Stormy weather was again in the driver's seat for the better part of our
reporting period. The weekend weather forecast isn't looking much better
either (unless you're a skier).
Skies are forecast
to be partly cloudy to mostly cloudy.. with snow popping in and out.
That said... those of you who are alert will likely have a few (albeit
brief) opportunities to view locally. Skies invariably clear
periodically... allowing you a chance to see what's going on in the night
sky.
Since we won't be able to see a whole lot this weekend... I think its
fitting that we're under a new moon tonight. A new moon (as you know) is
0% illuminated... rising and setting with the Sun. So... even if skies
were clear.. the moon would be invisible to us anyway. Interestingly,
tonight's new moon is the 2nd new moon of the month. These have the
special designation of "Secret
Moon" or Spinner's Moon"... just as the 2nd full moon of a month is
known as a "Blue
Moon". If skies are clear towards the west at sunset this weekend and
the early part of next week... be sure to look for the moon displaying
Earthshine.
Earthshine is sunlight reflecting off of Earth and onto the non-sunlit
portion of the moon. The effect can be quite dramatic.
The 2006 Winter Observing Schedule has finally been published. You can
find it on our homepage. The first event will take place out on the
Swanner Nature Preserve the
weekend of January 20th. In an attempt to raise our odds of success...
we've blocked out the entire weekend for this one night event. So...
whichever night is forecast to be the clearest is the night that the event
will take place. More details will follow as we approach the event date...
and KPCW will undoubtedly be your best
source for these last minute changes.
Utah Skies was recently presented with the
Griffith Observatory
Star Award. This award was established to recognize excellence in web
sites that promote public awareness of astronomy. Sites that receive this
award are considered among the best astronomy sites on the World Wide Web,
as they present useful, thorough, and accurate information in a
well-organized and attractive way, making the sky more accessible. Utah
Skies is honored to be recognized in this way and hopes to continue in its
excellence.
Finally, Utah Skies would like to wish
everyone a happy and healthy new year!
Thursday, December 29th, 2005 - The second full moon in a month is called a blue moon. What do you call the 2nd new moon of the month? Good question, but... tomorrow nights new moon will be the 2nd of the month.
Northern Lights Over Norway
Wednesday, December 28th, 2005 - The northern lights appeared in the skies over Norway yesterday... and what a show it was! Captured in this sweet shot by Kjell Olav Romma over Trondelag, Norway is one sweet example of why we like these so much. Checkout Spaceweather.com for the latest on conditions relating to aurora.
Taurid Meteor Strikes Moon
Wednesday, December 28th, 2005 - Astronomers, testing out some new equipment were recently rewarded for their efforts when they recorded meteor striking the unlit portion
of the lunar surface. The meteor was likely from the Taurid Meteor Shower, which was
going on at that time. Unlike here on Earth, The Moon lacks an
atmosphere to protect it from these impacts. So, instead of burning up harmlessly (though colorfully) like here on Earth, meteors which collide with
the Moon actually strike the lunar surface... causing an explosion. Astronomers estimate that the impact crater was about 3 meters wide and 0.4
meters deep. All this from a relatively tiny meteoroid of about 12 centimeters in diameter. Checkout Science@NASA for more details.
Utah Skies Recieves Star Award
Tuesday, December 27th, 2005 - Utah Skies was recently presented with the Griffith Observatory Star Award. This award was established to recognize excellence in web sites that promote public awareness of astronomy. Sites that receive this award are considered the best astronomy sites on the World Wide Web, as they present useful, thorough, and accurate information in a well-organized and attractive way, making the sky more accessible. Utah Skies is honored to be recognized in this way and hopes to continue in its excellence.
Merry Christmas from Utah Skies
Sunday, December 25th, 2005 - Once again, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has successfully tracked Santa in his frenzied flight from the North Pole around the world. Using four high-tech systems to track Santa - radar, satellites, Santa Cams and jet fighter aircraft - NORAD continues its 50-year tradition of helping us (in six languages) keep track of Santa. Thanks NORAD; Merry Christmas from all of us at Utah Skies!
Partial Ingredients for DNA and Protein Found Around Star
Friday, December 23rd, 2005 - For the first time ever, astronomers using the Spitzer Space Telescope have found precursors to DNA and Protein.. the most fundamental building blocks to life as we know it... surrounding a distant star. The ingredients were found in the inner regions of this distant solar system... at a distance similar to the distance that Earth orbits the Sun. Checkout the NASA Press Release for more details on this very exciting discovery.
Hubble Finds News Uranus Rings & Moons
Thursday, December 22nd, 2005 - Astronomers using the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope have discovered a pair of new rings orbiting the planet Uranus. The rings are incredibly faint and required that Hubble take an extra long exposure just to glimpse them. In addition to this, they also announced the discovery of a pair of new moons as well. The discovery brings the total to 27 moons. Checkout the Hubble Press Release for more details.
Winter Solstice Morning
Wednesday, December 21st, 2005 - This near-last quarter moon was caught this morning in the west-south-western sky as the first light of the year's shortest day touched the peak of Ecker Hill near Park City, UT. Due to the tilt of the earth's axis relative to its orbit around the sun, we experience seasons, and today (about 5:30 this afternoon, actually) is the Winter Solstice, the point in the earth's orbit when those of us in the northern hemisphere are smack dab in the middle of winter (of course, that means our friends south of the equator are in short-sleeves and enjoying a sun that's high in the sky - Summer Solstice). Interestingly, the earth is closer to the sun in December than in July, but our non-circular orbit has no appreciable effect on our seasons.
Eccentric Kuiper Belt Object Challenges Theories
Tuesday, December 20th, 2005 - An object orbiting the Sun in the outer reaches of our solar system has
astronomers and planetary scientists rethinking some of the most basic theories on the creation of our solar system. Officially designated as 2004
XR 190 by the International Astronomical Union and nicknamed "Buffy", this object has an orbit that keeps it twice as far from the Sun as the planet Neptune. Additionally, it is only 1/2 the size of the planet Pluto. Buffy inhabits a region of our solar system known as the Kuiper Belt, a vast region inhabited by tens of thousands of small objects ranging in
size from hundreds of meters to hundreds of kilometers. The vast majority of KBO's orbit on the same plane as the planets. Buffy has an orbit that is
highly inclined. Additionally, most KBO's have very elliptical orbits... pulling in close... and then swinging out to the outer limits of our solar system.
Buffy has an almost perfectly circular orbit. Current theories do not account for an object of this nature. Intrigued? Find out more.
NASA's New Horizons Probe
Saturday, December 17th, 2005 - NASA mission specialists are busily preparing for the January 2006 launch of the New Horizons Spacecraft. The craft will travel for over 9 years and 4 billion miles to reach its first objective... the planet Pluto. It'll snap many pictures as it approaches and then passes Pluto... then continue on to study a few members of the Kuiper Belt... some of the most distant members of our solar system. Stay tuned for more details.
The Real Lord of the Rings
Friday, December 16th, 2005 - The orbiting Cassini Spacecraft recently captured this exquisite shot of Saturn's
ring beautiful system. Taken in infrared, this shot highlights some gaps in the rings. From bottom to top, they are the Cassini Division, the Encke Gap
and the Keeler Gap. Checkout NASA's Planetary Photojournal for more details. Skywatchers Note: The planet Saturn can now be found rising in the
eastern sky around 8:30pm. It is one of the brightest star-like objects in the sky and can be seen without any optical aid. Of course, if you want to see
those beautiful rings, you're definitely going to need a telescope.
The sun is a fascinating subject; it's appearance changes from day to day. In fact, it is the only star in the sky that we can see any details on at all! This week, however, the sun is quiet; there are no large sunspots visible.
Mercury remains visible in the western sky, low on the horizon after sunset. Having reached its greatest eastern elongation on the 20th of June, it is falling back into the sun's glare and it's inferior conjunction on July 18th.
Because of its proximity to the Sun, Mercury is never really viewed against a dark background. Rather, it always struggles to be seen over the light of the setting or rising Sun. Patience (and clear skies) will reward you with some beautiful evening views of this planet.
In the accompanying image, Mercury is seen following the sun toward the western horizon of southern Utah with a slender crescent moon close behind.
Still in the morning sky near sunrise, Venus marks a beginning of the "early-bird's" day. Having attained its greatest western elongation earlier in the year, Venus is continuing its inexorable journey appearing to fall into the sun towards its superior conjunction at the end of October.
If you have a telescope handy, take a peek at the love goddess' name sake; the crescent of Venus is lovely indeed. Venus was beautiful along side the Pleiades on the June 23rd , and look forward to the first of July when Venus rises with Aldebaran, the 14th of July when Venus and the Crab Nebula dance together, and the 26th and 27th of August when Venus and Saturn rise together less than a degree apart!
The ESA's Venus Express spacecraft is now in its mission phase. The ESA reports "On 3 June at 13:42 UT, after 207 days of flight, 43 orbits around Venus and many test activities, Venus Express has formally completed its commissioning phase and has entered the routine science phase...The nominal mission is scheduled to last till the end of October 2007." Venus Express will study the planet in great detail, in particular the Venusian atmosphere and clouds.
While we train our optics skyward nightly, there are visual treasures and marvels to behold earthward. Pictured here is a collection of richly colored rock in the Uinta Mountains, a massive range in Northern Utah carved by glaciers from an immense uplift of Precambrian rock. Some of this rock is exposed as colorful quartzite and shales. The main crest of the Uinta Mountains runs west to east for more than 60 miles, rising over 6,000 feet above the Wyoming and Uinta Basins to the north and south. The highest point in Utah is Kings Peak at 13,528 feet.
The Moon will be new on the 25th, and begin waxing crescent until first quarter on July 3rd, when it will wax gibbous approaching full on July 11th. Those observers that consider the moon "light pollution" look forward to this time of the synodic cycle as the moon travels with the sun, keeping the night sky dark, favoring views of distant, elusive, and faint fuzzies - galaxies, nebulae, and clusters.
Remember, as the moon waxes and wanes, you can look forward to those phases where Moon observations are most fascinating. Features appear - mountains, craters, rilles - as the sunlight casts long, defining shadows. Look along the portion of the Moon separating light from dark, known as the terminator, for the greatest contrasts.
The Red Planet is found high in the western sky at sunset as it moves to it's superior conjunction opposite the Sun later in the year. Look at this sweet shot taken by Utah Skies member Brian Jolley last year when Mars was at its closest. He took this through the historic Clark refractor at Lowell Observatory.
Even without a telescope the view of and around Mars is interesting. Having moved through the constellation Gemini, Mars is approaching a conjunction with Saturn around June 17th. On its way, it will pass through M44!
Planet Jupiter | Solar System | The Utah Skies Report
Jupiter is currently rising late in the afternoon, placing it favorably for those wanting views of the Sun's largest planet before heading off to bed.
This image is an example of what Jupiter has to offer viewers: interesting detail in the equatorial bands and, if conditions are right, swirls and festoons. Much beautiful structure can be seen through a typical telescope, but results vary depending on telescope aperture and sky conditions. Too, the Great Red Spot has some company: another storm has grow in proportion near the GRS, and has come to be known as Spot Jr!
If you have binoculars, point these towards Jupiter. While you won't be able to see any details on the planets surface, binoculars will clearly show you several of Jupiter's brightest moons, and regular observations will show them jockey for position as they orbit the giant planet. The movement is quite apparent, sometimes even in the span of a few hours.
This sweet shot of Jupiter nicely shows its great red spot and some of the incredible details just waiting your observation. Additionally, you can see one of Jupiter's moons eclipsing the giant planet. The round "ink spot" on the planet's surface is the shadow cast by its moon. Watching Jupiter's moons as they orbit and occasionally transit the giant planet is a very interesting part of observing Jupiter.
Saturn is now rising mid-morning and reaching the highest point in its path across the sky in the late afternoon; the spectacular views of the ringed planet will soon come to an end as it moves behind the sun with the passing weeks. Some truely great views of the ringed planet and its satellites are available on the Cassini Huygens pages. This sweet shot was taken by Don Brown of Utah Skies.
Uranus is currently rising in the early morning, about an hour after Neptune.. The Earth and Uranus have ostensibly achieved their greatest separation, and will soon begin to draw nearer again.
This fascinating image was taken from a ground-based telescope in the European Southern Observatory.
Planet Neptune | Solar System | The Utah Skies Report
The planet Neptune, is currently rising several hours before the sun, leaving you precious little time to view the 8th rock. To speed up your acquisition of the planet, look just east of south before first light. Find Deneb Ageldi; Neptune is just about 4.5° west and north of "the water goat's tail". At just a touch brighter than mag 8, Neptune should be visible as a faint star-like object in binoculars or as a bluish object in a telescope. Once you've found it, higher powers will clearly reveal the disk of the planet .
This beautiful image of Neptune and its moon, Triton, was taken by the Voyager 2 spacecraft from a perspective that will never be had from Earth. Interesting to note is the gray hue of the planet in this image. The atmosphere of the planet preferentially scatters the light forward from this vantage and so removes the bluish tinge, and reddens the color.
Planet Pluto | Solar System | The Utah Skies Report
Pluto is rising before midnight, giving you the time you'll need to seek this faintest of planets. To know you've seen Pluto is going to require observations over several nights, carefully noting star patterns until you see one point of light move relative to the others: that's Pluto!!! But don't try this at home kids, unless you have some serious aperture, because at mag 15+, you're gonna need it!
This image of Pluto and its moon Charon was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, showing the improved performance of a space-based observational platform over ground-based telescopes.
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.
Feasting Black Hole Blows Bubbles
A monstrous black hole's rude table manners include blowing huge
bubbles of hot gas into space. At least, that's the gustatory
practice followed by the supermassive black hole residing in the
hub of the nearby galaxy NGC 4438. Known as a peculiar galaxy
because of its unusual shape, NGC 4438 is in the Virgo Cluster, 50
million light-years from Earth.
These NASA Hubble Space Telescope images of the galaxy's
central region clearly show one of the bubbles rising from a dark
band of dust. The other bubble, emanating from below the dust
band, is barely visible, appearing as dim red blobs in the
close-up picture of the galaxy's hub (the colorful picture at
right). The background image represents a wider view of the
galaxy, with the central region defined by the white box.
These extremely hot bubbles are caused by the black hole's
voracious eating habits. The eating machine is engorging itself
with a banquet of material swirling around it in an accretion disk
(the white region below the bright bubble). Some of this material
is spewed from the disk in opposite directions. Acting like
high-powered garden hoses, these twin jets of matter sweep out
material in their paths. The jets eventually slam into a wall of
dense, slow-moving gas, which is traveling at less than 223,000
mph (360,000 kph). The collision produces the glowing material.
The bubbles will continue to expand and will eventually dissipate.
Compared with the life of the galaxy, this bubble-blowing phase is
a short-lived event.
The bubble is much brighter on one side of the galaxy's center
because the jet smashed into a denser amount of gas. The brighter
bubble is 800 light-years tall and 800 light-years across.
The observations are being presented June 5 at the American
Astronomical Society meeting in Rochester, N.Y. Both pictures were
taken March 24, 1999 with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2.
False colors were used to enhance the details of the bubbles. The
red regions in the picture denote the hot gas.
Credits:NASA and Jeffrey Kenney and
Elizabeth Yale (Yale University)
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 Sculptor. Sculptor is a creation of modern times. In the middle 1700's it was basically created from "unused" stars between Cetus to the north and Phoenix to the south. It's original name translated to "The Sculptor's Workbench". This was shortened to Sculptor.
Ok, let's start things off one of the most spectacular galaxies in the sky, Spiral Galaxy NGC253(mag7.1). Simply put, this is a huge galaxy, spanning over 25'. This galaxy would be everybody's favorite were it located a bit higher in the sky. It's -25° declination makes it tough on all but the best observing nights.
Next up is Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC55(mag8.0). This would be another favorite were it located a bit higher in the sky. Unfortunately (for us northerners anyway) it's -39° declination puts it only a smidge over 10° above the horizon when it's at the zenith. Oh, well... sounds like another good excuse to visit the land down under.
This gorgeous shot was taken by T.A.Rector of the /NOAO/AURA/NSF
Continuing, we come to Globular Star Cluster, NGC288(mag8.1). This beautiful shot was taken by Jon Talbot; you should check out his website; he does awesome work!!!!
Next up is Spiral Galaxy NGC300(mag9.0). This beautiful shot was taken by the European Southern Observatory's 2.2 meter telescope
Continuing, we come to our final stop in Sculptor, this weeks Utah Skies Challenge Object: beautiful Barred Spiral Galaxy, NGC613(mag10.0). This is another beautiful shot from Al Kelly.
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.
The last several months have brought us the release of several large and ground
breaking studies on the impact that light pollution has on your health. I
thought it was about time that several of these were brought to your attention
so that we might (hopefully) get a few more folks to reconsider their
outdoor lighting practices.
Starry Night Lights has compiled a more comprehensive listing of the effects of
light pollution and human health on their website along with some valuable
light pollution
information.
Most recently
Science News
reported on a study conducted at the Bassett Research Institute in Cooperstown,
N.Y which found that "Light at night is now clearly a risk factor for breast
cancer. Breast tumors are awake during the day, and melatonin puts them to sleep
at night." Add artificial light to the night environment, and "cancer cells
become insomniacs," he says. "Sleep per se is not important for melatonin," says
Russel J. Reiter, a neuroendocrinologist at the University of Texas Health
Science Center in San Antonio. "But darkness is." Similar studies could show
whether exposure to nocturnal light poses a prostate cancer risk to men, as some
researchers suspect, or promotes other cancers previously linked to light at
night
Additionally,
Prevention Magazine did a story on the link between light and cancer in
their January 2006 issue. What they found was a bit unnerving to say the least.
Exposure to light at night reduces the bodies production of melatonin... our
premier cancer fighting agent. While not specifically tied to light pollution,
the studies showed that high levels of light at night (from any source) caused a
measurable decreases in the bodies production of melatonin. This is certainly
something to think about if you're a late night tv addict. It's also something
to think about if you've got an unshielded street light or neighborhood light
near any of your homes bedroom windows. As if to validate the study... it was
found that the blind are 50% less likely to get cancer than those of us with
sight.
Another study found that women who work the night shift are more likely to
get breast cancer because their bodies produce less melatonin. This just makes
sense... as our body produces the majority of its melatonin during the middle of
the night... generally 1-4am. If you're not sleeping then (and don't have access
to completely darkened sleeping quarters), your body will produce significantly
reduced amounts of this vital substance.
Finally, a recent study released by
the
American Association for Cancer Research was the first to show that the
tumor growth response to exposure to light during darkness is intensity
dependent and that the human nocturnal, circadian melatonin signal not only
inhibits human breast cancer growth but that this effect is extinguished by
short-term exposure to bright, white light at night.
Interested in reducing your risk of cancer? Sure you are. There are a few
simple things you can do that can make a world of difference.
Sleep in a totally dark room. This means no night lights... no bathroom
lights left on down the hall... no street lights shining in your windows. If
you have obnoxious street lights nearby... or some of your neighbors have some
pesky lights... either get these replaced... or consider investing in some
room darkening shades or blinds.
Get 9 hours of sleep each night (seriously). Folks who get 9 hours / night
are 1/3 less likely to get caner than those who get 7 or 8 hours.
Reduce the wattage of your bulbs. Dimmer lights impact the body less
extensively.
Use red lights at night (and you thought that red flashlight was only good
for astronomy). This is another biggie. Light at the red end of the spectrum
has significantly less impact on the bodies melatonin production than light at
the blue end. Fluorescents on halogens are the worst.
Get your light during the day... from the Sun. 10 to 15 minutes worth of
bright sunshine signals the body that a new day is underway. This is a key
factor in regulating the circadian rhythm. In the winter, you might need to
head outside for a quick lunchtime walk. The presence of the sun helps the
body to better differentiate man-made light from natural light.
Here's the latest addition to Starry Night
Lights growing collection of night sky friendly outdoor lights.
Manufactured by
SPJ
Lighting, the
SPJ-552 is
a distinctive looking fixture crafted from stainless steel for years of
reliable performance. With its solid, closed top, this fixture puts all
of its light output on the ground beneath it... and not into the night
sky above. Its solid sides also make it a perfect example of
neighbor friendly lighting as well. If you're planning on building a
home or business this year... or simply want to upgrade your
outdoor lights... this
would be a good candidate fixture.
As you'd expect, you can find
this gorgeous, dark sky friendly outdoor light in the
metallic wall
sconce section of your favorite outdoor lighting retailer, Starry Night Lights!
Newsfeed
Sun
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Moon
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Pluto
The sun is a fascinating subject; it's appearance changes from day to day. In fact, it is the only star in the sky that we can see any details on at all! This week, however, the sun is quiet; there are no large sunspots visible.
