Report for 2002-10-25
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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: 7:49 am | Sunset: 6:34 pm |
| Astronomical Twilight Begins: 6:17 am | Astronomical Twilight Ends: 8:05 pm |
| Moonrise: 9:18 pm | Moonset: 12:04 pm |
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Big Discovery |
 How's
this for a cool headline :ASTRONOMER SEES BLACK HOLE EAT STAR??? Sounds
like science fiction, huh? Well it's science fact! It began like a routine measurement on a quasar, a somewhat boring look at the emissions from a distant, early galaxy -- but it turned out that the graduate student
assigned to the task was
actually watching a black hole swallow part of a star.
Half of the star's matter fell into the black hole, and the other half was ejected
at speeds approaching the speed of light in what astronomers described as a gravitational sling-shot."
Visit CNN.com/SPACE to find out more! |
| 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. |
 We are under an
Aurora Watch this weekend... Of course
we are... The forecast (here in northern Utah) is calling for clouds and... maybe even some snow. If
that doesn't ensure an awesome spectacle, I don't know what does. Anyway....
for those of you under clear skies this weekend... make sure that you keep
and eye on the northern sky for some northern lights!
The accompanying image was recorded
Friday morning (10/25) by SOHO, The
Solar and Heliospheric Observatory. SOHO is an effort coordinated by the
European Space Agency (ESA) and the US
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
SOHO is designed to study the internal structure of the Sun, its extensive outer atmosphere and the origin of the solar wind, the
stream of highly ionized gas that blows continuously outward through the Solar System. |
 Sunspot 162 continues to grow and now poses a threat for powerful
X-class solar
flares. The impressive spot stretches nearly 20 Earth-diameters from end to end. You can see it yourself, but never stare directly at the Sun. Use
safe solar projection methods instead.
I caught some nice views of #162 shortly after it appeared along the eastern limb of the Sun. It was large then... and has grown considerably. Given the stormy weather forecast for northern Utah for the next week or so, I'd say this is a good candidate for a large CME or Coronal Mass Ejection. |
 Sunspot 162 continues to grow and now poses a threat for powerful
X-class solar
flares. The impressive spot stretches nearly 20 Earth-diameters from end to end. You can see it yourself, but never stare directly at the Sun. Use
safe solar projection methods instead.
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 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 reach last quarter on Monday night at 10:28 pm. In the meantime, we'll
be under a waning gibbous moon with 83% of the Moon's visible disk illuminated in the sky tonight.
Utah Skies' own Don
Brown took the accompanying image during the spring of 2000. 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 cool shot of Jupiter and
its four brightest moons taken by Naoyuki
Kurita. He's another new
"find" for me. Click
here for an animated version of the scene. It's pretty cool!! |
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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 Ed Grafton. | |||||||||||||
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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. Finding
Venus will be a challenge for most northern observers though. In it's
continuing journey
through the constellations it is now in the southernmost regions of Libra. 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 2% illuminated. Checkout this cool shot by Nauyuki Kurita of Japan. Venus is now rising only about 70 minutes after the sun. |
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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. |
 A Galaxy That's All Wound UpTightly wound, almost concentric, arms of dark dust encircle the bright nucleus of galaxy NGC 2787 in this NASA Hubble Space Telescope image created by the Hubble Heritage Team. In astronomer Edwin Hubble's galaxy classification scheme, NGC 2787 is classified as an SB0, a barred lenticular galaxy. These lens-shaped galaxies show little or no evidence of the grand spiral arms that occur in their more photogenic cousins, though NGC 2787 does sport a faint bar, not apparent in this image. NGC 2787's seemingly bland qualities are, however, just what the doctor ordered for astronomer Marcella Carollo's investigation. Dr. Carollo (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich) and team used Hubble to look at the center of these galaxies for clues about the process of galaxy formation including the role of galaxy collisions and central black holes. Also visible in the Heritage image are about a dozen globular clusters hovering around NGC 2787. What appear to be stars are, in fact, gravitationally bound families of 100,000's of ancient stars orbiting the center of NGC 2787. NGC 2787 lies roughly 24 million light-years (7.4 megaparsecs) from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major. Data was collected with the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 in January 1999. This Heritage image was made by combining light from blue, green and infrared filters from the 1999 dataset. Image Credit: NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) Acknowledgment: M. Carollo (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich) |
| Our Constellation report is an easy way for people to
become familiar with the nighttime sky. We’ll discuss myths associated
with the various constellations as well as describing the numerous deep
sky objects residing in the area. 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 Aquarius - The Water Bearer. Aquarius is located west of Pisces and below the neck of Pegasus. Aquarius is typically depicted as a man pouring water from a water jar.
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| We begin our journey through Aquarius with a visit to Alpha Aquarii(mag2.93). This star has a similar spectrum to our sun. However, it is much larger than our sun. Estimates put it's size at over 80 times the diameter and it's total luminosity at over 6000 times that of our sun. Next up is Beta Aquarii(mag 2.86). This star has almost the same total luminosity as Alpha Aquarii, but is located at a slightly smaller distance and hence is slightly brighter. Why is the beta star brighter than the alpha star you may be wondering. Good question. This probably has to do with the fact that less accurate methods were used to determine visual magnitudes when the stars were first cataloged. This may have resulted from Beta's more southerly declination. The Alpha star, being higher in the sky, may have appeared brighter. Modern instruments and techniques have remedied this. | |
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 Next up is another Globular Cluster M72(mag9.3) This one is no where near as impressive as it's neighbor to the north. It is beautiful, but in a much more subtle manner. Discovered 1780 by Messier's assistant Pierre Mechain, M72 is one of the more remote of Messier's globular clusters: At an estimated 53,000 light years, it lies a considerable distance beyond the Galactic Center. An interesting fact about M72 is that it is one of the most intrinsically luminous globular clusters. Were it located closer, it would undoubtedly be a deep sky favorite. Its diameter is approximately 90 light years. The brightest stars in M72 are about mag 14 so, you'll need at least 10" of aperture to begin to resolve the individual stars. To find M72, follow a line from alpha through beta and continue for the same distance as their separation. This beautiful shot was taken by Jay Potts. Checkout more of Jay's very impressive work. |
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 Next up is
an Open Cluster M73(mag9.3) This cluster... if you can call it that it one
of those delicate little objects. |
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 Next
up is NGC7293(mag6.3 ). Also known as the Helix Nebula. The Helix nebula
is a bit tougher to observe than it's mag 6.3 designation might indicate.
It's large size (almost as big as the full moon) leads to a
disappointingly low surface brightness. Technology can help us on this one
though. Use of an OIII nebula filter greatly enhances the view!
This awesome image was created by Robert Gendler. |
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 Continuing on our journey, we come to a very interesting object, NGC7009, the Saturn Nebula(mag8). This object looks like a pale blue star at low power.
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| We'll finish our journey through Aquarius with this weeks double Utah Skies Challenge Objects. Spiral Galaxy NGC 7723(mag11.1) and Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 7727(mag10.7). We list these objects together due to their close visual proximity. NGC7727 is only about 40' (2/3° ) north of NGC7723. If you find one, you'll most likely find the other -- possibly even at the same instant. Checkout the star chart above. You'll see both objects in the southeastern portion of Aquarius. NGC7723 is not quite as bright as NGC7727. But, it's also not quite as big. So, the light is a bit more concentrated.
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 Andromeda. |
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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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