Report for 2002-11-08
Brought to you from beautiful Park City, "View-tah".
Contents
Astronomical Times (Mountain Standard)
| Sunrise: | 7:05 am | Sunset: | 5:16 pm | |
| Astronomical Twilight Begins: | 5:31 am | Astronomical Twilight Ends: | 6:50 pm | |
| Moonrise: | 11:36 am | Moonset: | 8:38 pm |
Holiday Gift Giving Ideas
Solar activity has picked up again. There have been reports of beautiful northern lights in the far north. Sunspot #180, the leading sunspot in the lower group is reported to be about 10 Earth diameters and contain some serious magnetic fields capable of firing off some large, X-Class solar flares. Lets hope that one of these is hurled square at us and skies are clear. This is especially important for those of us living in northern Utah... as we've missed out on quite a few recent events.
[This image is dynamic... it is refreshed every hour or so]
[This image is dynamic... it is refreshed
every hour or so]
On Nov. 4th,
Brian Whittaker saw this display out the window of a jet flying over Canada. "It was an amazing show--at times very bright and dynamic," says Whittaker.
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.
The developing International Space Station (ISS) has changed its appearance yet again. Last month the
Space Shuttle Atlantis visited the ISS and installed the third of eleven pieces that will compose
the Integrated Truss Structure. The new S-1 Truss is visible on the right, below the extended solar panels across the top. The world's foremost space outpost can be seen developing over the past few years by
comparing the above image to past images. Also visible above are many different types of modules, a robotic arm, several wing-like solar panels, and a supply ship. Construction began on the ISS in 1998 and the
core structure should be in place before 2005. Yesterday, the ISS celebrated its second anniversary of continuous human habitation.
The moon
will reach first quarter on Monday at 1:53 pm. In the meantime, we'll
be under a waxing crescent moon with 20% of the Moon's visible disk illuminated in the sky tonight.
Utah Skies own Don Brown took this image in February 2000.
Visit our Lunar Information Page for even more images and information.
| Rising: | 4:35 am | |
| Visual Magnitude: | 1.79 | |
| Visual Diameter: | 4" | |
| Distance: | 2.43 AU | |
| Constellation: | Virgo |
Mars has begun to brighten. While only a small step, this week marks the
second small step in Mars return to grandeur. By the summer of 2003, Mars will be bigger
and brighter than at any time in the last 5000 years. Get your telescopes
ready, we are in for a treat!
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 this month's Utah Skies Astrophotographer of the Month.
| Rising: | 6:25 am | |
| Visual Magnitude: | -4.20 | |
| Visual Diameter: | 1' 0" | |
| Distance: | 0.28 AU | |
| Constellation: | Virgo |
Venus
is beginning to fade fast. While still a blistering mag -4.2, Venus is just
plain hard to find. It is now rising about 40 minutes before the sun and
basically lost in the predawn glare. But... in the next week or so, we ought
to be able to find it as it distances itself from our star in the eastern
morning sky.
In it's continuing journey through the constellations it has now moved from the southernmost regions of Libra into eastern Virgo
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 15 minutes after the sun.
| Rising: | 6:50 am | |
| Visual Magnitude: | -1.09 | |
| Visual Diameter: | 5" | |
| Distance: | 1.42 AU | |
| Constellation: | Libra |
The accompanying image of the Degas Ray Crater 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.
Mercury is quite the illusive object for amateur astronomers. Since it is the innermost planet, it never gets far enough away from the Sun to be seen in dark skies. Additionally, views along the horizon are typically the most turbulent. So... simply seeing Mercury is about the best you can hope for.
| Rising: | 9:15 am | |
| Visual Magnitude: | 13.94 | |
| Visual Diameter: | <1" | |
| Distance: | 31.41 AU | |
| Constellation: | Ophiuchus |
Take
this bit of planetary information either as an interesting side note, or an
observing challenge. Pluto is in the constellation Ophiuchus, about 15
degrees north of Mars. At magnitude 13.75, Pluto is basically out of reach
of smaller telescopes. One way to verify that you have found Pluto is to
sketch the star patterns over several nights. If you have actually found
Pluto, one of the the faint star-like objects will have moved over the
course of a few nights. This is Pluto.
Pluto orbits the Sun at about 30 times the distance of the Earth - nearly
2.75 billion miles away. The image at right is one of the best ground based
images I have ever seen so don't expect to see any surface detail. Merely
seeing Pluto is an accomplishment.
The accompanying image was taken by the Nordic Optical Telescope.
| Rising: | 1:19 pm | |
| Visual Magnitude: | 7.92 | |
| Visual Diameter: | 2" | |
| Distance: | 30.19 AU | |
| Constellation: | Capricornus |
How's
this for a cool shot of Neptune and it's largest moon Tritan? Taken in 1989
by Voyager 2
as it passed the giant planet.
Neptune
is a relatively easy target when viewed at the right time... and that time
is now! It is best viewed throughout 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.
| Rising: | 2:00 pm | |
| Visual Magnitude: | 5.81 | |
| Visual Diameter: | 4" | |
| Distance: | 19.82 AU | |
| Constellation: | Capricornus |
The
recent discovery of Uranus' 21st moon solidified its number three position
in the moon count behind Saturn with 30 and Jupiter with 39. Uranus is
currently about 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. It was taken by the Adaptive Optics system implemented on the 3.6~m telescope of La Silla-ESO (Chile). 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.
| Rising: | 7:50 pm | |
| Visual Magnitude: | -0.23 | |
| Visual Diameter: | 20" | |
| Distance: | 8.29 AU | |
| Constellation: | Orion |
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.
The accompanying picture of Saturn is the first release by NASA created from images taken by the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft en route to the ringed planet. What an awesome shot! If you look closely, you can see the shadow of the rings falling across the top of the planet. You can also see the shadow of the planet being cast upon the lower portion of the rings. Finally, you can see Saturn largest moon Titan near the upper edge. Wow!
Jupiter, the 5th Planet
| Rising: | 11:40 am | |
| Visual Magnitude: | -2.15 | |
| Visual Diameter: | 38" | |
| Distance: | 5.21 AU | |
| Constellation: | Cancer |
This sequence of nine true-color, narrow-angle images shows the varyingappearance of Jupiter as it rotated through more than a complete 360-degree turn.
Taken by the Cassini-HuygensSpacecraft, the smallest features seen in this sequence are no bigger than about 380 kilometers (about 236 miles).
Rotating more than twice as fast as Earth, Jupiter completes one rotation in about
10 hours. These images were taken on Oct. 22 and 23, 2000. From image to
image (proceeding left to right across each row and then down to the next row),
cloud features on Jupiter move from left to right before disappearing over the edge
onto the nightside of the planet. The most obvious Jovian feature is the Great Red
Spot, which can be seen moving onto the dayside in the third frame (below and to
the left of the center of the planet). In the fourth frame, taken about 1 hour and 40
minutes later, the Great Red Spot has been carried by the planet's rotation to the
east and does not appear again until the final frame, which was taken one
complete rotation after the third frame.
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.
VLBA Reveals Formation Region of Giant Cosmic Jet Near a Black Hole
Space Telescope Science Institute astronomers and their co-investigators have gained their first glimpse of the
mysterious region near a black hole at the heart of a distant galaxy, where a powerful stream of subatomic
particles spewing outward at nearly the speed of light is formed into a beam, or jet, that then goes nearly straight
for thousands of light-years. The astronomers used radio telescopes in Europe and the U.S., including the
National Science Foundation's (NSF) Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) to make the most detailed images ever
of the center of the galaxy M87, some 50 million light-years away.
The VLA and
VLBA are instruments of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, a facility of the National
Science Foundation, operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.
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.
This weekend we move on to the constellation
Perseus
the Hero.
Perseus, at the request of King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia, flew in on the winged horse Pegasus and rescued their daughter, the princess Andromeda from the clutches of the monster Cetus. For this he was handsomely rewarded. and... of course he got the girl :)
Ok, let's start things off with one of my absolute favorites, The Double Cluster in Perseus NGC869(mag4.3) and NGC884(mag4.4). These twin gems lie side by side separated by a mere 1/2°. They easily fit in the same telescopic field of
view in all but the longest focal length instruments. In binoculars, they are beautiful. In a small telescope, the are beautiful. In a large telescope...words can not describe the beauty. But... I'm gonna try :) In the 25", the Double Cluster appears like diamonds strewn across a black velvet background. They seem to sparkle and shimmer as if electrified...like nothing you've ever seen. The Double Cluster is pretty easy to find. They sit midway between Perseus and Cassiopeia. Under moderately dark skies, they are clearly visible to the naked eye as a "fuzzy" patch of light between the two constellations.
I took the accompanying image in April of 2002. They are without a doubt among the finest deep sky objects in all the heavens. And... they'll be well positioned overhead for the next several months.
Next we'll hit a Reflection Nebula/Star Cluster combination designated as IC348(mag7.4). Located by mag4 Omicron Persei, this interesting little object should be fairly easy for you to track down. Not that you'd no it from the picture, but this object emits very strongly in the x-ray regions. More than 100 defined x-ray points have been detected.
Moving on, we come to Open Star Cluster M34(mag5.2) This beautiful little
cluster is much more subtle than the Double Cluster. I think it's very interesting that Messier found this cluster, but not the Double Clusters
located just to the north. But.. he did. Anyway... This cluster has about 50
members which are probably best viewed at low to medium power. As you study this object, notice how many double stars are grouped in this cluster.
Many of them would be on a double star observers list were they not part of
this beautiful little cluster. To find M34, simply travel about 5* northwest of Algol.
Here's a beautiful shot of M34 by J.W. Mulchin. This guy does some really nice work. You should checkout his website.
Let's continue with Planetary Nebula M76(mag12.1) This is a beautiful little nebula. It is loaded with loads of subtle details. Also known as The Little Dumbbell M76 is about the same size as M27. Due to its greater distance, though it appears quite a bit smaller. Visible in telescopes as small as about 90mm under dark skies, this object overflows with details as you increase the aperture.Checkout this beautiful image by Al Kelly.
Let's wrap things up with this weeks Utah Skies Challenge Object, Irregular Galaxy NGC1275(mag11.6) Irregular Galaxy NGC1275 and neighbors This galaxy is located near the center of the Perseus Galaxy Cluster -- a group of some 530 members. Depending on the size of your telescope and the quality of your skies, you'll see many, many galaxies clumped together in this region
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.
Residential Lights Out of Control?
Take a look at
this light. It, and many others just like it, were installed on a home right
here in the Park City area. This light is one of the most offensive light
pollution devices in the area. It's glass top and glass sides provide
no control for the light whatsoever. In other words, it allows light to
shine in all directions. Up.. out.. and also down. Light fixtures like this
waste roughly 75% of the energy they consume. Most of the light output from
this fixture provides no value to its owner. That's 75 cents on every
dollar... Or, 3/4 of all coal burned to power it's bulbs. 75% of all the
emissions released into the atmosphere. All that waste... and no value to
the happy homeowner. What in the world was the manufacturer thinking? What
in the world was the builder thinking? What in the world were the county
inspectors thinking? This light, which violates numerous aspects of the Summit
County lighting ordinance, received the approval of some county
inspector.
Oh, what a pretty light?
Well.. look what happens when you actually turn on lights like this!!!
Is
this not a travesty? What is the point of all this light? Is there a surgery
being performed in the yard in the middle of the night? Why would anybody
need this much light in their yard??? Especially when nobody is outside?
What is the point?
Now, look closer at the picture. Most of the light produced by these fixtures goes up and out. Only a small fraction is actually put on the ground. It's actually dark under the fixtures!
Next Weeks Report
Next week, we'll continue our journey through the cosmos and focus on the constellation Triangulum
Stay up to date on astronomical happenings by regularly checking the Utah Skies website at http://www.UtahSkies.org