Report for 2002-02-08

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Astronomical Times

Sunrise: 7:30 am	Sunset: 5:52 pm
Astronomical Twilight Begins: 5:58 am	Astronomical Twilight Ends: 7:25 pm
Moonrise: 5:16 am	Moonset: 2:31 pm

Viewing Outlook

Space Weather Update

Aurora were seen in the far north on Saturday night.  Earth's magnetic shield dipped and the steady stream of the solar wind trigger auroral displays in Alaska and Canada. Checkout this beautiful image captured by Andre Clay up near the North Pole, Alaska. Andre was shooting with 200 speed film and 10-20 second exposures. Pretty cool, huh???               Below we have an awesome panorama taken by Mark Simpson of Calgary, Alberta. Mark was shooting with a Sony Dsc-F707 Digital Camera at f2.0. Exposure times ranged from  15-30 seconds. Wow!

Hubble Vision

Hubble Telescope Reveals Swarm of Glittering Stars in Nearby Galaxy NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has peered at a small area within the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) to provide the deepest color picture ever obtained in that satellite galaxy of our own Milky Way.   Over 10,000 stars can be seen in the photo, covering a region in the LMC about 130 light-years wide. The faintest stars in the picture are some 100 million times dimmer than the human eye's limit of visibility. Our Sun, if located in the LMC, would be one of the faintest stars in the photograph, indistinguishable from the swarm of other similar stars.   Also visible in the image are sheets of glowing gas, and dark patches of interstellar dust silhouetted against the stars and gas behind them.   The LMC is a small companion galaxy of our own Milky Way, visible only from Earth's southern hemisphere. It is named after Ferdinand Magellan, one of the first Europeans to explore the world's southern regions. The LMC attracts the attention of modern-day astronomers because, at a distance of only 168,000 light-years, it is one of the nearest galaxies.   The Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) image was taken in 1996 in Hubble's "parallel" mode while another of the telescope's instruments, the Faint Object Spectrograph, was taking long exposures of the LMC's Tarantula Nebula. The Tarantula, lying outside the field of view of the WFPC2 photograph, is a tremendous cloud of gas, within which new stars are forming.   NASA astronomers Sally Heap, Eliot Malumuth, and Philip Plait, who work at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, pointed Hubble's spectrograph at the core of the Tarantula to investigate its young stars. They also switched on WFPC2 at the same time, in order to obtain the image presented here.   The Hubble Heritage Team later combined the WFPC2 images, taken through different color filters, in order to create the color picture shown here. The range of star colors visible in the WFPC2 image reveals the variety of stellar surface temperatures. Hot stars, with temperatures of 10,000 degrees Celsius and above, have a bluish-white color; stars cooler than our Sun's 6,000 degrees Celsius are reddish.   Image Credit: NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) Acknowledgment: S. Heap, E. Malumuth and P. Plait (Goddard Space Flight Center)

Lunar Phase

The moon will be new on Tuesday. This is a great time to view our nearest celestial neighbor.  The detail which it reveals is unparalleled. The moon will be rising later and later each night. Tonight... well tomorrow morning actually...it'll rise about 6:30am. This will mean that your only dark sky views will be in the early morning hours just around sunrise. Check it out! Virtually any telescope will show you amazing details of the lunar surface. I took the accompanying shot about this time last month. This was a shot taken around 6:00am using a Canon Rebel2000 and 400 speed film. The exposure was about 15 seconds.

Planetary Report

Pluto, the 9th planet, is rising at about 3:10 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 one hour and fifteen minutes ahead of the Sun at about 6:20 am. You should be able to spot it low on the eastern horizon if you have a good view in that direction. Mercury will continue to climb for the next week or so. So... now's your chance.  Mercury is currently spanning 9" and shining at mag0.80. Mercury is much bigger, and is also brightening rapidly. 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 7:05. 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.

Uranus, the 7th planet, is rising at 7:55am. 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.

Venus is rising about about 25 minutes after the Sun at 8:00 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.

Mars is rising in the southeast around  9:50 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 1.11 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 12:30 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 -0.03 -- which is also close to the brightest it gets. It is slowly starting to shrink and fade. NOW is your best time to view Saturn. It will stick around through the winter and into the spring, but.. it is looking really good RIGHT NOW.  The accompanying image  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 image of Saturn by The European Southern Observatory. This was taken using an 8.2 METER telescope outfitted with adaptive optics. AWESOME!

Next, look for Jupiter rising around  2:15pm. 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 -2.56 and currently spans 44". Jupiter too is starting to pull away from us. It is starting to shrink and fade. These are the best views you're going to get of Jupiter this winter. It is rising early, and is well positioned for viewing shortly after dark. Plus... as is mentioned below, a couple of Jupiter's storms are in the process of colliding and will eventually merge into an even larger storm! We viewed Jupiter the other night, and... it was awesome!!!! 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 Monoceros the Unicorn. Unicorn's are mythical creatures with the legs of a deer,  the tail of a lion, and the head of a horse. There is one horn growing straight out of the center of the head. The stars of the constellation are faint and illusive, just like the Unicorn. In many cultures, the tiny crescent moon is said to represent the horn of the Unicorn.  Given that Orion is a mythical hunter, it's pretty funny to have a highly prized Unicorn standing right behind a mighty hunter.

Deep Sky Report

 

First up is the only Messier object on the list; a beautiful Open Star Cluster M50(mag5.9). M50 is a beautiful object which can be spotted in binoculars. It's home in the midst of a dense portion of the Milky Way only enhances it's beauty. M50 can be found  about 7° north of mag4 Gamma Canis Majoris. Estimates on the number of stars in this cluster vary greatly as it is actually pretty difficult to determine the actual end of the cluster and the start of the Milky Way background. M50 is probably about 3,000 light years distant. Its angular diameter of about 15x20' therefore corresponds to a physical diameter of about 18 light years. There are about 200 member stars in the cluster and it is estimated that the age of the cluster is around 78 million years.

Next up is the beautiful Rosetta nebula complex NGC2237-9(mag5.5) This beautiful object absolutely requires a nebula filter. It doesn't matter which one you've got... though I prefer an OIII filter. Without a filter this object is virtually invisible. Even with the big scope under dark skies I could just barely detect the nebula. Pop in the filter and WAM! The nebula jumps right out at you. This is a large object - spanning about70'x80'. I could not fit the whole thing inside my lowest power, widest angle eyepiece. So... depending on your setup, you may have to move around to view it all. But... it's definitely worth the effort. This is one beautiful, highly detailed nebula. We spent quite a bit of time looking at it. We'd swap nebula filters...and eyepieces... and fight for turns on the ladder. You'll definitely enjoy this object.

Continuing along, we come to Open Star Cluster NGC2506(mag7.6). Located about 15* south of Procyon or about the same distance east of Sirius, this is a beautiful object in binoculars or a small telescope. In a large telescope, it is absolutely stunning.  Checkout this beautiful "Open" star cluster. Give it a quick look and you might think it was a loose globular cluster. In fact, it's pretty much a "typical" open star cluster. Not too dense, and not too loose. What makes it appear so dense is the fact that it's superimposed onto a fairly dense portion of the Milky Way. So, the combined density of cluster stars and background stars makes this object look so cool.

Next up is Open Star Cluster NGC2244(mag4.8).  Also known as the Rosetta Cluster, this object is classified as an open star cluster, but.. .from the picture you're immediately overwhelmed by the nebulosity. This nebulosity is actually part of the huge Rosetta Nebula. This small cluster is actually a "freebie". If you find the Rosetta Nebula, you're bound to find this cluster. If you haven't found the nebula (you are using a nebula filter, aren't you:) you might use this tiny cluster as a reference... it sits right in the middle of the nebula. In an 8" telescope, you'll see about 3 dozen stars with many more appearing as you increase the aperture. To find this cluster, travel about 9° ESE of Betelgeuse.

Let's wrap things up with this weeks Utah Skies Challenge Object, a fine nebula known as Hubble's Variable Nebula - NGC2261(mag10). We observed this beauty through the 25" ObDob under the dark skies of southern Utah. It was quite an impressive site. Located about 5° northeast of the Rosetta Nebula, this is not a terribly challenging object. Under reasonably dark skies, and with just a bit of patience you should be all over this one. What makes this object so interesting is that it has been seen to vary in size, brightness, and structure over time. Since Hubble's Variable Nebula is a reflection nebula, we see it because of light reflecting off of it. Astronomers have speculated that shadows cast by moving clouds of gas and dust cast shadows on the nebula. It is believed that these clouds are moved around by solar wind emanating from the star R Monoceros. It is thought that these moving clouds are what cause the nebula to vary so dramatically. Visually, this object looks very much like a comet... even displaying a bit of a tail. This object has a reasonably high surface brightness, allowing telescopes from about 6" and up to display some nice views. As it's fairly bright, you should be able to benefit from a bit of magnification as well. 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 Gemini.  

 

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

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