Report for 2001-11-23
Welcome to the Utah Skies Report.
Brought to you from beautiful Park City, "View-tah".
| Sunrise: 7:23 am | Sunset: 5:04 pm |
| Astronomical Twilight Begins: 5:47 am | Astronomical Twilight Ends: 6:40 pm |
| Moonrise: 1:58 pm | Moonset: none |
Leonid Meteor Shower
Storm
Wow! That's probably the best description that I can come
up with. This is one astronomical event which truly lived up to its billing. From the
time we started viewing, around 9:00pm, we were already seeing more than a
"typical" peak.  Peak
activity for North America came in around 1000 meteors per hour. This was
about where my "guesstimates" placed our location. However, there
was a second, even greater peak. On Monday morning viewers throughout Asia
and Australia were treated to an amazing 3000 meteors per hour. Wow! Here's
a chart depicting meteor levels. Created by the International Meteor Organization,
it reveal two storm-level peaks
The accompanying image is one of my favorite image off the web. Taken by Farley Bridges of Livingston, LA. This
rainbow Leonid was captured
passing right through the middle of Orion. |
Viewing Outlook
|
Well... if you believe the weatherman... it doesn't look
like we'll get to do ANY observing for the long holiday weekend and beyond. Oh, well.
At least it's finally snowing. Do you believe that there were
stories of Olympic Committee plans to truck in snow for the Olympics. What
were they thinking? This is Utah??? Isn't it??? Anyway... My prediction is that by February, we'll have too much snow. They'll be trucking snow OFF the mountain... Mark my words. |
Hubble Vision
| The Hubble Space Telescope has distinguished itself as a 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. Our latest comes directly from the Hubble Heritage Team. |
Blowing Cosmic Bubbles
This NASA Hubble Space Telescope image reveals one of the most bizarre
objects in the sky. And.. it just so happens to be located in this weeks
constellation, Cassiopeia. In case you're interested (of course you are) NGC 7635 is mag8.5. This is well within the range of amateur telescopes. It is found by following the line extending from alpha through beta Cassiopeia almost to the western border with Cephus. Obviously your views won't match that of Hubble's... but anytime you can view an object that is 11,000+ light years away, you've accomplished something! |
This expanding shell of glowing gas surrounds a hot, massive star in our
own Milky Way Galaxy. This shell is being
shaped by strong stellar winds of material and radiation produced by the bright star at the left, which is 10 to 20 times more massive than our Sun.
These fierce winds
are sculpting the surrounding material - composed of gas and dust - into the curve-shaped
bubble. Astronomers have dubbed it the Bubble Nebula (NGC 7635). The nebula is 10 light-years across, more than twice the distance from Earth to the nearest star. Only part of the bubble is visible in this image.
The glowing gas in the lower right-hand corner is a dense region of material that is getting blasted by radiation from the Bubble Nebula's massive star. The radiation is eating into the gas,
creating finger-like features. This interaction also heats up the gas, causing it to glow. Scientists study the Bubble Nebula to understand how hot stars interact with the
surrounding material. Space Weather Update
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Earlier this week, Spaceweather.com, said that Sunspot 9704 poses a threat for powerful eruptions -- a result of the active region's twisted delta-class magnetic field. Any explosions from this large spot during the next few days would likely be Earth-directed. Note: I wrote this section on Wednesday
-- getting a bit cynical, huh? Anyway... Spaceweather.com has issued an aurora watch. AURORA WATCH: A lopsided coronal mass ejection billowed away from sunspot 9704 on Nov. 21st. The expanding cloud could deliver a glancing blow to Earth's magnetosphere as early as Friday, Nov. 23rd (although Nov. 24th is more likely). Sky watchers north of ~50 deg. magnetic latitude should be alert for possible auroras. FYI: Park City (my hometown) is located about 48° north magnetic latitude. So.. This looks to be an event for the extreme northern tier of the US, plus of course Canada and Alaska. But.. who knows? If you find yourself under clear, dark skies you just might want to check the northern horizon. |
Lunar
Phase
|
The Moon reached first quarter last night. This
means that it was 1/2 illuminated. Tonight, obviously, the moon will be a
bit larger. It'll also be with us most of the evening. The moon is rising in
the afternoon and won't set until just after midnight.
Checkout the awesome details in this image by astro-imaging wiz Robert Gendler of Connecticut. This is the view you'll have overhead this weekend... weather permitting, of course :) If you have a telescope, get it out and point it at the moon. You will see details like this. The moon is an especially easy target to view. It's big. It's bright. You just can't miss it. You just might discover (or rediscover) a love for astronomy. |
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Planetary Report
| Venus is rising at about 6:25 am. It is still the brightest planet in the sky at mag -3.93, 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. Do it in a hurry though. We'll be losing Venus shortly after the new year. It'll then swing behind the sun and reappear in the evening sky sometime in early/mid February. Hey.. that'll be just in time for the Olympics. |
| Mercury is rising at
about 7:00 am. It has past its maximum brightness now,
shining at mag -0.78. We're losing mercury rapidly now. It'll be gone
from the morning sky in a week or so. As a matter of fact, it'll
start rising in the evening sky by the beginning of December.
How can this be you might ask?
Well, it's simple. Since Mercury is the inner most planet, it never gets far from the sun. It reached it's farthest point from the sun in the eastern sky a few weeks ago. Since then, it's been moving rapidly back towards the sun. It'll drop behind the sun and the re-emerge on the other side... in the evening (western) sky.
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| Mars is rising in the southeast around 12:45
pm. The Earth continues to pull away from Mars in it's orbit.
In fact, the distance between the two planets has grown from about 40
million miles this summer to almost 115 million miles. This has cause Mars'
apparent diameter to shrink. It is currently down to a measly
8"
as compared to its 21" in June. It has
dimmed significantly as well - currently shining at magnitude 0.34 down from -2.4 in June. We'll have to wait
until its next approach in the spring/summer of 2003 before we get nice
views again. Mars is now traveling with a new companion.
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Rising at almost the exact same time, and ever so slightly to the north
of Mars is the 7th planet, Uranus. Shining at mag5.84, Uranus is a relatively easy target.
 However, at only 3", it displays absolutely no surface detail.
It does however show it's beautiful aquamarine color. Uranus gets this beautiful blue coloring from a layer of Methane in its upper atmosphere.
Located almost 2 billion miles from Earth, Uranus is has a huge orbit -- taking just over 84 years to orbit the Sun. It is categorized as a gas giant as is Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune. Uranus is roughly 14 times more massive than the Earth. Discovered by William Herschel in March of 1781, Uranus was the first planet to be "discovered". All the others are plainly visible, and hence have been known since antiquity. The name Uranus was suggested for mythological reasons. Since Jupiter was the father of Saturn, it made sense to name the next planet out Uranus -- the father of Saturn. The accompanying image shows the aquamarine color of Uranus along with a surprise... it's ring system. Yup... Uranus has rings similar to Saturn's'. They're nowhere near as bright, but... they're there. Also visible in this image are a handful of Uranus' many moons. |
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Saturn joins us now about 5:45 pm. Look for Saturn in the east-northeast. Saturn has grown to an an impressive 21" -- this is as large as it ever gets. It is currently shining at magnitude -0.40. 
The accompanying image was taken by NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft as it was
flying towards the planet. Notice that a couple of Saturn's moons are visible
in this image. Pretty cool, huh?
Saturn is, as mentioned above, a gas giant. This means that it is large and composed mainly of gas. How large? Well, Saturn is over 95 times more massive than the Earth and has a diameter that is more than 9 times that of the Earth. If you throw in the diameter of the rings, that number jumps to over 20 times that of the Earth. Wow!
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Next, look for Jupiter rising around
8:00pm. Jupiter is the king of the Planets. It is more massive than
all the other planets combined. In fact, Jupiter is over 300 times more
massive than the Earth. Not surprisingly, Jupiter also has the largest
moon in the solar system, Ganymede. Jupiter is currently shining at mag
-2.59
and has grown to a whopping 45". Jupiter will grow to over 47"
-- just shy of it's maximum possible size of 50".. 
Jupiter is the second most reflective (a quality know as albedo) planet in the solar system. Only Venus reflects more of the sun's light. Add this fact with Jupiter's immense size, and it's no wonder that Jupiter shines so brightly. This accompanying image captures Jupiter and it's moon Europa. Notice the tiny black spot on Jupiter's surface. This is the shadow cast by Europa. Many of the features visible in this image are within the reach of modest amateur telescopes. Depending on the size of the telescope and the quality of your skies, you might even do better! In fact, on an amazingly steady night last fall, I did significantly better. I'll remind you again. 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 and their shadows. It's called JavaJup. I regularly refer to JavaJup to help plan my viewing sessions. |
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 Cassiopeia the Queen. Cassiopeia was the wife of Cepheus the King and the mother of Andromeda. When Cassiopeia objected to the wedding of her daughter to Perseus, Perseus displayed the head of Medusa, which he had concealed in his travel bag. As a result, his enemies, including Cassiopeia, were turned into stone. Cassiopeia was placed in the sky by Neptune. As she sits on her W-shaped throne she circles round and round the pole. Cassiopeia is what is known as a circumpolar constellation. This is one which is visible no matter what the season or time of night. In the fall Cassiopeia is in the shape of a W and in the Spring she is in the shape of a M. |
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Deep Sky Report
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The focus of our efforts this week will be the deep sky objects of Cassiopeia. Cassiopeia is high overhead and to the north, northeast. I always describe Cassiopeia as the Big W. This, and the fact that it is made up of a bunch of fairly bright stars, should make it pretty easy to find. Cassiopeia is north of Andromeda and west of Perseus -- constellations which we've looked at in previous reports, |
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Ok, let's start things off with
the first of two Messier objects in this weeks report. Open star cluster
M52(mag6.9). This is a beautiful object in binoculars and is absolutely
stunning in larger aperture telescopes. Discovered in 1774 by Charles
Messier,
M52 is a fine open cluster located in a very rich section of the Milky Way.
There are an estimated 200 actual members in this cluster.
The distance of this cluster is not very well known; estimates range from
3000 to 7000 light years. |
Next we'll hit the other
Messier Object in Cassiopeia, Open Star Cluster M103(mag7.4) Discovered by
Messier's assistant Pierre Méchain in 1781, 
M103 is one of objects which Messier included from Méchain's report, but had not
actually observed himself prior to publication. This
loose cluster of some 60-70 members is one of the more remote open clusters in Messier's catalog, at about 8,000 light years
Its appearance is dominated by a non-member foreground star called Struve 131. This
beautiful double is made up of a mag 7.3 and a mag10.5 star separated by a
mere 13.8". The age of the cluster is estimated to be around 25 million years. M103 contains one red giant star, obvious in color photos of the cluster; this star is of about mag 10.8. M103 is visible in binoculars as a fuzzy patch of light. It is not so easy to identify in telescopes because it is quite loose and poor, and may be confused with star groups or clusters in the vicinity. Situated nearby are a number of other open clusters, including Trumpler 1, NGC 654, NGC 659 and NGC 663. The latter is sometimes mentioned as a candidate to be confused with M103.
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Next up is another of Cassiopeia's very beautiful Open Star Clusters, NGC457(mag6.4). 
Otherwise known as the Owl Cluster, this cluster is actually the brightest of Cassiopeia's open star
clusters. Displaying some 80+ member
stars to viewers using larger scopes(12+"), this cluster is a beauty
in any instrument. Astronomical binoculars will provide a very pleasing
view and 8" telescopes will reveal most of the 80 stars mentioned
above. This cluster is a bit brighter and has more members than M103. The distance to NGC457 is estimated to be
about 8000 light years.
Checkout the two bright stars at the bottom of the cluster. These are thought to be foreground stars, not actual cluster members. To locate this object, use mag5 phi Cassiopeia as your guide. This star should be visible to the naked eye under relatively dark skies. It is located about 2° south/southwest of Delta Cassiopeia. |
Moving on, we come to yet another beautiful Open Star Cluster NGC559(mag9.5).  Located about 3° west of
Epsilon Cassiopeia or 3° north of Delta Cassiopeia, this little known cluster is
a hidden gem. The key to
identifying this little cluster is to be able to separate it from the incredible
density of stars in the area. To see this object, you'll need at least an
8" telescope. Otherwise, it's stars are too faint... and it's
background too dense. Even with this size telescope, you'll only see a
small portion of its stars. To truly appreciate NGC559, you'll want a
large telescope (16+") and dark skies. Part of the reason for this is
the fact that there is a considerable amount of intervening dust which
reduces the brightness of this object. In fact, it is dimmed by almost a
full magnitude because of this. Anyway...In the 25" under dark
Utah skies, this object is absolutely stunning. You can get lost in the endless star patterns contained within it. |
Up next is... yup.. you guessed it. A beautiful open star
cluster. Surprised :) 
This time it's NGC663(mag7.1)
Looking beautiful in a nice pair of binoculars, this beauty is absolutely
beautiful in telescopes starting around 6". It is at this size that
you'll start to resolve its individual member stars. Use low to medium
power to really enjoy this object as it's fairly large -- almost 1/2 the
diameter of the full moon.
To find this object, simply move about 1° east of the line between Epsilon and Delta Cassiopeia. You'll quickly stumble over the star clusters in this area. To identify this cluster, remember that NGC663 is the largest in the area. NGC654 located slightly closer to the line is brighter, but considerably smaller. Anyway.. while you're in the area, cruise around and take in the beauty. This is an incredibly rich area, so... take your time and enjoy! |
Ok. So you're looking for a change of pace... getting tired of all those beautiful open star clusters. How's this for a change...Elliptical Galaxies  NGC147(mag9.3)
This galaxy will be quite a bit harder to find than it's mag9.3 might
suggest. This is a large object with a very low amount of surface
brightness. In fact, were we not saving a real challenge for you.. this
could easily be a candidate for the Utah Skies Challenge. Anyway... since
this and NGC185 which follows are so close together, I figured that you'd
be able to find them fairly easily. This object appears pretty featureless
in the eyepiece -- pretty much an elongated smudge. The stars that you see
are actually foreground stars. There is a slight brightening towards the
core.
To find these, travel about 6° south of alpha Cassiopeia. |
Continuing about 1° to the east, we come to another Elliptical Galaxy  NGC185(mag9.2) . These galaxies
are so close to each other...and so close in brightness... that
finding one would essentially lead you right to the other. I'm hoping
that you've identified both of these. In case you're having difficulty,
NGC185 will appear the brighter and more concentrated of the two. In
any case, you'll need at least 8-10" and dark skies to simply view
these. If you want to see these objects and be impressed, you'll need to
try to gain access to the Hubble Space Telescope :) Both appear relatively
featureless, even in large instruments. I've seen both in the 25"
under dark skies.... and was not overly impressed. However...if you find
these in a small telescope... that would be quite impressive indeed :) |
Let's wrap things up with this weeks Utah
Skies Challenge Object, a sweet planetary nebula IC289(mag12).
 This
object is pretty small at only 36". But.. this will probably help you
due to a relatively high surface brightness. As you sweep the sky at low
powers searching for this object, it will appear almost stellar when you
come across it. With averted vision, you'll pickup the nebulosity. Once
you've found it, switch to high power. This object will take all you can
throw at it. Also, if you have some nebula filters, now's the time to try
them out. I've had best luck with my OIII filter.
IC189 is located about 10° east/southeast of Epsilon Cassiopeia, the northeastern most star of the "W", this object is in a pretty sparsely populated area of the constellation. Good Luck! |
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 Report
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The Affects of Light Pollution
on Health Yes. Serious health risks. Consider the following findings from some of the world's preeminent medical researchers. Did you know that sleeping in a room that is not totally dark suppresses melatonin production and disturbs your natural circadian rhythm? A recent article in the Journal of Neuroscience (August 15, 2001) discusses this very connection. Even more disturbing, sleeping in a room that is not totally dark has been linked to breast cancer. In an article published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (October 17, 2001). Researchers found that "Exposure to light at night may increase the risk of breast cancer by suppressing the normal nocturnal production of melatonin...." They went on to state that "There was an indication of increased risk among subjects with the brightest bedrooms." And then concluded that "The results of this study provide evidence that indicators of exposure to light at night may be associated with the risk of developing breast cancer." So.... why wouldn't a bedroom be totally dark at night? Very often street lights or a neighbors porch or security lights shine into peoples homes from dusk to dawn. This is the case in my neighborhood, how about yours?. Do you have lights shining into your home? Are you concerned that this could have a negative impact on your health? Remember,
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But, don't lose hope; Light Pollution is easily cleaned up. All we need to do is act intelligently. Here are a few, simple principles to keep in mind:
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Next Weeks Report
Next week, we'll continue our journey through the cosmos
and focus on the constellation Camelopardus.
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Stay up to date on astronomical happenings by regularly checking the Utah Skies website at http://www.UtahSkies.org |