the moon moves beyond its conjunctions with Mars, Saturn, and the Beehive Cluster, and waxes crescent to first quarter on the 3rd after which it waxes gibbous until full on the 11th. With Saturn and Mars dipping into the west earlier and earlier each night, Jupiter rules the planetary views as summer progresses, but don't wait long as come August, Jupiter too will be low in the west and exiting for the season.
This week's constellation, Libra, has an interesting history and global cultural significance. The Romans originated Libra and gave it importance as a constellation of the Zodiac. Libra was "the Scales of Justice" held by Julius Caesar, and later became associated with Virgo, the Goddess of Justice. The Romans choose a scale because when the zodiac was still in its infancy, some four thousand years ago, the sun passed through this constellation at the autumnal equinox, when day and night were of equal length, or balanced. Interestingly, the ancient Greeks did not recognize Libra. Instead they saw it as part of Scorpius, making up the two claws of the scorpion.
As a symbol for equality, the constellation came to represent Justice in several middle Eastern cultures. The Egyptians also saw Libra as a set of scales, one in which the human heart was to be weighted after death, "the Scales of Justice." In India, the constellation was called Tula, meaning "a balance," and showed a man bent on one knee, holding the scales. The ancient Chinese called the constellation Show Sing, "the Star of Longevity," but later became known as Tien Ching, meaning "the Celestial Balance."
For more information on the night sky, preventing light pollution, or current astro news, browse to www.utahskies.org, your ticket to the stars.
Thursday, June 1st, 2006 - Wednesday night, the Beehive Cluster (or more formally known as M44 or NGC2632) was in the middle of a swarm, so to speak. Buzzing closely around the open cluster were the Earth's moon and the planet Saturn, each dutifully orbiting their respective focus, like bees never straying far from the queen. (Ironically, the cluster in this image looks more like the bees!). Mars was wasn't far from the hive either, just a little more west. Pay attention to M44 next week as from June 13th through the 18th, the Beehive get busier when Mars appears to pass through the cluster on its way to a conjunction with Saturn where the two are less than 40 minutes apart.
The Moon, Mars, Pollux, and Castor - Close, But Not Really
Wednesday, May 31st, 2006 - Last night, a fine crescent moon nestled between Mars and Gemini's brightest star, Pollux, with Castor farther right. In this image, there is an interesting contrast in distances present. While these object appear close together, they are in fact separated by great distances. The moon, as earth's natural satellite, orbits at a distance of less than 250,000 miles. Mars, is currently about 186,000,000 miles from earth, or nearly 750 times as far away! However, considering that the distance to Pollux is 204 trillion miles, and to Castor, 300 trillion miles, Mars and the Moon are a comparative "stone's throw" from each other!
The Moon Slides Close By Mars And Saturn
Tuesday, May 30th, 2006 - Tonight and tomorrow night (May 30th and 31st) will bring the Moon close to Mars and Saturn. The moon will sit between Mars and Gemini's Pollux tonight as a 16% crescent, and will join Saturn and the Beehive Cluster tomorrow night (check out NASA's Science Headline for more info). At less than 25% illuminated, the moon won't be so bright as to wash out the surrounding stars, so the views of these conjunctions should be spectacular through binoculars and wide-field telescopes. Of course, the heavens as viewed with the naked eyes is an ancient heritage, so find a dark site and look up!
Cassini Captures Sweet Shot Of Rings A Moon
Monday, May 29th, 2006 - The orbiting Cassini Spacecraft recently captured this sweet edge-on shot of Saturns rings along with its tiny moon Janus. The planet Saturn is well into the western sky at sunset now, so best views of the ringed planet are behind us. You can still check it out though for another month or two as it moves closer and closer to the western horizon each night. Saturn will then swing behind the sun and reappear in the eastern sky before sunrise late this summer. For more information, checkout the Cassini website.
A Beautiful Solar Prominence
Saturday, May 27th, 2006 - Sunspot activity may have slacked recently, but that doesn't mean that nothing is happening on the Sun. Checkout these sweet shots of solar prominences taken yesterday. Checkout Spaceweather.com for more details.
Tiny Crescent Moon
Thursday, May 25th, 2006 - Early risers were treated to a sweet view of a tiny 4% illuminated waning crescent moon. This sweet shot was captured by John Stetson of Falmouth, Maine. Those of you with an unobstructed eastern horizon and sharp eyes (or binoculars) might be able to find tomorrow mornings 1% illuminated crescent... just about 15 hours before new.
The Moon and Venus Rise Together
Wednesday, May 24th, 2006 - Conjunctions are simply beautiful, and when combined with the newness of the dawning day, they are wonderful. This morning saw a 9% moon and the planet Venus rising together, closely aligned. Of course the moon and Venus are not at all close physically (they're separated by more than 90 million miles), but this morning they appeared aligned and related, joined in their celestial progression across the sky. Next month the moon and Venus will meet again in the morning's eastern sky next to the Pleiades.
Wednesday Morning Conjunction
Tuesday, May 23rd, 2006 - Early risers are in for a treat on Wednesday morning (5/24). Those with a clear view to the east will see a beautiful sight as a waning crescent Moon poses alongside the planet Venus. The event, known as a conjunction, should be a wonderful scene that requires no optical aids to be enjoyed. Image: courtesy of Astronomy Magazine
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 after the sun and having attained its superior conjunction with the sun on May 18th. It is now 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.
In ancient Greek mythology, every four years the benevolence of the Goddess Hera was celebrated at the feast of the Heraia. At Olympia Hera watched the footraces run in Her name. The races were run by girls divided into three age groups to represent the three phases of the moon and the corresponding three stages of woman's life. As Hera crowned the youngest winner, the girl addressed the crowd: I am the new moon, swelling with magic, pure in my maidenhood, ever growing stronger. The second winner spoke: I am the full moon, complete in my powers, making people with my rhythms, bathing them in light. The third said: I am the waning moon, shrinking into peace, knowing all that went before, I am the old one.
Remember, as the moon waxes (swelling with magic), 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 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 well before sunset after 6pm, placing it more 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 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 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.
Deep Sky
NASA News
Wind Energy Research Reaps Rewards
We've all been tempted. Some of us have tried it more than once.
For some reason, it never crossed Larry Viterna's mind to type his own name into a search engine until late last year. An accomplished NASA engineer and manager with a Ph.D., he could expect to find plenty of entries.
But when Viterna finally Googled himself, he could hardly believe the results: hundreds of references to an analytical model he developed in 1981 to predict the power generated by wind turbines during high winds. These clean and efficient machines look like enormous fans and convert wind into electricity.
At the time of publication, wind energy experts had dismissed his theory. "It was quite controversial because it contradicted existing theories," Viterna said. "I was known around the world as a bit of a quack."
Viterna and NASA got involved in wind energy during the energy crisis of the 1970s. Increased consumption and an oil embargo against the United States and other western countries had contributed to record-high gas prices and lines at the pump. In response, President Richard Nixon set up a federal task force to explore renewable energy sources, such as solar panels, hydrogen and wind turbines.
Image right: NASA's first experimental wind turbine at Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio. Credit: NASA
From 1974 to 1981, NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, led the U.S. Wind Energy Program for large horizontal-axis wind turbines -- the most popular systems used today. The center's mission was to develop the technology and transfer it to private industry.
With funding from the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy, NASA constructed and operated its first experimental wind turbine at Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio. Throughout the program, NASA developed a total of 13 experimental wind turbines.
"It was a fun project," said Viterna, who led the aerodynamics team from 1978 to 1981. "Wind energy was a very hot topic. It was key in the minds of Americans, and we were right in the middle of leading the effort."
In 1981, a group of engineers in Denmark contacted NASA Glenn about a problem they were having with fixed-pitch wind turbines -- turbines with blades that do not change position.
"The performance didn't make sense," Viterna said. "Nobody could predict the relationship between wind speed and power. That's effectively a major design flaw."
To address the issue, Viterna and research engineer Bob Corrigan began running tests on the Plum Brook turbine. Corrigan changed the pitch of the blades to match the machine in Denmark, and Viterna used data from the tests to reverse engineer an analytical model to predict power in high winds. Viterna and Corrigan presented the model that year at an international workshop, where it received a tepid response.
The wind energy program ended later that year, and both engineers moved along in their careers. Viterna became NASA Glenn's Lead for Center Strategy and Business Development, and Corrigan went on to manage an International Space Station support project.
Image left: This 3.2 megawatt wind turbine in Oahu, Hawaii, was once the largest in the world. It is still used commercially today. Credit: NASA
Neither of them thought much about the paper until, on a whim, Viterna searched the Internet for his name and the word "wind." Experts in the wind energy field commonly referred to the analytical model as "Viterna & Corrigan" or "the Viterna method."
"I couldn't believe it," he said. "It had become the leading method for predicting wind turbine performance, and I had no idea this was going on."
Corrigan was just as surprised. "When Larry told me, I said 'you're kidding me.' It made me feel good that something we did back then is still used today and by such a large audience," he said.
Twenty-five years after publishing their paper, the two engineers are being recognized for their work. Both of them received a Space Act Award from NASA's Inventions and Contributions Board. And in June, Viterna will accept a Blue Marble Award at NASA's Environmental and Energy Conference.
To top it all off, last August, the Department of Energy approved the code as part of its design tools for worldwide certification of wind turbines.
With recent rises in the price of oil and concern growing over pollution, Americans again are turning their attention to alternative sources of energy. Many experts believe that wind is one of the most promising options. As the wind power industry grows, the Viterna method will surely be an important tool for turbine designers everywhere.
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.
The Omega Nebula: Hotbed of Star Formation
A watercolor fantasyland? No. It's actually an image of the center of the Omega Nebula, a hotbed of newly born stars wrapped in colorful blankets of glowing gas and cradled in an enormous cold, dark hydrogen cloud. This stunning picture was taken by the newly installed Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) aboard NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.
The region of the nebula shown in this photograph is about 3,500 times wider than our solar system. The area represents about 60 percent of the total view captured by ACS. The nebula, also called M17 and the Swan Nebula, resides 5,500 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius.
Like its famous cousin in Orion, the Swan Nebula is illuminated by ultraviolet radiation from young, massive stars, located just beyond the upper right corner of the image. Each star is about six times hotter and 30 times more massive than the Sun. The powerful radiation from these stars evaporates and erodes the dense cloud of cold gas within which the stars formed. The blistered walls of the hollow cloud shine primarily in the blue, green, and red light emitted by excited atoms of hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, and sulfur. Particularly striking is the rose-like feature, seen to the right of center, which glows in the red light emitted by hydrogen and sulfur.
As the infant stars evaporate the surrounding cloud, they expose dense pockets of gas that may contain developing stars. Because these dense pockets are more resistant to the withering radiation than the surrounding cloud, they appear as sculptures in the walls of the cloud or as isolated islands in a sea of glowing gas. One isolated pocket is seen at the center of the brightest region of the nebula and is about 10 times larger than our solar system. Other dense pockets of gas have formed the remarkable feature jutting inward from the left edge of the image, which resembles the famous Horsehead Nebula in Orion.
ACS made this observation on April 1 and 2, 2002. The color image is constructed from four separate images taken in these filters: blue, near infrared, hydrogen alpha, and doubly ionized oxygen.
Credit:NASA, H. Ford (JHU), G. Illingworth (UCSC/LO), M.Clampin (STScI), G. Hartig (STScI), the ACS Science Team, and ESA
The ACS Science Team: H. Ford, G. Illingworth, M. Clampin, G. Hartig, T. Allen, K. Anderson, F. Bartko, N. Benitez, J. Blakeslee, R. Bouwens, T. Broadhurst, R. Brown, C. Burrows, D. Campbell, E. Cheng, N. Cross, P. Feldman, M. Franx, D. Golimowski, C. Gronwall, R. Kimble, J. Krist, M. Lesser, D. Magee, A. Martel, W. J. McCann, G. Meurer, G. Miley, M. Postman, P. Rosati, M. Sirianni, W. Sparks, P. Sullivan, H. Tran, Z. Tsvetanov, R. White, and R. Woodruff.
Libra is one of the 12 zodiac signs - the last to be "officially" recognized. Going back to the very earliest astronomical writings, the stars of Libra were actually considered to be a part of neighboring Scorpius. Alpha Librae, known also as Zubenelgenubi, is Arabic meaning "the southern claw". Beta Librae or Zubeneschamali, is "the northern claw".
Back around 1200 B.C. the location of Alpha Librae coincided with the Autumnal Equinox. It was around that time that the Greeks and Romans began referring to Libra as the scales, weighing the lengths of night and day.
The focus of our efforts here will be the deep sky objects of Libra
Ok, let's start things off with Spiral Galaxy NGC5915(mag12) . This is the compact, odd shaped galaxy at the center of the accompanying image. While not exactly bursting with detail, it is part of an interesting galaxy cluster. All three galaxies should easily fit in a low power field of view.
Next we'll hit Spiral Galaxy NGC5878(mag11.5) . This is a more classically shaped spiral galaxy. It is tilted about 30° from edge-on, giving us a nice view of it's spiral arms.
Continuing along we come to a sweet Globular Cluster NGC5897(mag8.5) . While this object is a bit too far south for optimum viewing, you'll no doubt enjoy this cluster. Spanning almost 1/4°, you should have no trouble tracking this object down. Once you lock in on it, crank up the magnification a notch. This sweet shot was taken by Utah Skies own Don Brown from right here in Park City.
Continuing along we come to Spiral Galaxy NGC5756(mag13) . This rather small galaxy won't give you a whole bunch of detail. Suffice it to say that you'll need 8-10" of aperture just to find this. Were it not for the fact that the first 3 of our 4 deep sky objects were grouped in the middle of the constellation, this probably would have been this weeks challenge object.
Let's wrap things up with this weeks Utah Skies Challenge Object, Spiral Galaxy NGC5792(mag12) This object is brighter, but much bigger than our previous object. As such, it has a lower surface brightness. While it is on the outskirts of Libra, it is close enough to a couple stars in eastern Virgo that you should find it fairly easily.
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.
From reading these columns, you're certainly well aware of the
waste associated with light pollution.
You're even aware of some of the issues associated with
light pollution and human health. What you may be unaware of is how light
pollution impacts wildlife. Nocturnal wildlife can be seriously impacted by
light at night. At the top of the list of impacts on wildlife are the sea
turtles.
Light pollution and sea turtles simply don't mix.
As you'd expect, you can find these turtle friendly outdoor light solutions in the
Turtle Friendly
Lighting
section of your favorite
Outdoor Lighting, 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.
At the time of publication, wind energy experts had dismissed his theory. "It was quite controversial because it contradicted existing theories," Viterna said. "I was known around the world as a bit of a quack."
The wind energy program ended later that year, and both engineers moved along in their careers. Viterna became NASA Glenn's Lead for Center Strategy and Business Development, and Corrigan went on to manage an International Space Station support project.
A watercolor fantasyland? No. It's actually an image of the center of the Omega Nebula, a hotbed of newly born stars wrapped in colorful blankets of glowing gas and cradled in an enormous cold, dark hydrogen cloud. This stunning picture was taken by the newly installed Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) aboard NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.
Ok, let's start things off with Spiral Galaxy NGC5915(mag12) . This is the compact, odd shaped galaxy at the center of the accompanying image. While not exactly bursting with detail, it is part of an interesting galaxy cluster. All three galaxies should easily fit in a low power field of view.
Next we'll hit Spiral Galaxy NGC5878(mag11.5) . This is a more classically shaped spiral galaxy. It is tilted about 30° from edge-on, giving us a nice view of it's spiral arms.
Continuing along we come to Spiral Galaxy NGC5756(mag13) . This rather small galaxy won't give you a whole bunch of detail. Suffice it to say that you'll need 8-10" of aperture just to find this. Were it not for the fact that the first 3 of our 4 deep sky objects were grouped in the middle of the constellation, this probably would have been this weeks challenge object.
Let's wrap things up with this weeks Utah Skies Challenge Object, Spiral Galaxy NGC5792(mag12) This object is brighter, but much bigger than our previous object. As such, it has a lower surface brightness. While it is on the outskirts of Libra, it is close enough to a couple stars in eastern Virgo that you should find it fairly easily. 
