Report for 2001-11-02

Welcome to the Utah Skies Report.
Brought to you from beautiful Park City, "View-tah".

Astronomical Times

Sunrise: 6:58 am Sunset: 5:23 pm

Astronomical Twilight Begins: 5:26 am Astronomical Twilight Ends: 6:56 pm

Moonrise: 6:35 pm Moonset: 8:20 am

Viewing Outlook

Well it doesn't look like the weather is cooperating with astronomers this week or weekend. If you're a skier however... Hey.. wait a minute... I am a skier. Anyway...
The long range forecast is calling for clear skies on Friday night 11/9. Just in time for the next Utah Skies Star Party!

Star Party

Utah Skies would like to invite you to join us for an evening under the dark skies of Park City's Trailside Park. The event will be held on Friday night, November the 9th from 6:00pm until midnight. Admission is, of course, free. We'll have some of the finest telescopes in the state on hand for your viewing enjoyment. Of course, it you have a telescope, please bring it. Of the many objects to be viewed, here are just a few...Saturn will join us around 7:00pm, while Jupiter will arrive around 9:00. Dress warmly as night time temperatures are expected to drop to around 30°. For a more information on the evenings viewing subjects or for directions, make sure you check the Utah Skies website at www.UtahSkies.org.

Meteor Shower

The Southern Taurids meteor shower peaks this weekend (Nov. 3-5). This shower typically produces a maximum of 15 meteors per hour at it's peak. As you might have surmised from the name, these meteors appear to emanate from the constellation Taurus. Taurus is currently rising in the east around 8:00pm. Peak activity usually occurs around midnight. Unfortunately, we'll be just a few days past full moon, so... We'll be fighting the moon (again) in trying to spot meteors. Check it out though. There are always a few impressive meteors during a shower. These will be able to stand up to the moon.

Planetary Conjunction

We're just finishing up on a beautiful conjunction between the two innermost planets, Mercury and Venus. I've gotten some nice views over the last week or so. I've even managed to take a few pictures along the way. Hopefully they'll come out well so that I can share them with you :)

Mercury is rising at about 5:30 am. It is currently shining at mag -0.68. Keep an eye on Mercury it'll to brighten in the coming days. In fact it'll reach a maximum brightness of mag -0.77 on November 9th.

Venus is rising at about 5:35 am. It is still the brightest planet in the sky at mag -3.94, I see Venus frequently in the morning sky and it still looks quite impressive. If you're out before the sunrise, which is coming later and later, take a glance to the east. You'll see Venus blazing away.

Mars Mission Update

NASA's Mars Odyssey took this (it's first) image of the Martian southern hemisphere. It's spring-time in the south now. The blue, circular feature south polar ice cap. It is made up predominantly of carbon dioxide and is about -184 ° F. The ice cap is more than 540 miles in diameter.

Hubble Vision

The Hubble Space Telescope has distinguished itself as the premier source of astronomical images. Amazing HST images have graced the covers of major magazines and newspapers worldwide. In recognition of the amazing advances in astronomy and physics which have come from Hubble discoveries, we'd like to devote a section of this report to some of these incredible images, and share some of them with you.

A Dying Star in Globular Cluster M15

According to the Hubble Heritage Team: "The globular cluster Messier 15 is shown in this color image obtained with the NASA Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2). Lying some 40,000 light-years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Pegasus, M15 is one of nearly 150 known globular clusters that form a vast halo surrounding our Milky Way galaxy. Each of these clusters is a spherical association of hundreds of thousands of ancient stars.
The image, prepared by the Hubble Heritage team, attempts to show the stars in M15 in their true colors. The brightest cluster stars are red giants, with an orange color due to surface temperatures lower than our Sun's. Most of the fainter stars are hotter, giving them a bluish-white color. If we lived in the core of M15, our sky would blaze with tens of thousands of brilliant stars both day and night!
Nestled among the myriads of stars visible in the Hubble image is an astronomical oddity. The pinkish object to the upper left of the cluster's core is a gas cloud surrounding a dying star. Known as Kuestner 648, this was the first planetary nebula to be identified in a globular cluster. In 1928, F. G. Pease, working at the 100-inch telescope of California's Mount Wilson Observatory, photographed the spectrum of K 648 and discovered the telltale bright emission of a nebular gas cloud rather than a normal star. In the ensuing 70 years, only three more planetary nebulae have been discovered in globular clusters.
The stars in M15 and other globular clusters are estimated to be about 12 billion years old. They were among the first generations of stars to form in the Milky Way. Our Sun, by comparison, is a youthful 4.6 billion years old. As a star like the Sun ages, it exhausts the hydrogen that fuels its nuclear fusion, and increases in size to become a red giant. Then it ejects its outer layers into space, producing a planetary nebula. The remnant star at the center of the nebula gradually dies away as a white dwarf.
Planetary nebulae are so named because their shapes reminded 18th-century astronomers with small telescopes of the round disks of planets. They are actually huge clouds of gas, glowing because of ultraviolet light emitted by the stars in their centers. The surface temperature of the central star of K 648 is about 70,000 degrees Fahrenheit (40,000 degrees Celsius), and analysis of the Hubble data indicates that the star's remaining mass is only 60 percent that of our Sun. The star's outer layers were ejected some 4,000 years ago.
The most massive stars use up their hydrogen first, and then less-massive stars in turn run out of fuel, become red giants, and fade away. For stars less massive than the Sun, some astronomers believe the evolutionary process to be so gradual that a visible planetary nebula will not form. At the present time, the most massive stars remaining in M15 have about 80 percent of the mass of our Sun, a fact that makes the existence of a planetary nebula like K 648 something of a mystery. The Hubble images used to make this image were taken to test the idea that the progenitor of K 648 may have "borrowed" some mass from a nearby stellar companion. No such companion was revealed by Hubble, so the mystery remains unsolved. One possibility is that the progenitor of K 648 was two stars, which then merged together to become the single star now seen at the center of the nebula."

Space Weather Update

According to spaceweather.com:

SOLAR OUTLOOK: The recent spate of high solar activity is likely to continue: Active region 9682 has a twisted "delta-class" magnetic field that poses a threat for strong solar flares.

IT'S AURORA SEASON: This is a good time of year to spot Northern Lights, say researchers, because geomagnetic storms erupt more often during the early months of Spring and Autumn. Find out why from Science@NASA.

SOLAR SPOT: Sunspot 9682 has grown in recent days, and it now covers an area of the Sun equal to nearly seven planet Earths. The large spot has a twisted "delta-class" magnetic field that poses a threat for X-class solar flares. You can see this active region for yourself, but never look directly at the Sun. Use safe solar projection methods instead.

Aurora Update

Checkout this beautiful aurora image by Chris VenHaus of Waukesha, Wisconsin. This was taken this past weekend. Proof positive that we have been missing out big time!

A beautiful aurora image by Chris VenHaus of Waukesha, Wisconsin

Lunar Phase

The moon was full on Wednesday. As such, it will big and bright and rising shortly after dark. Don't fight it. Plan on doing some lunar observing. Views like the accompanying image are readily achievable using amateur telescopes. So, dust your telescope off and get out there and do some viewing.
If you're going to try to find some of the deep sky wonders in this weeks report, you'll want to get them early before the moon rises too high into the sky. Or, wait for Saturday or Sunday night. As the moon continues to rise later and later, each night you wait will give you about 40 minutes of extra darkness. Considering that its getting dark early now, that's a valid option again.

Planetary Report

Mars is rising in the southeast around 1:25 pm. It will be high in the south-southwest by the time it gets dark. We're rapidly losing Mars. The Earth has pulled away from Mars in it's orbit causing Mars to shrink - it is currently decreased in apparent size down to a measly 9" as compared to its 21" in June. Mars has finally reached the size where we're basically be unable to make out any surface detail. It has dimmed significantly as well - currently shining at magnitude 0.08 down from -2.4 in June. This is the first time in quite a while that Mars is now greater that mag 0.

Saturn joins us now about 7:15 pm. Look for Saturn in the east-northeast. Saturn has grown to an an impressive 20" and currently shines at magnitude -0.27. The accompanying image shows Saturn's largest moon, Titan.

Next, look for Jupiter rising around 9:25pm. Jupiter is the king of the Planets. It is more massive than all the other planets combined. Jupiter is currently shining at mag -2.45. This is brighter than Mars at its brightest earlier this summer. Jupiter continues to grow and current covers a whopping 42". If you think this is impressive, wait until the beginning of the new year. Jupiter's size will grow to 47" while glowing at -2.72. You definitely need to add Jupiter to your list of regular fall/winter viewing targets. It is a very impressive sight in any telescope. Jupiter can even be quite dynamic. Astronomers often watch the changing patterns of its moons as they transit and are occulted by the giant planet.

And, speaking of transits, you have to check out the tools section of the Utah Skies website for a cool java applet which depicts the relative position of the four major Jovian moons. It's called JavaJup. I regularly refer to JavaJup to help plan my viewing sessions.

The accompanying image of Jupiter's icy moon Callisto taken by the Galileo spacecraft shows an incredible amount of surface detail. Callisto appears wildly varied, probably from a mix of meteor bombardment and volcanic activity.

An image of Jupiters moon Callisto by the Gallileo spacecraft

Constellation Report

Our Constellation report is an easy way for people to become familiar with the nighttime sky. We’ll discuss myths associated with a particular constellation as well as describing the numerous deep sky objects residing within its boundaries. 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 Cetus the Whale.

Deep Sky Report

The focus of our efforts this week will be the deep sky objects of Cetus. To find Cetus, look to the southeast after dark. Cetus is located to the south/southeast of Pisces which we visited last week.

Ok, let's start things off the only Messier object in this weeks report, Spiral Galaxy M77(mag8.8). Located 1° southwest of delta Ceti, you might mistake M77 for a star at a low power. This is an object you'll definitely want to throw some magnification at. The first thing you'll notice is the bright core of the galaxy. As hinted at, this has an almost star-like appearance at low power. This bright core is the result of some peculiar activity going on within the galaxies core. In fact, this galaxy has been classified as a Seyfert galaxy (the only one in Messier's catalog). Seyfert galaxies are distinguished by their highly energetic emissions at radio wavelengths.
Ok, back to observing M77. I've heard that the spiral arms of this galaxy are visible in telescopes as small as 4". Maybe so. You'll definitely want to throw some aperture at this baby.
Check out this beautiful image of M77 by Robert Gendler. Wow!

Next up is Planetary Nebula NGC246(mag8). Located about 8° north of Beta Ceti, this huge planetary nebula contains lots of details in its structure. As you might have guessed by its size, this object has a relatively low surface brightness. As such, you'll want to throw some aperture and dark skies at it. Additionally, I've found that an O-III nebula filter help somewhat.

Next up is Spiral Galaxy NGC247(mag8.8) This galaxy is located some 13 million light years away. In smaller telescopes, you probably won't see much detail. This object has too little light for too much area. In larger scopes 12+ inches, you'll begin to see a mottled structure towards the core. The spiral arms won't be clearly visible until you've got a decent sized telescope under dark skies.

Our final stop in Cetus leads us to this weeks Utah Skies Challenge Object, Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC936(mag10.1). Looking somewhat like the old Star Wars fighters, this galaxy is located over 50 million light years away.

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.

Light Pollution Update

Has there ever been more waste than this? Hardly.
Raising a child under light polluted skies is like depriving them of ever hearing music!

Has anyone seen the parking lot and outdoor lights at the new Summit County Public Library at Kimball Junction? They're pretty hard to miss...and are a problem.
The exterior lights at the new facility do not comply with county ordinances, the purpose of which, in the words of the County "...is to regulate the use of outdoor artificial illuminating devices emitting undesirable light rays into the night sky, or onto private properties which have a detrimental effect on the rural mountain environment."

Rural mountain environment. That's where we've all chosen to live. Rural mountain environments should not suffer the same kinds of sky glow problems found in ALL major metropolitan areas.
It seems that the contractor didn't fully understand Summit County's outdoor lighting code; that's the only reasonable conclusion we can draw.

These fixtures carelessly and wastefully spray light in all directions, including up into the sky and add to the already obnoxious glow emanating from Kimball Junction at night. As if this isn't bad enough, on our way home from last weekends star party, we saw that these non-compliant lights were glaring away at 1:30am!
This is a blatant waste of taxpayer money!

For more information on the Summit County codes, checkout the Summit County website at www.co.summit.ut.us/.

Take a look at this satellite image and it's obvious that light pollution has become a serious problem throughout the world — 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 -- estimates for the US alone exceed $2,000,000,000 (2 Billion Dollars). The study also 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.

But, don't lose hope.
Light pollution is easily cleaned up.
All we need to do is act intelligently.
Here are a coupe of principles to keep in mind:

Use only as much light as you need
Use it only when you need it
Use it only where you need it

Help us to 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 constellation Sculptor.

Stay up to date on astronomical happenings by regularly checking the Utah Skies website at http://www.UtahSkies.org