the sky (referred to as the zenith) by 3:30am. If you're an early riser, you can see Mars
in the south/southwest
shortly before sunrise. Mars is the bright reddish object about 30 degrees above
the horizon in the constellation Sagittarius.
| To get into astronomy you need a
telescope, right? Well, maybe. Most amateur astronomers eventually
get a telescope? Some acquire more than one through the years.
However, many astronomers also regularly use binoculars as well. With a
pair of binoculars you can see many star clusters, such as the
Pleiades, the Double Cluster in Perseus, the Hercules Cluster, etc.
You can also see many nebulas, such as Orion, the Dumbbell, etc.
Galaxies can be viewed as well. The Andromeda Galaxy is easily
viewed with binoculars. While binoculars won't show you planetary
detail, or the faint detail of many of these deep sky objects, their easy of
use and small size makes them a great addition to any astronomers
toolkit! Binoculars will also show you some things which most
telescopes are unable to show, namely, very large fields of view. While a
wide angle telescope might show you 2 or perhaps 3 degrees of the sky,
binoculars typically show at least 5 degrees. Some wide angle
binoculars will show you 7 degrees! This wide angle viewing
capability is great for locating objects, as you can cover huge
chunks of the sky quickly.
Ok, you're convinced. So.. what size should
you get? 10x50 binoculars are probably the most commonly used size
in astronomy. They bring in quite a bit more than the typical 7x35
without much additional bulk. They are also relatively easy to hold
steady when viewing overhead. You may be wondering "What does
10x50 mean?" Well, the first number refers to the amount of
magnification provided. In this case 10. That means that the object
being viewed appears 10 times larger than when viewed without
binoculars. The second number refers to the size of the lens, 50mm
in this case. As a point of reference, the average person's pupil
dilates to about 6 or 7mm when fully dark adapted. Incidentally,
light gathering capability corresponds to the square of the
aperture. So, a pair of 10x50 binoculars provides 10 times the
magnification and 50 to 60 times the light gathering power of your
eyes. This is a substantial increase. |
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Constellation Report
Our Constellation report is an easy way for people to become familiar
with the nighttime sky. We’ll discuss myths associated with the various
constellations as well as describing the numerous deep sky objects residing
in the area. No equipment is required to view the constellations, though
a star chart can be quite helpful. This ease of observing makes constellations
a natural place to begin your journey to the stars. This weekend we’ll
continue our focus on the constellation Leo.
Leo
The arrival of Leo signals the beginning of spring. Leo now sits high in the
south shortly after sunset. To find Leo, simply turn to the south and look
up. You should be looking up at Leo. Leo has several bright stars which outline its figure. Leo sits between Cancer, which we discussed last week, and
Virgo, which we'll be discussing
shortly.
Leo, the lion, is one of the easier constellations to identify. It has a
triangle on it's eastern edge which represents the hindquarters of the lion, a
rectangle in the middle which represents the body, and a backwards question mark
which represents the head and mane of the lion. If you have access to a star
chart, or the illustrated version of this report, you should have no trouble
identifying Leo.
Deep Sky Report
Our Deep Sky report continues our examination of Leo. Specifically,
we'll be looking at the eastern half.
| We'll begin our exploration of Leo this week with The Trio in Leo. M65, M66 and NGC3628. With visual magnitudes of 9.3, 9.0 and 9.5 respectively, these are relatively easy targets. A pair of 10x50 binoculars will quickly reveal these gems. In my 6" telescope all 3 galaxies showed up in the same low power wide angle eyepiece. M65 is the oval shaped galaxy, M66 appears slightly rounded with a bright center, and NGC3628 is the edge-on spiral galaxy with a very distinct dust lane. In the 25", at high power, NGC3628 was clearly bisected by this dust lane. It appears that the dust lane does not split the galaxy cleanly. It appears to lean from top left to bottom right. This may be caused by the gravitational tugs being applied by its neighbors. I found NGC3628 to be the most interesting of the group. About a degree to the west is another spiral galaxy NGC3593(mag11). This tiny galaxy should also be visited... as long as you're in the neighborhood! |
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The map to the left provides an overview of the sky containing the objects we've just covered. Last weeks galaxies were from the center to the right side, this weeks are on the left. |
| Our next stop in Leo is , spiral galaxy NGC3872(mag11.7) We'll use Beta Leo also known as Denebola(mag2.1) as our starting point. Look about a degree to the southwest to find NGC3872. This tiny elliptical galaxy will not reveal much detail in anything but the largest telescopes. It is slightly elongated with a fairly bright nucleus. You should however, be able to catch a glimpse of it in telescopes as small as 6". |  |
| Moving on we come to our Utah
Skies Challenge of the week. Located within the triangle of Leo are a
couple of
galaxy clusters. All of these are
fairly dim, ranging from mag 10.8 all the way to mag 11.9. Scan this
area slowly and you're sure to run into them. Use the chart below as
a guide. Our first cluster is located just to the southwest of the
midpoint between Denebola, which is located at the eastern edge, or
tail, of Leo and Zosma, which sits at the top of the triangle. This
cluster is comprised of Spiral Galaxy NGC 3684 (mag 11.7) and Spiral
Galaxy NGC3686 (mag 11.4). These galaxies are pretty faint and
small, but... hey... you're not intimidated :) They display a
gradual brightening towards the center, with NGC3886 being slightly
elongated. About a degree to the northwest of these you'll find spiral galaxies NGC 3607 & 3708 and elliptical galaxy NGC3599. Again, these are pretty faint at mag 10, 11 and 12, respectively. Not much detail will be available in anything but the largest scopes. Ok, so it takes a big scope to see much detail. Want a real challenge? What's the smallest scope that you can find these with? If you are able to find these object, you may be one of the few, the proud, the Deep Sky Obsessed. E-mail your findings to DeepSkyObservations@UtahSkies.org. |
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I'll make a bold statement. "All houses
should be equipped with Motion Detectors!" It is absolutely silly
to leave lights on from dusk to dawn. It is an enormous waste of
resources. It is quite annoying to many of your neighbors. It is quite
annoying to virtually all astronomers. If you're concerned about security, motion detectors are definitely the way to go. They come on automatically when they are needed. Any motion around the perimeter of your house will cause the lights to turn on. So if you walk outside, the lights turn on. If an intruder walks onto the property, the lights turn on. Got the picture? If you're concerned about the cost, think about how much money you waste every single month needlessly lighting up your neighborhood. Motion detectors will pay for themselves in only a few months. After that, it's all gravy. Additionally, you'll be doing your part to help conserve resources and protect the environment. |
Next Weeks Report
Next week, we'll continue our journey through the cosmos, moving
our focus to the constellation Virgo.
Closing
This "Star Cast" has been presented by Utah Skies.
View-tah’s Astronomy Home. Utah Skies can be found on the World Wide Web
at http://www.UtahSkies.org. Visit
our site and discover the cosmos. While you're there, sign up to receive our
free weekly Utah Skies Report. Several of our up coming star parties will only
be announced to people on our e-mailing list.
