Astronomy a Go Go!

Thu, 1 November 2007

Tour of the Sky: November 2007

Here is your finder chart for catching comet Holmes

Download this month's sky map!

Kym Thalassoudis does a wonderful job creating accurate and easy to use star maps every month! Visit his site at www.skymaps.com for skymaps and links to other useful astronomical sites. Also a great portal for astronomical gifts!

Northern hemisphere sky map
Southern hemisphere sky map

Those in the Southern Hemisphere should also visit James Barclay's site for a great tour of the Southern Hemisphere October sky.

Another great site for Southern Hemisphere viewers is the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand's Southern Hemisphere Calendar can be found at the RASNZ site
Ian Musgrave has a very handy Southern Hemisphere site called Southern Sky Watch.

Download "What's up 2007: 365 days of Skywatching" by Tammy Plotner, published by Universe Today (Faser Cain) it is a fantastic and it is free!

Planets for November 2007

Jupiter fades in the west, Mercury, Venus and Saturn dominate the early morning sky, Mars is king of the night.

Mercury- In Virgo Mercury reaches greatest elongation west on Nov. 8th. This morning showing favors northern observers and at the beginning of the month will show as a thick crescent. Look low in the east-southeast through the end of November. Poor viewing for Southern viewers 0.8 mag (1st) to -0.7 mag (21st)

Venus- Starts in Leo but after the first weekend crosses into Virgo with Mercury. Venus is brilliant in the morning sky and will be all month. On Nov.5th use the moon to find Venus during the day. -4.0 mag (1st) to - 4.1 mag (21st)

Mars- In Gemini. Earth is slowly catching up to Mars so the red planet will continue to look larger through December when Earth and Mars are their closest approach. Nov. 15th Mars begins its retrograde loop within Gemini. -0.6 (1st) to -0.8 mag (21st)

Ceres- reaches opposition on Nov. 9th brightening to magnitude 7.2 (see the finder chart below)

Jupiter- In Ophiuchus sets in the west-southwest at the end of twilight for mid-Northern viewers by mid-month. Viewing is better as you move South. -1.9 mag (1st) to -1.8 mag (21st)

Saturn- In Leo Saturn rises several hours before sunrise with Venus and Regulus in a nice little trio. Saturn is at quadrature,when the planet's shadow on the rings is most prominent making the planet look 3D, on Dec 1st 0.7 mag (1st) to 0.8 mag (21st)

Uranus-In Aquarius 5.7 mag (1st) to 5.8 mag (21st)

Neptune-In Capricorn 7.9 mag (1st) to 7.8 mag (21st)

Key Dates for November 2007

Days and Times in UT (help with time)
Observations are for10pm for the mid-southern latitudes and for 8pm for the mid-northern latitudes.

Great site for sunrise and sunset times and a downloadable toolbar application by Steve Edwards

Occultation information can be found at the IOTA website! Astronomical Highlights

November

1 - Mercury at perihelion

- Double shadow transit on Jupiter 12:31 UT

- Mercury stationary

- Moon .8deg N of the Beehive Cluster (M44)

- Last Quarter 21:18 UT

2 - Algol at minimum 10:04 UT

3 - Regulus .03 deg N of Moon, possible occultation

- Moon between Venus and Saturn

4 - Daylight Savings time ends

- Saturn 1.8deg N of Moon

5 - Double shadow transit on Jupiter 1:28 UT

- Algol at minimum 6:53 UT

- Venus 3 deg N of Moon 20 UT

- South Taurid meteor shower peak 22 UT

6 - Double shadow transit on Jupiter 19:57 UT

8 - Algol at minimum 3:42 UT

- Mercury 7 deg N of Moon 11 UT

- Double shadow transit on Jupiter 14:25 UT

- Mercury greatest elongation W. 19 deg 21 UT

9 - Ceres at opposition

- Moon at apogee 406,671km 13 UT

- New Moon 23:03 UT

11 - Algol at minimum :31 UT

- Antares .4 deg N of Moon possible occultation

12 - Double shadow transit on Jupiter 3:38 UT

- North Taurid meteor shower peak 21 UT

- Jupiter 5 deg N of Moon 22 UT

13 - Algol at minimum 21:20 UT

- Double shadow transit on Jupiter 23:30

15 - Mars stationary

- Double shadow transit on Jupiter 16:56

16 - Algol at minimum 18:09 UT

17 - Neptune 1 deg North of Moon 11 UT possible occultation

- First Quarter Moon 22:32 UT

18 - Leonid Meteor show peak 4 UT

19 - Double shadow transit on Jupiter 6:15 UT

- Algol at minimum 14:58 UT

22 - Algol at minimum 11:47 UT

- Double shadow transit on Jupiter 11:34 UT

24 - Moon at perigee 357,194 km Large tides

- Moon .9 deg N of Pleiades (M45)

- Full Moon 14:30 UT

25 - Algol at minimum 8:36 UT

26 - Double shadow transit on Jupiter 8:53 UT

27 - Mars 1.7 deg S of Moon

28 - Algol at minimum 5:25 UT

- Venus 4 deg N of Spica (before sunrise)

29 - Moon .6 deg N of the Beehive cluster (M44) 2 UT

- Double shadow transit on Jupiter 22:11 UT

- Regulus .3 deg N of Moon 20 UT possible occultation

December

1 - Saturn at quadrature (see Planet section)

- Last Quarter Moon 12:44 UT

- Saturn 2 deg N of Moon

Monthly Messier*

This month we will search for four globular clusters, the largest and the smallest planetary nebulas in the Messier catalog, and a small oddity. Two of the objects are fairly easy in binoculars, while four others will require dark skies, patience, and keen eyes to find.

M57 This smallest planetary nebula in the Messier Catalog is the famous Ring nebula in the constellation Lyra. Low power telescope views show a very small blue/green disk, not much bigger than a star. Medium to high power will magnify the size of the nebula while leaving the surrounding stars the same size, confirming you have found it. Can be seen in binoculars as a faint star like point of light.

M56 Also in the constellation of Lyra we find our first globular cluster of the night. In a telescope look for a small round ball of light, slightly brighter in the center. This is a difficult binocular object appearing as a small fuzzy patch.

M27 Also known as the Dumbbell nebula, the largest planetary nebula in the Messier Catalog, M27 lies in the constellation Vulpecula. Fairly easy to see in binoculars as a small hazy patch. In small to medium scopes it appears as a rectangular patch of light. In large scopes it may even appear round in shape with a bright rectangular, or dumbbell shaped core.

M71 Lying in Sagitta, this globular cluster appears as a faint oval hazy patch of light in a telescope. This is a very difficult but possible binocular object, requiring dark skies and trained eyes.

M30 This globular cluster in Capricornus is tough but very possible to see in binoculars as a faint fuzzy star. Telescopes show a small fuzzy ball of light, bright in the center fading to the edges.

M72 This is a small faint globular cluster in Aquarius. Look for a faint oval patch of light, gradually brighter towards the middle. A very difficult binocular object.

M73 This asterism is located near M72 in Aquarius. In a low power telescope view it looks like a very small fuzzy patch of light at first glance. When stared at it reveals itself as a small collection of stars. Medium to high power shows the view best described by Messier "cluster of three or four stars...containing very little nebulosity".

From the Astronomical Connection and the Moncton Center in Canada

Historical and Current Events
...Did you know?

Culled from Wikipedia and others, by Mark Tillotson (Thank you Mark!)

Mark has developed his own website so let's all trot on over and see the pages of wonderful history he has for us this month!

Astronomical Highlights for 2007

Earth's major motions for 2007

Perihelion
Jan 3 20h(UT)

First Cross Quarter Day
Feb 2-6

Equinox
Mar 21 00:07(UT)

Second Cross Quarter Day
May 4-7

Solstice
June 21 18:06(UT)

Aphelion
July 4 00h (UT)

Third Cross Quarter Day
Aug 5-8

Equinox
Sept 23 19:51(UT)

Fourth Cross Quarter Day
Nov 5-8

Solstice
Dec 22 06:08(UT)

Planet Positions for 2007

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Venus Sgr Aqr Psc Ari Tau Gem Leo Sex Cnc Leo Leo Vir

Mars Oph Sgr Cap Cap Aqr Psc Ari Tau Tau Gem Gem Gem

Jupiter Oph Oph Oph Oph Oph Oph Oph Oph Oph Oph Oph Oph

Saturn Leo Leo Leo Leo Leo Leo Leo Leo Leo Leo Leo Leo

Uranus Aqu Aqu Aqu Aqu Aqu Aqu Aqu Aqu Aqu Aqu Aqu Aqu

Neptune Cap Cap Cap Cap Cap Cap Cap Cap Cap Cap Cap Cap

Eclipses for 2007

March 19 - partial solar eclipse (see map, times, and animation!): The first solar eclipse of 2007 occurs at the Moon's ascending node in Pisces and is visible from eastern Asia and parts of northern Alaska

September 11 - partial solar eclipse (see map, times, and animation): The last eclipse of 2007 is a partial solar eclipse at the Moon's descending node in southern Leo. Its visibility is confined to parts of South America, Antarctica and the South Atlantic

March 3-4 - total lunar eclipse (see map): The beginning of the umbral phase visible in the Arctic region, Africa, Europe, Asia except for extreme eastern region, most of Indonesia, western Australia, Queen Maud Land of Antarctica, extreme eastern South America, Greenland, the Indian Ocean, the South Atlantic Ocean, and the eastern North Atlantic Ocean; the end visible in Africa, Europe, western Asia, Queen Maud Land of Antarctica and Antarctic Peninsula, South America, eastern North America, Greenland, the Arctic region, the Atlantic Ocean, the western Indian Ocean, and the extreme eastern South Pacific Ocean.

August 28 - total lunar eclipse (see map): The beginning of the umbral phase visible in North America, South America except extreme east, Antarctica except for Enderby Land, New Zealand, eastern Australia, extreme northeastern Asia, the Pacific Ocean, and the western Atlantic Ocean; the end visible in New Zealand, Australia, most of Antarctica except Queen Maud Land, Indonesia, eastern Asia, western North America, the Pacific Ocean, and the southeastern Indian Ocean.

Eclipse information from: NASA Eclipse Homepage, Eclipses Online (HM Nautical Almanac Office, UK in coordination with the U.S. Naval Observatory)

Meteor Showers for 2007

As luck would have it, all the major meteor showers reach their peaks in 2007 with the Moon out of the sky. Any of these showers can produce dozens of shooting stars each dark hour leading up to dawn.

Mark your calendar to look for...

Perseids on August 13th

Orionids on October 21st

Leonids on November 18th

Geminids on the night of December 13-14 (Meteor enthusiasts are keenly awaiting the Geminids in 2007 because their progenitor, the defunct comet Phaethon, precedes them in a flyby of Earth on December 10th.)

Comets for November

Gary Kronk's comet and meteor pages
Skyhound Comet pages

Help us out by leaving a donation in the ol' PayPal hat or write us a favorable review in iTunes of Podcast Pickle or iPodder!

Music Scottish Guitar Quartet -"Romance within you"
Rachel Barton - "Medley of Scots Tunes"
The Gentle Good - "Amser"

Direct download: AAGG_sky_tour_Nov_07.mp3
Category: Sky Tours -- posted at: 6:35 AM

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Wed, 3 October 2007

Tour of the Sky: October 2007

Download this month's sky map!

Northern hemisphere sky map
Southern hemisphere sky map

Those in the Southern Hemisphere should also visit James Barclay's site for a great tour of the Southern Hemisphere October sky.

Download "What's up 2007: 365 days of Skywatching" by Tammy Plotner, published by Universe Today (Faser Cain) it is a fantastic and it is free!

Planets for October 2007

Keep and eye on Venus, Saturn, Regulus (and waning crescent moons) all month long..

Mercury- In Virgo Mercury is well placed in the evening sky for more Southern viewers (South of 30 degrees N) into mid October. Mercury is stationary on th 12th and then moves into inferior conjunction October 24th. Poor viewing for Northern viewers 0.1 mag (1st) to 3.9 mag (21st)

Venus- In Leo Venus is brilliant in the morning sky and climbing higher daily. Venus, Saturn and Regulus make a attractive triangle for the unaided eye for several days around October 13th. Venus dominates the morning sky reaching greatest elongation west October 28th -4.4 mag (1st) to - 4.3 mag (21st)

Mars- In Gemini. Earth is slowly catching up to Mars so the red planet will continue to look larger through December when Earth and Mars are their closest approach. -0.1 (1st) to -0.4 mag (21st)

Jupiter- Starts the month near globular cluster NGC6235. Jupiter, in Ophiuchus sets an not long after the sun by mid-month. Take advantage of October to enjoy the gas giant before we start losing him in the sun's glare as we go into the end of the year -2.0 mag (1st) to -1.9 mag (21st)

Saturn- In Leo Saturn rises several hours before sunrise with Venus and Regulus in a nice little trio. 0.7 mag (1st) to 0.8 mag (21st)

Uranus-In Aquarius 5.7 mag (1st) to 5.8 mag (21st)

Neptune-Will camp out in Capricorn all year long 7.9 mag (1st) to 7.8 mag (21st)

Key Dates for October 2007

Great site for sunrise and sunset times and a downloadable toolbar application by Steve Edwards

Astronomical Highlights

October Great Worldwide Star Count!

2 - Mars 5 deg S of Moon

3 - Last Quarter moon (10:07 UT)

- Mars .9 deg S of M35 at the foot of Castor

4 - Go outside and look for satellites and celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Sputnik! (more....)

5 - Moon 1.1 deg N of the Beehive M44

- Comet 96P/Machholz 1.7 deg NE of Jupiter (faint - mag 11?)

7 - Venus 3 deg S of Moon

- Regulus .2 deg S, Saturn 1.3 deg N of Moon, possible occultation (7:00 UT) Check the webpages for the International Occultation and Timing Association for possible occultation for your area.

8 - Draconid meteors peak

9 - Venus 3 deg S of Regulus. Venus, Saturn and Regulus in a nice cluster

11 - New Moon

- Good time to start your lookout for Comet 8P/Tuttle (currently very faint 12th mag). Starts out in October near Polaris moving into Cepheus in early December possible brightening to naked eye magnitude as it reaches Cassiopeia around the 22nd of Dec. Which of us will be first to spot it?

12 - Mercury stationary

13 - Mercury 1.3 deg N of Moon

- Moon at apogee (406492 km)

15 - Venus 3 deg S of Saturn

- Antares .6 deg N of Moon, possible occultation (15:00 UT) Check the webpages for the International Occultation and Timing Association for possible occultation for your area.

16 - Jupiter 5 deg N of Moon

18 - Double shadow transit on Jupiter (8:42 UT) First of 16 in the next 30 days

19 - First Quarter

- Zodiacal Lights visible in N latitude in East before morning twilight for next two week

21 - Neptune 1.3 deg N of Moon, possible occultation (3:00 UT) Check the webpages for the International Occultation and Timing Association for possible occultation for your area.

- Double shadow transit on Jupiter (21:39 UT)

- Orionid meteor peak

24 - Mercury in inferior conjunction

25 - Double shadow transit on Jupiter (10:36 UT)

26 - Full Moon (largest in 2007) Moon at perigee (356733) Large tides

28 - Moon 1.0 deg N of Pleiades (M45)

- Venus at greatest elongation

- Roll the clocks back an hour, check your area news listings for details

- Double shadow transit on Jupiter (23:34)

30 - Double shadow transit on Jupiter (18:02)

- Moon, Mars, Castor and Pollux in a nice group this evening

31 - Neptune stationary

- Halloween (31) All Saints' Day (Nov 1) All Souls' Day (Nov 2) Our fourth (last)cross-quarter day (Nov 5-8) (more information..)

Occultation information can be found at the IOTA website!

Historical and Current Events
...Did you know?

Culled from Wikipedia and others, by Mark Tillotson (Thank you Mark!)

October
1	1847 Maria Mitchell, (8/1/1818-6/28/1889) the first woman astronomer in the United States, discovered a comet which was referred to as "Miss Mitchell's Comet".
	1958 NASA was created by an Act of Congress to replace NACA.
2	1608 Johannes Lippershey, (c.1570-c.1619) demonstrated a new invention, the first optical (refracting) telescope.
4	1957 Launch of Sputnik I, the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth. This marked the beginning of the 'Space Race.'
5	1882 b- Robert Goddard, (d. 8/10/1945) American rocket scientist, "Father of Modern Rocketry". Launched 1st rocket 3/26/1926. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center was established in his memory.
10	1846 Neptune's moon, Triton, is discovered by William Lassell while he was observing the newly discovered planet Neptune. He was attempting to confirm his observation of the previous week, that Neptune had a ring. Instead he discovered that Neptune had a satellite.

View entire historical calendar!
Monthly Messier*
Sliding into October we complete our tour of the wonders in Sagittarius. Sixteen Messier objects are found within the constellation of Sagittarius, we will seek the six that remain to be seen on our tour. We will also search for three others just north of Sagittarius in the Milky Way.

Our October tour includes two nebulae and the clusters that power them, four open clusters, a star cloud, and lastly two globular clusters. All of these objects are possible in binoculars, most are easy in even small binoculars. Several of these are also possible naked eye objects.

M24 - This "object" is actually a section of the Milky Way in Sagittarius. It is easily seen with the naked eye as a fuzzy, oval patch about four times the size of the full moon. The best views are through binoculars or rich field telescopes.
M25 - Just east of M24 in Sagittarius we find this open cluster. Visible to the naked eye, M25 lies in the same binocular field as M24. In binoculars it appears as a partially resolved star cluster buried in faint nebulosity. A view through a telescope shows the nebulosity is in fact many faint stars that are not resolved in small instruments.
M18 - This is a small open cluster just north of M24 in Sagittarius. In binoculars M18 is easy to see as a small fuzzy patch of light in the same field of view as M24. Telescopes reveal this cluster for what it is, a small, sparse collection of fairly bright stars.
M17 - Just north of M18 and in the same binocular field as M24 and M18 lies the Omega nebula. Possible to see with the naked eye and easy with binoculars, this nebula appears as a small faint patch of fuzz. A telescope will show the unique V shape nebulosity that gives the cluster its name. The shape reminds me of a swan with two bright stars that power the cluster embedded in the head and neck of the swan.
M16 - Continuing north of M17 we find another nebula in Serpens. To the naked eye and binoculars, this small patch of haze is very similar in appearance to M17 which is in the same binocular field of view. Through a telescope the M16 looks like a sparse open cluster of stars surrounded by faint wisps of smoke.
M26 - Continuing to head north through the Milky Way we find this open cluster in the constellation Scutum. This is a difficult object to find in binoculars, but possible as a faint patch of fuzz. Telescopes partially resolve this cluster and show several stars buried in a faint glow from the unresolved stars.
M11 - Just north of M26 in Scutum lies the Wild Duck Cluster. Possible to see with the naked eye, binoculars show a small faint patch surrounding a bright star. Telescopes resolve many of the stars in this very rich cluster.
M55 - Dipping back into Sagittarius we find two more globular clusters waiting for us. The first is one of the brightest and largest globulars in the catalogue. Possible to see naked eye, it is an easy binocular object appearing as a bright fuzzy ball of light. Telescopes show a round patch of light bright in the center and fading toward the edges. Large apertures are needed to resolve this globular.
M75 - The last object of the month, and the last object to be visited in Sagittarius. In binoculars, M75 is not too hard to see, look for a small fuzzy star. A telescope will show a small fuzz ball with a bright center.

From the Astronomical Connection and the Moncton Center in Canada

Astronomical Highlights for 2007

Eclipses for 2007

Eclipse information from: NASA Eclipse Homepage, Eclipses Online (HM Nautical Almanac Office, UK in coordination with the U.S. Naval Observatory)

Meteor Showers for 2007

Mark your calendar to look for...

Perseids on August 13th

Orionids on October 21st

Leonids on November 18th

Comets for October

Gary Kronk's comet and meteor pages
Skyhound Comet pages

Help us out by leaving a donation in the ol' PayPal hat or write us a favorable review in iTunes of Podcast Pickle or iPodder!

Music Scottish Guitar Quartet -"Romance within you"

Direct download: AAGG_sky_tour_Oct_07.mp3
Category: Sky Tours -- posted at: 6:27 AM

Comments[1]

Sat, 1 September 2007

Tour of the Sky: September 2007

Download this month's sky map!

Northern hemisphere sky map
Southern hemisphere sky map

Those in the Southern Hemisphere should also visit James Barclay's site for a great tour of the Southern Hemisphere September sky.

Download "What's up 2007: 365 days of Skywatching" by Tammy Plotner, published by Universe Today (Faser Cain) it is a fantastic and it is free!

Planets for September 2007

Mercury- Well placed in the evening sky for more Southern viewers (South of 30 degrees N) through September and into October. The best evening apparation for Southern viewers will be Sept 28 -0.5 mag (1st) to -0.0 mag (21st)

Venus- Brilliant in the morning sky and climbing higher daily. By the middle of the month Northern viewers will see Venus 11 degrees above the horizon just before sunrise. -4.2 mag (1st) to - 4.4 mag (21st)

Mars- In Taurus passes into Gemini towards the end of the month. Rising after midnight just north of Aldeberon at the early part of the month. By mid month Mars, Aldeberon and Bettlejuice make a nice triangle and by the end of the month Mars sits at the foot of Castor near open cluster M35. 0.3 mag (1st) to 0.1 mag (21st)

Jupiter- Sets in the early evening just after Antares. Vespa starts out just to the NE of Jupiter but pulls away to the East as the month continues. -2.2 mag (1st) to -2.1 mag (21st)

Saturn- Returns to the morning sky along with Venus after the beginning of the month. It will start the month in the glare of the Sun but climb steadily throughout the month rising 3 hours before the Sun by months end. Saturn sits NNE of Regulus NE of brighter Venus. Regulus is only 0.8 mag fainter than Saturn so they will look like twin stars. Southern views will have to work to catch the pairing. 0.6 mag (1st) to 0.7 mag (21st)

Uranus-In Aquarius 5.8 mag (1st) to 5.8 mag (21st)

Neptune-Will camp out in Capricorn all year long 7.9 mag (1st) to 7.8 mag (21st)

4 Vesta -Categorized as a minor planet (Vesta family Main Belt) not far from Jupiter this month and at a magnitude of 5.4 - 6.0 will be a good naked eye object for September. Vesta is the second most massive object in the asteroid belt with a mean diameter of 540 km and was named after the Roman goddess of home and hearth. Vesta will be close to Jupiter for most of the month.

Key Dates for September 2007

Days and Times in UT (help with time)
Observations are for 8pm for the mid-southern latitudes and for 9pm for the mid-northern latitudes.

Great site for sunrise and sunset times and a downloadable toolbar application by Steve Edwards

Occultation information can be found at the IOTA website! Astronomical Highlights

September

3 - Moon 1.2 deg N of Pleiades (M45)

4 - Last Quarter 2:35 UT

- Moon near Mars

8 - Moon 1.1 deg N of the Beehive Cluster (M44)

- Venus 9 deg S of Moon

9 - Uranus reaches opposition. Uranus will be bright enough to see unaided from dark locations. Finder chart for Uranus and Neptune

- Look for a waning crescent moon with Venus to the SW. Binoculars will help you find Saturn and Regulus close together to the East of the Moon.

10 - Regulus 0.2 S of Moon and Saturn 0.8 deg N of Moon, possible occultation check the IOTA website for data for your area.

11 - New moon 12:44 UT ">partial solar eclipse ** CAUTION Never look directly at the Sun. Follow the link to the NASA site for eclipse safety. Eclipse for Antarctica and S. American see notes below

14 - Spica sits between a crescent Moon and Mercury. In the Southern Hemisphere Mercury is above the mouth of Crater the cup.

15 - Moon at apogee

17-18 - Moon drifts below the Jupiter and Antares pair

18 - Mercury at aphelion

- Antares 0.7 deg N of Moon, possible occultation check the IOTA website for data for your area.

- Jupiter 6 deg N of Moon

19 - First Quarter 16:48

21 - Zodiacal Lights visible in Northern latitudes in the East in morning twilight for next two weeks

22 - Mercury 0.08 deg North of Spica use binoculars to help pick them out of the muck of the horizon. By tomorrow they will have switched places.

23 - Equinox 9:51 UT The point in our orbit around the Sun when the day and night are at equal length and the Sun crosses over the ecliptic into the Southern Hemisphere. Shorter days in the North and longer day to come in the South.

- Venus at greatest brilliancy

26 - Full Moon 19:53

28 - Moon at perigee

29 - Mercury at greatest elongation

30 - Moon 1.1 deg N of Pleiades (M45)

-

Monthly Messier*

Sagittarius is the home of many globular clusters which surround the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. Seven of the these globulars appear in the Messier catalog, we will be visiting five of them this month. When you complete the search for these objects be sure to spend some time scanning this region with binoculars or a telescope and see what other sights you can discover. I guarantee you will not be disappointed.

M13 - The great globular cluster in Hercules is bright enough to be seen with naked eye. Binoculars easily show this cluster as a bright fuzzy ball. M13 is partially resolvable in small aperture telescopes and becomes a fantastic swarm of tightly packed individual stars through large scopes.
M92 - Another globular cluster in Hercules, M92 is easy to find in binoculars appearing slightly dimmer and smaller than M13. As with M13 it is partially resolvable in small scopes and is a fine sight in large instruments.
M14 - A small, bright globular cluster in Ophiuchus. It is a difficult binocular object, look for a small fuzzy patch of light. Through a telescope M14 is an even patch of light, the stars not resolvable except through large scopes.
M22 - This is the other great globular in our tour this month. Located just above the teapot asterism in Sagittarius, M22 can be seen with no optical aid. M22 is easy to find in binoculars, and easy to resolve in telescopes, with about the same impressiveness as M13.
M28 - Located near M22 in Sagittarius, this is a small bright globular. A tough binocular object, look for a small fuzzy patch. Easily seen in a telescope, but requires large aperture to resolve individual stars.
M69, M70, M54

All of these are small bright globular clusters laying along the bottom of the teapot in Sagittarius. Very similar in appearance to M28, these are all tough binocular objects requiring dark skies and possibly averted vision to see. M54 is slightly brighter and appears more starlike through binoculars than the other globulars. These are all easily seen in telescopes, though not easily resolvable.

From the Astronomical Connection and the Moncton Center in Canada

Astronomical Highlights for 2007

Eclipses for 2007

Eclipse information from: NASA Eclipse Homepage, Eclipses Online (HM Nautical Almanac Office, UK in coordination with the U.S. Naval Observatory)

Meteor Showers for 2007

Mark your calendar to look for...

Perseids on August 13th

Orionids on October 21st

Leonids on November 18th

Historical and Current Events
...Did you know?

Culled from Wikipedia and others, by Mark Tillotson (Thank you Mark!)

The approximate date of Earth's aphelion. Astronomically speaking, the sun begins in the constellation of Gemini and ends in the constellation of Cancer.

View the historical calendar!

Comets for September

Gary Kronk's comet and meteor pages
Skyhound Comet pages

Help us out by leaving a donation in the ol' PayPal hat or write us a favorable review in iTunes of Podcast Pickle or iPodder!

Music Scottish Guitar Quartet -"Romance within you"
Douglas Spotted - "Starry Night"

Direct download: AAGG_sky_tour_Sept_07.mp3
Category: Sky Tours -- posted at: 4:06 AM

Comments[1]

Sun, 26 August 2007

Eclipse Special

Click here to
Animate Me!!

This star chart will show you what is around the Moon at the time of totality. Neptune and Uranus are near by and would make for interesting targets while the Moon is dimmed.

Eclipse information from: NASA Eclipse Homepage, Eclipses Online (HM Nautical Almanac Office, UK in coordination with the U.S. Naval Observatory)

What to see

The entire 'winter' hexagon will rise just before dawn with Sirius just before and to the S of Venus just as the 'summer' triangle sets.

Red Mars pairs up with red Aldeberon in Taurus. Mars it brighter and to the NE of the red eye of the bull.

When the moon is eclipsed it will be directly between Neptune and Uranus

Next total eclipse for those in N.America will be Feb 21, 2008 for future date check the bottom of the NASA Eclipse Website!

Planets

Mercury- deep in the glow of sunset. Better viewing in September and October -0.9 mag (1st) to -1.4 mag (21st)

Venus- is emerging from the glow of the sun, just beginning its tour as the Morning Star for the next half-year. Look for it above the eastern horizon 60 to 40 minutes before sunrise. It's getting a little higher every day.

Mars- In Taurus and the red planet will be near the dimmer, giant red Aldeberon.

Jupiter- In Ophiucus north of the bright red Antares. -2.5 mag (1st) to -2.4 mag (21st)

Saturn- lost in the glare of the sun

Uranus-In Aquarius magnitude 5.7, is passing within 1/4° of the yellow-orange star Phi Aquarii, magnitude 4.2.

Neptune-Will camp out in Capricorn all year long 7.9 mag (1st) to 7.8 mag (21st)

4 Vesta -Categorized as a minor planet (Vesta family Main Belt) not far from Jupiter this month and at a magnitude of 5.4 - 6.0 will be a good naked eye object for August.

Astronomical Highlights for 2007

Direct download: AAGG_eclipse_special.mp3
Category: Eclipse -- posted at: 4:19 AM

Comments[0]

Wed, 1 August 2007

Tour of the Sky: August 2007

Download this month's sky map!

Northern hemisphere sky map
Southern hemisphere sky map

Those in the Southern Hemisphere should also visit James Barclay's site for a great tour of the Southern Hemisphere August sky.

Download "What's up 2007: 365 days of Skywatching" by Tammy Plotner, published by Universe Today (Faser Cain) it is a fantastic and it is free!

Planets for August 2007

Mercury- In Gemini at the beginning of the month is visible for the first few mornings of the month in bright twilight. At month's end Mercury will be visible in the West in the evening twilight. At months end Mercury is in Virgo look forward to better viewing in September and October -0.9 mag (1st) to -1.4 mag (21st)

Venus- In Sextans the brilliant Venus has been slowly sinking towards the Sun and lower in the evening sky. Look for Venus in the early twilight at the very beginning of the month and look for her razor thin crescent. Venus then disappears, and for Northern viewers, and is not visible again until the end of the month in the constellation Cancer. -4.3 mag (1st) to - 4.3 mag (21st)

Mars- In Taurus and glides by the Hyades on the 19th. By midmonth Mars rises between 11 and 2 depending upon your latitude. Towards the end of the month the red planet will be near the dimmer, giant red Aldeberon. 0.7 mag (1st) to 0.6 mag (21st)

Jupiter- In Ophiuchus becomes stationary and returns to proper motion on the 7th. At sunset Jupiter is near the meridian moving eastward each night. -2.4 mag (1st) to -2.2 mag (21st)

Saturn- In Leo th mid-southern latitudes can still eek out Saturn, telescopically, in the Sun's glare 0.6 mag (1st) to 0.6 mag (21st)

Uranus-In Aquarius 5.8 mag (1st) to 5.8 mag (21st)

Neptune-Will camp out in Capricorn all year long 7.9 mag (1st) to 7.8 mag (21st)

4 Vesta -Categorized as a minor planet (Vesta family Main Belt) is catching up with Jupiter and starts the month a degree from the double star Beta Scorpius and at a magnitude of 6.7 and is still a good binocular object for August. At the end of the month Jupiter and Vesta will be less than the width of the moon apart. Vesta is the second most massive object in the asteroid belt with a mean diameter of 540 km and was named after the Roman goddess of home and hearth.

Key Dates for August 2007

Days and Times in UT (help with time)
Observations are for 8pm for the mid-southern latitudes and for 10pm for the mid-northern latitudes.

Great site for sunrise and sunset times and a downloadable toolbar application by Steve Edwards

Occultation information can be found at the IOTA website! Astronomical Highlights

August

4 - Moon at perigee (closest to Earth 368,891 km)

5 - Last Quarter 21:20 UT

5-8 - Cross Quarter Days

7 - Waning crescent Moon near Mars

- Jupiter stationary resumes its direct/eastward motion

12 - New Moon 23:03 UT

13 - Peak of the Perseid meteor shower 5h UT**

- Peak of the Delta Aquarids

- Neptune at opposition

15 - Mercury at superior conjunction - moving into the evening sky

17 - Look for Spica and Arcturus above the crescent moon

18 - Venus at inferior conjunction - moving into to morning sky

19 - Moon at apogee (furthest from Earth 404,618 km) and roughly between Spica and the Jupiter/Antares pair

20 - First Quarter Moon 23:54 UT

21 - Jupiter 5 deg from Antares, possible occultation check the IOTA website for data for your area.

22 - Antares 0.7 deg N of Moon

24 - Mars 5 deg N of Aldebaran

28 - Full Moon, Total lunar eclipse

31 - Moon at perigee (closest to Earth 364,171 km)

- At dawn look for the reappearance of Venus low and in the East. Don't confuse the "morning star" with Sirius in the SE

Monthly Messier*

This is the month that we begin to sneak into the summer Milky Way and the heart of our galaxy as we find 12 more object. Some are visible to the naked eye, all are possible in binoculars. There are six globular clusters, four open clusters, and two diffuse nebula. Many of these objects also appear to be in pairs, either in visual appearance or location.

M10, M12 This pair of globular clusters in the middle of Ophiuchus are easily swept up in binoculars looking like small blue snow balls. Through an 8" telescope M12 is well resolved while M10 is slightly more fuzzy looking. Both become very bright towards the center.
M107 A small, fairly faint globular cluster in Ophiuchus. It is a tough binocular object, appearing as a very small faint patch of light possibly requiring averted vision. In a telescope, M107 is a larger and brighter fuzzy patch of light than what can be seen in binoculars.
M9 Another small, relatively faint globular cluster in Ophiuchus. M9 is very similar to M107, only slightly brighter. Another tough, but possible binocular object.
M19, M62 Another pair of globular clusters in Ophiuchus separated by about four degrees. Fairly easy to find in binoculars, they are smaller than M10 and M12 thus not quite as obvious. These clusters are not resolvable through small scopes, and appear as round fuzzy patches brightening towards the center. M19 is slightly brighter than M62.
M6, M7 This is a pair of large, bright open clusters in Scorpius visible to the naked eye. Binoculars provide the best view of these clusters. Both are completely resolvable in 10x50 binoculars and can be fit into the same field of view. M7 is the larger and brighter of the pair.
M8 This is a bright emission nebula in Sagittarius, easily visible to the naked eye. The common name of M8 is the Lagoon nebula. In binoculars M8 is an oval cloud of light larger than the full moon with several bright stars embedded within it. A telescope makes this nebula larger and brighter but does not really improve the view.
M20 Another diffuse nebula in Sagittarius only 1.4 degrees northwest of M8 and is called the Trifid nebula. This is easily seen in binoculars looking like a cloud of smoke around some bright stars. A view through a telescope appears much the same, although try to pick out the three dust lanes that gives M20 its name. This is a somewhat difficult object to see right away, at first glance it looks like the optics are in need of cleaning and are causing the light from the bright stars to "smear".
M21 This is a small, but bright open cluster in Sagittarius right next to M20. Binoculars show a very small bright patch partially resolvable. Small telescopes easily resolve all of the clusters members. M8, M20, and M21 are all within the same binocular field and lie in a very rich region of the Milky Way. This view is one of the finest to be found.
M23 The last object of the month is a large open cluster in Sagittarius. through binoculars M23 is a large, hazy patch of light almost the size of the full moon. A telescope at low powers easily resolves this cluster among a rich background of other stars.

*Monthly Messier information gleaned from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Moncton Centre Quebec and from the Astronomy Connection website.

Table Mountain Star Party Observing List and those who completed the list
Astronomical Highlights for 2007

Eclipses for 2007

Eclipse information from: NASA Eclipse Homepage, Eclipses Online (HM Nautical Almanac Office, UK in coordination with the U.S. Naval Observatory)

Meteor Showers for 2007

Mark your calendar to look for...

Perseids on August 13th

Orionids on October 21st

Leonids on November 18th

Historical and Current Events
Click here to view the entire list

Culled from Wikipedia and others, by Mark Tillotson (Thank you Mark!)

Comets for August

Gary Kronk's comet and meteor pages
Skyhound Comet pages

Help us out by leaving a donation in the ol' PayPal hat or write us a favorable review in iTunes of Podcast Pickle or iPodder!

Music Scottish Guitar Quartet -"Romance within you"
Courtney Jones - "Ride"
Big George Jackson Blues Band/Roscoe Chenier - "Netherlands Blues"

Direct download: AAGG_sky_tour_Aug_07.mp3
Category: Sky Tours -- posted at: 10:12 AM

Comments[1]

Mon, 2 July 2007

Tour of the Sky: July 2007

Download this month's sky map!

Northern hemisphere sky map
Southern hemisphere sky map

Those in the Southern Hemisphere should also visit James Barclay's site for a great tour of the Southern Hemisphere July sky.

Download "What's up 2007: 365 days of Skywatching" by Tammy Plotner, published by Universe Today (Faser Cain) it is a fantastic and it is free!

Planets for July 2007

Mercury- Moves into the morning sky for the later half of the month. It reaches greatest elongation west on July 20th and brightens throughout the month. Should be visible with the unaided eye at latitude 30deg S by the 15th and on the 19th for 30 deg N. Observers in higher latitudes might need binoculars to fish Mercury out of the morning twilight but this will still be the best morning apparition for the north for the year. 5.2mag (1st) to 0.2 mag (21st)

Venus- Still brilliant, still glorious in the western sky at sunset. Starts off the month nicely paired with Saturn but by the 16th look for a very nice grouping of a young crescent Moon, Venus, Saturn and Regulus. After mid-month she begins her descent back towards the sun and her inferior conjunction on the 18th of Aug. Venus reaches her peak magnitude at -4.5 on the 12th of July. -4.3 mag (1st) to - 4.3 mag (21st)

Mars- Moves from Aries into Taurus on July 27th. Easier to see this month in the early morning twilight for both hemispheres. If you need help finding Mars, look for the Moon on the 9th and find Mars just 6 degrees South. 0.7 mag (1st) to 0.6 mag (21st)

Jupiter- Not far from Antares in Scorpio Jupiter blazes opposite Venus. Jupiter transits early in the evening making it a nice 'family' object the kids can see before going off to bed. Filters will help fish it out of the twilight. -2.5 mag (1st) to -2.4 mag (21st)

Saturn- Out shone by both Venus and Jupiter, Saturn joins the show again at the beginning of the month paired with Venus then again on the 15-17th as he lines up with Regulus, Venus and the Moon. If you can tear yourself away make sure you get a good look at Saturn and his rings before we loose him to the glare of the sun. 0.6 mag (1st) to 0.6 mag (21st)

Uranus-In Aquarius 5.8 mag (1st) to 5.8 mag (21st)

Neptune-Will camp out in Capricorn all year long 7.9 mag (1st) to 7.8 mag (21st)

4 Vesta -Categorized as a minor planet (Vesta family Main Belt) not far from Jupiter this month and at a magnitude of 5.4 - 6.0 will be a good naked eye object for July. Vesta is the second most massive object in the asteroid belt with a mean diameter of 540 km and was named after the Roman goddess of home and hearth.

On the 4th of July she spends Independence day just north of the double star Beta Scorpius.

Key Dates for July 2007

Days and Times in UT (help with time)
Observations are for 8pm for the mid-southern latitudes and for 10pm for the mid-northern latitudes.

Great site for sunrise and sunset times and a downloadable toolbar application by Steve Edwards

Occultation information can be found at the IOTA website! Astronomical Highlights

July

- This is a good month for hunting down Noctilucent clouds! (Read more about them....)

2 - Venus .5 deg from Saturn in the evening sky

3 - Neptune 1.3 deg N of Moon in the morning sky. Possible occultation check the IOTA website for data for your area.

4 - Mars solstice! Winter for the N hemisphere and summer for the S hemisphere.

- Have a safe 4th of July

6 - Venus in descending node

7 - Earth at aphelion (furthest point from the sun) 0h UT

- Last Quarter Moon 16:54 UT

9 - Moon near Mars in the morning sky

- Moon at perigee (closest to Earth)

10 - Moon near the Pleiades in the morning sky

- Mercury stationary

12 - Mercury at greatest heliocentric latitude S.

13 - Venus 1.7 degs from Regulus in the evening sky

14 - Venus at its brightest at 17 UT Mag -4.5

- Vesta stationary

- New Moon 12:04 UT

16 - Moon near Saturn in the evening sky. Possible occultation check the IOTA website for data for your area.

17 - Moon near Regulus(another possible occultation) and Venus.

20 - Mercury at greatest elongation 20 degs West from the Sun in the morning sky

22 - First Quarter Moon 6:29 UT

- Moon at apogee at 9h UT

28 - Delta Aquarid meteors peak

30 - Full Moon 0:48 UT

31 - Mercury at ascending node

- Neptune 1.3 degs N of Moon. Possible occultation check the IOTA website for data for your area.

Monthly Messier*

This will be a light month as we wait for the Milky Way to rise into better view later this NH-summer/SH-winter. Our list consist of six globular clusters and one very bright galaxy. All of these objects are possible with binoculars, most are down right easy even with small binoculars.

M3 - This globular cluster in Canes Venatici is one of the brightest objects in the sky. In binoculars this object is definitely not star like, but more of a bright, small snowball easy to see. Small telescopes will begin to resolve M3 into individual stars. The hardest part of this object is locating it in a portion of sky that contains few bright landmarks.

M53 - Another globular cluster in Canes Venatici. While not quite as big or bright as M3 it is still an obvious binocular object. Resolvable in small telescopes, it as easy object to find sharing the same low power telescope field as fifth magnitude Alpha Coma Berenices.

M5 - A big, bright globular cluster located in Serpens Caput. M5 is as nice as M3 but lies near a fifth magnitude naked eye star (5 Serpentis) making it an easy object to find.

M68 - An eighth magnitude globular cluster in Hydra, M68 is a difficult binocular object for Northern observers. It appears as a faint fuzz spot in binoculars, you may need to use averted vision or large binoculars to find this one. Appearing as a round fuzzy patch in a 8" telescope, you will need a much larger aperature to really resolve it.

M83 - A face on spiral in Hydra. M83 is fairly easy in binoculars as a faint, fuzzy patch of light. In a telescope look for a large patch of light with a bright center.

M4 - A big bright globular in Scorpius, easily located near Antares. This is an easy binocular object appearing as a round snowball. Partially resolvable in a telescope, the trade mark of this globular is a line of bright stars crossing the center.

M80 - This is the smallest and faintest globular cluster this month. Located in Scopius, M80 is a very tough binocular object appearing as a faint star with slight fuzziness around the edges. This is confirmed with a telescope, M80 has a bright central condensation in the middle of faint fuzz. It is one of the Messier objects that even through a medium telescope still looks like a comet.

*Monthly Messier information gleaned from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Moncton Centre Quebec and from the Astronomy Connection website.

Astronomical Highlights for 2007

Eclipses for 2007

Eclipse information from: NASA Eclipse Homepage, Eclipses Online (HM Nautical Almanac Office, UK in coordination with the U.S. Naval Observatory)

Meteor Showers for 2007

Mark your calendar to look for...

Lyrids on April 23rd

Perseids on August 13th

Orionids on October 21st

Leonids on November 18th

Historical and Current Events
...Did you know?

Culled from Wikipedia and others, by Mark Tillotson (Thank you Mark!)

The approximate date of Earth's aphelion. Astronomically speaking, the sun begins in the constellation of Gemini and ends in the constellation of Cancer.

The historical and current events ended up being too long for the poor libsyn blog pages!!! (Imagine)
Please go to this file for this wonderful list of historical events!

Comets for July

Gary Kronk's comet and meteor pages
Skyhound Comet pages

Help us out by leaving a donation in the ol' PayPal hat or write us a favorable review in iTunes of Podcast Pickle or iPodder!

Music Scottish Guitar Quartet -"Romance within you"
Celili Moss - "Leis a lurrighan"
Dust Rhinos - "Wild Mountain Thyme"

Direct download: AAGG_sky_tour_July_07.mp3
Category: Sky Tours -- posted at: 10:33 AM

Comments[1]

Thu, 31 May 2007

Tour of the Sky: June 2007

Download this month's sky map!

Northern hemisphere sky map
Southern hemisphere sky map

Those in the Southern Hemisphere should also visit James Barclay's site for a great tour of the Southern Hemisphere June sky.

Download "What's up 2007: 365 days of Skywatching" by Tammy Plotner, published by Universe Today (Faser Cain) it is a fantastic and it is free!

Planets for June 2007

Mercury- Look for Mercury between Venus and the horizon after sunset until around the 18th (depending upon your latitude) when Mercury disappears in the glare of the sun. Mercury is best at the beginning of the month where he sits just to the NE of M35, an unorganized open cluster at the feet of Castor. Also in the immediate area is NGC 2158 which I think is a much nicer object. At greatest elongation on June 2nd Mercury has reached hip high between the twins before swinging back towards the sun via Pollux's knees. .4 mag (1st) to 3.7 mag (21st)

Venus- High in the sky after dark Venus continues to highlight the western sky reaching greatest elongation 45 deg east on June 9th. Venus makes several great photo ops this month starting with a nice line up with Castor and Pollux (Gemini) the first couple of days of June before sliding over to graze the Beehive Cluster (M44) between the 12th and 13th. Get the telescopes and cameras ready for the 17th-19th as the young Moon slides past Venus and Saturn. Finally she pairs up with Saturn between the 28th and the first of July for a nice close encounter. -4.1 mag (1st) to - 4.2 mag (21st)

Mars- In Pisces until June 26th when it passes into Ares. Look for the red planet near the moon on the 10th where they both sit on the western arm of Pisces. Very low on the horizon for mid-upper Northern Latitudes better viewing the further south you go and outstanding in the Southern Hemisphere. 0.8 mag (1st) to 0.8 mag (21st)

Jupiter- King of the planets is finally in prime position rising as the sun sets and is visible all night. Opposition on June 5th puts Jupiter 400 million miles from Earth. Jupiter moves eastward across lower Ophiucus and by Aug 1st sits just north of Antares. Low in the sky for mid-high northern latitudes moves higher in the sky as you move south. Some nice days to catch his four Galilean moons close to the planet disk are: 4th, 5th, 12th, 29th, and 30th -2.6 mag (1st) to -2.6 mag (21st)

Saturn-Absolutely beautiful in Leo almost at the Cancer border. Saturn's rings are tipped 15 deg from edgewise towards us so take advantage of these beautiful rings by catching Saturn earlier in the month before the Moon rises. Saturn make a nice appearance near Venus between the 17th and 30th and the Moon on the 18th 0.5 mag (1st) to 0.5 mag (21st)

Uranus-In Aquarius 5.9 mag (1st) to 5.8 mag (21st)

Neptune-Will camp out in Capricorn all year long 7.9 mag (1st) to 7.9 mag (21st)

4 Vesta -Categorized as a minor planet (Vesta family Main Belt) we are adding her to the mix because she will be not far from Jupiter this month and at a magnitude of 5.4 - 6.0 will be a good naked eye object for June. Vesta is the second most massive object in the asteroid belt with a mean diameter of 540 km and was named after the Roman goddess of home and hearth.

On the 4th of July she spends Independence day just north of the double star Beta Scorpius.

Key Dates for June 2007

Days and Times in UT (help with time)
Observations are for 8pm for the mid-southern latitudes and for 11pm for the mid-northern latitudes.

Great site for sunrise and sunset times and a downloadable toolbar application by Steve Edwards

Occultation information can be found at the IOTA website! Astronomical Highlights

June

1 - Full Moon 1:04 UT

2 - Mercury at greatest elongation, 23 deg east of the Sun (evening sky)

5 - Jupiter at opposition 23h UT

8 - Last Quarter Moon 11:43 UT

9 - Venus at greatest elongation 45 deg east of Sun (evening sky)

- Jupiter double shadow transit 9:18 UT

10 - Moon near Mars (5 deg S of Moon)22h UT in the morning sky

12 - Moon at perigee (closest to Earth) 363,780 km from Earth

12-13 - Venus skims the Beehive Cluster (M44)

13 - For you sundial lovers the equation of time at 0 ... for more information.

15 - New Moon 3:13 UT

17 - Pluto at opposition

18 - Moon near Venus, possible daytime occultation check IOTAfor occultation information for your area

19 - Moon near Saturn (8h UT) AND Regulus (23h) possible occultation check IOTAfor occultation information for your area

21 - June Solstice 18:06 UT The sun reaches its highest point north of the celestial equator and is at 'stand still' before moving south again. This is the longest day in the Northern Hemisphere (middle or beginning of summer) or the shortest day in the Southern Hemisphere (middle or beginning of winter). For a great animation of the 'seasons' check out the Prentice Hall site

22 - First Quarter Moon 13:15 UT

23 - Uranus at standstill begins its retrograde motion (westward)

24 - Moon at apogee (furthest from Earth) 404,540 km

28 - Moon near Antares 8h UT possible occultation check IOTA for occultation information for your area

30 - Full Moon 13:49 UT

- Close encounter of Venus and Saturn

Monthly Messier*

This month we attack the heart of the Virgo cluster of galaxies. If you download show #39 we actually walk you through a nice long list of Virgo Galaxies including those listed below.

These 13 galaxies all within less than 100 square degrees of sky and the brightest of these galaxies, M87, is only 8.6 in total magnitude so this will be a telescope only month. Plan on searching for small faint fuzzies, dark, clear skies are a must.

M84, M86 - A pair of elliptical galaxies in the famous Markarian's Chain in Virgo. Appear as small fuzzy balls with bright, almost stellar cores. Both easily fit into the same low power field of view. M86 is slightly brighter and more oval than round M84.

M87 - M87 - Elliptical galaxy famous for its black hole and jet. Another round fuzzy ball with a bright core. Slightly brighter than both M84 and M86.

M89 and elliptical galaxy paired with spiral galaxy M90 - Both of these galaxies fit into the same low power field of view. M89 is another round fuzzy ball similar to M84, while M90 appears as an oval patch of light larger than M89. M90 has a bright central region.

M91 - Spiral galaxy in Coma Berenices. A faint, slightly irregular oval hazy patch of light.

M88 - A small oval shaped fuzzy patch with a bright stellar core. Similar in size and shape to M90. Can fit into the same field of view as M91. Bump up the power and see if you can tease out the spiral arms.

M58 - Another spiral galaxy that appears as a slightly oval shaped fuzzy patch of light with a bright central region.

M59, M60 - M59 and M60, both are elliptical galaxies and both can easily fit into the same field of view. M59 is a small, hazy oval patch, not all that easy to see. M60 is another fuzzy oval patch of light, larger and brighter than M59.

M99 - A bright round fuzzy patch of light which is a face on spiral galaxy.

M98 - This edge-on spiral galaxy appears as a bright pencil like streak of light.

M100 - A round hazy glow of light, bright in the center but gradually fading towards the edge. Using more power and averted vision see if you can detect the spiral arms of this face on galaxy.

For navigating the Virgo Cluster I highly recommend "Mastering the Virgo Cluster" by Alan M MacRobert; Sky & Telescope (Archives); May 1994; 42;

*Monthly Messier information gleaned from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Moncton Centre Quebec and from the Astronomy Connection website.

Astronomical Highlights for 2007

Eclipses for 2007

Eclipse information from: NASA Eclipse Homepage, Eclipses Online (HM Nautical Almanac Office, UK in coordination with the U.S. Naval Observatory)

Meteor Showers for 2007

Mark your calendar to look for...

Lyrids on April 23rd

Perseids on August 13th

Orionids on October 21st

Leonids on November 18th

Comets for June

Gary Kronk's comet and meteor pages
Skyhound Comet pages

Historical and Current Events

...Did you know?

Culled from Wikipedia by Mark Tillotson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June )
Thanks Mark!!!

6/1
b- 1928 - Georgi Dobrovolski, cosmonaut (Moon crater)

6/2
1896 - Guglielmo Marconi receives a patent for his newest invention: the radio.
1966 - Surveyor program: Surveyor 1 lands in Oceanus Procellarum on the Moon, 
		 becoming the first US spacecraft to soft land on another world.
2003 - Europe launches its first voyage to another planet, Mars. The European 
		 Space Agency's Mars Express probe launches from the Baikonur space 
		 centre in Kazakhstan.
b- 1930 – Pete Conrad, NASA Astronaut. Flew on Gemini 5, 11, Apollo 12, 
	 and Skylab 2 missions. (d. 7/8/1999)

6/3
1965 - Launch of Gemini 4, the first multi-day space mission by a NASA crew.
1965 - For 21 minutes, Edward H. White floats free outside the space 
		 vehicle Gemini IV for the first time.
b- 1659 - David Gregory, Scottish astronomer (d. 1708)

6/4
1769 - A transit of Venus is followed five hours later by a total 
		 solar eclipse, the shortest such interval in the historical past.
b- 470 BC - Socrates, Greek philosopher (d. 399 BC)
b- 460 BC - Hippocrates, Greek historian (d. 370 BC)
b- 1754 - Franz Xaver, Baron Von Zach, Austrian editor and 
	 astronomer (d. 1832) (Moon crater)

6/5
b- 1819 - John Couch Adams, English mathematician and 
	 astronomer (d. 1892) (Moon crater)

6/6
1971 - Soyuz program: Soyuz 11 launches.
2002 - Eastern Mediterranean Event. A near-Earth asteroid estimated 
		 at 10 meters diameter explodes over the Mediterranean Sea between 
		 Greece and Libya. The resulting explosion is estimated to have a 
		 force of 26 kilotons, slightly more powerful than the Nagasaki atomic bomb.
b- 1436 - Regiomontanus, German mathematician (d. 1476) (Moon crater)
b- 1580 - Godefroy Wendelin, Flemish astronomer (d. 1667)
b- 1932 - David Scott, NASA astronaut. Flew on Gemini 8 and Apollo 9 and 15.
 
6/7
d- 1826 - Joseph von Fraunhofer, German physicist and astronomer 
	 (b. 1787) (Moon crater)

6/8
2004 - First Transit of Venus in this millennium.
b- 1625 - Giovanni Domenico Cassini, Italian scientist and astronomer 
	 (d. 1712) (Moon crater)

6/10
2003 - The Spirit Rover is launched, beginning NASA's Mars Exploration 
		 Rover mission.
b- 1710 - James Short, Scottish mathematician (d. 1768) (Moon crater)
b- 1929 – James A. McDivitt, NASA Astronaut. Command Pilot, 
	 Gemini 4 (1965) and Commander, Apollo 9 (1969).

6/11
2004 - Cassini-Huygens makes its closest flyby of Phoebe.
b- 1723 - Johann Georg Palitzsch, German astronomer (d. 1788) 
	 (Moon crater)

6/12
1967 - Venera program: Venera 4 is launched (it will become the first 
		 space probe to enter another planet's atmosphere and successfully return data).
2004 - A 1.3 kg chondrite type meteorite strikes a house in Ellerslie, 
		 New Zealand causing serious damage but no injuries.
b- 1577 - Paul Guldin, Swiss astronomer and mathematician (d. 1643)

6/13
1983 - Pioneer 10 becomes the first manmade object to leave the solar system.
b- 1773 - Thomas Young, English scientist (d. 1829) (Moon crater)
b- 1831 - James Clerk Maxwell, Scottish physicist (d. 1879) (Moon crater)
d- 1993 - Deke Slayton, astronaut (b. 1924)

6/14
1822 - Charles Babbage proposes a difference engine in a paper to the 
		 Royal Astronomical Society entitled "Note on the application of 
		 machinery to the computation of astronomical and mathematical tables."
1962 - The European Space Research Organization is established in Paris – 
		 later becoming the European Space Agency.
1967 - Mariner program: Mariner 5 is launched toward Venus.

6/15
763 BC - Assyrians record a solar eclipse that will be used to fix the 
		chronology of Mesopotamian history.
b- 1765 - Johann Gottlieb Friedrich von Bohnenberger, 
	 German mathematician (d. 1831) (Moon crater)

6/16
1911 - A 772 gram stony meteorite struck earth near Kilbourn, 
		 Columbia County, Wisconsin damaging a barn.
1963 - Soviet Space Program: Vostok 6 Mission, Cosmonaut Valentina 
		 Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space.
b- 1888 - Peter Stoner, American mathematician, astronomer and 
	 Christian apologist (d. 1980)

6/17
b- 1714 - César-François Cassini de Thury, French astronomer (d. 1784)

6/18
1178 - Five Canterbury monks see what was possibly the Giordano 
		 Bruno crater being formed. It is believed that the current 
		 oscillations of the moon's distance (on the order of meters) 
		 are a result of this collision.
1983 - Space Shuttle program: STS-7, Astronaut Sally Ride becomes 
		 the first American woman in space.
d- 1650 - Christoph Scheiner, German astronomer (b. 1573) (Moon crater)
d- 1922 - Jacobus Kapteyn, Dutch astronomer (b. 1851)

6/19
b- 1846 - Antonio Abetti, Italian astronomer (d. 1928) (Moon crater)
b- 1922 - Aage Niels Bohr, Danish physicist, Nobel laureate (Moon crater)
b- 1933 - Viktor Patsayev, Soviet cosmonaut

6/20
1990 - Asteroid Eureka discovered.
1941 - Ulf Merbold, German physicist and astronaut

6/21
2004 - SpaceShipOne becomes the first privately funded spaceplane 
		 to achieve spaceflight.
2006 - Pluto's newly discovered moons are officially christened 
		 Nix & Hydra on this date.
b- 1646 (O.S.) - Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, German philosopher 
	 and scientist (d. 1716) (Moon crater)
b- 1823 - Jean Chacornac, French astronomer (d. 1873) (Moon crater)
b- 1863 - Max Wolf, German astronomer (d. 1932) (Moon crater)
b- 1958 - Gennady Padalka, cosmonaut
d- 1951 - Charles Dillon Perrine, American astronomer (b. 1867) 
	 (Moon crater)

6/22
1633 - The Holy Office in Rome forces Galileo Galilei to recant 
		 his scientific view that the Sun, not the Earth, is the 
		 center of the Universe.
b- 1930 - Yuri Artyukhin, cosmonaut (d. 1998)
d- 1429 - Ghiyath al-Kashi, Persian astronomer and mathematician (b. 1380)

6/23
b- 1612 - André Tacquet, Belgian mathematician (d. 1660) (Moon crater)
b- Donn Eisele, NASA Astronaut. Flew on Apollo 7. (d. 12/2/1987)

6/24
1983 - Space Shuttle program: STS-7 Mission Sally Ride, first 
		 female American astronaut, returns to earth.
b- 1485 - Johannes Bugenhagen, German reformer (d. 1558)
b- 1915 - Fred Hoyle, British astronomer (d. 2001)
d- 1946 - Ellison Onizuka, American astronaut (d. 1986)
d- 1637 - Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc, French astronomer (
	 b. 1580) (Moon crater)

6/25
1997 - An unmanned Progress spacecraft collided with the Russian 
		 Space station, Mir.
d- 1671 - Giovanni Battista Riccioli, Italian astronomer (b. 1598) 
	 (Moon crater)

6/26
1973 - On Plesetsk Cosmodrome 9 people are killed in an explosion 
		 of a Cosmos 3-M rocket.
b- 1904 - Frank Scott Hogg, Canadian astronomer (d. 1951) (Moon crater)
b- 1925 - Pavel Belyayev, cosmonaut (d. 1970) (Moon crater)

6/28
d- 1889 - Maria Mitchell, American astronomer (b. 1818) (Moon crater)

6/29
512 - A solar eclipse is recorded by a monastic chronicler in Ireland.
1995 - Space Shuttle program: STS-71 Mission (Atlantis docks with 
		 the Russian space station Mir for the first time.)
b- 1868 - George Ellery Hale, American astronomer (d. 1938) (Moon crater)
b- 1962 - George Zamka, astronaut

6/30
1905 - Albert Einstein publishes the article "On the Electrodynamics 
		 of Moving Bodies", where he introduces special relativity.
1908 - The Tunguska impact event occurs in Siberia.
1971 - The crew of the Soviet Soyuz 11 spacecraft is killed when 
		 their air supply escapes through a faulty valve.
d- 1971 - Crew of Soyuz 11
	 o Viktor Patsayev (b. 1933)
	 o Georgi Dobrovolski (b. 1928)
	 o Vladislav Volkov (b. 1935)

Help us out by leaving a donation in the ol' PayPal hat or write us a favorable review in iTunes of Podcast Pickle or iPodder!

Music Scottish Guitar Quartet -"Romance within you"
Boom Boom Beckett - "Summertime"
Elisabeth Lohninger Quartet - "Pour-quoi, pour-quoi pas"

Direct download: AAGG_sky_tour_Jun_07.mp3
Category: Sky Tours -- posted at: 11:51 AM

Comments[2]

Thu, 10 May 2007

Show #39: Navigating your way through (part of) the Virgo Cluster

Carpe Noctem - Seize the Night!

Image courtesy of Randy Brewer

Virgo Galaxies!

Here is a short list of some good Virgo Cluster reference. Each is different and I have used them all! There are literally 100s of articles written about navigating through the Virgo Cluster. My advice is find a good map and then find a route that suits you. I'm presenting only one way to attack the area but it is a way that works for me fairly consistently.

Good luck!

Alan M. MacRobert's "Mastering the Virgo Cluster" Sky and Telescope, May 1994 pg 42
-This is the one I carry in my notebook because I love the route and the map.

Steve Gottlieb's "The Virgo Mainline"
-This one I carry for sharing a different approach for those who get lost at the beginning of the MacRobert's route.

Atlas
Jan Wisniewski's Virgo Galaxy Cluster - Finder Chart

Tonight we are using the WikiSky.org Atlas for our Virgo Tour

Start by arc-ing from the handle of the big dipper to Arcturus and then "Speed on" or "Spike" to Spica. Once at Spica work you way up the body of the Maiden to Porrma, her throat, and then up her outstretched arm to Vindemiatrix.

Another way is to start from the head of Leo the Lion wander west to Denebola and then across to Vindemiatrx.

46 Galaxies?!?!? Okay, here we go....

North is up

Object	Magnitude	Type	Notes
Section 1			The 'on ramp'.....
Epsilon Virginis - Vindemiatrix	2.8		Yellow giant 100 light yrs away
Bunsen Burner	9 and 10th		This asterism point away from Epsilon and in the direction we want to go
Struve 1689	7 and 9.5	29" apart.
NGC 4762 and NGC 4754	10.3 and 10.5	Sp	4754 is off by itself and 4762 is between a 9th and 10th mag star. Use averted vision or tap the scope to get 4762 to pop out
NGC 4694	11.4	Sp	Very hard to find 11.4 mag elongated NW-SE
NGC 4660	11.8	E	Tiny round cotton ball
M60	8.8	E	One of the biggest and brightest ellipticals in tonight's tour. At higher powers you can make out a slight halo as well as the companion galaxy 4647
NGC 4647	11.3	Sp	Close companion to M60, 3' to the NW a challenge to pick up unless you use averted vision. It is a spiral but looks much more like a smaller version of its elliptical companion
M59	9.6	E	Has a profile more like a spiral but this evening is all about being faint so- 0.4deg W not as bright as M60. Giant elliptical slightly elongated SE-NW
NGC 4638	11.2	Sp	Fainter and smaller depending upon your field of view (FOV) you can squeeze it in along with M60 and M59 making an isosceles triangle with the three.
NGC 4606	11.8	Sp	A toughie. Look for a fuzzy star with two stars on the south. If you have a larger scope you may have passed over 13.0mag 4607 an edge on spiral galaxy out of reach of our smaller scopes.

North is up

Object	Magnitude	Type	Notes
Section 2			The first 'fork in the road'....
M58	13.0	Sp	Spiral galaxy a little fainter and smaller than M59 a dark sky and larger scope (bigger than 8") will start to pick out its smoke like wisps of spiral arm. Take a good look at where you are because we will need to return back to M58 after a detour down the M90 (and friends)side alley.
NGC 4550 and NGC 4551	11.7 and 12.0	Sp and E	(Misprint in the MacRobert's narrative where they are referred to as 4450 and 4451) Heading NW from M58 these two sit very close together and are both very faint and tricky to find.
M89	9.8	E	A nice break from hunting around for the last two. It will seem to pop into view...strange how perspective does that to you. A round fuzzy blob with a brighter core.
M90	9.5	Sp	Just after M89 is a little "W" that runs to the NNW to M90 a giant spiral galaxy with a low surface brightness but it is very large. There is an unrelated 12 mag star sitting between the Earth and the center of this galaxy. Elongated N-S look for a darkened lane on the eastern edge.
NGC 4564	11.1		Backtrack to M58 and then 0.5 deg SW to a tall box asterism just off the NE corner is 4564.
NGC 4567 and 4568	11.3 and 10.8	Sp	Another pair of spirals that seem to be joined at the ends. They are nicknamed the "Siamese Twins" (Who am I to argue but they reminded me much more of amoeba from high school biology class)
NGC 4528	12.1	Sp	Very tiny and quite faint another candidate for power, aperture and dark conditions
NGC 4503	11.1	Sp	Off by itself and very diffuse on 10" or smaller scopes this might take DARK skies, tapping, averted vision...all of your faint fuzzy objects tricks.

North is up

Section 3			Back way in....
NGC 4452	12.0	Sp	This galaxy is a tiny little fuzzy. It is in between two rows of stars and there is a third row of stars below it housing...
NGC 4429	10.0	Sp	An easier find, still a fuzzy blob but easier than 4452
NGC 4440	11.7	Sp	Slid back up to 4452 and then to the NW corner of the three rows (or Arcs) of stars. It sits just SW of the Northern most star in the arc
M87	8.6	E	Now we begin to appreciate the "Ms" in front of numbers. After so many faint NGC an "M" gives us hope for something bigger and brighter. Not to disappoint M87 is .75 deg East of 4440 and a nice big bright giant elliptical. The bright nucleus is one of the brightest radio sources in the sky.
NGC 4478	11.4	E	Is M87's companion much fainter and again needing your faint object tricks
NGC 4476	12.2	Sp	Here we go getting super faint again, another target for larger scopes or darker skies (or sometime more experience) but give it your best because your rewards is...

North is up

Section 4			"The Grand Tour" or "Markarian's Chain"
M84-M86	9.1 and 8.9	E	We start with the 'face' of the Chain M84 and M86, both elliptical galaxies, make up the eyes of the face. M86 is distinctly brighter with its own little cluster on the NE corner.
NGC 4388 and 4387	11.0 and 12.1	Sp and E	Making an equilateral triangle to the South and forming the mouth is NGC 4388 and edge on E-W spiral galaxy and directly in the middle of the triangle finishing off the nose is NGC 4387 another elliptical galaxy.
NGC 4402	11.8		If the face had an eyebrow then it would be 4402. North 8.5ish' from M86 the E-W edge on spiral galaxy appears to have a slight dust lane and a North leaning bulge. Almost like a ladies broad brim hat.
NGC 4413	12.2	Sp	In the opposite direction 9'WSW of 4388, NGC 4413 is an almost face on spiral galaxy
NGC 4425	11.8	Sp	From 4388 make and equilateral triangle to the west with M86 and your corner will be roughly in the area of 4425 another edge on spiral galaxy brighter than 4413
			Now we can start moving up the Chain in pairs...
NGC 4435 and 4438	10.8 and 10.2	Sp	Draw a line WNW from M84 and M86 to the first pair in the chain, both spiral galaxies. Nick-named "The Eyes" 4438 is slightly longer with wispy arms reaching NW-SE and both galaxies mirror each other in orientation NW-SE
NGC 4461 and 4458	11.2 and 12.1	Sp and E	The next pair, fainter the elliptical 4458 is all but indistinguishable (for me)from the small 10.95 mag star to its NW. 4461 is slightly brighter spiral galaxy elongated N-S
NGC 4473	10.2	E	This slightly brighter elliptical lost her buddy (bad Scout) and lays E-W alone in the middle of the Chain. You may not have noticed but you are now in Coma Berenices.
NGC 4477 and 4479	10.4 and 12.4	Sp	About 12' NNW are another pair of spiral galaxies. 4477 is the brighter and Eastern most of the pair
NGC 4459 and 4474	10.4 and 11.5	Sp	A wider pair of spirals 4459 is very close to a 8.2 yellow star and look like an elliptical galaxy. 4474 is much fainter but has that familiar central bulge of an edge on galaxy.
M88	9.6	Sp	The last two links in the Chain are biggies and brighties! M88 is a partial face on spiral with a multitude of arms making a nice even frisbe disk.
M91	10.2	Sp	A particularly appropriate reward at the end. This face on barred spiral is beautiful with two large arms sweeping out on opposite sides.

Sun

Current view of the Sun!

Comets

Comets for the Month.

Check out the Sky Hound site.

Music

"Wake the Dragon" by Dragon Ritual Drummers
"Over Again" by Rebecca Loebe

"One touch of nature makes the whole world kin"
-- Shakespeare

Email us at astronomyagogo@gmail.com or leave a note in our show notes at www.astronomy.libsyn.com
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Direct download: AAGGshow39.mp3
Category: Deep Sky Objects -- posted at: 3:19 PM

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Wed, 2 May 2007

Tour of the Sky: May 2007

Download this month's sky map!

Northern hemisphere sky map
Southern hemisphere sky map

Those in the Southern Hemisphere should also visit James Barclay's site for a great tour of the Southern Hemisphere December sky.

Download "What's up 2007: 365 days of Skywatching" by Tammy Plotner, published by Universe Today (Faser Cain) it is a fantastic and it is free!

Planets for May 2007

Mercury- After reaching superior conjunction on the 3rd Mercury moves into the evening sky for the best view those in the NHemisphere will get all year. From May 18-June 12th look for Mercury between Venus and the horizon after sunset. -2.0 mag (1st) to -0.6 mag (21st)

Venus- High in the sky after dark Venus continues to highlight the western sky. At the beginning of the month Venus will pass between the horns of Taurus the Bull as she continues to move Eastward towards M35 and Gemini. -4.0 mag (1st) to - 4.1 mag (21st)

Mars- At the beginning of the month, Mars rises about 2.5 hours before the Sun in the constellation Aquarius 4.5 degrees East of Uranus. The Red Planet moves into Pisces on the 9th , Cetus on the 24th before returning to Pisces on the 29th...Mars isn't moving backwards it is only that it is clipping a corner of Cetus that sticks up into Pisces. 1.0 mag (1st) to 0.9 mag (21st)

Jupiter- Continues to rise earlier everyday and will spend the month in Ophiucus moving ever so slowly towards Antares. -2.5 mag (1st) to -2.6 mag (21st)

Saturn-Absolutely beautiful in Leo almost at the Cancer border. Saturn's rings are tipped 15 deg from edgewise towards us so take advantage of these beautiful rings. The ringed planet is 90degrees east of the Sun so all month its globe will casts its shadows eastward onto the rings. 0.4 mag (1st) to 0.5 mag (21st)

Uranus-In Aquarius about 4.5 degrees west of Mars at the beginning of the month stretching to 23 degrees west by the end of the month. 5.9 mag (1st) to 5.9 mag (21st)

Neptune-Will camp out in Capricorn all year long and is 2.5 degree NW of Delta Capricorni. 7.9 mag (1st) to 7.9 mag (21st)

4 Vesta -Categorized as a minor planet (Vesta family Main Belt) we are adding her to the mix this month because she will be not far from Jupiter this month and at a magnitude of 5.4 - 6.0 will be a good naked eye object for May and June. Vesta is the second most massive object in the asteroid belt with a mean diameter of 540 km and was named after the Roman goddess of home and hearth. So even though she was never a mother herself step outside on Mother's Day and take a look for this bright asteroid.

Key Dates for May 2007

Days and Times in UT (help with time)
Observations are for 8pm for the mid-southern latitudes and for 10pm for the mid-northern latitudes.

Great site for sunrise and sunset times and a downloadable toolbar application by Steve Edwards

Occultation information can be found at the IOTA website! Astronomical Highlights

May

2 - Full Moon 10:09 UT

- Ladies, go take the women in astronomy survey at Sky and Telescope Magazine!

3 - Mercury at Superior conjunction (moving into the evening sky)

4 - Moon near Antares: 19:00 UT possible occultation from SE Africa, Tasmania and New Zealand

5 - Moon near Jupiter 11:00 UT

6 - Eta Aquarid meteor shower peaks 12:00 UT (April 19-May 28) Southern Hemisphere skywatcher will have a better view!

10 - Last Quarter Moon 4:27 UT

12 - Moon near Uranus (6 UT) and Mars (23 UT) in the morning sky. Possible occultation visible from E. Newfoundland and Greenland.

15 - Moon at perigee (closest to Earth) 359,392 km

16 - New Moon 19:27 UT

17 - Moon near Mercury, both very close to the setting sun!

20 - Crescent Moon near Venus at sunset. Good photo op!

22 - Moon near Saturn

23 - First Quarter Moon 21:03 UT

27 - Moon at apogee (furthest from Earth) 405,460 km

30 - Mercury 1.1 degrees N of M35 (23 deg E)

Monthly Messier*

More galaxies this month warming up with those around Ursa Major and Canes Venatici and then heading to the fringes of the Virgo galaxy region! Most of these can be detected in binoculars or small telescopes and I recommend doing so just for the practice of navigation, averted vision and patience! Then you can pull out the telescope and enjoy the delicate spiral arms and tease-out identifying features.

M51 - The famous Whirlpool galaxy in Canes Venatici is a bright face on spiral with a smaller elliptical companion, NGC 5195. Look for a pair of fuzzy patches of light. The slightly larger and brighter one is M51. Make sure to spend some time here; as there is almost always some spiral structure to be seen, on good nights the detail possible is unbelievable. This is a difficult but very possible object in binoculars appearing as a hazy patch of light.

M63 - Another spiral galaxy in Canes Venatici smaller and fainter than M51, but seen more edge on so the galaxy appears as an elongated patch of light with a bright star at one end. Further inspection will show a faint halo around this patch. A difficult object in binoculars.

M94 - Just past M63 is another galaxy in Canes Vanitici. Look for a bright fuzzy star to find the core of M94, surrounded by a faint haze. A tough binocular object.

M101 - Some times we luck out and get two objects together in the scope (like M81 M82) and some times three (like the Leo trio) but instead of being a two-fer M101 is a ....twelve-fer! Not only can you count M101 as possibly M102 (although I don't) you also have 10 other galaxies wrapped around the outside of this spiral galaxy in Ursa Major.

You will have to work for M101 as it is one of the most difficult Messier objects to find in a telescope. This is a large faint patch of light almost as big as the full moon. Use low power and look for a brighter part of the sky, more of a change in contrast than an object at first glance, which is the galaxy. Dark skies really help in the search of this one and are a to find M101 in binoculars.

M102 - Not an official Messier object in most references, we will look for the galaxy NGC 5866 which is a popular favorite for the 102nd slot in Messier's catalogue. Look for a small, faint patch light that looks like a short fuzzy cigar.

M64 - In a telescope this galaxy in Coma Berenices is a fairly bright, slightly oval shaped patch of light. Look for the dark lane, which gives this galaxy the common name Black Eye. The galaxy appears as a faint fuzzy patch in binoculars.

M85 - This elliptical galaxy lies in Coma Berenices just north of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies. This appears as a bright, but small, patch of light with a bright stellar core.

M49 - This is an elliptical galaxy in Virgo just south of the main cluster of galaxies. M49 is round patch of light with bright center gradually fading to a round halo. M49 looks like a faint fuzzy star in binoculars. Use Art Russell's star hop sheets to help you find M49, M61 and other Virgo galaxies!

M61 - This is a face on spiral galaxy just south of M49 in Virgo, but much fainter. Look for a faint, round fuzzy patch of light.

M104 - This is the well-known Sombrero galaxy in Virgo. It is bright edge on spiral galaxy, which looks like a bright, elongated streak. It is very possible to see in binoculars.

For navigating the Virgo Cluster I highly recommend "Mastering the Virgo Cluster" by Alan M MacRobert; Sky & Telescope (Archives); May 1994; 42;

*Monthly Messier information gleaned from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Moncton Centre Quebec and from the Astronomy Connection website.

Historical and Current Events

...Did you know?


May
1	- Beltane (alt May 4-10) -cross quarter day, beginning of traditional summer
4	-Space Day
5	- Alan Shepard became the first American in space. Mercury Freedom 7 1961
5	- Happy Birthday Ric!
6	- Willem de Sitter's 135th Birthday (1872)
15	- Williamina Paton Fleming's 150th Birthday (1857)
17	- Norman Lockyer's 172nd Birthday (important for all birthdays and for those who like to sound like Donald Duck!)
21	- John F. Kennedy makes his famous speech to the U.S. Congress
24	- 45th Anniversary (1962), Aurora 7 Launch (Scott Carpenter)
28	- First primates to reach space and return successfully. Abel and Baker (rhesus and squirrel monkeys respectively), both returned alive.
29	- John F. Kennedy's 90th Birthday (1917)
31	- Martin Schwarzschild's 95th Birthday (1912)

Astronomical Highlights for 2007

Eclipses for 2007

Eclipse information from: NASA Eclipse Homepage, Eclipses Online (HM Nautical Almanac Office, UK in coordination with the U.S. Naval Observatory)

Meteor Showers for 2007

Mark your calendar to look for...

Lyrids on April 23rd

Perseids on August 13th

Orionids on October 21st

Leonids on November 18th

Comets for May

Gary Kronk's comet and meteor pages
Skyhound Comet pages

Help us out by leaving a donation in the ol' PayPal hat or write us a favorable review in iTunes of Podcast Pickle or iPodder!

Music Scottish Guitar Quartet -"Romance within you"
Boom Boom Beckett - "In a sentimental mood"
Aff the Cuff - "I'll tell me Ma" -(not what we want to hear on Mother's Day!)

Direct download: AAGG_sky_tour_May_07.mp3
Category: Sky Tours -- posted at: 7:36 AM

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Sat, 14 April 2007

Show #38: Retrograde motion

Carpe Noctem - Seize the Night!

Image credit: NASA - The image of Sirius A and Sirius B taken by Hubble Space Telescope. The white dwarf can be seen to the lower left

CANIS MAJOR

The great Overdog,
That heavenly beast
With a star in one eye,
Gives a leap in the east.

He dances upright
All the way to the west,
And never once drops
On his forefeet to rest.

I'm a poor underdog,
But to-night I will bark
With the great Overdog
That romps through the dark.

Robert Frost, 1928

Quick News

Water identified in extrasolar planet atmosphere. (Lowell Observatory press release) Lowell Observatory astronomer Travis Barman has found strong evidence for water absorption in the atmosphere of transiting planet HD209458b The identification reported here takes advantage of the fact that HD209458b, as seen from Earth, passes directly in front of its star every three and half days. As a planet passes in front of a star, its atmosphere blocks a different amount of the starlight at different wavelengths. In particular, absorption by water in the atmosphere of a giant planet makes the planet appear larger across a specific part of the infrared spectrum compared to wavelengths in the visible spectrum.

HD 209458 b is an extrasolar planet that orbits the Sun-like star HD 209458 in the constellation Pegasus, some 150 light-years from Earth's solar system. HD 209458 is an 8th magnitude star, visible from Earth with binoculars. The radius of the planet's orbit is one eighth the radius of Mercury's orbit. This small radius results in a year that is 3.5 Earth days long and an estimated surface temperature of about 1000 degrees Celsius or around 1800 degrees Fahrenheit. Its mass is 220 times that of Earth's (0.69 Jupiter masses), which indicates that it is probably a gas giant.

HD209458b is a world well-known among planet hunters. In 1999, it became the first planet to be directly observed around a normal star outside our solar system and, a few years later, was the first exoplanet confirmed to have oxygen and carbon in its atmosphere.

Retrograde and Direct motion

Retrograde Rotations

Most planets rotate (spin on their axis) in the direct sense: they spin in the same direction as they orbit the Sun. Which is to say their north rotational pole and north orbital pole point in similar directions, more or less in the direction of the Solar north pole. If you were outside our solar system looking down the sun and most of the planets would appear to rotate counter-clockwise or anti-clockwise as you prefer. The exceptions to this rule are Venus and Uranus.

Venus is nearly always described as having its axis at 3 degrees and a rotation of -243 days, rather than 177 degrees and +243 days, in essence it is rotating normally but flipped completely upside down.

Uranus on the other hand lays on its side with its N-S axis parallel to the orbital plane instead of perpendicular. Uranus has an axial tilt of 82 degrees and a negative rotation of -17 hours, or, equivalently, of having an axis tilted at 98 degrees and a positive rotation. Since current speculation is that Uranus started off with a typical direct orientation and was knocked on its side by a large impact early in its history, it is most commonly described as having the higher axial tilt and positive rotation.

Retrograde Orbits

When we observe the sky, the Sun, Moon, and stars appear to move from east to west because of the rotation of the Earth (diurnal motion)is relatively quick, a day. This equates to the daily rising and setting of the Sun, Moon, constellations and planets. However if we study the position of the planets, relative to the background stars, over time they appear to travel, pause, reverse direction, pause, and then resume their direct, or eastward, motion around the Sun. It is this peculiar motion that baffled our astronomical ancestors and probably why the Greeks called our fellow solar system brethren 'planetes' or wanderers.

When looking inward, to Venus or Mercury, the motion we see is the direct orbit of those planets around the Sun. Their orbits are faster than ours and closer to the Sun so when we see them moving away from the Sun, pause, return toward the Sun, vanish, and then appear on the other side we observing their direct orbits around the Sun. The pausing and change of direction here are artifacts of our position in the same plane as much like sitting on the ground watching a child on a merry-go-round. The child is moving in a circular orbit around the center of the merry-go-round not shifting back and forth as the same-plane-view might delude us into thinking. This interior position allows Mercury and Venus to appear as both morning and evening 'stars' in the sky much the same way the child appears to the left or right of the center of the merry-go-round. For a real life study just observe Mercury.

On the other hand the superior planets, those with orbits outside of Earth's, have a longer orbital period. Our orbit period is faster which changes our line of sight. While we are behind in our orbits the planet we are catching up to appears to move eastward against the background stars but as we get closer to conjunction the planet appears to slowdown, stop, and turn moving westward. Once we pass conjunction and pull 'ahead' of the other planet it again appears to pause and reverse following us in a direct or eastward orbit.

Again, trotting down to the playground would be a good way to experiment. This time you need to take your place on the outside of the merry-go-round and carefully observe someone in the distance rolling beyond you in an orbit around the merry-go-round and watch their progress against background objects. But lacking a near by play ground here are some illustrations that might help.

Credit & Copyright: Tunc Tezel (Astronomy Picture of the Day - Dec 16, 2003) Mars is the bright object illustrating retrogradation and the fainter object in the background is Uranus in its direct motion.

Animation of Mars 2003 credit: NASA

For example Saturn has been slowly moving westward away from Regulus (in Leo) for the past few months and on the 20th of this month will appear to pause, turn and return on its direct (eastward) motion across the sky where as Jupiter has just begun it's retrograde motion.

Planets

Evening Planets

Venus - Mag -3.9 in Taurus the bull is making several fantastic pairings for those of you who are looking for some great photo opps. Right now she is between the Pleiades and the Hyades.

Saturn - Mag 0.3 in Leo has just finished its retrograde motion and is now moving in its direct (eastward) motion. Big, bright and beautiful and an easy catch in binoculars or small telescope.

Jupiter - Mag -2.2 in Ophiuchus the serpent bearer is getting ready to start its retrograde motion appearing to move a little bit westward against the background stars.

Morning Planets

Neptune - Mag 7.9 in Capricorn the sea goat

Mars - Mag 1.1 in Aquarius the water bearer approaching....

Uranus - Mag 5.9 also in Aquarius. Small telescope will be needed as you catch these three on the eastern horizon just before sunrise.

Mercury - Mag -0.4 in Pisces the fish. Good morning viewing for those of you in the South much harder the further north you travel.

Constellations

Image Credit: Phobos Group website

Canis Major, Canis Minor - The greater and lesser dogs
Introduced by: Canis Major was in Ptolemy's list of 48 constellations but has been apart of astronomical lore since before the Egyptian.
Best known stars: Sirius (binary star A and B)is Greek for scorching.
The ancient Egyptians based their calendar on the heliacal rising of Sirius and devised a method of telling the time at night based on the heliacal risings of 36 stars called decan stars (one for each 10 degree segment of the 360 degree circle of the zodiac/calendar). For the Egyptians this marked the annual rising of the Nile and the 'dog' days of summer. You can see an animated illustration of Sirius' heliacal rising at the Stanford Solar Center's website (animation)

Roman myth refers to Canis Major as Custos Europae, the dog guarding Europa but who fails to prevent her abduction by Jupiter in the form of a bull.

He is also Laelaps, Actaeon's hound

More commonly Canis Major and Minor are Orion's hunting dogs, pursuing Lepus the hare or Taurus the Bull

Viewing

Binoculars - using the Free Mag 7 star atlas: Chart 9
M41 open cluster in Canis Major discovered, and documented, long before the advent of the telescope in 325 B.C. Aristotle described M41 as a cloudy spot.
100 stars into an area of about 25 light years across with several orange or red giants including the one towards the center of the cluster.
M47 open cluster in Puppis and this one gets better as you move from binos to telescopes! With binos it is a hazy blotch with a few sprinkles of bright light but with a telescope you can pick up 30 blue-white stars from 6-12th mag. The western most corner of the area around M47 is home to a reddish orange variable star KQ Puppis which sticks out as distinctly red in this blue-white group.
M46 open cluster in Puppis over 3X further away than M47; a good study in how distance 'appears' to our eyes. This cluster has a more uniform, denser cluster of faint stars. Sitting between Earth and M46 is NGC 2438 a planetary nebula that glows faintly at 10th mag. After you get settled in M46 use your averted vision to catch 2438 and then power-up to see how much detail you can see.
M93 open cluster in Puppis. Smaller than 46 and 47, 93 will show as half a dozen stars mixed in a dim glow for binoculars but a telescope will pick up 30 faint stars that seem to chain up in various curves and arcs.
M50 open cluster in Monoceros is fairly easy to find because it is all alone. M50 can be viewed as a faint hazy patch in dark skies and each 'bump' up in power and aperture reveals more starts. With an 8" scope and decent skies look for a triangle of stars that mark the center of the cluster

Telescope -
Maps 103 and 102 Taki's chart
NGC 2383 and 2384 the "Double Dog" clusters- 8.4 mag pair of OC in CMajor, due east of NGC 2287 (M41) just about 15 degrees.
Slide NW about 5 degrees to a 4.2 mag OC discovered by Caroline Herschel, C58 or NGC 2360

Challenge -
NGC 2207, 12.3 mag pair of face on spirals playing tug of war
NGC 2283 12.4 mag spiral galaxy just below alpha CMaj
NGC 2359 "The Duck" or "Thor's Helmet" emission nebula NNE part of CMaj

College Salute -
Start with NGC 2362 and open cluster around Tau CMaj just NE of Delta CMaj (Wezen, where the dog's legs join or the tail joins the body as you prefer). The cluster contains 40 members and is one of the youngest known star clusters. Now moving to the NNE corner of the cluster we are looking for the Big Dawg of the Big Dog; UW Canis Majoris (not to be confused with the UW Huskies). A mag 4.9 super giant spectroscopic binary and one of the most luminous and massive stars in our galaxy. The two stars are separated by 27 million kilometers and revolve around each other in less than four and a half days! (Herschel 400 object)

Sun

sunspots

The Moon

Lunar Phase Pro

Our beautiful lunar photos are courtesy of Frank Barrett at celestialwonders.com
I highly recommend his site for lunar phase photos. You can zoom in to his images for more detail.

Click for annotated map
Online Lunar navigation map.

Object Latitude Longitude Comments

1. Plato 51.6 -9.4 (Lunar 100 and AL Lunar list)Greek philosopher c.428-c.347 B.C.

2. Valles Alpes 48.5 3.2 (Lunar 100 and AL Lunar list)

3. Cassini A/B (to the right of the number) 40.5 4.8 (AL Lunar list) Giovanni Domenico; Italian-French astronomer (1625-1712); Jacques J.; French astronomer (1677-1756)

4. The 3 Greeks (largest to smallest):Archimedes, Aristillus, Autolycus 29.7 -4 (Lunar 100 and AL Lunar list)Archimedes:Greek physicist, mathematician (c. 287-212 B.C.), Aristillus:Greek astronomer (fl. c. 280 B.C.), Autolycus of Pitane; Greek astronomer (fl. c. 310 B.C.).

5. Aristoteles w/Mitchell and Eudoxus 50.2 17.4 (Lunar 100 and AL Lunar list)Aristoteles:Greek astronomer, philosopher (383-322 B.C.), Mitchell: American astronomer (1818-1889), Eudoxus:Greek astronomer (c. 408-355 B.C.)

6. Posidonius 31.8 29.9 (Lunar 100 and AL Lunar list)Of Apamea; Greek geographer (135(?)-51(?) B.C.)

7. Serpentine Ridge (Dorsum Smirnov and Dorsum Lister) 20.3 23.8 (Lunar 100)Martin Lister; British stratigrapher, zoologist (1639-1712), Sergei Sergeevich Smirnov; Soviet Earth scientist (1895-1947

8. Lakes District

See Show #28

9. The Waterfall: Ptolemaeus, Alphonsus, Arzachel -9.3 -1.9 (Lunar 100 and AL Lunar list)Ptolemaeus:Ptolemy, Greek astrononer, mathematician, geographer (c. A.D. 87-150, Alphonsus Alfonso X (El Sabio); Spanish astronomer (1221-1284), Al Zarkala (Arzachel); Spanish-Arabic astronomer (c. 1028-1087)

10. Rupes Recta - The Straight Wall -22.1 -7.8 (Lunar 100 and AL Lunar list)

11. Miller, Nasireddin, Huggins -39.3 0.8 William Allen Miller; British chemist (1817-1870), Nasir-Al-Din (Mohammed Ibn Hassan); Persian astronomer (1201-1274), Sir William Huggins; British astronomer (1824-1910)

12. Tycho -43.4 -11.1 (Lunar 100 and AL Lunar list) Tycho Brahe; Danish astronomer (1546-1601)

AAGG Favorite: Palus Somni and Crater Proclus (coordinates) 16.1 46.8 (Lunar 100 and AL Lunar list) Marsh of Sleep, Greek mathematician, astronomer, philosopher (410-485)

Remember latitudes that are negative (-) are South and longitudes that are negative (-) are West!

Comets

Comets for the Month.

Check out the Sky Hound site.

"One touch of nature makes the whole world kin"
-- Shakespeare

Email us at astronomyagogo@gmail.com or leave a note in our show notes at www.astronomy.libsyn.com
Help us out by leaving a donation in the ol' PayPal hat

Direct download: AAGGshow38b.mp3
Category: Planets -- posted at: 1:32 PM

Comments[0]

Mon, 2 April 2007

Tour of the Sky: April 2007

Download this month's sky map!

Northern hemisphere sky map
Southern hemisphere sky map

Those in the Southern Hemisphere should also visit James Barclay's site for a great tour of the Southern Hemisphere December sky.

Download "What's up 2007: 365 days of Skywatching" by Tammy Plotner, published by Universe Today (Faser Cain) it is a fantastic and it is free!

Planets for April 2007

Mercury-Continues good morning viewing for Southern Hemisphere observers until mid-month when it sinks lower in the dawn sky. Poor viewing for Northern latitudes but those of you closer to the equator should still give it a try 0.0 mag (1st) to -0.8 mag (21st)

Venus-Brilliant in the evening sky all month passing very close to the Pleiades and Hyades between the 10th and 18th. For mid to high northern latitudes Venus is almost 40 deg high at sunset. -3.9 mag (1st) to - 3.9 mag (21st)

Mars-Starts out the month not far from Neptune at the Capricorn/Aquarius border and ends the month(28th) extremely close to Uranus in Aquarius 1.1 mag (1st) to 1.0 mag (21st)

Jupiter-After the 6th Jupiter begins its retrograde loop within southern Ophiuchus -2.3 mag (1st) to -2.4 mag (21st)

Saturn-Absolutely beautiful in Leo almost at the Cancer border. Saturn's rings are tipped 15 deg from edgewise towards us so take advantage of these beautiful rings. The axial tilt of Saturn produces Saturian season the same way our tilt does but from our perspective here on Earth it also accentuate the changing view of the rings tilting above or below the horizontal plane between us. So now, Saturn's rings are closing their tilting pattern. A good illustration of that tilt can be seen at the Hubble Heritage site. Saturn returns to regular motion (prograde) on the 20th heading back towards Regulus 0.2 mag (1st) to 0.3 mag (21st)

Uranus-In Aquarius 5.9 mag (1st) to 5.9 mag (21st)

Neptune-Will camp out in Capricorn all year long and is currently masked by the glare of the sun. 8.0 mag (1st) to 8.0 mag (21st)

For more information, and illustrations, on retrograde motion visit these links:
LaSalle University Astronomy class website
University of Illinois Astronomy project

Key Dates for April 2007

Days and Times in UT (help with time)
Observations are for 8pm for the mid-northern latitudes and for 10pm for the mid-southern latitudes.

Great site for sunrise and sunset times and a downloadable toolbar application by Steve Edwards

Astronomical Highlights

April

2 - Full Moon 17:15 UT Spica shines to its lower left with bright Arcturus is much farther to their left. This will be the smallest Full Moon (in angular size) of the year!

3 - Moon at apogee (farthest from Earth) 9:00 UT distance 406,329 km angular size 29.4'

- Moon near Spika at 17:00 UT

4 - Happy Birthday Mom!

5 - Double shadow transit on Jupiter 20:07 UT

6 - Jupiter stationary

7 - Moon near Antares 13:00 UT, Occultation visible from E. Australia, N.Z. and S.South America check IOTA for occultation at your location

8 - Moon near Jupiter 8:00 UT

10 - Last Quarter Moon, 18:04 UT

10-12 - Great photo opportunity with Venus very close to the Pleiades (evening western sky)~ 2.6 deg apart

13 - Double shadow transit on Jupiter 00:05 UT

13-14 - Moon close to Mars in the morning sky. The waning crescent moon will move from the west to the east of Mars on these two mornings. Occultation visible from Yemen and Somali check IOTA for occultation at your location

16 - Moon near Mercury at 6:00 UT (morning sky)

17 - New Moon 11:36 UT and Moon at perigee (closest to Earth) at 357,135 km and an angular size of 33.5'

- Large tides

17-24 - National Dark Sky Week! Start spreading the word and post fliers in your neighborhood and host a star party!

19-20 - Look for the Moon, Venus, the Pleiades, Capella and Aldebaran to be all together with the Moon shifting from west to east in the arrangement. Good potential photo op!

20 - Saturn stationary 1:00 UT

21 - Astronomy Day 2007! Check out what is happening in your area or create your own event! This is also

22 - Lyrid meteor shower peaks at 22:00 UT. For more information.....

24 - First Quarter Moon 6:36 UT

25 - Moon very near Saturn at 10:00 UT. Occultation visible in Alaska, Western and Northern Canada and AAGG-land! check IOTA for occultation at your location

26 - Moon very near Regulus at 9:00 UT Occultation visible in N.E. Siberia and N.W. North America (but not here at the AAGG home!) check IOTA for occultation at your location

29 - Mars (1.0 mag) 0.68 deg from Uranus (5.9 mag) at 4:00 UT

30 - Moon at apogee 11:00 UT 406,209 km and angular size 29.4'

Monthly Messier*

This month highlights galaxies and gets us ready for the big spring galaxy push of the Virgo Cluster later in the month. Most of these can be detected in binoculars or small telescopes and I recommend doing so just for the practice of navigation, averted vision and patience! Then you can pull out the big dog and make these galaxies bark!

M40 - This is a pair of faint stars located in Ursa Major. They are a tough find in binoculars, and you will be challenged to split them with binoculars. In telescopes, they appear to be an identical pair of stars and easy to split even at low power. There is enough dark space around them that even in a smaller telescope they look like a pair of eyes staring back at you.

M108 - This galaxy will appear as a thin streak of light in telescopes, there is a definite brightening towards the middle. M108 is a very tough object for the largest binoculars. In a smaller scope the spindle shape helps identify M108.

M97 - This planetary nebula in Ursa Major, also called the Owl nebula, appears as a fairly large, round, hazy patch of light in a telescope. It is in the same field of view as M108 at low to medium powers. Use averted vision to see the faint glow of the Owl nebula through binoculars. The two dark eyes do not become apparent until you throw some aperture into the mix but if you are patience and well dark adapted (and in dark skies) you can just start to see the eyes in a 10" or so.

M109 - This spiral galaxy in Ursa Major appears as a small, oval patch of light. It can be found in the same field of view as Gamma UMa at low to medium power in a telescope. Use large binoculars under good conditions for a chance of seeing this one. Its bright center and bar pop out first in smaller scopes and you can detect a 'halo' around the core. Adding more mirror will bring out the spiral arms.

M106 - This galaxy in Canes Venatici appears as an oval patch of light, larger than M109, with a fairly bright core. A tough, but possible binocular target. In smaller scopes look for the brighter edge points around the halo that mark clustering in the middle spiral arms.

M95 - This galaxy in Leo appears as a faint round patch of light with a bright nucleus. Large binoculars and good conditions are a must. Larger scopes will bring out the spiral arms which make this look more like an oval with a dot in the middle than your typical spiral.

M96 - Look for M96 in the same low power telescope field as M95. Another round patch of light, slightly larger and brighter than M95, it too has a stellar core. Binocular advice for M96 is the same as M95. This is the galaxy I see first as a bright blob, even with a larger telescope the blobbiness stays about the same.

M105 - This is a small elliptical galaxy in Leo, and can be found in the same low power field as M96. It looks like a small fuzzy star. M105 has a close companion galaxy, NGC 3384, which is only slightly smaller and fainter than M105. To prevent confusion, M105 is the closer of the pair to M96. Not possible in binoculars, except maybe with averted "imagination". This is the proto-typical UFO (unidentified fuzzy object)

M65 - A small, but relatively bright galaxy in Leo. It is an elongated oval patch of light with a bright stellar core. A tough, but possible binocular target. This galaxy's spindle shape helps distinguish it from....

M66 - A close companion galaxy to M65, it can be seen in the same low to medium power field as M65. M66 is another oval patch of light, brighter and slightly wider than M65. Another possible binocular target. While you are here be sure to look for a thin streak of light, which is the galaxy NGC 3628. It can be found north of M66 in the same low power telescope field as both M65 and M66. Now once you finish with M66 in your smaller scope go find someone with a big scope and take a look..or just follow the like provided. The is a beautiful galaxy 'up close' and appears to be twisting in on itself.

*Monthly Messier information gleaned from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Moncton Centre Quebec and from the Astronomy Connection website.

Historical and Current Events

...Did you know?
April
2	-First photograph of the sun taken (1845)
5	-10th Anniversary (1997), Galileo, Ganymede 7 Flyby
11	-William Wallace Campbell's 145th birthday (1862)-pioneer observer of stellar motions and radial velocities
12	-Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space (1961)
	-Columbia became the first Space Shuttle launched
	-Edward Mauder's 156th Birthday (1851)
14	-Christian Huygens' 348th Birthday (1629)
16	- Wilbur Wright's 140th Birthday (1867)
	- Leonardo DaVinci's 555th Birthday (1452)
	-35th Anniversary (1972), Apollo 16 Launch (Manned Moon Landing)
17	-40th Anniversary (1967), Surveyor 3 Launch (Moon Lander)
19	-25th Anniversary (1982), Salyut 7 Space Station Launch
22	-Sir Harold Jeffreys' 117th Birthday
23	-Max Planck's 149th Birthday
24	-17th Anniversary (1970), China's first satellite (Shi Jian 1)
28	-Jan Oort's 107th Birthday
30	-Johann Carl Frederich Gauss' 230th Birthday

Astronomical Highlights for 2007

Eclipses for 2007

Eclipse information from: NASA Eclipse Homepage, Eclipses Online (HM Nautical Almanac Office, UK in coordination with the U.S. Naval Observatory)

Meteor Showers for 2007

Mark your calendar to look for...

Lyrids on April 23rd

Perseids on August 13th

Orionids on October 21st

Leonids on November 18th

Comets for April

Gary Kronk's comet and meteor pages
Skyhound Comet pages

Help us out by leaving a donation in the ol' PayPal hat or write us a favorable review in iTunes of Podcast Pickle or iPodder!

Music Scottish Guitar Quartet -"Romance within you"
Amplifico - "You can be my muse"
Rough Sax - "Monique by Moonlight"

Direct download: AAGG_sky_tour_Apr_07.mp3
Category: Sky Tours -- posted at: 10:48 AM

Comments[1]

Wed, 14 March 2007

Show #37: The Horsehead Nebula and Messier Marathons

Carpe Noctem - Seize the Night!

ALDEBARAN AT DUSK

Thou art the star for which all evening waits--
O star of peace,come tenderly and soon,
Nor heed the drowsy and enchanted moon,
Who dreams in silver at the eastern gates
Ere yet she brim with light the blue estates
Abandoned by the eagles of the noon.
But shine thou swiftly on the darkling dune
And woodlands where the twilight hesitates.

Above that wide and ruby lake to-West,
Wherein the sunset waits reluctantly,
Stir silently the purple wings of Night.
She stands afar, upholding to her breast,
As mighty murmurs reach her from the sea,
Thy lone and everlasting rose of light.

George Sterling, 1911

Horsehead Nebula -B33

Image credit:sadly I can't remember who's drawing this is! If it is yours please email me so I can give you due credit. The annotations are mine.

Here is the long windbag version of how I find B33!

If you have a smaller scope (8") wait until the belt of Orion is as high as it gets or in the darkest part of the sky for your area. Seeing conditions have more to do with success than just about anything else (IMHO). Half of the time I am parked right on it and can't see it at all which can be both frustrating and tantalizing at the same time...so close and yet....

Start off on the eastern most star in Orion's belt, Alnitak or zeta Ori, move the scope east and look for the Flame Nebula, NGC 2024 Keep moving east and slide Alnitak out of the field of view, now if you can see the Flame nebula chance are that you will be able to see the Horsehead nebula. If you can't see the Flame then see if you can find a bigger scope or darker skies. If you don't see it at first step away close your eyes and let them re-dark adapt after looking at bright Alnitak. (These days I don't start at Alnitak but just to the west of her...)

Starting at Alnitak inch south to two relatively bright stars, the first one fainter, the second one brighter, 7th mag labeled "A" on the picture This is the higher-contrast, eastern edge of IC 434 the bright 'river' of nebulosity streaming south from Alnitak. East of the second star there is another star surrounded by not-so-faint nebulosity designated NGC 2023 start getting ready for looooooow contrast.

Drawing an imaginary line from NGC 2023 to the 7th magnitude star, and extending it across IC 434, you will find another two relatively bright stars (the northern one brighter "B", the southern one fainter) not quite aligned with the eastern edge of IC 434. Exactly there, at the eastern edge of IC 434, B33 is located. Make an equilateral triangle with "A" and "B" and the imaginary 3rd point to the south and just inside the imaginary 3rd point is B33.

To see it, use averted vision and keep the eye steady by fixing one of the stars. If the conditions are excellent and you get a little experience in observing B33, you can even detect the Horsehead shape. Experiment with power and filters but don't give up! If you don't get it then try again another night...you are probably right on top of it!

My mistake each time is to look for something small and contrasty...you need to look for a larger, dark mass protruding (east to west) into IC 434 with optically very little contrast except with a large scope and darker skies (and maybe a little filtering). I can usually make out the flat top and the bulge of the head but not the snout...not on the 8".

Stellarium

We recently had our Student Program learn to write scripts in Stellarium (with a lot of help from one of our super-parents, Bob!) for their annual public night presentation on the "Constellations". If you haven't played with Stellarium scripts it is a lot of fun and somewhat addicting. You will end up spending a lot more time than you think!

Stellarium zip file

Messier_aff.sts -This is one that I wrote (I'm a beginner too!)for our "Get ready for the Messier Marathon" meeting. It goes through an alternate selection of the viewing order, at least the beginning is different. The beginning of the file runs while we talk about what you need for the marathon. Press "K" to advance from object to object (M40 is missing from Stellarium) at each title break it will spin to the next object by itself and then you can continue to advance as you wish. REMEMBER! This was programmed in a hurry and I haven't had a chance to work with it since. But I will get it cleaned up soon.

You will want to comment out the landscape or if you want to see what it is like to view from our observing hill at the college then go to the TAS website and download our landscape files. Follow the directions included in the file to add the TAS Ft. Steilacoom landscape to your Stellarium.

Messier Marathon

The ultimate Messier Marathon site...SEDS!
As far as the order you use there are several lists on the above site but I like the logic behind Tom Polakis' order.

Southern Hemisphere

-September would be a good time for a marathon of "Bennett List" and "Best Sky Objects from SAAO latitude"

Sun

sunspots

Listener Feedback

Cloudy Nights Telescope Review

Quick News

New Horizons - This dramatic image of Io was taken by the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) on New Horizons at 11:04 Universal Time on February 28, 2007, just about 5 hours after the spacecraft's closest approach to Jupiter. The distance to Io was 2.5 million kilometers (1.5 million miles) and the image is centered at 85 degrees west longitude. At this distance, one LORRI pixel subtends 12 kilometers (7.4 miles) on Io.

Time again for the Globe at Night program!

Planets

Evening Planets

Venus - Mag -3.9 moving from Pisces to Aries absolutely wonderful. The only thing shining through the cloud cover here in the Pacific NW.

Saturn - Mag 0.0 on the western edge of Leo just now north-west of Regulus between the curve of the question mark and Regulus. Nice and high in the early evening!

Morning Planets

Jupiter - Mag -2.1 in southern Ophiuchus in the south before dawn to the southwest is Antares.

Mars - Mag 1.2 in Capricorn just above the Sun's glare in the southeast

Mercury - Mag 0.5 in Aquarius very low at dawn between Mars and the horizon

Lost in the Sun's glare

Neptune and Uranus

Constellations

Monoceros (moh-NOSS-er-us) - the Unicorn
Introduced by: very old, reported found on Persian spheres
Best known stars: Plaskett's Star-HR 2422 Monocerotis one of the most massive binaries known, with two hugely massive blue-white class O (as best we can tell, O7.5 and O6) supergiants tightly orbiting each other with a period of only 14.40 days.
Beta Mon-triple star system a great triple star system, especially for smaller telescopes. William Herschel, discovered it in 1781
Deep sky objects: The Rosette Nebula, 2237, 2238, 2239, and 2246. Inside the clear center of the rose is open cluster 2244. On the southeast corner of the nebula is 2264 another bright open cluster.
Also the fan/comet-shaped Hubble's variable nebula NGC 2261, which is associated with the very young star R Monocerotis at its southern tip. A friend just brought an image in to our last meeting of Hubble's variable and it was quite impressive!
M50 This is a cluster of about a hundred bright stars, rather tightly grouped, ideal for small telescopes. It can even be seen by the naked eye on a good night. There is a red star near its center.
NGC 2506 is a beautiful , bright mag 7.6, densely packed open cluster...almost a wanna-be globular cluster!
Double stars: Epsilon Mon is a fixed binary
Variable stars: S Monocerotis located at the center of NGC 2264

Viewing

Naked eye and binoculars M44 - Praesepe (the manger) or the Beehive Cluster in Cancer
M31, M32, M110 in Andromeda
NGC 2232 small open cluster in Monoceros, mag 4.2 the stars make a 'wedge' shape

Telescope -

Northern Hemisphere chart Taki's chart Maps 78 and 79
Southern Hemisphere chart Taki's chart Map 55, Map 104, Map 108
M35 in Gemini near Castor's foot but what is more interesting is the neighbor... NGC 2158, NGC 2174 and 2175
IC 418 planetary nebula in Lepus nicknamed the Raspberry Nebula at 9.6 mag in a smaller scope it doesn't appear to have the red color large scope can claim, slightly bluish (bottom of map 104).

Viewing challenges:

NGC 404 just off of beta Andromeda 10.2 mag galaxy, interesting and tough with beta so bright.
NGC 613 10.1mag in Sculptor (map 108) you need a lot of mirror for this one. Galaxy with a very long 'core'.
NGC 2185 in Monoceros a pair of nebula the eastern one looks like a tulip.

Comets

Comets for the Month.

Check out the Sky Hound site.

"One touch of nature makes the whole world kin"
-- Shakespeare

Email us at astronomyagogo@gmail.com or leave a note in our show notes at www.astronomy.libsyn.com
Help us out by leaving a donation in the ol' PayPal hat

Music

Celtic Stone's "Drowsy Maggie" (should we re-name it drowsy Alice after this weekend!)
Ariaphonic's Sposa son disprezzata

Direct download: AAGGshow37.mp3
Category: Deep Sky Objects -- posted at: 1:17 PM

Comments[6]

Thu, 1 March 2007

Tour of the Sky: March 2007

Download this month's sky map!

Northern hemisphere sky map
Southern hemisphere sky map

Those in the Southern Hemisphere should also visit James Barclay's site for a great tour of the Southern Hemisphere December sky.

Download "What's up 2007: 365 days of Skywatching" by Tammy Plotner, published by Universe Today (Faser Cain) it is a fantastic and it is free!

Planets for March 2007

Mercury After the first week of March look for Mercury in the morning twilight, for Northern observers your lower latitudes are more favorable. For S.H. viewers Mercury puts on its best show all year. On the 23rd look for the 0.2 mag planet 10 deg even before astronomical twilight and will stand out in the dark eastern sky 2.8 mag (1st) to 0.2 mag (21st)

Venus Brilliant for both N.H. and S.H. observers. Shining right through the clouds in the Pac NW! Telescopes will show Venus as small and more than 80 percent illuminated -3.8 mag (1st) to - 3.9 mag (21st)

Mars In Capricornus rises after Jupiter and about 1.5 hours before the Sun 1.3 mag (1st) to 1.2 mag (21st)

Jupiter In Ophiuchus rising mid-month around midnight making it easier to squeeze into night time observing. For those of you who like the early morning observing Jupiter you will find him NW of Antares in a beautiful part of the sky, just West of Sagittarius. On the 3rd Jupiter is 90 deg West of the sun providing observers with shadows thrown farthest west and a greater chance of Galilean satellite eclipses. -2.0 mag (1st) to -2.2 mag (21st)

SaturnBeautiful and high in the ESE at dusk. Saturn creeps further West away from Regulus but still near the paws of the Lion. 0.0 mag (1st) to 0.1 mag (21st)

Uranus 5.9 mag (1st) to 5.9 mag (21st)

Neptune will camp out in Capricorn all year long 8.0 mag (1st) to 8.0 mag (21st).

Key Dates for March 2007

Days and Times in UT (help with time) Great site for sunrise and sunset times and a downloadable toolbar application by Steve Edwards

Observations are for 9pm for everyone...happy Equinox!

Astronomical Highlights

March

3 -Full Moon 23:17 UT

-Total Lunar Eclipse

5 -Uranus in conjunction with the Sun

6 -Zodiacal Light visible in N lat. in the West after evening twilight for next two weeks

-Sun's N pole most inclined (7.25 deg)away from Earth

7 -Mercury stationary

-Moon at apogee 4:00 UT

-Spica 1.3deg N of Moon

11 -Daylight Saving Time begins (goofy Congress)

-Antares 0.7deg N of Moon, possible occultation, check IOTA for occultation at your location (Antarctica, southern part of S. America)

12 -Last Quarter Moon 3:54UT

16 -Mars 1.9deg N of Moon 1:00 UT

17 -Mercury 1.4deg N of Moon, possible occultation, check IOTA for occultation at your location

19 -New Moon 2:43 UT, partial solar eclipse

-Moon at perigee Large tides

21 -Equinox 0:07 UT

22 -Mercury at greatest elongation W (28 deg)

25 -First Quarter 18:16 UT

28 -Moon 1.8 deg N of M44 (Beehive Cluster)

29 -Saturn 1.2 deg S of Moon, possible occultation, check IOTA for occultation at your location (N British Isles, N Scand., N Atlantic, E Greenland)

30 -Regulus 1.1 deg S of Moon, possible occultation, check IOTA for occultation at your location (W Europe including British Isles, Scand., Arctic regions)

Monthly Messier*

This month highlights 10 messier objects, most are within reach of binoculars, and over half can be seen with the naked eye.

M41 - This cluster is visible as a hazy patch to the naked eye just below Sirius in Canis Major. M41 is resolvable in binoculars and appears fairly loose in telescopes at low power.

M93 - This is a small fuzzy patch of light in Puppis, partially resolvable in binoculars. The hardest part of finding this cluster in binoculars is picking it out of a fairly rich region of the Milky Way. Use low power to examine this cluster and the surrounding richness in a telescope. Medium power provides a nice view of the cluster itself.

M47 - A bright cluster in Puppis, easily visible as a hazy patch to the naked eye. Binoculars will show a large hazy patch with many stars resolvable. Telescopes show a fairly loose cluster with stars of wide variety of magnitudes.

M46 - This cluster is right next to M47 and is also visible to the naked eye. In binoculars M46 appears as a large hazy patch with no stars resolvable, giving a nice contrast to M47. In telescopes at low powers this cluster evenly fills the eyepiece. While you are here go to medium or high power and look for the planetary nebula NGC2438. It will appear as a faint uneven ring, with a blue/green color.

M50 - An open cluster in Monoceros. This is a small hazy patch in binoculars, partially resolvable. Like M93, the richness of the surrounding field is the only difficulty in finding this object. This is a fairly tight cluster at low power in a telescope.

M48 - Moving on to Hydra, we find another naked eye cluster. M48 is a large fuzzy patch in binoculars, partially resolvable. Use low to medium power in your telescope for a spectacular view.

M67 - In the southeast portion of Cancer is another open cluster, barely visible as a fuzzy patch to the naked eye. Binoculars show M67 as a large hazy patch of light, similar to M46. Use low power to resolve this large, rich cluster in a telescope.

M44 - Known as the Praesepe or Beehive Cluster, this open cluster is easily visible to the naked eye as a large, fuzzy patch bigger than the moon. Binoculars or rich field telescopes provide the best view of M44.

M81, M82 - This pair of galaxies in Ursa Major are very possible to see in binoculars, they look like a pair of fuzzy stars. Both galaxies will fit into the same low power telescope field. M81 will appear as a large oval gray patch of light. M82 is a pencil like streak of light next to and perpendicular to the long axis of M81.

*Monthly Messier information gleaned from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Moncton Centre Quebec and from the Astronomy Connection website.

Astronomical Highlights for 2007

Eclipses for 2007

Eclipse information from: NASA Eclipse Homepage, Eclipses Online (HM Nautical Almanac Office, UK in coordination with the U.S. Naval Observatory)

Meteor Showers for 2007

Mark your calendar to look for...

Lyrids on April 23rd

Perseids on August 13th

Orionids on October 21st

Leonids on November 18th

Comets for March

Gary Kronk's comet and meteor pages
Skyhound Comet pages

Help us out by leaving a donation in the ol' PayPal hat or write us a favorable review in iTunes of Podcast Pickle or iPodder!

Music Scottish Guitar Quartet -"Romance within you"
The Gentle Good - "Heuldro Haf"
Scottish Guitar Quartet -"Circle"

Direct download: AAGG_sky_tour_Mar_07.mp3
Category: Sky Tours -- posted at: 10:43 AM

Comments[2]

Wed, 7 February 2007

Show #36: Moons and Rings in our Solar System

Carpe Noctem - Seize the Night!

Image courtesy of Dr. Mark Showalter

Moons and Rings Teleconference

Download the Powerpoint presentation!

The Night Sky Network (NSN)is a nationwide (USA)collection of astronomy clubs delivering NASA and JPL inspired science and mission related information to the general public. The Night Sky Network creates kits and outreach tools specifically for amateur astronomer and the general public. To find a NSN club near you visit their website: nighsky.jpl.nasa.gov

Special thanks to the Night Sky Network, our NSN host Marni Berendsen, and Dr. Mark Showalter.

Direct download: AAGGshow36.mp3
Category: Planets -- posted at: 2:54 AM

Comments[1]

Thu, 1 February 2007

Tour of the Sky: February 2007

Download this month's sky map!

Northern hemisphere sky map
Southern hemisphere sky map

Those in the Southern Hemisphere should also visit James Barclay's site for a great tour of the Southern Hemisphere December sky.

Download "What's up 2007: 365 days of Skywatching" by Tammy Plotner, published by Universe Today (Faser Cain) it is a fantastic and it is free!

Planets for February 2007

Mercury The first week of February marks it's greatest elongation and better viewing. Mercury continues to creep closer to Venus until the 13th before heading back towards the sun from which it rarely strays. -0.9 mag (1st) to 4.4 mag (21st)

Venus Easy target at sunset and until half an hour after astronomical twilight. On the 7th at 13h UT use Venus to find Uranus 0.7 degrees S. -3.8 mag (1st) to - 3.8 mag (21st)

Mars Mars has moved into Sagitarrius and rising about 1.5 hours before the Sun towards the end of the month Mars moves into Capricorn with Neptune. 1.4 mag (1st) to 1.3 mag (21st)

Jupiter At the beginning of the month Jupiter is rising a few hours after midnight and by mid-month closer to midnight. Jupiter at -1.8 mag, spends the first 11 months of the year in Ophiuchus! -1.9 mag (1st) to -2.0 mag (21st)

Saturn spends the entire year in Leo and is the showpiece of the night time sky. Saturn is at opposition on the 10th rising at sunset opposite Venus and Mercury and transiting around midnight as Jupiter rises. 0.0 mag (1st) to 0.0 mag (21st)

Uranus Starts the month it is 1 deg E of Lambda on the 7th use Venus to find Uranus just 0.7 degrees N of Venus. 8.0 mag (1st) to 8.0 mag (21st)

Neptune will camp out in Capricorn all year long. Invisible as the Sun creeps into Capricorn Neptune is in conjunction with the sun on the 8th.

Key Dates for February 2007

Days and Times in UT (help with time)

Observations are for 8pm for the mid-northern latitudes and for 10pm for the mid-southern latitudes.

Great site for sunrise and sunset times and a downloadable toolbar application by Steve Edwards

Astronomical Highlights

February

2 -Full Moon 5:45 UT

-Ground hog Day/First Cross Quarter Day, Setsubun, Candlemas

-Saturn very close to Moon possible occultation, check IOTA for occultation at your location (Greenland, Northern Europe, Asia)

3 -Regulus very close to Moon possible occultation, check IOTA for occultation at your location

4 -Zodiacal Lights visible in Northern latitudes in the west after evening twilight for the next two weeks

-Closest distance of Mercury and Venus this month

7 -Moon at apogee (404992 km) 13:00 UT

-Venus 0.7 degree South of Uranus

-Mercury at greatest elongation E (18 degrees)

8 -Spica 1.3 degree N of Moon (4:00 UT)possible occultation, check IOTA for occultation at your location

-Neptune in conjunction with the Sun

-Alpha Centaurid meteor shower (maximum)

10 -Last quarter moon 9:51 UT

-Saturn at oppositions 19:00 UT

11 -Antares 0.7 degrees N of Moon, Check the International Occultation Timing Association (IOTA) for possible occultation from your location

12 -Jupiter 6 degrees N of Moon

13 -Mercury stationary

14 -Valentine's Day (don't forget!) and if you do drag your sweetheart out and show them the "Heart and Soul" nebula

15 -Mars 4 degree N of Moon

17 -New Moon 16:14 UT

19 -Moon at perigee (closest to Earth) 10h UT

20 -Mercury at greatest heliocentric lat N

23 -Mercury in inferior conjunction

24 -First quarter moon

Monthly Messier*

This month highlights 10 messier objects, most are within reach of binoculars, and over half can be seen with the naked eye.

M1 - The Crab nebula is a supernova remnant in Taurus. It is a hazy patch in small telescopes; large scopes can resolve some detail. It is difficult but possible to see in binoculars.

M45 - The Pleiades are a large open cluster in Taurus. Easy to resolve six stars naked eye. Binoculars provide the best view. Large telescopes can show some nebulosity.

M35, M37, M36, M38 Ã�Â¢Ã¯Â¿Â½Ã¯Â¿Â½ These are a series of open clusters in the winter Milky Way. M35 is in Gemini, the others are in Auriga. All can be seen naked eye as faint fuzzy stars, binoculars reveal fuzzy patches, low power telescopes can resolve these rich clusters.

M42, M43 - M42 is the great Orion Nebula. It can be seen as small fuzzy patch naked eye. Binoculars show some detail, and the view is superb in most any scope. M43 is a small region of nebulosity next to M42, and probably requires the use of a telescope to view. Use low to moderate powers for the best view of this pair.

M78 - A small emission nebula in Orion, a tough binocular object. Best viewed in a telescope at moderate powers.

M79 - One of the smallest and dimmest globular clusters in the catalog. A tough binocular object in Lepus, best viewed in a telescope at moderate powers.

*Monthly Messier information gleaned from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Moncton Centre Quebec and from the Astronomy Connection website.

Historical and Current Events

...Did you know?
January
27	-1967 Apollo 1 tragedy -fire during testing,
28	-1986 Challenger tragedy -explosion during take-off
February
1	-2003 Columbia tragedy -explosion during re-entry
4	-Clyde Tombaugh's 101st Birthday (1906)
	-40th Anniversary (1967), Lunar Orbiter 3 Launch
	-Sally Ride Science Festival, Irvine, California
6	-1971 Alan Shepherd became the first person to play golf on another body in the solar system, the Moon
7	-118th birthday of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 1st national astronomical organization in the USA
13	-John Dreyer's 155th Birthday (1852)
14	-Fritz Zwicky's 109th birthday (1898)
15	-Galileo Galilei's 443rd birthday (1564)
15-19	-American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Annual Meeting, San Francisco, California
18	-Chinese New Year
	-Pluto discovered by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930
19	- Nicolas Copernicus's 534th Birthday (1473)
20	-Asteroid 9951 Tyrannosaurus Closest Approach To Earth (1.644 AU)
	-45th Anniversary (1962), Friendship 7 Launch (John Glenn)
21-22	-Symposium: The Night - Why Dark Hours Are So Important, Washington DC
26	-Camille Flammarion's 165's Birthday
27	-Bernard Lyot's 110th Birthday (1897)
28	-New Horizons, Jupiter Flyby
	-

Astronomical Highlights for 2007

Eclipses for 2007

Eclipse information from: NASA Eclipse Homepage, Eclipses Online (HM Nautical Almanac Office, UK in coordination with the U.S. Naval Observatory)

Meteor Showers for 2007

Mark your calendar to look for...

Lyrids on April 23rd

Perseids on August 13th

Orionids on October 21st

Leonids on November 18th

Comets for January

Gary Kronk's comet and meteor pages
Skyhound Comet pages

Help us out by leaving a donation in the ol' PayPal hat or write us a favorable review in iTunes of Podcast Pickle or iPodder!

Music

Scottish Guitar Quartet -"Romance within you"
The Gentle Good - "Amser"
Douglas Spotted Eagle - "Starry Night"

Direct download: AAGG_sky_tour_Feb_07.mp3
Category: Sky Tours -- posted at: 10:39 AM

Comments[0]

Thu, 11 January 2007

Show #35: Beyond the Messier List

Carpe Noctem - Seize the Night!

Image courtesy of Sal Viviano of Washington, Michigan (featured on the Space Weather site Jan.11, 07)

An amateur's reflection of the AAS conference.....(Mira B news was fun!)

When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer

When I heard the learn'd astronomer,
When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me,
When I was shown the charts and diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them,
When I sitting heard the astronomer where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room,
How soon unaccountable I became tired, and sick,
Till rising and gliding out I wander'd off by myself,
In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,
Look'd up in perfect silence at the stars.

Walt Whitman, 1865 (TOAOAL-II, PP 821-822)

Listener Feedback

Lots of great email out there with folk sharing their new astronomical acquisitions. This is a familiar scene:

Congratulations Dan!

I had my own great surprise! Can you guess what it is? (click on the picture for the answer) Many thanks to the entire Harris Family!

Observing Lists

Ben 34, NGC 1904, M79...a rose by any other name....listed in order of creator's birth...

Abbe Nicholas Louis de la Caille (Lac), French deacon and astronomer (1713-1762) This catalog was compiled during his 2-year journey to the Cape of Good Hope in 1751-52, "Catalog of Nebulae of the Southern Sky"(list)

Charles Messier (M), French astronomer (1730 - 1817) Between 1758 to 1782 compiled a list of 'non-comet' items. The SEDS (Students for the Exploration and Development of Space) site is one of the best resources for Messier Objects. (list. Messier compiled his list of deep sky objects in three parts; "Memoires de l'Academie" 1774, "Connoissance des Temps" 1780, and "Connoissance des Temps" 1781.

Pierre Francois Andre Mechain , French astronomer (1744-1804) co-worker with Charles Messier at at the small observatory at Hotel de Cluny in Paris. Mechain contributed many object to the 'Messier' catalogue and has may other objects an comets to his credit. (list)

Wilhelm (William) Herschel (H) , (1738-1822) was a German-born British astronomer and composer who became famous for discovering the planet Uranus. Herschel published "Catalogue of One Thousand new Nebulae and Clusters of Stars" in 1786 and "Catalogue of a second Thousand of new Nebulae and Clusters of Stars; with a few introductory Remarks on the Construction of the Heavens" in 1789 500 more objects were added to complete the 2500 Herschel Objects (list)the Astronomical League has an award for observing 400 of the Herschel Objects.

Johann Elert Bode, German astronomer (1747-1826) Bode was the director of the Berlin Observatory, where he published the Uranographia in 1801 that combined the artistic with the scientific. All amateurs should appreciate that he published a small atlas for amateurs called "Vorstellung der Gestirne" which looked at constellations and their mythologies. "Complete Catalog of Nebulous Stars and Star Clusters", Astronomisches Jahrbuch for 1779, Berlin (1977) (list)

Caroline Herschel (CH), German born English astronomer (1750-1848) was an avid astronomical observer, discoverer of comets (she originally found 8 of them) and deepsky objects (list) collected from 1783-87 which are included in William Herschel's catalogue.

John Herschel (h), (1792-1871 son of William Herschel) English born In 1833 Herschel traveled to South Africa in order to catalogue the stars, nebulae, and other objects of the southern skies. This was to be a completion as well as extension of the survey of the northern heavens undertaken initially by his father.

James Dunlop (Dunlop), Scottish born Australian Astronomer (1793-1848), James Dunlop's Catalog of southern Deep Sky Objects, compiled 1823-27 "A Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars in the Southern Hemisphere observed in New South Wales" (list)

the SEDS site has a highlight list

John Louis Emile Dreyer (NGC, IC), (1852-1926) was a Danish-Irish astronomer. He worked with Lord Rosse at Birr where the giant six-foot Leviathan, at that time the largest telescope in the world, was at his disposal. His major contribution was the monumental "New General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars" (NGC), whose catalogue numbers are still in wide use today, as well as two supplementary Index Catalogues (IC); "Index Catalogue of Nebulae Found in the Years 1888 to 1894". (list)

Jack Bennett (Ben), (1914-1990) South African astronomer drew up two lists of southern objects that appeared comet-like in his telescope. His first list (Bennett, 1969) was published four months before he discovered his first comet. The supplementary list (Bennett, 1974) was followed three months later by his second discovery. Bennett's list reads like the "Who's Who of the Deepsky" and provides Southern observers will an extension to more northern lists. (list)

Sir Patrick Moore and the Editors of Sky & Telescope created "The Caldwell Catalog: 109 Deep-Sky Delights for Backyard Observers" The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) has published several useful observing lists in their yearly Observer's Handbook, edited by Roy L. Bishop:
The Astronomical League has provided extra observing tours beyond the Messier objects for binocular observers, each one for Northern and Southern Deep Sky Objects
The Hawaiian Astronomical Society keeps a list of lists, so to speak.
Astronomical Society of South Africa has a nice set of 100 deep sky objects
...plus many more.

Sun

sunspots

Planets

Evening Planets

Mercury - Mag -1.1 in Sagittarius lost in the glare heading for the night time sky.

Venus - Mag -3.8 in Capricorn sitting low on the horizon at sunset - spectacular!

Neptune - Mag +8.0 in Capricorn less than 1 degree north of the +4.3 magnitude star Iota Capricorni

Uranus - Mag +5.9 in Aquarius Uranus under 1 degree east of Lambda Aquarii.

Saturn - Mag +0.2 on the western edge of Leo just west of Regulus. An easy catch and now rising earlier in the evening!

Morning Planets

Jupiter - Mag -1.7 in Ophiuchus visible on the ESE horizon an hour before sunrise.

Mars - Mag 1.5 in Sagittarius just above the Sun's glare but visible between Jupiter and the horizon.

Constellations

Lepus - the Hare - one of the animals presumed to be hunted by Orion it is more likely that the poor hare was just startled from his burrow by the great hunter charging Taurus the bull.
Invented/listed by: Ptolemy
Deep Sky objects:NGC 2017 open cluster binoculars and small telescopes reveal five stars building a multiple star system
NGC 1904 (M79) globular cluster (7.7 mag)is quite compact and a good object for small telescopes
IC 418 "Raspberry Nebula" planetary nebula (9.3 mag) between Rigel and alpha Leporis, looks likes a 9th mag "star"
Double stars: gamma Lep is a duo of a yellow and a red star with 4th mag and 6th mag, respectively. Its an attractive pair for binoculars.
Herschel 3752 is a nice triple star visible in small telescopes same field of view as M79
Variable stars: R Lep is a long-period variable of a deep red color. It is also known as Hind's Crimson Star is described as a drop of blood on a black surface. The brightness varies from 6th mag to 10th mag about every 430 days.

Taki's Star Atlas chart #104

Puppis - the Poop or Stern - Puppis, the 'Poop' Deck or Stern of the Argos Puppis is actually part of Argo Navis, the ship of Jason and the Argonauts
Invented/listed by: changed by Lacaille in 1763
Deep Sky objects: M 46 bright open cluster containing about 100 moderately concentrated stars. The planetary nebula NGC 2438 lies seemingly embedded in its northeastern edge,
M 47 open cluster contains about 50 relatively bright stars moderately concentrated to the center.
M 93, Another fine open cluster with a distinct triangular or wedge shape.
NGC 2440 planetary nebula very fuzzy with no apparent central star greenish hue.
Double stars: Yellow supergiant xi Pup of 3.34 mag shows an orange companion when viewed through binoculars
Variable stars: L2 Pup is a red giant which brightness varies from 3rd to 6th magnitude roughly every 140 days
V Pup is an eclipsing binary every 35 hours the brightness goes down from 4.5 mag to 5.1 mag when the fainter star crosses the brighter one in the line of sight.

Taki's Star Atlas chart #102

Next show....

Updates!

"What's up 2007 - 365 Days of Skywatching" by Tammy Plotner and published/sponsored by Fraser Cain at the "Universe Today" website/blog/podcast.

Comets

McNaught! (finder chart)

Comets for the Month.

Check out the Sky Hound site.

Thanks!

Email us at astronomyagogo@gmail.com or leave a note in our show notes at www.astronomy.libsyn.com
Help us out by leaving a donation in the ol' PayPal hat

Pumbaa: Timon?
Timon: Yeah?
Pumbaa: Ever wonder what those sparkly dots are up there?
Timon: Pumbaa. I don't wonder; I know.
Pumbaa: Oh. What are they?
Timon: They're fireflies. Fireflies that uh... got stuck up on that big... bluish-black... thing.
Pumbaa: Oh. Gee. I always thought that they were balls of gas burning billions of miles away.
Timon: Pumbaa, wit' you, everything's gas.

Music

Douglas Spotted Eagle "Starry Night" and "Doo'lit'Saa'Da (Another Silent Night) feat. Dine' Children's Choir"

Direct download: AAGGshow35.mp3
Category: Tips and Tricks -- posted at: 7:11 AM

Comments[0]

Tue, 2 January 2007

Tour of the Sky: January 2007

Download this month's sky map!

Northern hemisphere sky map
Southern hemisphere sky map

Those in the Southern Hemisphere should also visit James Barclay's site for a great tour of the Southern Hemisphere December sky.

Another great site for Southern Hemisphere viewers is the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand's Southern Hemisphere Calendar found at the RASNZ site

Download "What's up 2007: 365 days of Skywatching" by Tammy Plotner, published by Universe Today (Faser Cain) it is a fantastic and it is free!

Planets for January 2007

Mercury will be in superior conjunction (behind the sun) on Jan 7th and not easily visible until late in the month as an evening planet. The first week of February marks it's greatest elongation and better viewing. -1.0 Mag peaking at -1.3 Mag mid-month.

Venus sits low on the SW horizon in the evening twilight. By mid month Venus is setting after twilight in full dark. An almost fully illuminated disk shines at -3.8 mag.

Mars starts off the month in Ophiuchus rising just 1.5 hours before the Sun the 1.5 mag planet competes with 1.06 variable star Antares (which means "like" Mars) and together with Jupiter they make a nice trio. By the end of the month Mars has moved into Sagitarrius.

Jupiter starts the month rising 1 hour before the sun. Jupiter, at -1.8 mag, spends the first 11 months of the year in Ophiuchus!

Saturn spends the entire year in Leo. Rising mid-evening at the beginning of the month and by the middle of the month is rising in the early evening making the 0.2 mag planet easy to share with friends.

Uranus at 5.9 mag spends the entire year in Aquarius starting the month almost on top of Lambda Aquarii but by the end of the month it is 1 deg E of Lambda.

Neptune another happy camper this 8.0 mag planet will camp out in Capricorn all year long. He starts the month out 1 deg North of Iota Capricorni. On the 25th of the month use Mercury to help you find Neptune Mercury will be less than .25 degs from Iota and much easier to see. After mid-month Neptune (mid latitudes NH) will be setting in twilight getting more difficult to see.

Key Dates for January 2007

Days and Times in UT (help with time)

Observations are for 8pm for the mid-northern latitudes and for 10pm for the mid-southern latitudes.

Great site for sunrise and sunset times and a downloadable toolbar application by Steve Edwards

Astronomical Highlights

January

3 -Full Moon 13:57 UT

-Earth at Perihelion (the closest point to the sun) 20 UT

4 -Quandrantid Meteor Shower peaks at 00:30 UT

5 -Moon passes 1 degree north of the Beehive Cluster (M44)

7 -Mercury at superior conjunction (on the far side of the Sun from us)

10 -Moon at apogee (furthest from Earth)

11 -Last quarter moon 12:45 UT

-Spica 1.1 degrees N of Moon, Check the International Occultation Timing Association (IOTA) for possible occultation from your location

14 -Venus (in the evening) and Jupiter (in the morning)start their tour as our "bookend" planets.

15 -Look for the Moon and Antares very close to each other in the pre-dawn sky.

17 -Mars 5 degree N of Moon

19 -New Moon 4:01 UT

20 -Venus .8 degrees N of Moon, Check IOTA for possible occultation from your location

20 -Uranus .4 degrees South of Moon, Check IOTA for possible occultation from your location

24 -Double shadow transit on Jupiter

25 -Moon at perigee (closest to Earth) 13h UT

-First Quarter Moon 23:01 UT

27 -Moon very near the Pleiades 17hUT. Check IOTA for possible occultation from your location

31 -Mercury 7 degrees below Venus low on the Western horizon after sunset

Southern Hemisphere Calendar can be found at the RASNZ site

Monthly Messier*

M33 - This is a very large (about the size of the full moon) face on spiral galaxy in the constellation Triangulum. The total light from M33 is about magnitude 5.3, but when spread out over its large area it yields a very low surface brightness. The best and easiest views of M33 can be found with a pair of binoculars. Look for a large, round hazy patch of light with little detail at first glance. M33 can be glimpsed with the naked eye in dark clear skies. Finding M33 in a telescope can be a challenge because of its size. Use the widest field eyepiece you have and look for a change in light level to identify the galaxy.

M103 - This is a fairly small, sparse open cluster in Cassiopeia. Look for a tight group of stars in binoculars, being careful not to mistake it for several other clusters in the same area. Through a telescope the cluster is very sparse, four bright stars amidst the slight glow of much fainter companions.

M52 - This rich open cluster in Cassiopeia is fairly easy to see in binoculars as a faint smudge of light. A small to mid telescope will begin to resolve this cluster. Look for a triangular patch of light with some stars clearly resolved, but most of the cluster members provide only a hint of graininess.

M76 - Known as the Little Dumbbell, this planetary nebula in Perseus is one of the dimmest objects in the Catalog. Look for a small, faint, oblong patch of light. Not a very obvious object, if you don't see it at first try varying magnifications in an attempt to bring it out. Fortunately M76 is located near a bright star, which aids in locating the correct field to search.

M34 - This is a large and bright, but sparse open cluster located in Perseus. Visible as a faint patch of light to the naked eye, it is very obvious and easy to resolve in binoculars. In fact, binoculars provide a better view of this cluster than most telescopes.

M74 - This galaxy in Pisces is a smaller and fainter version of M33, a face on spiral galaxy with low surface brightness. M74 is arguably the most difficult object to find in the Catalog. You will need very dark, clear skies to easily see it, anything less than perfect conditions will make M74 nearly impossible to find. Look for a very faint fuzzy star, which is the bright central condensation, surrounded by a very faint glow. Try all of your tricks on this one; star hop to the correct field, try varying magnification, tap the scope to detect the galaxy through its motion. If all of the above fail, try again another night or seek darker skies.

M77 - This is a small faint galaxy in Cetus. Possible to see it in binoculars, but very difficult. Look for a faint fuzzy star. Through a telescope look for a fuzzy, oval shaped patch of light, bright in the center, fading towards the edges.

*Monthly Messier information gleaned from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Moncton Centre Quebec and from the Astronomy Connection website.

Historical and Current Events

...Did you know?
December
4	-Wilhelm Beer's 210th Birthday (1797)
5-10	-209th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS), Seattle, Washington
8	-Stephen Hawking's 65th Birthday (1942)
	-Johannes Fabricius' 420th Birthday (1587)
9	-Asteroid 2006 XP4 Near-Earth Flyby (0.074 AU)
11	-220th Anniversary (1787), William Herschell's Discovery of Uranus Moons Titania and Oberon
12	-Sergel Pavlovich Korolev's 100th Birthday (1907)
17	-Harvey Nininger's 120th Birthday (1887)
17-20	-Deep South Texas Stargaze 2007, Escondido Ranch, Texas
19	-Johann Bode's 260th Birthday (1747)
21	-John Couch Adams' 215th Birthday (1792)
24	-Harold Babcock's 125th Birthday (1882)
26	-45th Anniversary (1962), Ranger 3 Launch
27	-40th Anniversary (1967), Apollo 1 Fire (Gus Grissom, Edward White & Roger Chaffee)
31	-Deadline to fly your name to Mars or the Moon, Planetary Society

Astronomical Highlights for 2007

Earth's major motions for 2007

Perihelion
Jan 3 20h(UT)

Equinox
Mar 21 00:07(UT)

Solstice
June 21 18:06(UT)

Aphelion
July 4 00h (UT)

Equinox
Sept 23 19:51(UT)

Solstice
Dec 22 06:08(UT)

Eclipses for 2007

Eclipse information from: NASA Eclipse Homepage, Eclipses Online (HM Nautical Almanac Office, UK in coordination with the U.S. Naval Observatory)

Meteor Showers for 2007

Mark your calendar to look for...

Lyrids on April 23rd

Perseids on August 13th

Orionids on October 21st

Leonids on November 18th

Comets for January

Gary Kronk's comet and meteor pages
Skyhound Comet pages

Help us out by leaving a donation in the ol' PayPal hat or write us a favorable review in iTunes of Podcast Pickle or iPodder!

Music Scottish Guitar Quartet -"Romance within you"
Three Blind Mice - "Watchstar"
Friction Bailey - "Auld Lang Syne"

Direct download: AAGG_sky_tour_Jan_07.mp3
Category: Sky Tours -- posted at: 10:26 AM

Comments[0]

Sun, 17 December 2006

Show #34: The (stellar) Colors of the Season

Carpe Noctem - Seize the Night!

Image courtesy of Dr. Tyler Nordgren and his students.

ORION

Eight stars pin
his frame
to the night.

He lies just above
the trainyard,
almost ready
to rouse.

Not quite yet.

Eight silent silver bells
take all evening
to stand
just as our star
fades him
back to sky.

Lauren Gunderson

Orion, seen from Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/STScI (infrared, ultraviolet and visible-light colors)

Listener Feedback

From Ted - "I'd like to suggest a great book that I stumbled across at Barnes & Noble about 18 months ago. It is called "The Next Step, Finding and Viewing Messier's Objects." It was written by Ken Graun. The main part of the book is a section about the Messier Object. There are 2 pages per object. It has a little history and notes from Messier's original description. It gives the coordinates and a reference to it's location on star maps included in the book. What really sets this book apart is that it includes pictures taken by the author thru a 4 inch scope. It allows you to see exactly what you are looking for. The book also has a biography of Charles Messier, and a few general tips on astronomy. The book it not very large so it is easy to carry with you. I find the book extremely helpful to show people what they are looking for before they step up to the eyepiece. I hope you can find the book to review and recommend it on a future podcast. "

Don has another book suggestion: "A great book for gifts is "There Once Was a Sky Full of Stars", by Bob Crelin. Great for helping children (and adults) learn about the effects of light pollution."

Special Thanks!

Woodland Hills Camera and Telescope for helping our club buy a PST for use with our club outreach!
Just a reminder, Woodland Hills Camera and Telescope is offering a 5% discount for any AAGG listener! Just put "AAGG" in the discount code box at checkout to receive your discount.

Holiday lights in the sky - Stellar Spectrum

Class	Temperature	Star colour	Mass	Radius	Luminosity	Hydrogen lines	Examples
O	30,000 - 60,000 K	Bluish ("blue")	60	15	1,400,000	Weak	10 Lacerta, Zeta Puppis, Lambda Orionis
B	10,000 - 30,000 K	Bluish-white ("blue-white")	18	7	20,000	Medium	Rigel, Spica, the brighter Pleiades
A	7,500 - 10,000 K	White with bluish tinge ("white")	3.2	2.5	80	Strong	Vega, Sirius
F	6,000 - 7,500 K	White ("yellow-white")	1.7	1.3	6	Medium	Canopus, Procyon
G	5,000 - 6,000 K	Light yellow ("yellow")	1.1	1.1	1.2	Weak	Sun, Capella
K	3,500 - 5,000 K	Light orange ("orange")	0.8	0.9	0.4	Very weak	Arcturus, Aldebaran
M	2,000 - 3,500 K	Reddish orange ("red")	0.3	0.4	0.04	Very weak	Betelgeuse, Antares

Mnemonics for the Harvard Spectral Classification Scheme
Official Bureaucrats At Federal Government Kill Many Researchers' National Support
Only Boring Astronomers Find Gratification Knowing Mnemonics!
Oh, Bring A Fully Grown Kangaroo My Recipe Needs Some!
Oh Backward Astronomer, Forget Geocentricity; Kepler's Motions Reveal Nature's Simplicity.
Oh Bother, Astronomers Frequently Give Killer Midterms

Sun

sunspots

Planets

Evening Planets

Venus - Mag -3.8 in Sagittarius but currently lost in the Sun's glare.

Neptune - Mag +7.9 in Capricorn will also be better for dark evenings and is less than 1 degree north of the +4.3 magnitude star Iota Capricorni

Uranus - Mag +5.9 in Aquarius Uranus is best seen in a dark moonless sky away from artificial lighting. It may be seen looking like a very faint star to the dark-adapted naked eye that shimmers in and out of visibility just under 1 degree east of Lambda Aquarii. Find the tipped over letter Y of Aquarius, go 4 thumbwidths southeast to find Lambda, and then a smidgen Southwest.

Saturn - Mag 0.4 on the western edge of Leo just west of Regulus. An easy catch!

Morning Planets

Jupiter - Mag -1.6 in Scorpius visiable very low on the ESE horizon an hour before sunrise. Finally had a clear horizon before the storm hit and it was very bright and yes, low and south.

Mars - Mag 1.5 just barely above the Sun's glare between the Sun and Mercury

Mercury - Mag -0.5 barely off the horizon moving quickly towards the sun. Use the bright orange/red Arcturus and "spike" almost horizontally South to Spica. Mercury sits 25 degrees ESE of Spica.

Saturn - Mag 0.4 on the western edge of Leo preceeding Regulus. Saturn is slowly inching its way towards Cancer

Constellations

Time for a quiz! Fornax - the Furnace - Invented by Lacaille during his stay at the Cape of Good Hope in 1751 - 1752 (who else!)

Viewing

Naked eye and binoculars - the Pleiades

Mentioned by Homer about 750 B.C.At least 6 member stars are visible to the naked eye,

-the Hyades At a distance of only about 150 light years, the Hyades form one of the nearest open cluster to Earth.

Greek mythology, nymphs; daughters of Atlas and Aethra. They cared for both Zeus and Dionysus as infants. In recognition of these services, they were placed among the stars of the constellation Taurus, where their rising and setting corresponded to the rainy seasons.

Aldebaran (Alpha Tauri), the bright red star, is not a member of the cluster and situated much closer to us (about 60 light years, a factor 2.5 closer than the Hyades).

Telescope -

Northern Hemisphere chart You can use Taki's chart #14, chart 72 in the Pocket Sky Atlas NGC 7380 bright irregular open cluster, 7.2 mag, with bright nebulosity around. Once edge looks scalloped.
NGC 7510- the "Little Piggy" cluster (Alice's name only) in Cephus 7.9 wedge or trapazoid shaped open cluster. Right across the boarder from...
M52 - evil dustbunny cluster, 6.9 open cluster in Cassiopeia
and just a few degree towards Polaris from Caph (beta Cassiopeia) is NGC 7790

Gifts for the Astronomer!

Do it yourself (DIY) gifts
There are so many creative things you can do for your astronomer, or for yourself, that won't cost and arm and a leg! Consider the following:

"Rite in the Rain" paper - perfect for creating your own lists without having to pull them in and out of sheet protectors.

Hats, scarves, mitten (especially with flaps so you have finger access)

Renovate an old hard sided Samsonite style suitcase for observing! Paint it and find some nice foam padding for the inside.

Cold weather observing 'basket' - Be Creative!! a good thermos, hot cocoa, snacks, handwarmers, and maybe a favorite CD all 'wrapped' in a new accessory case

Warm weather observing 'basket' - Have Fun!! snacks, a nice wide brim hat, some new shades, Miracool bandana, some oil free sunscreen and bug spray, all 'wrapped' in a Pelican case

Online Star Atlases - print them out, put them in protective sleeves, laminate them or print them on waterproof paper and bind them into a book that will open flat!

Taki's Charts
Andrew Johnsons Mag 7 charts

Fraser Cain at Universe Today emailed to let me know that there will be a "What's up 2007" so keep an eye on his site!

My favorite give-away Messier Telrad Charts - by John Small courtesy of the Amateur Telescope Makers of Boston.

Messier Telrad Charts - From Utah Skies

Caldwell Telrad Charts - From Utah Skies

For the woodworkers out there...

Binocular Mounts
Observing Chair - example or the Cats Perch Plans

On to the shopping...
Telescope accessories

Telrad

Accessory Cases

Variable Polarizing filter

Lazermate deluxe collimator

On-off switch green laser pointer (I'm ordering one for myself!)

lens cleaning gear

2X barlow

protective scope covers

eyepiece containers

Woodland Hills Camera and Telescope is offering a 5% discount for any AAGG listener! Just put "AAGG" in the discount code box at checkout to receive your discount.

Off the scope

eZipSky - free 10 day trial - know your cellphone charges first!

Handwarmers (buy them a case or better yet the reusable ones)

How about a good first aid kit!

References
Atlases

Pocket Sky Atlas - an AAGG favorite!

Field map of the Moon - an AAGG favorite!

Skyspot books - The Messier telrad books - fantastic for beginners searching for Messier objects!

Planisphere

Chandler or Levy Plastic Planispheres for your latitude

Books
...there are just toooo many but here is a start....

"NightWatch" by Terence Dickinson- the first book I remember purchasing for observing

"The Stars" by H.A. Rey

Celestial Sampler by Sue French

"Deep Sky Companions: The Messier Objects" by Stephen O'Meara

SkyWatch 07 (magazine single issue)- Sky and Telescope 12 months of starcharts and lots of great observing tips for the new astronomer

Skygazer's Almanac'07 reprint (leaflet)- Sky and Telescope $2.25 and up

RASC Observers guide (book)-Royal Astronomical Society of Canada $24.95+

Reader suggested books!

"The Next Step, Finding and Viewing Messier's Objects." by Ken Graun

There Once Was a Sky Full of Stars, by Bob Crelin

Comets

Comets for the Month.

Check out the Sky Hound site.

"One touch of nature makes the whole world kin"
-- Shakespeare

Email us at astronomyagogo@gmail.com or leave a note in our show notes at www.astronomy.libsyn.com
Help us out by leaving a donation in the ol' PayPal hat

Direct download: AAGGshow34.mp3
Category: Stars -- posted at: 7:04 PM

Comments[6]

Sun, 3 December 2006

Tour of the Sky: December 2006

Download this month's sky map!

Northern hemisphere sky map
Southern hemisphere sky map

Those in the Southern Hemisphere should also visit James Barclay's site for a great tour of the Southern Hemisphere December sky.

Planets for December

Planetary highlight: Mercury, Jupiter and Mars. Start watching LOW on the eastern horizon between the 8th and the 13th as they start to move together until On Dec 9 and 10 Mercury, Mars and Jupiter will be in close conjunction, within a 1 degree circle of each other. Mercury then switches places with the other two as it head back towards the Sun.

This is the closest grouping of 3 naked eye planets in the 1980-2050 time period.

Mercury will be at its best morning appearance for Northern observers at the beginning of the month. By mid month it will be lost in the glare of the Sun.

Venus just starts to crawl out of the sun's glare in the evening during the beginning of the month. By month's end it is still low in the evening twilight.

Mars is sluggishly rising in the morning twilight and by month's end will be rising 1.5 hours before the Sun. Mars is in close conjunction with Mercury and Jupiter from the 9-12th.

Jupiter is also creeping higher in the morning twilight but stays low to the south-eastern horizon for the month.

Saturn is in Leo and our best viewing planet for the month. On the 9th Saturn begins its retrograde (westward) motion.

Key Dates for December

Days and Times in UT (help with time)

Observations are for 8pm for the mid-northern latitudes and for 10pm for the mid-southern latitudes.

Great site for sunrise and sunset times and a downloadable toolbar application by Steve Edwards

Astronomical

December

Comet Swan (C/2006 M4) starts the month at mag 8.1 in Aquila and end in Aquarius

Comet Garradd (C/2006 L1) starts the month at mag 9.7 in Cancer and end in Perseus

4P/Faye starts and ends the month at mag 9.8 in Cetus and end in Perseus

1 -The Moon is at perigee

4 -The nearly full Moon crosses the Pleiades tonight, occulting several of the cluster's brightest stars 3h UT- North America, Western Europe

4 -Full Moon tonight, called the Long Night Moon or Moon Before Yule

9 -Moon near the beehive cluster (M44)

-Puppid_Velid meteor shower peak (Southern Hemisphere)

10 -Jupiter, Mercury, and Mars are gathered in a tight little bunch (within about one degree of each other)

10 -The Moon occults Saturn -Greenland, n.w. Europe

12 -Last Quarter Moon

13 -The annual Geminid meteor shower should be at its peak tonight. Parent of the dust trail is asteroid 3200 Phaethon {fay'-uh-thuhn} a possible extinct comet (Greek mythology is the son of Helios, the sun god)

-The Moon is at apogee

20 -New Moon at 14:01 UT

20 -Asteroid 2004 XL14 Near-Earth Flyby (0.028 AU)

22 -The December solstice occurs at 00:22 UT. This is the longest night of the year for the Northern Hemisphere and the longest day of the year for the Southern Hemisphere!

-Astronomy a Go Go! is one year old today

22 -Venus beginning to emerge in the sunset. Find the thin crescent Moon Venus is more than a fist-width at arm's length below the Moon's to the northeast

22 -Ursids Meteor Shower Peak

25 -Moon occults Uranus -n.w. Africa, w. Iberia

27 -The Moon is at perigee for the second time this month

-First Quarter Moon

31 -Moon crosses the Pleiades tonight, occulting several of the cluster's brightest stars -Eastern Asia, Northwestern North America

Monthly Messier

M2 - This is a small, bright globular cluster in Aquarius. To find it in binoculars look for a fuzzy star in a star poor field. A low power telescope field will show a round fuzzy patch, brighter in the center and fading to the edge, in a field with no other bright objects.

M15 - This globular cluster in Pegasus is very similar to M2 in size and brightness, except, it is surrounded by several bright stars. Fairly easy to find in binoculars but the best view is through a telescope at medium to high power.

M29 - This galactic cluster is a small, sparse group of stars in Cygnus. It appears as a small fuzzy patch amongst a rich star field in binoculars. A telescope will easily resolve the members of this cluster. The shape of the cluster reminds me of the Pleiades as viewed through binoculars.

M39 - Dark skies will allow this large, bright cluster in Cygnus to be seen with the naked eye as a hazy patch of light. Binoculars easily resolve this cluster into it's bright and widely scattered members, and provide a better view than can be seen with most telescopes.

M31 - This is the famous Andromeda Galaxy, our closest galactic neighbor, and the largest, brightest galaxy to be seen in the northern sky. The ability to see M31 with the naked eye provides a good test of the darkness of your skies. M31 is so large that binoculars provide the best view, allowing the entire galaxy to be seen in one field of view. Look for an elongated patch of light, with a bright, round central core.

M32 - This is an elliptical companion galaxy to M31. Through a telescope look for a slightly oval ball of fuzz in the same low power field as the core of M31. M32 is very possible to find in binoculars as a star like point of light.

M110 - Another elliptical companion galaxy to M31, lying on the opposite side of the core as M32. Through a telescope, look for a large, oval patch of light. Although M110 is as bright as M32 it is much larger and thus has a lower surface brightness making it a difficult object in light polluted skies. M110 is a very difficult binocular object requiring dark transparent skies, and trained eyes to have a chance at finding it.

Historical/Events

...Did you know?
December
3	-Soviet mars 3 became first spacecraft to soft land on Mars (1971)
4	-10th Anniversary (1996), Mars Pathfinder Launch
	-Wilhelm Tempel's 185th Birthday (1821)
	-Pioneer-Venus Orbiter became the first spacecraft to achieve Venus orbit (1978)
7	-STS-116 Launch, Space Shuttle Discovery, P5 Truss Segment, (International Space Station 12A.1)
	-Gerard Kuiper 101st Birthday (1905)
	-Annie Jump Cannon's 143rd Birthday (1863)
14	-Tycho Brahe's 460th Birthday (1546)
25	-Sir Isaac Newton's 364th Birthday (1642)
27	-Johannes Kepler's 435th Birthday (1571)

Earth's major motions for 2006

Perihelion
Jan 4

Equinox
Mar 20 18:26(UT)

Solstice
June 21 12:26(UT)

Aphelion
July 3

Equinox
Sept 23 04:03(UT)

Solstice
Dec 22 00:22(UT)

Earth's major motions for 2007

Perihelion
Jan 3 20h(UT)

Equinox
Mar 21 00:07(UT)

Solstice
June 21 18:06(UT)

Aphelion
July 4 00h (UT)

Equinox
Sept 23 19:51(UT)

Solstice
Dec 22 06:08(UT)

Planet Positions for 2006

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Venus Sgr Sgr Cap Aqr Psc Ari Tau Cnc Leo Vir Lib Sgr

Mars Ari Tau Tau Gem Gem Cnc Leo Leo Vir Vir Lib Sco

Jupiter Lib Lib Lib Lib Lib Lib Lib Lib Lib Lib Lib Sco

Saturn Cnc Cnc Cnc Cnc Cnc Cnc Cnc Leo Leo Leo Leo Leo

Uranus Aqu Aqu Aqu Aqu Aqu Aqu Aqu Aqu Aqu Aqu Aqu Aqu

Neptune Cap Cap Cap Cap Cap Cap Cap Cap Cap Cap Cap Cap

Comets for December

Gary Kronk's comet and meteor pages
Skyhound Comet pages

Help us out by leaving a donation in the ol' PayPal hat or write us a favorable review in iTunes of Podcast Pickle or iPodder!

Music Scottish Guitar Quartet -"Romance within you"
Monika Herzig - "Dancing in November"
Alyssa Hendrix - "Good Summer Rain"

Direct download: AAGG_sky_tour_Dec_2006.mp3
Category: Sky Tours -- posted at: 12:25 AM

Comments[4]

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Horsehead Nebula -B33

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