Report for 2002-10-18
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Brought to you from beautiful Park City, "View-tah".
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| This Weeks Issue | The Utah Skies Website | |
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| Sunrise: 7:41 am | Sunset: 6:44 pm |
| Astronomical Twilight Begins: 6:10 am | Astronomical Twilight Ends: 8:15 pm |
| Moonrise: 6:03 pm | Moonset: 5:02 am |
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Big Discoveries |
 Surprising observations of a star swiftly orbiting the cloudy heart of the Milky Way Galaxy have verified with near certainty the existence of a central black hole, a theoretical object that still eludes direct detection.
Astronomers watched the star for a decade, tracking two-thirds of its path around the galactic center. No object has ever before been seen so close to the center of any galaxy, nor has any other object previously been observed making more than a small fraction of its orbital trek around a galaxy. |
 Fomalhaut(mag1.1),
the 17th brightest star in the sky is also one of the closest stars.
Located a mere 22 light years away, Fomalhaut is a great star to
study. It's proximity gives us views that would be unavailable on
other, more distant stars. Take for instance the accompanying shot of a planetary system
around the star. Ok...just checking... this isn't a real photo, but an
artists rendition of the planetary system believed to surround Fomalhaut.
Recent observations in the far infrared indicate the presence of a dusty
disk surrounding the star. This material is believed to be the building
blocks for an emerging planetary system... quite possibly like our own.
Interested? Read
on...
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| The skies over Park City
have been crystal clear for more than a week now with more of the same in
the extended forecast. You just have to love a nice fall season. Anyway...I got some awesome
viewing in on several occasions under clear and steady skies. As the weather starts to get
more "hit or miss", you really need to take the days when
they're given to you. Winter weather is often too unsettled to wait for
clear skies to fit your schedule. The moon is almost full at this point, so it will dominate the sky. So... don't fight it. Break out your telescope or binoculars and observe our nearest celestial neighbor. . |
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Orionid Meteor Shower |
| The Orionid Meteor Shower peaks on Monday night. If you’re out and about after dark, you should notice a dramatic increase in meteor activity this entire weekend. Orionid meteors, as you may have surmised, appear to radiate from the constellation Orion, which is rising in the east around midnight.. Checkout our helpful Meteor Viewing Tips page. |
  Geomagnetic
activity continues. Most recently, on October 14th, sunspot #159 fired off a Coronal Mass
Ejection (CME). Stay tuned! |
 A
magnetic filament on the Sun collapsed
on Tuesday (10/15); the ensuing explosion hurled a plume of hot gas at least 50 Earth-diameters wide into space. This extraordinary eruption was apparently not Earth-directed.
The orbiting Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) captured this ultraviolet image of the Oct. 15th explosion. |
 The
International Space Station
and the Space Shuttle Atlantis cruised overhead on Wednesday evening
(10/16). The pair took a leisurely 6 minutes to cross the sky. It was quite
an exciting site to behold
Space shuttle Atlantis (the brighter streak) and the ISS (the dimmer streak) side-by-side on Oct. 16th. "What a wonderful sight!" says Brett Clapper, who photographed the pair from Shelby, North Carolina. "The two spaceships were exceedingly bright as they passed through the constellation Cygnus." |
 The
International Space Station
will make several passes over the area this weekend. To find out when, visit
NASA's
Space Flight Website.
The ISS is orbits the Earth at about 17,000 miles per hour. At this rate, it circles the Earth 16 times per day.
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 The moon
will be full on Monday morning at 1:20 am. In the meantime, you can expect to
see a 94% illuminated moon in the sky tonight.
I took the accompanying image this
past spring. Checkout our "Moon
Pics" page for even more shots. |
In this section, we visit the planets in the order in
which they are currently rising. We do our best to track down the finest images
available. 
for 2002. As
an added feature, you may also click on any of the planetary images to view a
planetary reference page filled with important facts about the planet. |
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Checkout this beautiful image of Jupiter
taken by The
Cassini Spacecraft. He's a new
"find" for me. Checkout his site... you'll be impressed. To
the left of Jupiter is it's moon Io.
Would you be happy with views like this? You might be
surprised at what a half-way decent telescope could do for you. Jupiter is
fairly well positioned for viewing in the mornings now. Perhaps you should
dust off your telescope and see what it's capable of doing? |
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| Mars has moved into the constellation Virgo. Mars has also reached its greatest separation from Earth at this point .The distance between the two planets is slowly beginning to shrink. Visually, Mars has shrunk down to a measly 4".. a tiny fraction of it's peak of 21" in June 2001. In fact, this is just about as small as Mars ever gets. It has also dimmed significantly as well - currently shining at a wimpy magnitude 1.81 down from -2.4 in June. But... don't you worry. Mars will return for an even better pass in the summer of 2003. At that time, Mars will make it makes it's closest pass in over 5000+ years. Get your telescopes ready! In the mean time, we can live vicariously through the works of some of the finest astrophotographers on the planet... and even beyond the planet. In case you didn't notice, Mars has now moved into the morning sky. We should begin picking it up in the east in the coming weeks.Checkout this sweet image captured by Marc Sylvestre. It shows an incredible amount of detail on the surface of the Red Planet. | |||||||||||||
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| The accompanying image series was taken by Juan Carlos Cansado in Spain. It depicts the path that Mercury's orbit takes it through the sky. Notice that even at its highest... Mercury is never far above the horizon. The reason for this... Mercury is the innermost planet. It has the tightest orbit and never gets too far away from the Sun. | |||||||||||||
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| Venus
reached it's greatest brilliancy on Thursday (9/26). At mag-4.6, it outshines
Sirius (the brightest star in the sky) by a factor of 18. While Venus has
peaked in brightness, it continues to grow in apparent diameter and will
be at it's largest by the end of October. Venus continues its journey
through the constellations and is now in Libra. Checkout
this cool shot by B. Colville of the Maple
Ridge Observatory. These were taken using a special Bessel U Filter which allows the transmission of ultra-violet light. Note the detail captured in the clouds of Venus' upper atmosphere. Venus is
now rising about 3.5 hours after the sun. Many of
you have no doubt seen it blazing away low in the western sky after sunset.
Did you know that Venus goes through phases? No... not those kind of phases... Phases of illumination, like the moon. It's true. Venus is currently a mere 19% illuminated. |
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The very best image of Pluto? Well, it
just might be. This shot was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.
Pluto is currently over 2.8 billion miles from Earth. Located in the southwestern sky before sunset, Pluto is also not very well placed at this point for viewing. If you haven't viewed it recently, you'll have to catch it on the next go round. |
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Two hours before closest approach to Neptune in 1989, the Voyager 2 robot spacecraft snapped this picture. Clearly visible for the first time were long light-colored
cirrus-type clouds floating high in Neptune's atmosphere. Shadows of these clouds can even be seen on lower cloud decks. Most of Neptune's atmosphere is made
of hydrogen and helium, which is invisible. Neptune's blue color therefore comes from smaller amounts of atmospheric methane, which preferentially absorbs red
light. Neptune has the fastest winds in the Solar System, with gusts reaching 2000 kilometers per hour.
Speculation holds that diamonds may be created in the dense hot conditions that exist under the clouds-tops of Uranus and Neptune. Neptune is a relatively easy target when viewed at the right time... and that time is now! It is best viewed now and through the fall, when it will high in the sky for hours late at night and into the dawn. 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 over 2.84 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, Neptune 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. |
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Uranus reached opposition on Monday 8/19. This means
that the planet is opposite the sun in the sky. Opposition brings Uranus closest to us for this year at 2.6 light-hours away.
That's right... Light hours... the distance light travels in 2.6 hours.
Uranus is just about visible to the naked eye... depending on how dark
your skies are of course. This means its an easy target for binoculars or
a telescope. I saw Uranus recently. While sweeping for it using low powers
Uranus looked like a strange star. The reason for this is that Uranus
resolves to a disk... not just a point source of light like a star. As I
increased the power I was able to determine without a doubt that I was
observing the 7th planet. It appeared as a very pale blue disk. As it was
less than an ideal night for observing, none of its faint moons were
visible. I suspect that on a better night... from darker skies that I
would have been able to spy at least the brightest moon Miranda... though
at mag 16.5 it would certainly be a stretch. Checkout this shot of Uranus. In it, you can clearly see several of it's moons and it's delicate ring system. At almost 2 billion miles away, this is one tough shot to make from Earth! Uranus is a relatively easy target to find though. However, this is another tiny planet at only 4". It is also rising at almost the same time as the sun. So... you'll have to wait a few months to seek it out. Additionally, given it's tiny size, It 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 over 1.92 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. |
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Saturn is now rising about 10:00pm,
giving planetary viewers a bedtime treat. It can be found
high, almost overhead just before dawn. Given that it's dark until almost
7:00am, you should have no problem getting out to view the ringed planet. I got some
truly spectacular views
of Saturn Monday morning. I was able to push the Ute-Newt to just a smidge past 250x without any loss of image
quality..Saturn can be found about 15° north of Betelgeuse... the
alpha star in Orion. Did you know that the rings are visible in binoculars? It's true. You'll have to hold it extremely steady... or maybe even mount it on a tripod, but.. they are visible. Checkout this awesome shot of Saturn taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. |
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| 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.
We've got a special treat for you in this weeks Hubble Vision section. These are the first shots made public from the new camera installed in the Hubble Space Telescope. I'm sure you'll agree that these shots are even more impressive than previous Hubble products. |
 Multiple Galaxy Collisions Surprise Hubble AstronomersHubble astronomers conducting research on a class of galaxies called ultra-luminous infrared galaxies (ULIRG) have discovered that over two dozen of these are found within "nests" of galaxies, apparently engaged in multiple collisions that lead to fiery pile-ups of three, four or even five galaxies smashing together. Borne's co-investigators are Howard Bushouse (Space Telescope Science Institute), Luis Colina (Instituto de Fisica de Cantabria, Spain) and Ray Lucas (Space Telescope Science Institute). The Space Telescope Science Institute is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. for NASA, under contract with NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency. |
| 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 Equuleus the Foal. Equuleus and Pegasus, which we covered last week, represent the equestrian section of the sky. Equuleus sits to the southwest of Pegasus and to the southeast of Delphinius, placing it almost directly overhead after dark. . |
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| Let's be upfront on this one... every single object in this constellation is tough. Each could be a difficult Utah Skies Challenge Object. In fact, the brightest object at mag13 is this weeks Utah Skies Challenge object. This is why we're covering this one on the weekend of the full moon. | |
There are a handful of nice binary star systems in Equuleus (mag4.5). First up is Delta Equulei. This system is made up of stars of nearly equal luminosity... each about mag4. However, with a separation of only about 0.35", this is one tough pair to split. Studies have indicated that the two are physically separated by only about 4.6AU... less than the distance from the Sun to Jupiter. Next is Epsilon Eqquei (mag5.3).
This multiple star system is actually made up of three stars. The first
two are close, ranging between 0.1" and 1.1" while the other,
somewhat fainter star is about 10.9" away. |
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 Let's
start... and end things with this weeks Utah
Skies Challenge Object, Spiral Galaxy NGC7015(mag13).
This
object is pretty small at only 2' across. You're definitely going to work
for this one... and.... this was the easiest object in the entire
constellation.
Good Luck!
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If you are able to find all of these objects, you may be one of the
few, the proud, the Deep Sky Obsessed. |
| We need your help!
Utah Skies is beginning to get some serious traction on the issue of light pollution right here in Summit County. Recently, we met with officials from the Summit County Planning Department to discuss the issue of light pollution. We spoke for quite some time about the current issues and how these might be addressed. There was a general agreement that the county had dropped the ball in the past and that better procedures were required at all phases of the development cycle. We left feeling pretty positive about future prospects. Of course, without continued public support this issue could be left to wither. To that end, we are requesting that you take a minute out of your day to send an e-mail to some of the people listed below. Don't feel that you have to create a major literary or political statement. (You can if you want to of course). All that is required is that Summit County officials realize that this is an issue that they must deal with. This can be achieved by simply sending an e-mail requesting that they address the growing problem of light pollution in the county. Period. That's it. If enough people take one minute out of their day and send an e-mail the problem will be solved. Simple as that. So... what are you waiting for :) We also need letters to the editor of the Park Record demanding that the county enforce and even strengthen its outdoor lighting ordinances. You might want to contact the other media sources in town. Specifically, KPCW radio and PCTV television. We get some light pollution information out through all of these sources periodically, but... if they hear from the wider community, they will make this one of the issues they monitor more closely. Any time and effort you can expend now would be quite helpful.
Below is the contact information for some key political and media figures in
the area. Please contact these individuals. Let them know your concerns.
We can achieve our goals and protect and preserve one of the unique aspects of this
beautiful area we call home... our star filled skies.
Thanks for your continued support. If you don't know what to say... why
not start with our pre-written
e-mail. It gets the point across...
or at least its a good starting point. |
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Next Weeks Report |
| Next week, we'll continue our journey through the cosmos and focus on the constellation Aquarius. |
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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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