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Mission Update
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 The
International Space Station
will make numerous passes over our area this weekend. To find out when it will
make its next pass,
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 International Space Station continues to grow.
In late November, a new truss system was installed. Visit the Astronomy
Picture of the Day to find out more.
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Lunar
Phase
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 The
moon was full last night. In the meantime, we'll
be under a waning gibbous moon with 99% of the Moon's visible disk illuminated in the sky tonight.
Our Moon's appearance changes nightly. This slow-loading time-lapse sequence shows what our Moon looks like during a
lunation, a complete lunar cycle. As the Moon orbits the Earth, the half illuminated by the Sun first becomes increasingly visible, then decreasingly visible. The Moon always keeps the same face toward the Earth. The Moon's apparent size changes slightly, though, and a slight wobble called a libration is discernable as it progresses along its elliptical orbit. During the cycle, sunlight reflects from the Moon at different angles, and so illuminates different features differently. A full lunation takes about 29.5 days, just under a month (moon-th).
(courtesy of the Astronomy Picture of the Day)
This awesome series was taken by António Cidadão
Visit our Lunar
Information Page for even more images and information.
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Planetary Report
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In this section, we visit the planets in the order in
which they are currently rising. Of course, we do our best to track down the finest images
available.
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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Earth, the 3rd Planet
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On Dec. 14th, photographers Gianni Tumino and Melania Pluchinotta captured this image of star trails above Mt. Etna in Sicily--one of the most
active volcanoes on Earth.
Photo details: Nikon 105 mm lens, f/4, 10 min. exposure, Kodak E 100 VS film. Copyright: G. Tumino & M. Pluchinotta.
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Mars, the 4th Planet
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| Rising: |
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4:05 am |
| Visual Magnitude: |
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1.61 |
| Visual Diameter: |
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4" |
| Distance: |
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2.14 AU |
| Constellation: |
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Libra |
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 Mars
continues to brighten. While small, each week marks the
second 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 is in the morning sky. We should
begin picking it up in the east in the coming weeks. Checkout this sweet image.
With Mars beginning to grow and brighten on its way to it's nearest fly by
in 5000 years... it's time to start paying attention to Mars again.
In case you're following along, Mars has recently
drifted into western Libra.
The accompanying image was taken by Ed
Grafton a former Utah Skies Astrophotographer
of the Month.
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Venus, the 2nd Planet
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| Rising: |
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4:05 am |
| Visual Magnitude: |
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-4.60 |
| Visual Diameter: |
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33" |
| Distance: |
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0.51 AU |
| Constellation: |
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Libra |
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 Venus
has made the shift... It is now rising over 3 hours before the sun.
It has taken up the role as the " morning star". Look for it
shining brightly low in the eastern sky just before dawn. Given it's
incredible brightness, it an easy target for observers. Now that Venus is in
the morning sky, you can see four planets before sunrise:
Venus and Mars and
Jupiter and
Saturn.
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 about 37% illuminated. When the planet is near the Sun (as it is now) it looks like a thin crescent. Javier Ruiz Fernández of
Santander, Spain, captured this image of Venus through an 8" telescope on Nov. 5th.
At this point, Venus is pretty cool to look at in a telescope. So... get
out there and check it out!
Venus is also in western Libra, but... it is moving
west... and will soon be in Virgo.
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Pluto, the 9th Planet
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| Rising: |
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6:35 am |
| Visual Magnitude: |
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13.93 |
| Visual Diameter: |
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<1" |
| Distance: |
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31.54 AU |
| Constellation: |
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Ophiuchus |
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 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 13.9, 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 Hubble Space Telescope and shows the relative sizes of Pluto and it's
moon Charon.
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Mercury, the 1st Planet
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| Rising: |
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9:20 am |
| Visual Magnitude: |
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-0.55 |
| Visual Diameter: |
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6" |
| Distance: |
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1.13
AU |
| Constellation: |
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Sagittariius |
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 The accompanying image
shows the
planet Mercury cruising in front of the Sun. This event happened November
15, 1999. I can remember the event well.
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.
Mercury is currently in the constellation
Sagittarius and can now be seen above the south western horizon shortly
after sunset. Best views of the fleet footed planet will be had towards the
end of the month.
Mercury has recently moved into the constellation
Ophiuchus.
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Neptune, the 8th Planet
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| Rising: |
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10:25 am |
| Visual Magnitude: |
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7.97 |
| Visual Diameter: |
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2" |
| Distance: |
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30.83 AU |
| Constellation: |
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Capricornus |
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 How's
this for a cool shot of Neptune? Clearly visible is Neptune's Great Dark
Spot..
Neptune
is a relatively easy target when viewed at the right time... and that time
is winding down! Neptune has been at its best throughout the fall. It is
high in the western sky at dark, so... get on it early. 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.
The accompanying Voyager 2 image zooms in on
Neptune's Great
Dark Spot.
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Uranus, the 7th Planet
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| Rising: |
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11:15 pm |
| Visual Magnitude: |
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5.89 |
| Visual Diameter: |
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3" |
| Distance: |
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20.53 AU |
| Constellation: |
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Capricornus |
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 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 Hubble Space
Telescope. It clearly shows the rings of Uranus as well as a handful of
Uranus' moons. Uranus is another
relatively easy target to find. It is just about at its highest as
darkness falls. So... checkout Neptune and then move on the Uranus. Uranus is another tiny
planet at only 4"... and 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, the 6th Planet
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| Rising: |
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4:50 pm |
| Visual Magnitude: |
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-0.47 |
| Visual Diameter: |
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21" |
| Distance: |
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8.05 AU |
| Constellation: |
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Taurus |
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 Thirty
years ago, the ringed planet Saturn was only 1.2 billion km from Earth--about as close as
it can get--and its rings were tipped toward us. The view through a
telescope was simply breathtaking. Well… It's happening again. On
Tuesday, Dec17th Saturn reached what astronomers refer to as opposition.
Opposition refers to that point in its orbit where Saturn is
opposite the sun in the sky. So, Saturn is rising in the east as the sun is
setting in the west. Finding Saturn is relatively easy. Just look east after
sunset. Saturn will be there, among the bright stars of the constellation
Taurus. Saturn is yellow in hue and doesn't twinkle like a star. Due to its
proximity to Earth (a mere 750 million miles) and the wide open tilt of its rings, Saturn is about as
bright as it can get. Shining at visual magnitude of -0.5, it's brighter
than virtually any object in the winter evening sky. At midnight, Saturn
will be almost directly overhead.
Saturn is now rising
about 5:00pm and is well positioned for observing by about 8:30pm,
giving planetary viewers a nice bedtime treat. 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.
On Dec. 18, 2002, Geoff Chester of Alexandria, Virginia, recorded this composite image of Saturn and six moons using an 8-inch telescope and a ToUcam digital camera.
Is this cool, or what?
Saturn is currently cruising through the constellation Taurus.
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Jupiter, the 5th Planet
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| Rising: |
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8:55 pm |
| Visual Magnitude: |
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-2.43 |
| Visual Diameter: |
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43" |
| Distance: |
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4.60 AU |
| Constellation: |
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Cancer |
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Jupiter's innermost large moon Io
is the most volcanically active body in the solar system... with almost
constant volcanic eruptions. The accompanying Galileo
Spacecraft image is a prime example. Contained in the center of the
image is the volcano Culann Patera.
In the image is both red and black lava, along with yellow patches caused by
sulfurous plumes. The green is though to be caused by the sulfur mixing with
chemicals already on the ground. Finally, the white is thought to be a
sulfur dioxide snow (I wonder if you could ski on it???) Anyway... before
you wrack your brain wondering, I'll tell you outright... this is a true
color image!!!
Incredible, huh????
Jupiter's moons are currently involved in a rare
dance. I'm sure you know that the moons routinely drift in front and in back
of Jupiter. However, due to a chance alignment between Earth and Jupiter,
for the next few months the moons will actually be eclipsing each other. For
times when these events may be viewed, visit the Astronomy
Magazine website.
Jupiter is currently in eastern Cancer.
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 We
don't usually have two pics of a planet, but this one was really cool!
Checkout this awesome shot by Ed
Grafton. In it you see the shadows of two of Jupiter's moons approaching
the right edge of the planet. Shadow transits occur on a regular basis but to see two at one time is more rare. Here can be seen the shadow of
Io and Callisto slipping off the edge of the globe. Note how the shadows are
elongated as they are cast on the curving part of Jupiter's globe. In the center of Jupiter the Moon Io also can be seen in transit. Note that Io shows a phase angle just as Jupiter does.
This image was taken December 15th 2002 from Houston Texas with a C14 and a ST5 CCD.
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Hubble Vision
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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.
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Hubble Watches Galaxies Engage in Dance of Destruction
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope is witnessing a grouping of galaxies engaging in a slow dance of destruction that will last for billions of years. The
galaxies are so tightly packed together that gravitational forces are beginning
to rip stars from them and distort their shapes. Those same gravitational forces eventually could bring the galaxies together to form one large galaxy.
The name of this grouping, Seyfert's Sextet, implies that six galaxies are participating in the action. But only four galaxies are on the dance card. The
small face-on spiral with the prominent arms [center] of gas and stars is a background galaxy almost five times farther away than the other four. Only a
chance alignment makes it appear as if it is part of the group. The sixth member of the sextet isn't a galaxy at all but a long "tidal tail" of stars [below,
right] torn from one of the galaxies. The group resides 190 million light-years
away in the constellation Serpens.
This densely packed grouping spans just 100,000 light-years, occupying less volume than the Milky Way galaxy. Each galaxy is about 35,000 light-years
wide. Three of the galaxies [the elliptical galaxy, second from top, and the two
spiral galaxies at the bottom] bear the telltale marks of close interactions with
each other, or perhaps with an interloper galaxy not pictured here. Their distorted shapes suggest that gravitational forces have reshaped them. The
halos around the galaxies indicate that stars have been ripped away. The galaxy at bottom, center, has a 35,000 light-year-long tail of stars flowing from
it. The tail may have been pulled from the galaxy about 500 million years ago.
Although part of the group, the nearly edge-on spiral galaxy at top, center,
remains relatively undisturbed, except for the slight warp in its disk. Most of its
stars have remained within its galactic boundaries.
Unlike most other galaxy interactions observed with the Hubble telescope, this group shows no evidence of the characteristic blue regions of young star
clusters, which generally arise during galaxy interactions.
The lack of star-forming clusters suggests that there is something different
about Seyfert's Sextet compared with similar systems. One example is Stephan's Quintet, another congregation of interacting galaxies observed with
the Hubble telescope. The difference between the two systems could be a simple one: astronomers may be seeing the sextet at the beginning of its
interaction, before much has happened. This will not be the case for long, though. The galaxies in Seyfert's Sextet will continue to interact, and eventually, billions of years from now, all four may merge and form a single galaxy. Astronomers
have strong evidence that many, if not most, elliptical galaxies are the result of mergers.
Astronomers named the grouping Seyfert's Sextet for astronomer Carl Seyfert, who discovered the assemblage in the late 1940s. Seyfert already suspected that one
apparent member of the sextet was not a galaxy but simply a tidal tail stripped off of one of the other members.
The image was taken on June 26, 2000, with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2.
Image Credit: NASA, J. English (U. Manitoba), S. Hunsberger, S. Zonak, J. Charlton, S. Gallagher (PSU), and L. Frattare (STScI)
Science Credit: NASA, C. Palma, S. Zonak, S. Hunsberger, J. Charlton, S. Gallagher, P. Durrell (The Pennsylvania State University) and J. English (University of
Manitoba)
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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.
E-mail your findings to DeepSkyObservations@UtahSkies.org.
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IDA-Utah Light Pollution Update
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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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<
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YOUNG STAR CLUSTER FOUND AGLOW WITH
MYSTERIOUS CLOUD
Sunspot
activity on our star has picked up again... Sunspot cluster 226 (the large
group towards the center of the image) spans over 15 Earth diameters. It has developed a twisted "delta-class" magnetic field that harbors energy for powerful
X-class
solar flares. Want to view the sun for yourself? Follow these Safe
Viewing Techniques.
