Report for 2002-02-01

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Astronomical Times

Sunrise: 7:38 am	Sunset: 5:43 pm
Astronomical Twilight Begins: 6:04 am	Astronomical Twilight Ends: 7:17 pm
Moonrise: 10:35 pm	Moonset: 10:16 am

Viewing Outlook

Space Weather Update

Look at our Star in this SOHO animation. (Click on your browser's reload button if you don't see any movement). The animation focuses on sunspot 9800 which has been growing rapidly. It now covers an area over four times the size of our planet! Checkout the accompanying  Spaceweather.com image.  What's the deal with all the sunspots lately??? Aren't we past the solar maximum??? Astronomers are saying that we seem to be experiencing a dual peaked maximum. Want to find out more? Checkout this Science@NASA article.

Hubble Vision

GALACTIC SILHOUETTES  This new image from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and its Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) shows the unique galaxy pair called NGC 3314. Through an extraordinary chance alignment, a face-on spiral galaxy lies precisely in front of another larger spiral. This line-up provides us with the rare chance to visualize dark material within the front galaxy, seen only because it is silhouetted against the object behind it.   Dust lying in the spiral arms of the foreground galaxy stands out where it absorbs light from the more distant galaxy. This silhouetting shows us where the interstellar dust clouds are located, and how much light they absorb. The outer spiral arms of the front galaxy appear to change from bright to dark, as they are projected first against deep space, and then against the bright background of the other galaxy.   NGC 3314 lies about 140 million light-years from Earth, in the direction of the southern hemisphere constellation Hydra. The bright blue stars forming a pinwheel shape near the center of the front galaxy have formed recently from interstellar gas and dust.   In many galaxies, interstellar dust lies only in the same regions as recently formed blue stars. However, in the foreground galaxy, NGC 3314a, there are numerous additional dark dust lanes that are not associated with any bright young stars.   A small, red patch near the center of the image is the bright nucleus of the background galaxy, NGC 3314b. It is reddened for the same reason the setting sun looks red. When light passes through a volume containing small particles (molecules in the Earth's atmosphere or interstellar dust particles in galaxies), its color becomes redder.   The Hubble Heritage color image of NGC 3314 was constructed from archival images taken with WFPC2 in April 1999 by Drs. William Keel and Ray White III (University of Alabama) in blue and infrared light, combined with new images obtained by the Heritage team in March 2000 using blue, green and red filters.   Image Credit: NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)  Acknowledgments: William Keel (U. Alabama)

Lunar Phase

The moon will reach last quarter on Monday. This is a great time to view our nearest celestial neighbor.  The detail which it reveals is unparalleled. Details like those captured in the accompanying Ed Grafton image are within reach of amateur telescopes. And since it's heading towards first quarter, the intensity of the moon will be diminishing each night. The moon will be rising later and later each night. Tonight (Friday) it'll rise about 10:30pm. By early next week, it'll be coming up after midnight. This will mean that best views will be obtained in the early morning hours just around sunrise. Check it out! Virtually any telescope will show you amazing details of the lunar surface.

Planetary Report

Pluto, the 9th planet, is rising at about 3:40 am. At mag 13.93, Pluto is a tiny, faint little spec in a telescope... any telescope. It is currently almost 3 billion miles from Earth. It's size varies between 0.11" and 0.065" and it's brightness between mag 13.6 and mag 16. Mag 13.6 is pushing the limits of a 6" just to detect it, while mag 16 is doing the same to a 16".   As the accompanying Hubble Space Telescope image shows, imaging Pluto is tough.

Mercury is rising about 50 minutes ahead of the Sun at about 6:55 am.   Mercury is currently spanning 10" and shining at mag2.59. Mercury is much bigger, but much dimmer now than it was several months ago. The accompanying image by the Mariner Spacecraft shows the incredible amount of meteor bombardment which Mercury has gone through in its history. Since Mercury has no atmosphere, the marks of each and every strike are still visible on the planets surface. Also note the patchwork look of this image. This image is the result of numerous individual images stitched together.

Neptune, the 8th planet, is rising around 7:35. Shining at mag7.98, Neptune is a relatively easy target. However, at only 2", it displays absolutely no surface detail. Almost star-like in binoculars, it shows it's beautiful blue color in telescopes. Neptune gets this beautiful blue coloring from a layer of Methane in its upper atmosphere. Located almost 3 billion miles from Earth, Neptune has a huge circular orbit -- taking just over 164 years to orbit the Sun. In fact, Neptune's orbit varies by less than 1% from circular. Neptune has a couple of other claims to fame... It has the fastest wind speeds in the solar system with gust at almost 1500 mph. Similar to Jupiter, it is categorized as a gas giant. Neptune is roughly 17 times more massive than the Earth. In another similarity to Jupiter, Neptune has a  Great Dark Spot. William Herschel is credited with the discovery of Neptune in 1781. However, it had been recorded in several catalogs as a star as far back as 1690.

Venus is rising about about 25 minutes after the Sun at 8:05 am. ... Yup... Venus is slowly moving into the night sky. We'll be all over it in the next several weeks. Still shining at mag -3.91 Venus is being completely overwhelmed by the Sun which shines at mag -26.74. Venus will return as the Evening Star late in the winter and into the spring. Checkout this cool image of Venus taken by radar.

Uranus, the 7th planet, is rising at 8:20am. Shining at mag5.92, Uranus is a relatively easy target. However, this is another tiny planet at only 3".  It simply displays absolutely no surface detail. It does however show it's beautiful aquamarine color. Uranus also gets its beautiful coloring from a layer of Methane in its upper atmosphere. Located almost 2 billion miles from Earth, Uranus 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.

Mars is rising in the southeast around  10:05 am. 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 140 million miles. This has cause Mars' apparent diameter to shrink. It is currently down to a measly 5" as compared to its 21" in June. It has dimmed significantly as well - currently shining at magnitude 1.05 down from -2.4 in June.  Mars will return for an even better pass in 2003. In the mean time, we can live vicariously through the works of astro-photographers like Ed Grafton who takes some of the most amazing astro-images that I have ever seen. If you haven't checked out his site, I'd highly recommend it. He has many awesome planetary and deep sky image that'll blow your mind.

Saturn joins us now about 12:55 pm. Look for Saturn in the east-northeast. Saturn has grown to an an impressive 19" -- this is almost as large as it ever gets and is currently shining at magnitude -0.07 -- which is also close to the brightest it gets. NOW is your best time to view Saturn. It will stick around through the winter and into the spring, but.. it is close to its biggest and brightest RIGHT NOW.  The accompanying image The accompanying image shows Saturn with two of its many moons. 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! Checkout this beautiful false color image of Saturn taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. The coloring is added to emphasize differencees in temperature and/or chemical composition.

Next, look for Jupiter rising around  2:45pm. 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 -2.64 and has grown to a whopping 46". This is just about as big as it will get during this pass and... 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. Checkout this beautiful image of Jupiter and it's Great Red Spot taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. The Great Red Spot is currently in the news. It turns out that a large "white oval" nearly the size of Earth is colliding with the famous Great Red Spot. These two huge "hurricane-like" storms have been around for quite some time. The white oval has been viewed for almost 70 years, and the Great Red Spot was viewed by Galileo! To find out more about the Great Red Spot or the White Oval, follow the links!  Anyway... Astronomers expect that the pair will converge during the weeks ahead. But, given that the two storms circle the planet at slightly different latitudes they could just slide on by like ships in the night. Regardless, the encounter should be dynamic and entertaining. Sky watchers with 6" to 10" telescopes can view the action on clear nights with good atmospheric seeing. Consult a table of Great Red Spot transit times to decide when to look. As this event will occur over several weeks, you'll definitely want to get in several observing sessions during this time.  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. 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 Puppis the Stern. This constellation is actually part of the much larger historical constellation - Argo Navis. Given the size of this ancient naval vessel, astronomers divided it up into three modern constellations. Puppis, the Stern; Carina, the Keel; and Vela, the Sail. To see the entirety of this huge ancient ship requires a trip to the south...almost to the equator! Anyway.... the northern portions of Puppis should be easy to spot from middle northern latitudes.

Deep Sky Report

 

First up is the Open Star Cluster M46(mag6.2). This is a very rich star cluster with upwards of 500 members. Of these, perhaps 150 are visible to viewers in small telescopes. The cluster spans about 27', which translates into about 30 light years in diameter. Best estimates place the cluster's distance around 5,400 light years.  As you look at this image, you'll immediately take note of the reddish object near the center. This interesting little object is planetary nebula NGC2438 (mag10). While it appears within the borders of M46 it is most likely not a true member... just superimposed in that location. Astronomers estimate the nebula to be about 3000 light years distant.  This image was obtained by David Malin with the 3.9-meter Anglo-Australian telescope and is copyrighted © Anglo-Australian Observatory.  To find M47 & NGC2438, travel about 15°(a fist & two fingers) east of Sirius.

Since it is such a beauty, I figured a close-up of NGC2438(10.1) was in order. This object is fairly small, but should be within reach of telescopes in the 4-6" range. Many readers will instantly note the similarity to M57, The Ring Nebula. The shape is quite similar....even the star visible in the middle of the nebula is reminiscent of The Ring. The most interesting aspect of this image (to me anyway:) is the wide angle view. Seeing multiple objects in one field of view is always exciting. M81&M82... The Trio in Leo. These are some of my favorite deep sky objects. But... to see two different types of objects together like this is really cool! You'll see a "fuzzy" star mixed in with the others. Pumping up the magnification will turn the fuzz into a planetary nebula. Once you've decided to focus on the nebula, you might want to try a nebula filter.

Next up is another beautiful Open Star Cluster, M47 mag(4.4) This is a big, bright cluster which can be glimpsed with the naked eye under dark skies. It is a loose cluster made up of a handful bright stars. Total cluster membership is about 50 stars.  With an estimated distance of about 1,600 light years and an apparent diameter of about the same size as the full moon, 30 arc minutes. This cluster physically spans an area 12 light years in diameter. One of the first things you'll notice is that this cluster resembles the Pleiades. It has several dominating stars surrounded by an bunch of lesser stars. All this is layered against a very rich backdrop of Milky Way stars. The whole view is beautiful. The bright star nearest to the center of the image is actually a beautiful double Sigma 1121. It is made up of components of mag 7.9 each and a separation of only 7.4 arc seconds. You should be able to split this pair fairly easily. You'll reasonably steady skies and a bit of magnification.  To find M47, move about 1.5° east of M46. While these two star clusters are quite close to each other, they look quite different. M46 appears as a fairly even distribution of similar stars, while M47 is much more loosely spaced and much less evenly matched in brightness.

Continuing along, we come to another fine Open Star Cluster M93(6.2) M93 is a bright, beautiful open clusters. It's stars are grouped in a triangular shape. It contains at least 80 true members. With an apparent diameter of over 22', and an estimated distance of about 3,600 light years, this cluster is believed to have an actual diameter of 20-25 light years.  To find M93, find the star Azmidiske and then travel about 1° or so to the northwest.  This beautiful image was taken by the National Optical Astronomy Observatories/National Science Foundation

Let's wrap things up with this weeks Utah Skies Challenge Object, Open Star Cluster NGC2477(mag6)  This just might be the brightest Utah Skies Challenge Objects ever! However, it's extreme southern declination (-38°) will challenge any northern observers. To find this cluster, first find Zeta Puppis and then travel about 2.5° to the northwest. Once you find it, you're in for a treat. At almost the size of a full moon, this beauty will fill your eyepiece from side to side. In fact, given it's size, you might want to find it in your binoculars first. In a decent pair of Astro-binoculars, this object is a large "smudge" of light. In a 6" or larger telescope, it's absolutely beautiful.  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 Update

Continued Progress in Summit County

Utah Skies has been hard at work trying to control the growth of poor lighting in our area. We have contacted numerous county officials and the media to try to bring this issue to resolution. Today, we'd like to pass on some additional, very positive Summit County update.

On Tuesday January 22^nd, we attended a meeting of the Summit County Planning Commission. It was a very productive meeting indeed. The new Development Plan is nearing completion and is being reviewed for completeness. The main thrust of the plan is to reign in development and gain control of the process. Key points covered at the meeting were: Development should be planned. Open space should be preserved. View sheds should be maintained. And, of great importance to us, Dark Skies should be protected! We found considerable support among residents and commissioners alike as we pushed for even stronger wording stressing the need to protect the skies overhead. We suspect that there will be a strong effort to undue the damage which has already been inflicted by the uncontrolled development of past years. We were most excited to see among the commissioners a sense that there was a critical need to address these issues. There was even talk of incentivising businesses and residents to address the issues.

Utah Skies applauds these efforts. We feel that this is a serious quality of life issue and are glad to see the county moving proactively to protect the night environment. You can help too! Simply turn off your outside lights when you're not expecting company. If you have security concerns, you might want to install a motion detector. This will quickly save enough money to pay for itself while giving you added peace of mind.

Checkout the Light Pollution Section of the Utah Skies website at www.UtahSkies.org for more information on the harmful effects of improper lighting or for ideas on how to improve your lighting. Please contact us with any questions you may have or to Volunteer to help us in the fight to curb light pollution.

Next Weeks Report
Next week, we'll continue our journey through the cosmos and focus on the constellation Monoceros.  

 

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

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