Our solar system has taken center stage again. Our nearest celestial
neighbors are all well paced for observing. Starting even before the sun
sets... we'll find ourselves under an almost full moon tonight. Look for
Luna to rise in the east around 3:30 this afternoon. It'll be around 95%
illuminated at that point... on its way to full on Sunday evening. The
moon is always a fun target to observe when its up. You may hear me
complain about the large phase of the moon, but... it does... without a
doubt... offer up far more detail to observers than any other celestial
object. With or without optics.. the moon has quite a bit to offer.
Rising shortly after the moon... but staying hidden until after the sun
sets.. is the ringed planet Saturn. Saturn is everybody's favorite...
seasoned and novice observers return to Saturn... almost instinctively.
It's beautiful rings are visible in even the most modest of telescopes. It
even reveals a handful of its brightest moons. It has 47 at last count.
High and towards the west is the red planet, Mars. Mars has now shrunk to
a fraction of its peak size, but... its still clearly shows its reddish
color even to casual observers.
Several hours later... in the east.. the largest of all the planets of the
solar system rises. Look for giant Jupiter to peak above the horizon
shortly after 1:00am. Best views of Jup will be had around first light...
say.. between 5:00 & around 7:00am. Jupiter is always full of surprises.
Be it the great red spot.. first viewed by Galileo back in the 1600's...
or its beautiful cloud bands.. that stripe the planet. Even its brightest
moons are part of the act. You can watch them jockeying for position all
within the course of the evening.
This weekend we move on to the constellation
Monoceros the Unicorn. Unicorn's are mythical creatures with
the legs of a deer, the tail of a lion, and the head of a horse. There is
one horn growing straight out of the center of the head. The stars of the
constellation are faint and illusive, just like the Unicorn. Given that
Orion is
a mythical hunter, it's pretty funny to have a highly prized Unicorn
standing right behind him. Monoceros is home to a treasure chest of deep
sky treats.. including some beautiful star clusters... and some incredible
nebulae. When the moon gives us back the night... be sure to point your
binoculars or telescope towards Monoceros. It's one constellation you
definitely want to get to know.
We'd like to finish by reminding you
that
Utah Skies and the folks at the Swanner Nature Preserve will be presenting
the 2nd event in our 2006 Snowshoe / Star Party
Series tonight. The event will take place on the preserve... and skies are
forecast to be nice and clear. The highlight of the nights viewing will be
a nearly full moon and the ringed planet, Saturn. We'll examine craters on
the moon as well some lava flows.. and even some mountain ranges. Saturn,
of course will show off its beautiful rings. If you've never seen Saturn
through a telescope before.. let me tell you... its definitely worth the
price of admission :-)
The two will be well placed for viewing throughout the event which runs
from around 7:30pm until around 10:00pm. Admission is free, but... if
you plan on attending.. please contact the folks at Swanner and let them
know... so they'll have an idea on the number of people planning to
attend the event.
Astronomy News
From Around The World, and Beyond
Mineta Says DOT Could Clear Passenger Space Craft by 2008
Friday, February 10th, 2006 - Commercial space craft could be cleared to carry passengers by 2008, Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta announced Thursday. Speaking to a group of space entrepreneurs, the Secretary said that a number of companies should be set to take passengers into space and that the U.S. Department of Transportation would be ready to clear these flights within two years. "This timeline isn't based on science fiction," Secretary Mineta said. "It is a timeline based on the reality of where commercial space is today and where we expect the state of commercial space to be within two short years." See the US Department of Transportation press release for more information.
The Moon and Saturn
Friday, February 10th, 2006 - Skywatchers are in for a treat tonight... as two of the night skies most watched objects join forces. Look for the Moon to rise in the east around 3:30pm. The planet Saturn will rise about an hour later... though you won't be able to see it until shortly after the sun sets. The pair will cross the sky together... with the moon slowly falling behind. Sandwiched between the two (though mostly hidden by the brightness of the moon) will be Utah's namesake deep sky object, M44 - The Bee Hive Star Cluster. The Moon and Saturn will receive a considerable amount of scope time at tonight's Utah Skies / Swanner Nature Preserve Snow Shoe - Star Party tonight. Contact the folks at Swanner if you'd like to attend. Admission is free... they'd just like to have a heads up on the expected number of attendees. Hope to see you there!
Moons in Motion
Thursday, February 9th, 2006 - Amateur astronomer Pete Lawrence of Selsey, UK recently captured 5 of Saturn's 47 moons orbiting the giant planet. Click here to see them in motion over a 3 hour period.
Saturn is currently high in the eastern sky shortly after sunset... appearing as a bright star-like object. If you've never seen it before, The Planet Saturn is a treat to view in a telescope. No doubt, Saturn will get plenty of scope time at
tomorrow night's Utah Skies / Swanner Nature Preserve Snow-Shoe
Star Party Event. All are invited... and admission is free. Simply contact the preserve and let them know you're
coming. Snowshoes are available for those who don't have them.
Hubble Snaps A Pinwheel
Tuesday, February 7th, 2006 - Astronomers using the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope snapped this gorgeous image of NGC1309, a pinwheel shaped galaxy located in the constellation Eridanus. Those of you with access to a telescope might head outside early to view this object (once the bright moon vacates the sky... say... the middle of next week). NGC 1309 was home to supernova whose light reached Earth in September 2002. Astronomers used this information to help gauge the expansion rate of the universe.
Crescent Venus
Tuesday, February 7th, 2006 - The 2nd rock, Venus has become an easy target again... sitting high in the southeastern sky just before sunrise. Venus is so bright, that you can actually view it after sunrise if you know where to look. Venus is currently shining at a blistering mag -4.6... many, many times brighter than the brightes stars in the sky. Venus is also sporting a slender crescent phase with about 17% of its disk illuminated. This will grow quickly in the coming weeks.though as it distances itself from The Sun.
Venus Rising
Monday, February 6th, 2006 - The planet Venus has made the move... and is now The Morning Star. The 2nd rock can now be found rising above the southeastern horizon just before sunrise. Venus's incredible brightness makes it impossible to miss... though many people mistake it for an airplane or some other object. Venus is so bright, that if its risen... you just can't miss it! The accompanying shot was taken today at around 6:50am (not too early for most folks to see :-)
Saturn And The Bee Hive
Sunday, February 5th, 2006 - The planet Saturn is currently located in the constellation Cancer. It's also cruising across the night sky in the company of Utah's namesake deep sky object, M44 - The Bee Hive Star Cluster. Saturn is always a treat, and is at its best for the year right now. Point your telescope towards Saturn and view its beautiful rings and subtle planetary features. As an added bonus, Saturn marks the location of the Bee Hive Star Cluster. If you've never viewed any deep sky objects before, now's your chance. Use bright Saturn is you guide. The Bee Hive Cluster looks nice in even a typical pair of binoculars. Telescopes, of course, will reveal many more of its member stars. Checkout the pair high and towards the east shortly after dark.
SuitSat in Orbit
Friday, February 3rd, 2006 - (Spaceweather.com) At 6:02 pm EST on Friday, Feb. 3rd, astronauts threw an old spacesuit overboard from the International Space Station. The disembodied suit, nicknamed SuitSat, is now orbiting Earth and transmitting a message which anyone can hear using a police scanner or ham radio tuned to 145.990 MHz.
Bigger Than Pluto? Then It's a Planet!
Friday, February 3rd, 2006 - The trans-Neptunian body, UB313, discovered a little more that a year ago was thought to be larger than Pluto based on its observed brightness. But because high brightness alone isn't a good measure of size, Frank Bertoldi and his colleagues of the University of Bonn in Germany used the IRAM 30-meter telescope in the Sierra Nevada mountains of southern Spain to observe UB313 in the infrared range. Based on observations made over nine nights in August 2005, UB313 appears to have a diameter of between 3,094 and 2,859 kilometers. Even the smallest size in that range would make the object's diameter more than 500 kilometers larger than Pluto's. Their research appeared recently in the journal Nature. So, the bottom line: either UB313 is a planet, or Pluto isn't.
Water Ice Found on Comet's Exterior
Friday, February 3rd, 2006 - Scientists, studying data from NASA's Deep Impact mission have found the first evidence that water ice can exist on a comet's exterior. In a report in an online edition of the journal Science, researchers found that the surface of Comet Tempel 1 has three small pockets of water ice. The same team previously reported that Tempel 1's interior also contained an abundance of organic material and suggested the comet may have originated in a region of the solar system now occupied by Uranus and Neptune. Several theories of how life originated on Earth involve comets containing critical components actually colliding with Earth. Checkout Space.com for all the details.
10th Planet Downsized?
Wednesday, February 1st, 2006 - Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope have downsized our solar systems 10th planet. Based on the most recent images available, it has been determined that the still as yet unnamed planet is only marginally larger than the planet Pluto... not the 25% to 50% originally estimated. Astronomers had originally expected the surface of the object to be darker than it appears to be. To send back the amount of light that was being captured, a darker surface would have required the object to be considerably bigger. It turns out that for some unknown reason, this object has a 92% surface reflectivity... much higher than Pluto's 60%. "Geysers may continually coat the surface with fresh frost", speculated planetary scientist Michael Brown of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, although how that occurs on such a frigid body is unknown. The new data makes this object the near twin of Pluto... not its big brother. Find out more
Star Dust Returns
Monday, January 30th, 2006 - Here's a nice shot of the Star Dust capsule taken during its recent re-entry. If you've got a moment, click here to view a nice video that was taken by NASA scientists aboard a DC-8 airborne laboratory. Scientists hope to learn about the formative years of our solar system as they study the cometary particles captured by Star Dust.
Smallest Extra-Solar Planet
Friday, January 27th, 2006 - Astronomers recently announced the discovery of the smallest extra-solar planet yet. With a mass just 5 times that of Earth, the discovery is miles away from the Jupiter sized planets that have been the mainstay of extra-solar discoveries. Don't make any vacation plans yet though.... The new planet has a huge orbit around a faint star leading astronomers to conclude that surface temperatures would be somewhere near -364F. Checkout the Hubble Site for more details.
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.
Hubble Snaps Images of a Pinwheel-Shaped Galaxy
Looking like a child's pinwheel ready to be set a spinning by a
gentle breeze, this dramatic spiral galaxy is one of the latest
viewed by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Stunning details of the
face-on spiral galaxy, cataloged as NGC 1309, are captured in this
color image.
Recent observations of the galaxy taken in visible and infrared
light come together in a colorful depiction of many of the
galaxy's features. Bright blue areas of star formation pepper the
spiral arms, while ruddy dust lanes follow the spiral structure
into a yellowish central nucleus of older-population stars. The
image is complemented by myriad far-off background galaxies.
However, this galaxy image is more than just a pretty picture.
It is helping astronomers to more accurately measure the expansion
rate of the universe. NGC 1309 was home to supernova SN 2002fk,
whose light reached Earth in September 2002. This supernova event,
known as a Type Ia, resulted from a white dwarf star accreting
matter from its companion in a binary star system. When the white
dwarf collected enough mass and was no longer able to support
itself, the star detonated, becoming the brightest object in the
galaxy for several weeks.
Nearby Type Ia supernovae like SN 2002fk in NGC 1309 are used
by astronomers to calibrate distance measures in the universe. By
comparing nearby Type Ia supernovae to more distant ones, they can
determine not only that the universe is expanding, but that this
expansion is accelerating. However, this method only works if the
distance to the host galaxies is known extremely well.
That's where the Hubble Telescope comes into play. Since NGC
1309 is relatively close to us, the high resolution of Hubble's
Advanced Camera for Surveys can help accurately determine the
distance to the galaxy by looking at the light output of a
particular type of variable star called a Cepheid variable.
Cepheids are well studied in our own galaxy, and vary regularly in
brightness at a rate that is directly related to their total
intrinsic brightness. By comparing their variation rate with how
bright they appear, astronomers can deduce their distance. In this
way, the Cepheids in NGC 1309 allow astronomers to accurately
measure the distance to NGC 1309, and thus to SN 2002fk. The
expansion of the universe was discovered by Edwin Hubble, the
Hubble Space Telescope's namesake, nearly a century ago, but the
accelerating expansion is a recent discovery which has interesting
consequences for cosmological models.
These Hubble images were taken in August and September 2005.
NGC 1309 resides 100 million light-years (30 Megaparsecs) from
Earth. It is one of about 200 galaxies that make up the Eridanus
group of galaxies.
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
Monoceros the
Unicorn. Unicorn's are mythical creatures with the legs of a deer, the tail of a lion,
and the head of a horse. There is one horn growing straight out of the center of the head. The stars of the constellation are faint and illusive, just
like the Unicorn. In many cultures, the tiny crescent moon is said to represent the horn of the Unicorn. Given that
Orion is a mythical hunter, it's pretty funny to have a highly prized Unicorn standing right behind a mighty
hunter.
Monoceros is home to a few beautiful and interesting multiple star systems.
First up is Beta Monocerotis mag4.6. This is actually a beautiful triple star system. The first two stars (A&B) are about mag5 and are separated by about 7.5" The
third star is about 2.8" from the B star forming a beautiful triangle.
Another interesting star is known as Plaskett's Star, after astronomer J.S. Plaskett who first observed it in 1922. These are probably the largest pair of stars known to
exist in our galaxy... Estimates put the two stars at about 60 and 40 times the mass of our Sun. The pair are about 2700 light years distant making them about 3000
times brighter than our star..
First up is the only
Messier object
on the list; a beautiful Open Star Cluster M50(mag5.9). M50 is a beautiful
object which can be spotted in binoculars. It's home in the midst of a
dense portion of the Milky Way only
enhances it's beauty. M50 can be found about 7° north of mag4 Gamma Canis Majoris.
Estimates on the number of stars in this cluster vary greatly as it is actually pretty difficult to determine the actual end of the
cluster and the start of the Milky Way background. M50 is probably about 3,000 light years distant. Its angular
diameter of
about 15x20' therefore corresponds to a physical diameter of about 18 light years. There are
about 200 member stars in the
cluster and it is estimated that the age of the cluster is around 78 million years.
Next up is the beautiful
Rosetta Nebula complex NGC2237-9(mag5.5)
This beautiful object absolutely requires a nebula filter. It doesn't matter
which one you've got... though I prefer an OIII filter. Without a filter this
object is virtually invisible. Even with the big scope under dark skies I could just barely detect the nebula. Pop in the filter and
WAM! The nebula jumps right out at you. This is a large object - spanning about70'x80'. I
could not fit the whole thing inside my lowest power, widest angle eyepiece. So... depending on your setup, you may have to move around to
view it all. But... it's definitely worth the effort. This is one beautiful, highly
detailed nebula. We spent quite a bit of time looking at it. We'd swap nebula filters...and eyepieces... and fight for turns on the ladder. You'll definitely enjoy this object.
This awesome shot was taken by none other than Robert
Gendler.
Next up is
Open Star Cluster NGC2244(mag4.8). Also known as the
Rosetta Cluster, this object is classified as an open star cluster, but.. .from
the picture you're immediately overwhelmed by the nebulosity. This nebulosity is actually part of the huge Rosetta Nebula. This small cluster is
actually a "freebie". If you find the Rosetta Nebula, you're bound to find this
cluster. If you haven't found the nebula (you are using a nebula filter, aren't
you:) you might use this tiny cluster as a reference... it sits right in the
middle of the nebula. In an 8" telescope, you'll see about 3 dozen stars with many more appearing as you increase the aperture. To find this
cluster, travel about 9° ESE of Betelgeuse.
Continuing along, we come to
Open Star Cluster NGC2506(mag7.6).
Located about 15° south of Procyon or about the same distance east of Sirius, this is a beautiful object in binoculars or a small telescope. In a
large telescope, it is absolutely stunning. Checkout this beautiful "Open"
star cluster. Give it a quick look and you might think it was a loose globular
cluster. In fact, it's pretty much a "typical" open star cluster. Not too dense,
and not too loose. What makes it appear so dense is the fact that it's superimposed onto a fairly dense portion of the Milky Way. So, the
combined density of cluster stars and background stars makes this object look so cool.
Next
up is yet another fine Open Star Cluster, NGC2343(mag7.2) This
object, which has about as many members as NGC2362, will actually show
more stars in smaller instruments. A 6-8" telescope will reveal
almost twice as many stars as NGC2360. It's not until you move up to
larger telescopes that you begin to pull some of the fainter members of
NGC2362 into
view.
In the eyepiece, NGC2362 is simply beautiful. It's
delicate internal structures will entice you. Another thing to note is the
fact that there is no really distinct ending to this cluster. It simply
blends into the surrounding Milky Way.
This movie (an animated GIF)
shows the expanding light echo of nova V838 Monocerotis, discovered by an amateur in January 2002. Made by
Al Kelly from images taken by Arne Henden of the
US Naval
Observatory in Flagstaff, AZ. Arne made UVBRI image sets in January, May, September,
and November. The GIF comprises a sequence of L/RGB color composites made from these image sets.,
Continuing,
we come to a beautiful Open Star Cluster with Nebulosity,
NGC2264(mag4). Actually, this picture is deceiving... yes I know.. many
deep sky shots are deceiving. You won't see this much nebulosity. You'll
mostly see the star cluster... with a bit of nebulosity surrounding it.
You'll benefit from a nebula filter...dark skies... and aperture... yes I
know... you benefit from those three things in virtually every observing
situation.
Anyway.. Checkout this awesome shot of The
Cone Nebula by Robert
Gendler.
Let's wrap things up with this weeks
Utah Skies Challenge Object, a fine nebula known as Hubble's Variable Nebula - NGC2261(mag10). We
observed this beauty through the
25" ObDob under the dark skies of
southern Utah. It was quite an impressive site.
Located about 5° northeast
of the Rosetta Nebula, this is not a terribly challenging
object. Under
reasonably dark skies, and with just a bit of patience you should be all
over this one.
What makes this object so interesting is that it has been
seen to vary in size,
brightness, and structure over time. Since Hubble's
Variable Nebula is a reflection
nebula, we see it because of light reflecting
off of it. Astronomers have speculated that
shadows cast by moving
clouds of gas and dust cast shadows on the nebula. It is
believed that
these clouds are moved around by solar wind emanating from the star R
Monoceros. It is thought that these moving clouds are what cause the
nebula to vary so
dramatically.
Visually, this object looks very much like a
comet... even displaying a bit of a tail. This
object has a reasonably high
surface brightness, allowing telescopes from about 6" and
up to display
some nice views. As it's fairly bright, you should be able to benefit from a
bit of magnification as well.
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.
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.
As you'd expect, you can find
this attractive, dark sky friendly ceramic wall lamp lighting fixture in the
Ceramic Wall
Mounts section of your favorite outdoor lighting retailer, Starry Night Lights!
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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.
First up is the only
Next up is the beautiful
Rosetta Nebula complex NGC2237-9(mag5.5)
This beautiful object absolutely requires a nebula filter. It doesn't matter
which one you've got... though I prefer an OIII filter. Without a filter this
object is virtually invisible. Even with the big scope under dark skies I could just barely detect the nebula. Pop in the filter and
WAM! The nebula jumps right out at you. This is a large object - spanning about70'x80'. I
could not fit the whole thing inside my lowest power, widest angle eyepiece. So... depending on your setup, you may have to move around to
view it all. But... it's definitely worth the effort. This is one beautiful, highly
detailed nebula. We spent quite a bit of time looking at it. We'd swap nebula filters...and eyepieces... and fight for turns on the ladder. You'll definitely enjoy this object.
Next up is
Open Star Cluster NGC2244(mag4.8). Also known as the
Rosetta Cluster, this object is classified as an open star cluster, but.. .from
the picture you're immediately overwhelmed by the nebulosity. This nebulosity is actually part of the huge Rosetta Nebula. This small cluster is
actually a "freebie". If you find the Rosetta Nebula, you're bound to find this
cluster. If you haven't found the nebula (you are using a nebula filter, aren't
you:) you might use this tiny cluster as a reference... it sits right in the
middle of the nebula. In an 8" telescope, you'll see about 3 dozen stars with many more appearing as you increase the aperture. To find this
cluster, travel about 9° ESE of Betelgeuse.
Continuing along, we come to
Open Star Cluster NGC2506(mag7.6).
Located about 15° south of Procyon or about the same distance east of Sirius, this is a beautiful object in binoculars or a small telescope. In a
large telescope, it is absolutely stunning. Checkout this beautiful "Open"
star cluster. Give it a quick look and you might think it was a loose globular
cluster. In fact, it's pretty much a "typical" open star cluster. Not too dense,
and not too loose. What makes it appear so dense is the fact that it's superimposed onto a fairly dense portion of the Milky Way. So, the
combined density of cluster stars and background stars makes this object look so cool.
Next
up is yet another fine Open Star Cluster, NGC2343(mag7.2) This
object, which has about as many members as NGC2362, will actually show
more stars in smaller instruments. A 6-8" telescope will reveal
almost twice as many stars as NGC2360. It's not until you move up to
larger telescopes that you begin to pull some of the fainter members of
NGC2362 into
view.
This movie (an animated GIF)
shows the expanding light echo of nova V838 Monocerotis, discovered by an amateur in January 2002. Made by
Continuing,
we come to a beautiful Open Star Cluster with Nebulosity,
NGC2264(mag4). Actually, this picture is deceiving... yes I know.. many
deep sky shots are deceiving. You won't see this much nebulosity. You'll
mostly see the star cluster... with a bit of nebulosity surrounding it.
You'll benefit from a nebula filter...dark skies... and aperture... yes I
know... you benefit from those three things in virtually every observing
situation.
Let's wrap things up with this weeks
Utah Skies Challenge Object, a fine nebula known as Hubble's Variable Nebula - NGC2261(mag10). We
observed this beauty through the
25" ObDob under the dark skies of
southern Utah. It was quite an impressive site.
Located about 5° northeast
of the Rosetta Nebula, this is not a terribly challenging
object. Under
reasonably dark skies, and with just a bit of patience you should be all
over this one.
What makes this object so interesting is that it has been
seen to vary in size,
brightness, and structure over time. Since Hubble's
Variable Nebula is a reflection
nebula, we see it because of light reflecting
off of it. Astronomers have speculated that
shadows cast by moving
clouds of gas and dust cast shadows on the nebula. It is
believed that
these clouds are moved around by solar wind emanating from the star R
Monoceros. It is thought that these moving clouds are what cause the
nebula to vary so
dramatically.
Visually, this object looks very much like a
comet... even displaying a bit of a tail. This
object has a reasonably high
surface brightness, allowing telescopes from about 6" and
up to display
some nice views. As it's fairly bright, you should be able to benefit from a
bit of magnification as well.
