Report for 2001-08-24
Welcome to the Utah Skies Report.
Brought to you from beautiful Park City, "View-tah".
Utah Skies Star Party
| Our last event was such a hit that we're going to do it all over again. Please join us for a fun-filled adventure through the universe at Park City's Trailside Park on Friday night August the 24th from 8:30pm until 1:00am. Coming just one night before the first quarter moon, we'll start things off with some spectacular views of our nearest neighbor. Then as the sky darkens, we'll travel across our galaxy and beyond. We'll see star clusters, nebulas and much, much more. So, mark your calendar and plan on the journey of a lifetime. |
| Sunrise: 6:46 am | Sunset: 8:13 pm |
| Astronomical Twilight Ends: 5:06 am | Astronomical Twilight Begins: 10:06 pm |
| Moonrise: 1:17 pm | Moonset: 11:50 pm |
Viewing Outlook
| The weekend weather outlook is calling for beautiful clear skies. The jet stream is up in Canada and a high pressure system is moving into the area, so hopefully we can even expect steady skies as well. I'm really looking forward to some seriously high powered views. |
The Solar Scene
| According to spaceweather.com, our planet is exiting a high-speed solar wind stream flowing from a coronal hole on the Sun. Solar wind gusts have buffeted Earth's magnetic field since Tuesday and triggered mild geomagnetic unrest. Additionally, a new sunspot numbered 9591 has rotated into view near the Sun's southeastern limb. The large spot, which spans twice the surface area of planet Earth, has a complex magnetic field that poses a threat for powerful M-class solar flares. |  |
Lunar
Phase
| The moon will reach first quarter
Saturday night, making this weekend ideal for lunar observing. The
craters of the moon offer us the best views available of an alien world.
Point your telescope at the moon and get lost in it's endless detail. I'm
always amazed at what I see. Experienced lunar observers know that the
most detail is typically found along the lunar terminator -- the area
where dark meets light on the lunar surface. I like to star with a low power, wide field view of the entire moon. Then, I'll pick a region and crank up the magnification. On one particular evening I was able to push the magnification to about 750x. This essentially allowed me to view the inside of a single crater. I could see rocks strewn about from one end of the crater to the other. Check it out. |
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Planetary Report
| Mars is rising in the southeast around
4:30 pm. It will be high in the south as it's getting dark dark.
Mars will be the bright, reddish star-like object. You can't miss it! Don't
wait to check it out much longer. We'll be losing Mars early in the fall. The Earth is rapidly pulling away from Mars in it's orbit causing Mars to continue to shrink - it is currently
down to 14" from 21" in June. Additionally,
it continues to dim slightly as well - currently shining at magnitude
-0.99
Mars reaches
its Zenith, or highest point in the sky, around 8:30pm. Best views of the
planet start as soon as you can find it. The accompanying view of Mars by the Hubble Space Telescope is centered on longitude 270° |
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Saturn joins us now about
12:50am. If
you're a night owl, you might even see this happen. Look for Saturn in the
east-northeast. At magnitude 0.11,
Saturn is brighter than any of the stars in that area of the sky. Also,
as the Earth nears Saturn in it's orbit, it continues to grow -- currently
at to 18".
Saturn continues to work itself towards the nighttime. By the first week in September, Saturn will be rising before midnight. Given that many people would rather stay up late than get up early, it is starting to get easier to view Saturn. I got some awesome views of Saturn the other morning. Skies were clear and steady, and Saturn was almost directly overhead. The Cassini Division stood out sharply amongst the brilliance of the rings. The rings are now tipped pretty close to their maximum. This allowed me to see a portion of the ring which is normally hidden behind the planet. Get out there and checkout Saturn. If you've never done so through a telescope, you're in for a big surprise. The accompanying Nordic Optical Telescope image of Saturn show the rings tilted quite wide. This year, they are tilted even further! |
| Next, look for Jupiter rising around
2:25am. Jupiter is the king of the Planets. It is more massive than
all the other planets combined. It's size and brightness also make it a
most impressive object to view. Jupiter is my favorite planet to observe.
It's surface offers viewers an almost endless amount of detail. The accompanying image shows numerous colored bands, swirls, and of course the Great Red Spot. Views like this are within the reach of amateur telescopes.
Jupiter will be visible in the evenings later this fall. Until then,
you'll have to either stay up late, or get up early.
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| Venus is the last to arrive on the scene, rising at about 4:00am. It is well past it's peak brightness and is slowly sinking towards the sun. Venus will disappear into the solar glare late in the fall and reappear in the western sky early in the spring. For now though, Venus is still far brighter than any object in the morning sky. Early risers will see a great planetary lineup. Beginning high overhead with Saturn working back towards Jupiter and finally to Venus. It's an interesting site, especially when you know what you're looking at. |
| 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 move on to the constellation Sagitta.
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Deep Sky Report
The focus of our efforts this week will be the deep sky objects of
Sagitta.
| To begin with, I'd like to tell you that this region is going to challenge your observing skills. Except for our first object, the deep sky objects in this constellation are either very faint, very small, or both. You're definitely going to need dark skies, a decent sized telescope, and a bit of patients to find these. |
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Let's begin by observing this week's lone Messier object, Globular Cluster M71(mag8.3). At a distance of only 13,000 light years, this globulars visual appearance more closely resembles a dense open cluster. You'll find M71 located midway between Gamma and Delta Sagittae, this cluster spans about 7'. |
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Next up is the Planetary Nebula NGC6886(mag12). This is a small nebula with a diameter of about 6'. The tiny little dot in the center is what you're looking for :) |
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We'll wrap up our journey through Sagitta
with a visit to this weeks Utah Skies Challenge Object, Planetary
Nebula IC4997(mag12). This small nebula also has a diameter of about 6'. Checkout the accompanying image by the Digital Sky Survey. Ignore if you can the prominent X shape which is visible through the center of the image, this is an artifact of the telescope used to capture this image. Astronomers have discovered extremely young jet-like components in this nebula. These are extremely powerful blasts from an unknown source. Could a pulsar or some other exotic object be at the center of this nebula??? |
If you are able to find all of these objects, 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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Old news to astronomers: satellite data show that light pollution has become serious throughout the world — and especially in the United States. Colors indicate night-sky brightness directly overhead due to artificial light: only the black areas are totally free of large-scale light pollution.
While the east is undoubtedly the worst offender, I can easily make
out the Wasatch Front in this image. At a time when politicians are struggling to control soaring energy costs, a new study by Italian and American researchers underscores just how much electricity we waste as light beamed uselessly into space. The study reveals that about two-third's of the world's population — and 99 percent of those living in the U.S. — endure at least some degree of light pollution in their nighttime sky. Worse, more than two-thirds of Americans and half of all Europeans can no longer discern the Milky Way with the unaided eye even on clear, "dark" nights. We will reclaim our skies, "One Star At A Time!" |
Next Weeks Report
Next week, we'll continue our journey through the cosmos
and focus on the constellations Delphinius.
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Stay up to date on astronomical happenings by regularly
checking the Utah Skies website at http://www.UtahSkies.org
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