Sky conditions have been absolutely wonderful. Clear skies
have combined with relatively warm temperatures to make observing a real treat.
Throw in the fact that
the
moon is coming up on last quarter Saturday night and you have a recipe for
some sweet nights. The timing could not be much better as the sky is full of
wonderful objects to view.
Starting things off,
the
planet Saturn is well into the western sky shortly after dark. If you'd like
to checkout the ringed planet (and who wouldn't), you'd better do so soon. It'll
be gone for the season shortly. Swinging around to the east,
the
planet Jupiter is rising just before sunset. Look for Jupiter and its bright
moons to put on a wonderful show for the next several months. Its pretty much at
its biggest and brightest for the year, so.. check it out each opportunity that
you get. Of particular interest, is a new red spot which has developed in recent
weeks. Known affectionately as red junior (after the great red spot), this storm
is a sizable fraction of that of the original. Its visible to backyard
astronomers with modest telescopes when skies are steady.
If all this sounds wonderful, but you don't have a telescope,
you're in luck. This Saturday night (5/20), Utah Skies and
Basin Recreation will kick off the
2006 Summer Star
Party Series out at our regular location at
Trailside Park.
Admission, as always is free. We'll be viewing Jupiter and Saturn plus a range
of deep sky objects... including The Sombrero Galaxy, The Hercules Cluster and
the Trio in Leo. If you have a telescope, by all means, bring it. If not..
please just bring your imagination. We'd like to make a special request that
folks leave their exterior lights off on Saturday. This will greatly enhance the
viewing experience of star party attendees.
Astronomy News
From Around The World, and Beyond
Star Party Saturday Night
Thursday, May 18th, 2006 - The 2006 Summer Star Party Series kicks off this Saturday night (5/20) out at Trailside Park. Co-hosted by Utah Skies and Basin Recreation, the
event will run from dusk (8:30pm) until around 1:00am. Admission as always, is free. If you have a telescope, by all means, please bring it. If not, just
bring your imagination. Come checkout Jupiter and Saturn and a host of deep sky treasures through some of the finest telescopes available.
Similar Solar System
Wednesday, May 17th, 2006 - According to the New York Times, "A team of European astronomers said today that they had found one of the closest analogues yet to our solar system: three planets and an asteroid belt circling a pale Sunlike star..." The journal Nature will be publishing findings on Thursday, May 18th. Image credit: David Hardy
To Infinity... and Beyond!
Tuesday, May 16th, 2006 - Whether you grew up with you grew up with the Jetsons or Buzz Lightyear, space travel has always been a thing for the tv. That might not be true for much longer though. A number of states are have put forth proposals that are being reviewed by the Federal Avaiation Administration to allow them to construct Space Ports... gateways to the long anticipated space travel industry. Checkout CNN.com/SPACE for more details.
Aurora Watch
Monday, May 15th, 2006 - Earth is about to enter a high-speed solar wind stream flowing from a coronal hole. This significantly raises the odds of aurora. Skywatchers (especially those at higher latitudes) are encouraged to keep an eye on the northern horizon the next couple of nights. Checkout Spaceweather.com for more details..
There's a Full Moon on the Rise
Saturday, May 13th, 2006 - The moon rose waxing near full on the 12th and what a sight it was! In this wonderful photo taken by Brian Jolley, the moon boldly begins its bright march across the night's sky, rising behind a tree-lined hill east of Salt Lake City, Utah.
Jupiter Closest Tonight
Friday, May 12th, 2006 - Those of you who got to see the Moon
and Jupiter
rise together last night (May 11, 2006) will notice that by the time
the Moon set this morning, the separation between them had greatly
increased over the night as can be seen in this photo by now-sleepy
Brian Jolley. Jupiter will continue to dim now, but the views are
still great! Get out there and take a look.
The Moon Joins Jupiter
Thursday, May 11th, 2006 - The Moon will rise alongside the planet Jupiter tonight (though you won't see Jupiter until it begins to get dark). Look for the pair to rise in the east around sunset. Events like this are referred to as conjunctions. Checkout Science@NASA for more details.
A Comet And A Ring
Monday, May 8th, 2006 - Skywatchers received a rare treat last night as one of the fragments of Comet
73P/Schwassmann Wachmann 3 cruised right in front of one of the night skies most photogenic objects, M57 - The Ring Nebula. If you missed the event, don't worry... the comet (now
60+ fragments worth) will make its closest pass by Earth this coming weekend (5/12 - 5/14). Fragment C Is now a naked-eye object under dark skies and
backyard astronomers are getting some great views with binoculars or telescopes. Checkout the Comet 73/P
page for daily updates. This gorgeous shot was taken by John Chumack of Galactic Images.
Jupiter Closest Tonight
Saturday, May 6th, 2006 - The planet Jupiter will be at the closest point in its orbit to Earth tonight... a mere 410 million miles away :-) This makes Jupiter appear bigger and brighter than usual. Look for the giant planet to rise in the east around sunset. It is so much brighter than any other star-like object that you just can miss it. At this point, it is roughly 10 times brighter than the brightest stars around it. Jupiter is simply spectacular in a typical backyard telescope... so if you have one... be sure to break it out and point it towards Jupiter. Jupiter will put on a great show throughout the spring and into the summer... so check it out each opportunity you get. Checkout Science@NASA for more details.
Saturn's Tiniest Moon?
Friday, May 5th, 2006 - Measuring only about 4 miles across, Daphnis just might be the planet Saturn's tiniest moon. It seen here as a tiny smudge at the center top of the rings in this sweet shot by the orbiting Cassini Spacecraft. It's also one of the most recently discovered, too... showing up in Cassini images taken in 2005. Checkout NASA's Planetary Photojournal for more details. Saturn is high and slightly west of overhead shortly after dark, so if you'd like to observe the ringed planet, you'd better not waste too much time. It'll be gone in just a few short months.
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 is rising minutes before the sun and will attain its superior conjunction with the sun on May 18th. Then it will be opposite the earth, behind the sun from our perspective, and moving out of the sun's glare and climbing into the western sky after sunset.
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 as the summer progresses.
In the accompanying image, Mercury is seen following the sun toward the western horizon of southern Utah with a slender crescent moon close behind.
Venus remains high in the morning sky near sunrise, making for a brilliant wake-up treat over sips of coffee. If you have a telescope handy, take a peek at the love goddess' name sake; the crescent of Venus is lovely indeed. Some dates to pay attention to are May 24th when a fine crescent moon will share the dawn sky with Venus, June 23rd when the moon will again join Venus but this time along side the Pleiades, 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 orbit around the second planet and preparing for its mission. Once it's ready, the 'craft will study the planet in great detail, in particular the Venusian atmosphere and clouds.
Southern Utah in the spring is a sensual delight.. Rivers swell and rage with snowmelt, desert cacti bloom delicate, and the ancient rock fills vistas with warm hues from light brown through red to purple. This view from the banks of the Colorado River north of Moab on State 128 shows the mighty Colorado (formerly the Grand River until 1921) in the foreground, Fisher Towers farther out, and the snow-capped La Sal Mountains in the distance.
The Moon becomes full on the 12th, shortly before midnight. The near-full moon is a stunning sight to see as it rises large in the east, and as it climbs high in the night sky, offers an eerie light by which night owls soar. Remember, as the moon now wanes toward last quarter, it becomes a rich source of viewing delights. 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 into the constellation Gemini, Mars sits between the twins and the stars that define their "waists" - Castor's Mebsuta and Pollux's Wasat - closer to the latter.
Planet Jupiter | Solar System | The Utah Skies Report
Jupiter is currently rising just before 10pm, placing it more favorably for those wanting views of the Sun's largest planet without having to lose too much sleep.
This image is an example of what Jupiter has to offer viewers: exquisite details. Much of this beautiful structure can actually 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 in the late morning and reaching the highest point in its path across the sky around 7pm. This continues to provide skywatchers with some spectacular views of the ringed planet. 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 morning, sitting close to the sun. 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 about 2 hours before the sun, leaving you precious little time to view the 8th rock. To speed up your acquisition of the planet, just look towards the east around first light You should immediately see bright Venus. Neptune is just about 1.5° below Venus. 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.
Deep Sky
NASA News
In the Blink of an Eye
Faster than you can blink your eye or snap your finger, the universe grew from a size smaller than an atom to approximately that of a golf ball. That's what NASA scientists believe happened in the first trillionth of a second after the universe was born nearly 14 billion years ago.
"It appears that the infant universe had the kind of growth spurt that would alarm any mom or dad," said Charles Bennett, lead scientist for NASA's Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe mission.
Image to right: WMAP has produced a new, more detailed picture of the infant universe. Different colors represent different temperatures, which in turn represent different densities of matter. The white bars show the polarization of radiation released shortly after the universe was born. Credit: NASA/WMAP Science Team
Scientists call this rapid growth "inflation." It fits in well with the big-bang theory, which says that the universe began as a tiny, dense ball of hot matter and energy that experienced a sudden reaction, and has been increasing its volume ever since. Without inflation, scientists cannot explain why matter and energy are so evenly dispersed throughout the universe. Only recently has technology made it possible to find evidence of this phenomenon.
Launched in 2001, WMAP is a satellite that looks back in time using a pair of high-powered telescopes. The telescopes scan the sky in all directions to observe the cosmic background radiation. This is the heat released shortly after the universe was born. This heat, which the telescopes see as light, is actually quite cold -- around 450 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. Its temperature has dropped millions of degrees as the volume of the universe has increased over the course of billions of years.
Scientists can learn a lot about the early universe by studying the cosmic background radiation. How so?
The universe, when it was less than 400,000 years old, was a very hot place -- almost 500 million degrees Fahrenheit. It was so hot that electrons and protons within hydrogen gas moved around with so much energy that they were unable to combine and settle into neutral atoms. Particles of light, or photons, that make up the cosmic background radiation bounced off the unattached electrons in all different directions. When a photon bounces off an electron, it is said to be "scattered."
Eventually, the universe cooled to the point where electrons and protons were able to join together and form stable hydrogen and helium atoms -- the matter that went on to form stars and galaxies. This cooling ended the scattering of the cosmic background radiation, which has remained largely undisturbed ever since.
Image to left: In the present (right side of image), WMAP studies light that was created just after the universe was born nearly 14 billion years ago (left side of image). Credit: NASA/WMAP Science Team
Because the radiation is essentially unchanged since the last time it was scattered, it is really a blueprint of the matter that was doing the scattering. By studying patterns in the radiation, scientists gain insight into how the universe evolved before and after the last scattering.
The exact way in which a photon of cosmic background radiation was scattered depended on the density of the matter. While the density of matter in the early universe was mostly uniform, there were tiny differences here and there. These density differences show up as tiny fluctuations in temperature within the cosmic background radiation.
WMAP completed its first measurement of these temperature differences back in 2002. From the data, scientists created a temperature map that they called a "baby picture" of the universe. Different temperatures represented different densities of matter at the time scattering ended. The data also yielded precise estimates of the age and composition of the universe, and even showed approximately when the first stars began to shine.
The satellite continued its study of the cosmic background radiation during the following three years. Last month, scientists reported two important results. First, they had created a new temperature map, even more detailed than the original. Second, they now had the data they needed to support the theory of inflation.
How were scientists able to conclude that the universe likely went through such rapid growth, for a time expanding faster than the speed of light?
The key is the ability of WMAP's telescopes to see polarization in the cosmic background radiation. When a wave of light (remember, WMAP sees the cosmic background radiation as light) is scattered, it is often polarized as well, which is to say that the wave is twisted about. This twisting produces a glare, such as the glare you see when light reflects off of water or a road surface.
Measurements by WMAP of polarization in the cosmic background radiation helped scientists find evidence that inflation occurred. The satellite will keep studying this radiation to find more clues about how the universe has evolved from birth until now.
The Hubble Space Telescope has distinguished itself as a premier source of astronomical images and science. 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 this incredible information.Hubble Heritage Team.
Seyfert's Sextet: Four Colliding Galaxies, and Two Bystanders
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)
This weekend we move on to the constellation
Corvus
the Crow.
Corvus was the bird of Apollo. He was instructed
to fetch a beaker of water for Apollo. Unfortunately, Corvus got
sidetracked. When he finally returned with the water, Apollo changed his
feathers from a beautiful white color to a dark and dirty black. In
addition, Apollo took Corvus' beautiful voice and replaced it with a screeching
sound. Finally, Apollo put Corvus and the beaker of water (Crater) and
placed them in the sky.
The focus of our efforts here will be the deep sky objects of
Corvus
Let's start things off by peaking at Delta Corvi. This
is an easy double star for small telescopes. The components are mag 3 and mag 8.
Delta Corvi, otherwise known as Algorab is the brightest of the stars at the
northwest corner of the constellation.
Ok, let's start things off with a very interesting
Interacting Galaxy Pair.. NGC4038 & NGC4039(mag10.7). Also known as the Antennae Galaxy, this pair is locked in a gravitational tug-o-war. They'll probably end up merged into one larger galaxy in a few hundred million years. Stay tuned :)
Anyway... locating this object shouldn't be all that difficult as you can use the top two stars in Corvus to point the way. I was looking at this last weekend. They handle magnification well. At low power, they were hard to separate. This was simplified by cranking the power up to about 200x.
How's this for a cool shot? Taken by astro-imager Al
Kelly, the pair look like a heart rolled on it's side.
Next we'll hit
Planetary Nebula NGC4361, (mag10). Checkout this shot by Gordon
Waite.
Let's wrap things up with this weeks
Utah Skies Challenge Object, Spiral Galaxy NGC4462 (mag12)
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.
A RATIONALE FOR THE MANDATORY LIMITATION OF OUTDOOR LIGHTING
Barry A. J. Clark, PhD
Director, Outdoor Lighting Improvement Section Astronomical Society of Victoria
Inc.
Summary:
The great value of artificial outdoor lighting has largely obscured the social,
ecological and environmental problems resulting from present lighting practice.
The exponential growth of outdoor lighting observed in Australia and elsewhere
is unsustainable and greatly at odds with the need to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions. Artificial skyglow resulting largely from wasteful lighting design
and overuse of lighting is increasingly hampering astronomical research and
education. Stray light entering bedrooms at night disturbs sleep and contributes
to sleepiness and fatigue, known factors in traffic and industrial accidents.
Exposure to artificial light at night is also a known risk factor for breast
cancer and other cancers, and it may be an underlying cause of widespread
obesity. Outdoor lighting does not inhibit crime but increases it. Drastic
reductions in outdoor ambient light levels are justified and will require
legislation to be achieved.
We'd certainly recommend that you
read this paper
when you have a moment. It turns out there a lot more to outdoor lighting than
meets the eye!.
Stellar Sponsor Space
This week's Utah Skies Report is brought to you by the folks at Starry Night Lights... The First & Only Night Sky Friendly Outdoor Lighting Store. Checkout their wide selection of ordinance compliant, night sky friendly
outdoor lighting
products.
This week, we focus on some attractive, neighbor friendly
landscape lighting
from the folks at
SPJ Lighting. Pictured here is the
SPJ10-02. This
beautiful pathway light is available in brass or copper in a wide range of
finish
options. Its 18 watts of output are directed gently to the ground...
providing sure footing as you come and go without disturbing the entire
neighborhood.
As you'd expect, you can find
this attractive, night sky friendly friendly pathway light in the
Landscape Lighting
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.
Ok, let's start things off with a very interesting
Interacting Galaxy Pair.. NGC4038 & NGC4039(mag10.7). Also known as the Antennae Galaxy, this pair is locked in a gravitational tug-o-war. They'll probably end up merged into one larger galaxy in a few hundred million years. Stay tuned :) 
Next we'll hit
Planetary Nebula NGC4361, (mag10). Checkout this shot by 
Let's wrap things up with this weeks
Utah Skies Challenge Object, Spiral Galaxy NGC4462 (mag12)
