#wheelband

[metalshockfinland]

WHEEL Sign Worldwide Deal with InsideOutMusic, Launch New Single 'Blood Drinker'

WHEEL Sign Worldwide Deal with InsideOutMusic, Launch New Single ‘Blood Drinker’

Photo courtesy of https://www.facebook.com/wheelband InsideOutMusic are extremely pleased to announce the signing of Anglo-Finnish progressive metallers WHEEL, to a new worldwide deal. With the band about to imminently hit the road in North America alongside Apocalyptica and new label-mates Leprous, they are also excited to launch a brand new single titled ‘Blood Drinker’. This is the first song…

[astrogeoguy]

The Hunter’s Moon Wades through Water Constellations, Jupiter jumps Mercury, and Uranus Looks its Best!

(Above: Before dawn on Friday, October 19, 2018, Stuart McNair captured this spectacular image of the zodiacal light taken from a site near Lake Simcoe, Ontario. The wedge of light toward the image’s left is the glow of sunlight scattered from interplanetary dust concentrated in the plane of our solar system.)

Astronomy Skylights for this week (from October 21st, 2018) by Chris Vaughan. (Feel free to pass this along to friends and send me your comments, questions, and suggested topics.) I post these with photos at http://astrogeoguy.tumblr.com/ where the old editions are archived. You can also follow me on Twitter as @astrogeoguy! Unless otherwise noted, all times are Eastern Time. Please click this MailChimp link to subscribe to these emails. If you are a teacher or group leader interested joining me on a guided field trip to York University’s Allan I. Carswell Observatory or the David Dunlap Observatory, visit www.astrogeo.ca.

I can bring my Digital Starlab inflatable planetarium to your school or other daytime or evening event, visit DiscoveryPlanetarium.com and request me. We’ll tour the Universe together!

Public Events

Every Monday evening, York University’s Allan I. Carswell Observatory runs an online star party - broadcasting views from four telescopes/cameras, answering viewer questions, and taking requests! Details are here. On Wednesday nights they offer free public viewing through their rooftop telescopes. If it’s cloudy, the astronomers give tours and presentations. Details are here. 

At 7:30 pm on Wednesday evening, October 26 the public are invited to attend the free RASC Toronto Centre Speaker’s Night Meeting at the Ontario Science Centre (Room TBD, just follow the signs). The speaker is Dr. Chris Gainor, author and President of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, presenting History of the Hubble Space Telescope. Details are on the RASC website here. 

On Wednesday, October 24 at 6:30 pm, the Aurora Public Library will present a free lecture by RASC member Ian Wheelband entitled The Milky Way, followed by outside stargazing (weather permitting). Registration and details are here. 

On Thursday evening, October 25 at 7 pm, the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics in Waterloo will present a lecture and webcast from Jocelyn Bell Burnell, winner of the 2018 Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics. Details are here. 

At 8 pm on Friday evening, October 26 the public are invited to attend the free RASC Mississauga Meeting at UTM. The speaker is Dr. Laura Parker, Associate Professor, Dept. of Physics & Astronomy, McMaster University, presenting The Dark Universe. Details are here. 

On Friday, October 26, starting at 7 pm, U of T’s AstroTour will present their planetarium show entitled The Life and Death of Stars. Tickets and details are here. 

If it’s sunny on Saturday morning, October 27 from 10 am to noon, astronomers from the RASC Toronto Centre will be setting up outside the main doors of the Ontario Science Centre for Solar Observing. Come and see the Sun in detail through special equipment designed to view it safely. This is a free event (details here), but parking and admission fees inside the Science Centre will still apply. Check the RASC Toronto Centre website or their Facebook page for the Go or No-Go notification. 

The next RASC Public Event at the David Dunlap Observatory of 2018 will be a Family Night on Saturday, October 27. There will be presentations in the Skylab, a tour of the giant 74” telescope, and viewing through lawn telescopes (weather permitting). The doors will open at 6:30 pm for a 7 pm start. Attendance is by tickets only, available here. If you are a RASC member and wish to help us at DDO in the future, please fill out the volunteer questionnaire here. And to join RASC, visit this page. 

On Saturday, November 10, from 7 to 10 pm, adults aged 19+ can enjoy a social evening of astronomy and music at the David Dunlap Observatory in Richmond Hill. There will be live music by THE CALDERONS, a "WATER WORLDS" talk by Dr. Bhairavi Shankar, tours of the DDO, and stargazing through telescopes (weather dependent). There will be a merchandise table and a photographer on site, a cash bar and refreshments. Tickets and details are here. 

Orionids Meteor Shower

We’ve now entered meteor shower season! Over the next few months, we’ll experience a wave of several showers. The excellent Orionids Meteor Shower, which is derived from material dropped by repeated past passages of Comet Halley, peaked in the hours after midnight (in your local time zone) this morning. At that time, the sky over your head will be plowing forward through the densest region of the particle field, generating up to 25 meteors per hour. The meteors will continue to appear for several more nights. 

(Above: Tunc Tezel of Turkey created this composite image of the Orionids Meteor Shower from a sequence of tripod-mounted camera images. NASA APOD for October 23, 2006)

The meteors can appear anywhere in the sky, but true Orionids will be travelling in a direction away from a location (the radiant) a fist’s diameter to the upper left of the bright red star Betelgeuse in the constellation of Orion. Although not too numerous, Orionids are known for being bright and fast-moving. You can watch for meteors in the evening, too – but many of them will be hidden behind the Earth’s horizon. 

To see the most meteors, find a wide-open dark location, preferably away from light polluted skies, and just look up with your unaided eyes. Binoculars and telescopes are not useful for meteors – their field of view are too narrow. If the peak night is cloudy, several nights on either side will be almost as good. Happy hunting! 

The Moon and Planets

The moon will continue to gleam in the evening sky this week as it transitions through the middle of its monthly cycle. Between tonight and Wednesday, the waxing gibbous moon will pass through the dime water constellations of Aquarius (the Water-bearer), Pisces (the Fishes), and Cetus (the Whale). 

The full moon of October, traditionally called the Hunter's Moon, Blood Moon, or Sanguine Moon, will occur around mid-day on Wednesday. Since it’s opposite the sun at that time, the moon will rise at sunset and set at sunrise. 

When the moon is full, bright ray features may be seen radiating from the most recent craters on the lunar near side. The biggest ray system surrounds the prominent crater Tycho, which is located in the southwestern region of the moon’s face, about where the “Lady in the Moon” would have her pendant. (Note that east and west are reversed on the moon). The bright lines radiating from the crater are reflective crystalline rocks excavated when Tycho was formed. They extend up to 1,500 km from the crater! 

Mare Fecunditatis, Latin for “Sea of Fertility”, is a large dark mare in the eastern equatorial region of the moon, south of the very round Mare Crisium “Sea of Crises”. Near the centre of Mare Fecunditatis sit a pair of small deep craters named Messier. Parallel bright rays extend into the bright lunar highlands rocks to the west. They resemble a comet in binoculars or telescopes. The rays, approximately 120 km long, are consistent with an extremely low angle impact that arrived from the east at 1.7 km/second. That’s more than 6,000 km per hour – five times faster than a rifle bullet!

(Above: The major features on the full moon include dark maria regions and ray systems emanating from recent craters, such as Tycho.)  

After Wednesday, the moon will wane and rise later – lingering for a little while into the morning daytime sky. Overnight on Friday, the waning gibbous moon will approach and then pass through the Hyades star cluster, the stars that form the triangular face of Taurus (the Bull). The moon will enter the cluster at approximately 3 am Eastern Time on Saturday morning. By sunrise in the Eastern time zone, the moon will be in the centre of the triangle. Observers in western North America will be able to see the moon pass less than a finger’s width above Aldebaran, Taurus’ brightest star at about 7 am Pacific Time. This pairing of the bright star and the moon is also an opportunity to look for Aldebaran in daylight using the nearby moon as a guide. 

The moon will end the coming weekend brushing the horns of Taurus, above the bright winter constellation (Oh, no – not Winter!) of Orion (the Hunter). 

Mercury will still be visible this week, but it will be tough to see it from the Northern Hemisphere because it will be barely above the west-southwestern horizon after sunset. The elusive planet will set at about 7 pm local time – 45 minutes after the sun. Because Mercury is on the far side of the sun right now, its appearance in a telescope will be a nearly fully illuminated disk. (For eye safety, be sure to wait until the sun has vanished completely before using binoculars or a telescope on Mercury.) 

For an added bonus, and some help to find Mercury, the bright planet Jupiter will pass near Mercury later this week. Tonight, Jupiter will be less than a fist’s diameter to Mercury’s upper left. On Saturday, October 27, Jupiter will sit only 3.5 finger widths directly above Mercury. The two planets will be slightly closer together on Sunday evening, and then start drawing apart next week. Jupiter will set in the west-southwest before 7:30 pm local time. After this week, we’ll have to wait until next May before the mighty planet will return to the evening sky.

(Above: Mercury will sit below Jupiter in the western evening sky on Sunday, October 27, as shown here at 6:45 pm local time.)  

Reddish Mars and dimmer, yellow-tinted Saturn will remain visible in the southern evening sky this week. As soon as the sky becomes dark enough to reveal them, both planets will be located about two fist diameters above the horizon, with Mars located 35° (three and a half fist diameters) to the left of Saturn. Mars will set in the west at about 1:15 am local time. It’s still well worth looking at, even in a small telescope. Try to see a small white oval near the top of its disk. That’s the southern polar cap (but inverted by your telescope’s optics)! 

Saturn will set before 10 pm local time. Once the sky darkens, even a small telescope should be able to show you some of Saturn’s larger moons, especially its largest satellite, Titan. Using a clock’s dial analogy, Titan will move counter-clockwise over the course of this week – starting from a position at 9 o’clock (to the left of Saturn) tonight, and ending next Sunday at 4 o’clock (to the lower right of Saturn). (Remember that your telescope might flip and/or invert the view. Use the moon to find out how your telescope changes things and keep a note of it, since that will always be the case.) 

(Above: Mars and Saturn remain excellent targets for evening observing this week, as shown here at 7:15 pm local time.)

This autumn presents an ideal time to peruse the ice giant planets Uranus and Neptune because they will be conveniently placed for evening observing and also bigger and brighter than normal because Earth is roughly between them and the sun right now, minimizing our distance from those planets. 

Distant Neptune continues to be visible from evening until about 3 am local time. Using a decent quality telescope you can see the very blue, magnitude 7.8 planet among the dim stars of Aquarius (the Water-bearer) - sitting roughly midway between the modestly bright star Phi (φ) Aquarii and the brighter star Hydor (Lambda Aquarii). Neptune will highest in the sky (and best viewing conditions) at about 10 pm local time. The bright moonlight will make seeing the planet harder this week. 

On Tuesday, the blue-green planet Uranus will reach opposition. At that time, it will be visible all night and at its peak brightness (magnitude 5.7) and size for this year. You can see it without optical aid under very dark skies, but binoculars and telescopes will work better. After mid-evening, Uranus will be high enough in the eastern sky to see it clearly. Uranus is so far from Earth all the time that its appearance at opposition is little better than it is on evenings within a month of opposition. The planet will be 2.8 trillion km from us this week. Its reflected sunlight will require more than 2.5 hours to reach our eyes on Earth! 

(Above: On October 23, the Earth will pass between Uranus and the sun, causing that planet to appear at its brightest and largest for the year. The full moon will all but drown out Uranus.)

Uranus will be located about 3 finger widths to the left (east) of the modestly bright star Torcular (Omega Piscium). That star sits a generous palm’s width above the “V” where the two starry cords of Pisces (the Fishes) meet. The planet will be carried higher in the sky until 1 am local time. 

I’ll post sky charts for the observable planets here. 

Peering at Pegasus

If you missed last week’s information about the constellation of Pegasus (the Winged Horse), I posted it here.

Keep looking up to enjoy the sky! I love getting questions so, if you have any, send me a note.

[astrogeoguy]

A Southern Solar Eclipse, Earth Flees Sol, Evening Gas Giants Gleam, and Touring the Triangle!

(Above: The Total Solar Eclipse of August 21, 2017 imaged by Ian Wheelband.)

Hello, Stargazers!

Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of June 30th, 2019 by Chris Vaughan. Feel free to pass this along to your friends and send me your comments, questions, and suggested topics. I repost these emails with photos at http://astrogeoguy.tumblr.com/ where all the old editions are archived. You can also follow me on Twitter as @astrogeoguy! Unless otherwise noted, all times are Eastern Time. Please click this MailChimp link to subscribe to these emails. If you are a teacher or group leader interested joining me on a guided field trip to York University’s Allan I. Carswell Observatory or the David Dunlap Observatory, visit www.astrogeo.ca.

I can bring my Digital Starlab inflatable planetarium to your school or other daytime or evening event. Contact me, and we’ll tour the Universe together!

Earth at Aphelion

On Thursday, July 4, Earth will reach aphelion, its maximum distance from the sun for this year. The aphelion distance of 152.1 million km is 1.67% farther from the sun than the average Earth-sun separation of 149.6 million km, which scientists call one Astronomical Unit (AU). Earth’s perihelion, our minimum distance from the sun, will occur next January 4. At that time, the sun will be 147.1 million km from Earth. As you can see, our seasonal temperatures are not produced by our distance from the sun – but by the amount of sunshine we receive in a day. And that is controlled by the amount that Earth’s axis points toward (or away from) the sun. 

(Above: Earth will be closest to the sun for the year on July 4, 2019)

The Moon and Planets

The moon will be returning to the evening sky this week, to join the two bright gas giant planets Jupiter and Saturn. But first, we’ll get a new moon on Tuesday morning that will also feature a Total Solar Eclipse visible in the Southern Hemisphere! Here are the Skylights! 

Early risers on Monday morning (Oh, Canada Day!) will get one last chance to see the old crescent moon before it meets the sun. At the same time, you can look for very bright Venus sitting a palm’s width to the moon’s left (celestial northeast). Both objects will be immersed in the pre-dawn twilight. They’ll rise shortly before 5 am local time. While the moon will show a slim crescent, Venus will appear nearly fully illuminated in a telescope. This is because the moon is closer to Earth than the sun, while Venus is on the far side of the sun from Earth. 

At Tuesday morning’s new phase, the moon will be travelling between Earth and the sun. Since sunlight is only reaching the far side of the moon, and the moon is in the same region of the sky as the sun, the moon will be completely hidden from view – except when it passes directly in front of the sun! 

This new moon will feature a total solar eclipse visible inside a narrow path that crosses the southern Pacific Ocean and southern South America. A partial eclipse will be seen across most of the southern Pacific Ocean (almost reaching the coast of Antarctica) and most of South America. The period of totality will reach a maximum of 4m33s in the South Pacific, about 1,080 kilometers north of Easter Island at 19:22:57.9 GMT (Greenwich Mean Time). The first landfall for the moon’s shadow will occur on the Chilean coast, 50 kilometers north of La Serena, at 20:39 GMT, when totality will last for 2m36s and the sun will be at 14° altitude. The eclipse will end near the coast of Argentina, just south of Buenos Aires. Those of us not located where we can see the partial or total eclipse, NASA TV and several YouTube channels. 

The young crescent moon will re-appear on Wednesday evening after sunset. At that time, it will share the northwestern sky with Mars and Mercury. The trio, which will fit within the field of view of binoculars, will set by 10 pm local time. Observers in the eastern tip of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, most of Asia, and Micronesia will see the moon occult Mars. 

For the rest of the week, the moon will continue to wax fuller and climb away from the sun, landing on Friday evening just a few finger widths to the right (northwest) of the bright, white star Regulus in Leo (the Lion). The moon will end next weekend approaching its first quarter phase, among the stars of Virgo (the Maiden). The weekend evenings will be particularly good times to look at the moon while its terrain is dramatically lit by slanting rays of sunlight!

(Above: Mars and Mercury will appear together for a short time after sunset this week, as shown here at 9:45 pm local time.)

Dim, reddish Mars and brighter Mercury are still hanging out together just above the northwestern horizon after sunset this week. The best time to look for them falls between 9:30 and 9:45 pm local time. They’ll set by about 10:15 pm local time. Look for dimmer Mars sitting four finger widths to the right of brighter Mercury. (Take care that the sun has set before attempting to view them using binoculars or a telescope.) You can also look for the bright stars Castor and Pollux of Gemini (the Twins) sitting to the right of the two planets. 

The blazingly-bright object that you’ve been seeing in the southeastern evening sky recently is mighty Jupiter. We are recently past Jupiter’s biggest and brightest appearance for 2019. This week Jupiter will be visible from dusk to almost 4 am local time. 

From time to time, the small, round black shadows cast by Jupiter’s four Galilean moons become visible in amateur telescopes as they cross (or transit) Jupiter’s disk. On Thursday, July 4 from 10:36 pm to 12:48 am EDT, observers in the Eastern half of North America can watch Io’s shadow transit Jupiter. As a bonus, the Great Red Spot will be crossing the planet from dusk until approximately 11 pm. 

Due to Jupiter’s rapid 10-hour rotation period, the Great Red Spot (or GRS) is only observable from Earth every 2nd or 3rd night, and only during a predictable three-hour window. The GRS will be easiest to see using a medium-sized, or larger, aperture telescope on an evening of good seeing (steady air). If you’d like to see the Great Red Spot in your telescope, it will be crossing the planet on Monday evening from 10 pm until 2 am EDT. More GRS viewing opportunities will occur on Thursday from dusk to 11 pm EDT, and on Saturday night from 10 pm to 1 am EDT. 

(Above: The gas giants Jupiter and Saturn as in the southern sky, as shown here at 10:45 pm local time.)

This week, yellowish Saturn will be rising in the east-southeast before dusk and remaining visible all night long. Its position in the sky is just to the left (east) of the stars that form the teapot-shaped constellation of Sagittarius (the Archer). Saturn is quite a bit dimmer than Jupiter. To find it, look about 3 fist diameters to the lower left (east) of Jupiter. 

Dust off your telescope! Once the sky is dark, even a small telescope will show Saturn's rings and several of its brighter moons, especially Titan!  Because Saturn’s axis of rotation is tipped about 27° from vertical (a bit more than Earth’s is), we can see the top surface of its rings, and its moons can appear above, below, or to either side of the planet. During this week, Titan will migrate counter-clockwise around Saturn, moving from Saturn’s lower left tonight (Sunday) to the right of the planet next Sunday. (Remember that your telescope will flip the view around.) 

For night owls, distant and dim, blue Neptune is in the southeastern pre-dawn sky, among the stars of Aquarius (the Water-Bearer). The planet will be rising shortly after midnight local time this week. You’ll find the magnitude 7.9 planet sitting a thumb’s width to the left (east) of a medium-bright star named Phi (φ) Aquarii. 

Blue-green Uranus will be rising at about 2 am local time this week. It is sitting among the stars of Aries (the Ram) and is just a palm’s width above the head of Cetus. The large main-belt asteroid Vesta is nearby - a palm’s width below Uranus. Look for Vesta sitting only half a finger’s width below the modest star Xi (ξ) Ceti (and also named Al Kaff al Jidhmah). They will appear together in the field of view of a backyard telescope.

(Above: Venus is visible for a short time before dawn this week, as shown here at 5:15 am local time on Monday July 1, when the old crescent moon will be nearby.) 

Venus is bright enough to see within the pre-dawn twilight sky that surrounds it, but it is sitting very low in the northeast - sinking ever-closer to the rising sun. Venus will be rising at about 4:40 am local time all week.  

The Summer Triangle

When you are out on the next clear night, be sure to look for the three bright and beautiful blue-white stars of the Summer Triangle asterism, which shine high in the eastern sky every July. Once you have it identified, you can find some treasures within it, and follow its progress across the night sky until late fall.

(Above: The Summer Triangle asterism, shown at 10:45 pm local time, rides the July evening sky, but remains visible until November annually.) 

Find an open area and face east. Almost straight overhead is the bright star, Vega. It’s the fifth brightest star in the entire night sky and one of the first stars to appear after dusk. Now look for the other two corners. Altair is not as bright as Vega and sits about 3.5 outstretched fist diameters (34°) to the lower right of it. The third star, Deneb, is about 2.5 fist diameters (24°) to the lower left of Vega and higher up than Altair. It’s a very big triangle! 

Can you see the four fainter stars forming a small parallelogram just below Vega? It’s about a thumb’s width wide and a few finger widths long. This shape is the body of the musical harp that makes up the constellation of Lyra (the Lyre). Vega marks the top of the instrument’s neck. Vega’s visual magnitude, or brightness, is the zero reference point for the scale of star brightness values. Objects brighter than Vega have values lower than zero, and vice versa. Spica, the star near Jupiter this summer, has a value of about 1, making it 2.5 times dimmer than Vega. (It’s a logarithmic scale.) 

Vega also makes a little triangle with two other dim stars, each about a finger’s width apart. The star to Vega’s upper left is Epsilon Lyrae, also known as the Double Double. Can you tell it’s actually two stars tight together? Try using binoculars. In a telescope, each star splits again! 

The bright star Deneb marks the tail of great Cygnus (the Swan). A faint star about two fist diameters (22°) to its right, in the middle of the Summer Triangle is Albireo, a colourful double star that marks the swan’s head. A widely spaced string of modest stars running up-down traces out the swan’s wings. (Look closer to Deneb than Albireo for them – swans have long necks!) The brighter star in the middle of the wing span is Sadr, marking the swan’s belly. If you are in a dark location, you should also be able to see that the Milky Way runs right through Cygnus, as if she is about to land for a swim on that celestial river! 

The most southerly of the triangle’s corners is marked by Altair – the head of the great eagle Aquila. In fact, its name translates from “the flying eagle”. At only 16.8 light-years distance, Altair is one of the nearest bright stars – so close that its surface has been imaged! The star also seems to be spinning 100 times faster than our sun, probably generating an equatorial bulge. Like Cygnus, the Aquila the eagle is oriented with its wingtips up-down. The tail bends to the lower right. Two little stars named Terazed (above) and Alshain (below) sit on either side of Altair, like a balance. As a matter of fact, these two little stars’ names derive from an old-fashioned scale balance. 

Grab your binoculars and look about midway between Vega and Altair for a little grouping of stars called The Coathangar. (Hint: For North American observers, it’s oriented with the hook downwards to the west.) Finally, have a look for two little constellations in the area. Sagitta (the Arrow) comprises five faint stars running left-right, above Altair. The three on the right (west) end form the feathers. Below Sagitta, and about 13° to the left of Altair is cute little Delphinus (the Dolphin). Four stars form a diamond-shaped body and another star to the lower right marks the tail flukes! The star names for Delphinus include a very interesting story. Look it up! 

There’s one assitional small constellation inside the Summer Triangle, but its dim stars make it difficult to make out. It’s called Vulpecula (the Fox), and it sits about a palm’s width above and parallel to Sagitta. Two birds, a dolphin, and a fox! (And – there’s the lizard Lacerta just to the east and a little foal Equuleus below Delphinus!) Enjoy your tour of the triangle and visit to this celestial zoo! 

The Treats of Boötes

If you missed last week’s tour of the realm of Boötes (“Bow-OH-tees”), the Herdsman or Plowman, I posted it here. 

Public Astro-Themed Events

Taking advantage of dark moonless evening skies this week, astronomers with the RASC Toronto Centre will gather for dark sky stargazing at Long Sault Conservation Area, northeast of Oshawa on (only) the first clear evening (Monday to Thursday) this week. You don’t need to be a RASC member, or own any equipment, to join them. Check here for details and watch the banner on their homepage or their Facebook page for the GO or NO-GO decision around 5 pm each day. 

Every Monday evening, York University’s Allan I. Carswell Observatory runs an online star party - broadcasting views from four telescopes/cameras, answering viewer questions, and taking requests! Details are here. On Wednesday nights they offer free public viewing through their rooftop telescopes. If it’s cloudy, the astronomers give tours and presentations. Details are here. 

At 8:30 pm on Wednesday, July 3, the High Park Nature Centre will host a free public Urban Bat Walk followed by stargazing (weather permitting). Check here for details. 

On Thursday, July 4, starting at 9 pm, U of T’s AstroTour will present Graduate Student Anna O’Grady speaking about Stargazing from Chile: Exotic Supergiants at the Magellan Telescope, followed by rooftop stargazing and a planetarium show. Find tickets and details here. 

Eastern GTA sky watchers are invited to join the RASC Toronto Centre and Durham Skies for solar observing and stargazing at the edge of Lake Ontario in Millennium Square in Pickering on Friday evening, July 5, from 6 pm to 11 pm. Details are here. Before heading out, check the RASCTC home page for a Go/No-Go call in case it's too cloudy to observe. The rain date is Saturday. 

If it’s sunny on Saturday morning, July 6 from 10 am to noon, astronomers from the RASC Toronto Centre will be setting up outside the main doors of the Ontario Science Centre for Solar Observing. Come and see the Sun in detail through special equipment designed to view it safely. This is a free event (details here), but parking and admission fees inside the Science Centre will still apply. Check the RASC Toronto Centre website or their Facebook page for the Go or No-Go notification. 

The next RASC Family Night at the David Dunlap Observatory will be on Saturday, July 13. There will be sky tours in the Skylab planetarium room, space crafts, a tour of the giant 74” telescope, and viewing through lawn telescopes (weather permitting). The doors will open at 8:30 pm for a 9 pm start. Attendance is by tickets only, available here. If you are a RASC Toronto Centre member and wish to help us at DDO in the future, please fill out the volunteer form here. And to join RASC Toronto Centre, visit this page.

Keep looking up, and enjoy the sky when you do. I love questions and requests - so, send me some!

[astrogeoguy]

Galaxies Galore, a Major May Monday Meteor Shower, and Lunar-Looking Advice!

(Above: This image of the unusual-looking galaxy designated NGC 4088 in Ursa Major (near the Big Dipper’s bowl) was captured on Saturday night, May 4, 2019 by Ian Wheelband at the RASC Toronto Centre E.C. Carr Astronomical Observatory near Collinwood, Ontario. A total of 5.5 hours of exposure time were used to capture the full colour image using a camera mounted on his tracking telescope. Note the other smaller galaxies around it.)

Hello, Stargazers! 

Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of May 5th, 2019 by Chris Vaughan. Feel free to pass this along to your friends and send me your comments, questions, and suggested topics. I repost these emails with photos at http://astrogeoguy.tumblr.com/ where all the old editions are archived. You can also follow me on Twitter as @astrogeoguy! Unless otherwise noted, all times are Eastern Time. Please click this MailChimp link to subscribe to these emails. If you are a teacher or group leader interested joining me on a guided field trip to York University’s Allan I. Carswell Observatory or the David Dunlap Observatory, visit www.astrogeo.ca. 

I can bring my Digital Starlab inflatable planetarium to your school or other daytime or evening event, visit DiscoveryPlanitarium.com and request me. We’ll tour the Universe together! 

Public Astro-Events

It’s International Astronomy Week! To celebrate, on every sunny morning from 10 am to noon from Monday, May 6 to Saturday, May 11, astronomers from the RASC Toronto Centre will set up special solar telescopes outside the main doors of the Ontario Science Centre for public Solar Observing. Come and see the Sun in detail through equipment designed to view it safely. This is a free event (details here), but parking and admission fees inside the Science Centre will still apply. Check the RASC Toronto Centre website or their Facebook page for the Go or No-Go notification. 

Taking advantage of the moon and other bright objects in the sky this week, the RASC Toronto Centre astronomers will hold their free monthly public City Sky Star Party in Bayview Village Park (steps from the Bayview subway station), starting around 8 pm on the first clear weeknight this week (Mon, Tue, or Thu only). You don’t need to be an RASC member, or own any equipment, to join them – looks are free! Check here for details, and check the banner on their website home page or Facebook page for the GO or NO-GO decision around 5 pm each day. 

Every Monday evening, York University’s Allan I. Carswell Observatory runs an online star party - broadcasting views from four telescopes/cameras, answering viewer questions, and taking requests! Details are here. On Wednesday nights they offer free public viewing through their rooftop telescopes. If it’s cloudy, the astronomers give tours and presentations. Details are here. 

At 7:30 pm on Wednesday, May 8, the RASC Toronto Centre will hold their free monthly Speaker’s Night Meeting at the Ontario Science Centre, and the public are welcome. This month, the speaker will be Professor Marshall McCall, Chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at York University. His topic will be Big Galaxies and the Big Places in Which They Live. Check here for details. Parking is free. 

Eastern GTA sky watchers are invited to join the RASC Toronto Centre and Durham Skies for solar observing and stargazing at the edge of Lake Ontario in Millennium Square in Pickering on Friday evening, May 10, from 6 pm to 11 pm. Details are here. Before heading out, check the RASCTC home page for a Go/No-Go call in case it's too cloudy to observe. The rain date is Saturday. 

On Friday, May 10 at 7:30 pm, inside the Hamilton Spectator, the public are invited to attend  a presentation by Alanna Mitchell, author of The Spinning Magnet, all about the Earth’s magnetic field. Details are here. 

Saturday, May 11 will be International Astronomy Day, Science Rendezvous Day in the GTA, and Doors Open in Richmond Hill. U of T, Ryerson, and York University will all have science-related demonstration and booths set up in public spaces on each campus from 11 am to 4 pm. The Ontario Science Centre and RASC Toronto Centre will offer free solar observing, a telescope workshop (bring yours in for a tune up!), and an evening star party (weather permitting). The David Dunlap Observatory will host free tours of the big telescope, a mobile planetarium, and solar observing from 10 am to 4 pm. 

The next RASC Family Night at the David Dunlap Observatory will be on Saturday, May 18. There will be sky tours in the Skylab planetarium room, space crafts, a tour of the giant 74” telescope, and viewing through lawn telescopes (weather permitting). The doors will open at 8:30 pm for a 9 pm start. Attendance is by tickets only, available here. If you are a RASC Toronto Centre member and wish to help us at DDO in the future, please fill out the volunteer form here. And to join RASC Toronto Centre, visit this page. 

(Above: Every spring in the Northern Hemisphere, the Milky Way hugs the eastern horizon during the evening hours, as shown here at 11 pm local time. The absence of our home galaxy’s obscuring stars, dust, and gas allows us to see the multitude of distant galaxies (red ovals) sprinkled across the sky overhead. This is just a small subset of them.)

Galaxy Season

We live inside the Milky Way. Our sun is embedded within its five thousand light-year thick disk of obscuring stars, dust, and gas. Because of this, our best opportunity to see other galaxies is to look directly up and out of the plane of the Milky Way’s disk, where there is less clutter to peer through. 

At this time of year in the northern hemisphere, the Milky Way hugs the eastern horizon in the evening hours. The sky overhead, which includes the constellations of Leo (the Lion), Virgo (the Maiden), Coma Berenices (Berenice’s Hair), Canes Venatici (the Hunting Dogs), and Ursa Major (the Big Bear), is absolutely loaded with distant galaxies! 

Astronomers make the effort to take out their telescopes on clear spring evenings to see and photograph the many treasures that float above us. On my Tumblr post last week, I included an image of three spring galaxies in Leo. This week, I’ve included an image taken just last night near Collinwood, Ontario of an unusual-looking spiral galaxy designated NGC 4088. It’s located 61 million light-years from our solar system. While you are looking, see how many other smaller galaxies you can see around it! 

(Above: The galaxy imaged at the top of this post, NGC 4088, is located near the bowl of the Big Dipper, one of hundreds of galaxies (red ovals) within reach of amateur, large-aperture telescopes when used in a dark sky location during moonless spring nights.) 

A Major Meteor Shower

The annual Eta-Aquariids Meteor Shower is produced when the Earth passes through a trail of material left by repeated passages of Halley’s Comet, and those particles drop through our atmosphere at high speeds, leaving long streaks of ionized gas and minerals. We pass through the debris from May 3 to 11 annually, and we will be most deeply in the cloud around Monday, May 6. Your best times for seeing the meteors will be Sunday and Monday, especially before dawn. 

True Aquariids will appear to travel away from a radiant point in Aquarius (the Water-Bearer), which will sit near the southeastern horizon. The southerly radiant makes this shower better for observers at low latitudes. Watch for up to a few dozen meteors per hour on the peak night, and fewer than that during the surrounding nights. The very young evening moon will leave the sky nice and dark for this shower. 

To increase your chances of seeing meteors, find a dark location with lots of sky, preferably away from light polluted skies, and just look up with your unaided eyes. Binoculars and telescopes are not useful for meteors because their fields of view are too narrow to fit the streaks of meteor light. Don’t watch the radiant. Any meteors near there will have very short trails because they are travelling towards you. Try not to look at your phone’s bright screen – it’ll ruin your night vision. And keep your eyes heavenward, even while you are chatting with companions. Happy hunting! 

I posted a sky chart showing the radiant here. 

The Moon and Planets

The next two weeks of May will be an ideal period to view our natural satellite’s rugged terrain in binoculars and backyard telescopes at a convenient time of the evening! Fresh from yesterday’s New Moon phase, the young crescent moon will appear low over the western horizon for a short time after sunset tonight (Sunday). Then, on the following evenings, the moon will set later - climbing higher while waxing fuller.

(Above: Earthshine faintly illuminates the dark portion of the waxing crescent moon in this image by Dylan O’Donnell taken in late January of 2015. The best magnified views of the moon are found along the zone dividing the lit and dark hemispheres. NASA APOD for March 20, 2015) 

As the moon waxes, the sun is rising over its eastern horizon. East on a planet or moon is defined as the direction where the sun rises. Due to the moon’s tidal lock with Earth, the moon keeps the nearside hemisphere pointed towards Earth at all times. That means that sunrise on the moon takes hours - and the sun needs two weeks to cross the moon’s “sky” and set in the west. 

On Earth, we define morning as the daylight period between sunrise and high noon – or about 6 hours. But at any given location on the moon (except the poles), that process covers the period from New Moon to First Quarter – or about a week! The rising sun casts long shadows to the west of any elevated terrain, including crater rims, mountains, boulders, and faults. Shadows on the moon are nearly black because there is no atmosphere to scatter light. 

The shadows are particularly stark along the terminator, the pole-to-pole boundary line that divides the lit and dark hemispheres of the moon. Along that strip, the sunlight is nearly horizontal. Every night, and even hour-by-hour, the terminator shifts west – throwing new areas into stark relief. Keep your telescope handy and have a look on every clear night. Or, for a fun exercise, look at a feature early in the evening and look at it again a few hours later. Try holding your phone over your telescope’s eyepiece and taking a pair of photos at the two times – or draw what you see. 

(Above: On Tuesday evening, as shown here at 9:25 pm EDT, the waxing crescent moon will land to the lower left of Mars. A small star named Zeta Tauri (or Tianguan) will be positioned near the moon’s higher crescent tip.)

Let’s review what else the moon will be up to this week. Early Monday evening in the west-northwestern sky, the moon will be positioned just above the stars forming Taurus’ triangular face, and that constellation’s brightest star, Aldebaran. Use binoculars to capture the scene. Observers in Europe, Africa, and Asian will see the moon pass through Taurus’ face after dusk. 

On Tuesday evening, the waxing crescent moon will land 3.5 finger widths to the lower left (south) of reddish Mars. Look for a medium-bright star named Zeta Tauri (ζ Tauri) aka Tianguan positioned close to the upper, northern tip of the moon’s crescent. That star marks the eastern horn of Taurus, the Bull. 

The moon will pass through the twins of Gemini on Wednesday and Thursday. Then, on Friday the nearly first quarter moon will pass almost directly through the large open star cluster in Cancer (the Crab) known as the Beehive, Praesepe, and Messier 44. The moon will be centered on the cluster at approximately 10 pm EDT. Binoculars or a telescope at low magnification will show both the moon and the cluster at the same time. To better see the clusters’ stars, try to position the moon just outside of your optics’ field of view. (Binoculars will show the cluster to the moon’s upper left, but your telescope will flip that view around.) 

On Saturday night the moon will reach a 90° angle with respect to the sun, triggering its First Quarter phase worldwide. By this time, you might have noticed the moon in the afternoon daytime sky. At First Quarter, the moon always rises at noon and sets after midnight. The moon will end the week below the stars of Leo (the Lion) next Sunday night. 

Mars will continue to be visible for about an hour after dusk every evening this week. Even though Mars will be setting in the west just before midnight local time, it’s starting to dip into the twilight. Once the sky has darkened, look for Mars as a medium-bright, reddish pinpoint of light sitting less than one-third of the way up the western sky. Mars has been slowly shrinking in size and brightness as we increase our distance from it little-by-little.

(Above: The giant planets Jupiter and Saturn are both crossing the sky during the small hours of the night, as shown here at 5 am local time. In the coming weeks, both planets will rise early enough to be observed in the evening.)  

This week, the very bright planet Jupiter will be visible low over the southeastern horizon after midnight local time. If you are walking through the house in your pj’s during the wee hours, Jupiter’s bright beacon might catch your eye through a southerly window. Jupiter will reach its highest point over the southern horizon by 4 am local time and then descend towards the west as dawn arrives. Soon, I’ll start to alert you to when you can see the Great Red Spot and the shadows of Jupiter’s four large moons when they cross Jupiter’s disk. 

Look for yellowish Saturn, which will be rising about 2 hours after Jupiter all summer, sitting about 2.5 outstretched fist diameters to the lower left (east) of Jupiter in the pre-dawn sky. Saturn will officially enter the evening sky in the last week of May. Dust off your telescope because even a small telescope will show its rings! 

Distant and dim, blue Neptune is in the southeastern pre-dawn sky, among the stars of Aquarius (the Water-Bearer). The planet will rise a little before 4 am local time. But I’ll wait for summer, when it will be available in the evening, to look for it.

(Above: This week, Venus and Mercury are both swinging sunward in the eastern pre-dawn sky, as shown here at 5:45 am local time. Mercury will be difficult to spot, and both planets will require a low, open horizon.) 

Venus tends to be easy to see because of its extreme brightness. But our sister planet is approaching the pre-dawn sun now, so you will need a wide-open eastern horizon to see it just before sunrise. Venus will rise at about 5 am local time and remain visible until about 6 am. It will soon disappear in solar conjunction. 

The Lion Hunts

If you missed last week’s information about the spring constellation of Leo (the lion), I posted it here.

Keep looking up, and enjoy the sky when you do. I love questions and requests - so, send me some!

[astrogeoguy]

Bright Galaxies for Dark Nights, Evening Mars, and Five Pre-Dawn Planets!

(Above: Markarian’s Chain of Galaxies, imaged here by Steve McKinney of Toronto, lies in the northeastern sky between the stars Denebola and Vindiamatrix. This image covers more than two degrees of the sky, or four full moon diameters. The galaxies are a mixture of formless ellipticals and spirals - some seen edge-on to Earth.)

Hello, Stargazers!

Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of March 31st, 2019 by Chris Vaughan. Feel free to pass this along to your friends and send me your comments, questions, and suggested topics. I repost these emails with photos at http://astrogeoguy.tumblr.com/ where all the old editions are archived. You can also follow me on Twitter as @astrogeoguy! Unless otherwise noted, all times are Eastern Time. Please click this MailChimp link to subscribe to these emails. If you are a teacher or group leader interested joining me on a guided field trip to York University’s Allan I. Carswell Observatory or the David Dunlap Observatory, visit www.astrogeo.ca.

I can bring my Digital Starlab inflatable planetarium to your school or other daytime or evening event, visit DiscoveryPlanetarium.com and request me. We’ll tour the Universe together!

(Above: Bode’s Nebula, also known as the galaxies designated Messier 81 (at left) and Messier 82 (at right), were captured by Armand Pede of Toronto in this image. The two galaxies are about one full moon diameter apart in the sky.)

Public Astro-Events

Taking advantage of dark moonless evening skies this week, astronomers with the RASC Toronto Centre will gather for dark sky stargazing at Long Sault Conservation Area, northeast of Oshawa on (only) the first clear evening (Monday to Thursday) this week. You don’t need to be a RASC member, or own any equipment, to join them. Check here for details and watch the banner on their homepage or their Facebook page for the GO or NO-GO decision around 5 pm each day. 

Every Monday evening, York University’s Allan I. Carswell Observatory runs an online star party - broadcasting views from four telescopes/cameras, answering viewer questions, and taking requests! Details are here. On Wednesday nights they offer free public viewing through their rooftop telescopes. If it’s cloudy, the astronomers give tours and presentations. Details are here. 

At 6:30 pm on Tuesday, April 2, the Danforth/Coxwell Library will present a free public talk entitled Being an Astronaut Candidate by Dr. Ele Willoughby. Check here for details. 

On Wednesday evening at 7 pm, the Perimeter Institute in Waterloo, Ontario will present a free talk and webcast by Professor Chad Hanna entitled Windows on the Universe, about multi-messenger astronomy. Details are here. 

On Thursday, April 4, starting at 7 pm, U of T’s AstroTour will present their planetarium show Grand Tour of the Cosmos. Tickets and details are here. 

On Friday evening at 6 pm at York University, CRAM Toronto will host a free public presentation by Professor Lawrence Harris on the effects of gravity (and the absence of it) on human physiology. Details are here. 

On Friday, April 5, starting at 7 pm, U of T’s AstroTour will present their planetarium show Grand Tour of the Cosmos. Tickets and details are here. 

On Friday evening, April 5 at 6 pm at University of Toronto St. George Campus, CRAM Toronto will host a free public presentation by Professor Keith Vanderlinde on radio astronomy and the expanding universe. Details are here. 

On Friday evening, April 5 at 10 pm at University of Toronto St. George Campus, CRAM Toronto will host a free public presentation by Matt Russo on how Sonic Space Exploration Reveals the Voice of the Universe. Details are here. 

If it’s sunny on Saturday morning, April 6 from 10 am to noon, astronomers from the RASC Toronto Centre will be setting up outside the main doors of the Ontario Science Centre for Solar Observing. Come and see the Sun in detail through special equipment designed to view it safely. This is a free event (details here), but parking and admission fees inside the Science Centre will still apply. Check the RASC Toronto Centre website or their Facebook page for the Go or No-Go notification.

(Above: The western early evening sky, shown here on Monday at 8 pm local time, features Mars near the tight cluster of blue stars known as the Pleiades. Later this week, Mars will move higher than the cluster.) 

The Moon and Planets

This is the week of the lunar month when our natural satellite swings towards, and then past the sun, leaving our night time skies darker - just in time to hunt for spring galaxies! 

The moon will begin the week as a beautiful old crescent on Monday morning, sitting less than a fist’s diameter to the right of bright Venus. Both objects will be low in the eastern pre-dawn sky. On Tuesday morning, the moon will shift eastward to sit below Venus – and then the moon will become lost from view until after the New Moon phase officially occurs on Friday morning. The next chance to see the moon, now a young crescent, will come in the western sky on Friday after sunset, and the weekend beyond.  

Mars will continue to be an easy planet to see every evening this week, but only for a couple of hours after dusk. Mars will set in the west before 11 pm local time, so you are better off to seek it out right after full dusk. Once the sky has darkened, look for Mars as a medium-bright, reddish pinpoint of light one-third of the way up the western sky. Mars has been slowly shrinking in size and brightness as we increase our distance from it little-by-little. By the way – during the opening nights of this week, Mars will continue to remain near the bright open star cluster known as the Pleiades, the Seven Sisters, and Messier 45. But the Red Planet will slide farther from that clump of blue stars every night.

(Above: Five planets occupy the eastern pre-dawn sky this week, as shown here on Tuesday at 5 am local time, when the waning crescent moon will join them. Mercury will be a challenge to see, and distant, dim Neptune even harder!) 

Very bright Jupiter has been catching the eye in the southern sky before dawn for some time. But this is the last week for it to be considered a pre-dawn object, because next week it will begin to rise before midnight. 

The king of planets will rise shortly after midnight local time. By 5 am, it should still be visible in the sky over the southern horizon. Yellowish Saturn will rise at about 2 am local time this week - but, being dimmer than Jupiter, it will become lost in the southeastern twilight after about 5 am. Look for Venus as a very bright starlike object sitting very low over the east-southeastern horizon from 4:30 am local time until sunrise. Unlike airplanes, Venus will shine with a steady, unblinking light, and it won’t drift across the sky. 

Finally, for a challenge, look for Mercury sitting very low over the eastern sky at about 5 am local time. And on Wednesday morning, distant Neptune will sit less than a pinky finger’s width below Mercury. 

(Above: The Pinwheel Galaxy and the Whirlpool Galaxy flank Alkaid, the tip of the Big Dipper’s handle, which will be standing upright after dusk in early April. These two galaxies can be seen in binoculars under very dark skies.)

Bright Galaxies for Dark Nights

In late evening during early April every year, the Big Dipper stands upright in the northeastern sky. The bright star Alkaid marks the tip of its handle. The Pinwheel Galaxy is a spectacular, large face-on spiral galaxy, also designated as Messier 101, sits a palm’s width to the left (north) of Alkaid, forming an equilateral triangle with Alkaid and Mizar, the star at the bend in the dipper’s handle. Although relatively bright and close to us (21 million light-years away), the Pinwheel Galaxy is fairly dim because its light is spread out over a large patch of sky. It’s actually as wide as the full moon! 

(Above: The Whirlpool Galaxy and its smaller companion are beautiful and relatively easy targets. This image by Ian Wheelband was captured near Collingwood, Ontario in 2016.)

Searching about four finger widths (3.5°) from Alkaid in the opposite direction, you will come to the iconic spiral Whirlpool Galaxy, also known as Messier 51. This galaxy’s angular size (diameter in the sky) is much smaller, but it will appear brighter in your telescope. It also features a secondary galaxy core. The two galaxies are linked by a bridge of material. 

Draw a line diagonally across the dipper’s bowl by connecting the stars Phecda to Dubhe, and then extend that line by an amount equal to their separation. There you will find Bode’s Nebula, otherwise known as Messiers 81 and Messier 82. M81 is a magnitude 6.9 spiral galaxy oriented not quite face-on to Earth, making it larger and brighter than M82. M82, located half of a degree to the north of M81, is smaller, but brighter due its nearly edge-on orientation. Several other fainter galaxies can be found within a few degrees of Bode’s Nebula. 

For a bonanza of galaxies, aim a telescope at the sky midway between the stars Denebola, which marks Leo’s (the Lion) tail, and Vindiamatrix, the star that marks Virgo’s (the Maiden) left arm. This is the heart of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies. Dozens of brighter galaxies populate this area of the sky, including a curved row of them more than two finger widths long known as Markarian’s Chain. Those galaxies are also sitting about three fist diameters to the right of the very bright star Arcturus in Bootes (the Herdsman).  

(Above: The enormous Virgo Cluster of galaxies lies between Virgo and Leo, to the right of the bright star Arcturus. Each coloured oval represents a galaxy. The Big Dipper is off the image at upper left.)

Some Gemini Gems

If you missed last week’s information about objects in the zodiac constellation of Gemini (the Twins), I posted it here with a sky chart.

Keep looking up, and enjoy the sky when you do. I love questions and requests - so, send me some!

[astrogeoguy]

The Waxing Moon Passes Planets, Peering at Pegasus, and the Orionids Open Meteor Shower Season!

(Above: The pretty globular star cluster designated Messier 15 is located near the naked-eye star Enif, which marks the muzzle of Pegasus. This image was taken by Ian Wheelband near Collingwood, Ontario.)

Astronomy Skylights for this week (from October 14th, 2018) by Chris Vaughan. (Feel free to pass this along to friends and send me your comments, questions, and suggested topics.) I post these with photos at http://astrogeoguy.tumblr.com/ where the old editions are archived. You can also follow me on Twitter as @astrogeoguy! Unless otherwise noted, all times are Eastern Time. Please click this MailChimp link to subscribe to these emails. If you are a teacher or group leader interested joining me on a guided field trip to York University’s Allan I. Carswell Observatory or the David Dunlap Observatory, visit www.astrogeo.ca.

I can bring my Digital Starlab inflatable planetarium to your school or other daytime or evening event, visit DiscoveryPlanetarium.com and request me. We’ll tour the Universe together! 

Public Events

Taking advantage of the moon, Saturn, Mars, and other bright objects in the sky this week, the RASC Toronto Centre astronomers will hold their free monthly public City Sky Star Party in Bayview Village Park (steps from the Bayview subway station), around 8 pm on the first clear weeknight this week (Mon to Thu). You don’t need to be an RASC member, or own any equipment, to join them. Check here for details, and check the banner on their website home page or Facebook page for the GO or NO-GO decision around 5 pm each day. 

Every Monday evening, York University’s Allan I. Carswell Observatory runs an online star party - broadcasting views from four telescopes/cameras, answering viewer questions, and taking requests! Details are here. On Wednesday nights they offer free public viewing through their rooftop telescopes. If it’s cloudy, the astronomers give tours and presentations. Details are here. 

The Allan I. Carswell Observatory at York University will also be open for free public Orionid Meteor Shower viewing on the first clear weeknight this week. Details are here. 

On Saturday, October 20, starting at 7 pm, U of T’s AstroTour will present their planetarium show entitled Grand Tour of the Cosmos. Tickets and details are here. 

The next RASC Public Event at the David Dunlap Observatory will be a Speaker Night on Saturday, October 20 – and it’s all about the Moon! There will be a lecture by an astronomer, a tour of the giant 74” telescope, and viewing through lawn telescopes (weather permitting). The doors will open at 6:30 pm for a 7 pm start. Attendance is by tickets only, available here. If you are a RASC member and wish to help us at DDO in the future, please fill out the volunteer questionnaire here. And to join RASC, visit this page. 

Orionids Meteor Shower

We’ve now entered meteor shower season! Over the next few months, we’ll experience a wave of several showers. The excellent Orionid Meteor Shower, which is derived from material dropped by repeated past passages of Comet Halley, is underway this week, and observable world-wide. It will peak in the hours after midnight (in your local time zone) on Sunday, October 21 (i.e., Monday morning). At that time, the sky overhead will be ploughing through the densest region of the particle field, generating up to 25 meteors per hour. 

The meteors can appear anywhere in the sky, but true Orionids will be travelling in a direction away from a location (the radiant) a fist’s diameter to the upper left of the bright red star Betelgeuse in the constellation of Orion. Although not too numerous, Orionids are known for being bright and fast-moving. You can watch for meteors in the evening, too – but many of them will be hidden behind the Earth’s horizon.

(Above: The orbit of Halley’s Comet crosses the inner solar system. Over many centuries, the comet has deposited particles along its orbit. When Earth passes through the debris every October, the particles burn up to become the Orionids meteor shower.)

This shower has a broad period of activity because the debris field is very spread out and the comet’s orbit does not cross Earth’s at a sharp angle. So, technically, the Orionids will linger until late November – weakening as time passes. Unfortunately, the moon will be close to full around the peak evenings this year, somewhat spoiling the shower. 

To see the most meteors, find a wide-open dark location, preferably away from light polluted skies, and just look up with your unaided eyes. Binoculars and telescopes are not useful for meteors – their field of view are too narrow. If the peak night is cloudy, several nights on either side will be almost as good. Happy hunting!

(Above: During the Orionids meteor shower, Earth’s orbit is carrying us directly towards the part of the sky that contains the constellation of Orion. The meteors will appear to radiate from a location near the bright star Betelgeuse, but that’s not the best place to look for the meteors - they’ll be highly shortened.) 

The Moon and Planets

The moon will spend this week in the southern evening sky, well-placed for after-dinner observing. And, since its orbit is close to the ecliptic, it will pass by the evening planets. 

On Sunday evening (tonight) the waxing crescent moon will land two finger widths to the right of yellowish Saturn. The moon will slide closer to Saturn by the time they set in the west at around 10:30 pm local time. In the southern sky on Wednesday evening, the slightly gibbous moon will be positioned about a palm’s width to the right (west) of Mars. From dusk, until they set at around 1 am local time, the moon’s eastward orbital motion will carry it towards the Red Planet. The following evening, the moon will appear a similar distance from Mars, but now on the left (east) side of the planet. Finally, next Saturday night, the very bright moon will pass a few finger widths below distant, dim Neptune. 

On Tuesday evening, the moon will reach its First Quarter phase. That’s when it has completed the first quarter of its trip around Earth (as measured from the previous New Moon). First quarter moons are always half illuminated because the sun is shining on them from the side. At this phase the moon will rise around local noon and set at around midnight. At sunset, the moon will be due south. You can point to the sun with one arm and at the moon with the other and see that the objects make a 90° angle with Earth. 

As we watch the lit portion of the waxing moon grow larger every evening, we are witnessing the sun slowly rise over its eastern horizon. The slanting sunlight will be illuminating topographic high points and casting deep black shadows from them, especially along the terminator – the imaginary line that runs pole-to-pole between the light and dark hemispheres of the moon. That’s the best area to look at with your binoculars or backyard telescopes.

(Above: Mercury and Jupiter shown on October 19 at 7 pm local time.)

Mercury will be visible this week, but it will be tough to see it because it will be barely above the west-southwestern horizon after sunset. Later in the week will offer better odds. The planet will set at about 7 pm local time – soon after the sun. Because Mercury is on the far side of the sun right now, its appearance in a telescope will be a nearly fully illuminated disk. (For eye safety, be sure to wait until the sun has vanished completely before using binoculars or a telescope on Mercury.) 

While you are out, take a look for Jupiter. When the sky is getting dark, the mighty planet will sit about a palm’s width above the southwestern horizon. It will set in the west-southwest shortly before 8 pm local time. Binoculars will let you see Jupiter’s four Galilean moons (Io, Europa, Callisto, and Ganymede) forming a line to either side of the planet. 

You can use the moon to positively identify brighter, reddish Mars and dimmer, yellow-tinted Saturn on the evenings I noted above. For the rest of the week, those two bright planets will remain in the southern sky all evening. As soon as the sky becomes dark enough to reveal them, both planets will be located about two fist diameters above the horizon, with Mars located 35° (three and a half fist diameters) east (to the left) of Saturn. Mars will set in the west before 1:30 am local time. It’s still well worth looking at, even in a small telescope. Try to see a small white oval near the top of its disk. That’s the southern polar cap (but inverted by your telescope’s optics)!

(Above: Mars and Saturn will appear all week in the southern evening sky, as shown here at 7:30 pm local time.) 

Saturn will set at about 10:15 pm local time. Once the sky darkens, even a small telescope should be able to show you some of Saturn’s larger moons, especially its largest satellite, Titan. Using a clock’s dial analogy, Titan will move counter-clockwise over the course of this week – starting from a position at 2 o’clock (to the upper right of Saturn) and ending at 9 o’clock (to the left of Saturn). (Remember that your telescope might flip and/or invert the view. Use the moon to find out how your telescope changes things and keep a note of it, since that will always be the case.) 

This autumn is an ideal time to peruse the ice giant planets Uranus and Neptune because they will be conveniently placed for evening observing and also bigger and brighter than normal because Earth is roughly between them and the sun right now, minimizing our distance from those planets.

(Above: A detailed star chart for Neptune this week. The labelled stars will be visible to unaided eyes and binoculars.)

Distant Neptune will be visible nearly all night. Using a decent quality telescope you can see the very blue, magnitude 7.8 planet among the dim stars of Aquarius (the Water-bearer) - sitting roughly midway between the modestly bright star Phi (φ) Aquarii and the brighter star Hydor (Lambda Aquarii). Neptune will highest in the sky (and best viewing conditions) at about 10:15 pm local time. The bright moonlight will hinder seeing the planet this week. 

Blue-green coloured Uranus will be visible all night long. You can see it without optical aid under very dark skies, but binoculars and telescopes are better. After mid-evening, Uranus will be high enough in the eastern sky to see clearly. It is located 3 finger widths to the left (east) of the modestly bright star Torcular (Omega Piscium). That star sits a generous palm’s width above the “V” where the two starry cords of Pisces (the Fishes) meet. The planet will climb higher until 1:30 am local time.

(Above: A detailed star chart for Uranus this week. The labelled stars will be visible to unaided eyes and binoculars.)

Peering at Pegasus

When the moon grows brighter in the evening sky, we can still enjoy objects that include bright stars – with unaided eyes, binoculars, and telescopes. 

The Great Square of Pegasus (the Winged Horse) sits in the eastern evening sky every October. This giant square is composed of four equally bright stars that form edges about 1.6 fist diameters long and measures 2 fists, corner to corner. This asterism might remind you of a baseball diamond when you see it because it’s usually tilted with one corner downwards. For the Lakota people, the square represented the great shell of Keya, the Turtle. In Greek mythology, the square represents the wings of Perseus’ flying horse. The steed is upside-down. His forelegs extend to the upper right (northwest), his neck descends to the lower right (southwest), and his head bends upwards to the northwest, ending near the lovely globular star cluster designated as Messier 15. You can see that object as a small fuzzy patch in binoculars.

(Above: The evening eastern sky hosts the upside-down constellation of Pegasus, as shown here for 7:45 pm local time. The globular cluster M15 sits above the star Enif. The modest star 51 Pegasi is located just below the label Pegasus.)

The star at the bottom-most (southeast) corner of the Great Square of Pegasus is Algenib, Arabic for “the Side”. This hot, blue-white star (magnitude 2.8) is located about 350 light-years away, and actually emits 4,000 times more light than our sun! The white star at the right-hand (southwestern) corner is Markab “the Saddle”. This magnitude 2.45 star appears slightly brighter than Algenib – it emits less light, but it is only 140 light-years away. The fairly bright magnitude 2.4 star at the upper right (northwest) corner is Scheat “the Foreleg”, the second brightest star in the constellation. It’s a cool, red giant star 200 light-years away. (Pegasus’ two forelegs start at Scheat and extend upwards to the right.) The star at the upper left (northeastern) corner is Alpheratz “The Horse’s Shoulder”. It’s another hot, blue-white supergiant star, but it’s located only 97 light-years away from us. The spectrum of this star’s light indicates that it is highly enriched in the metal Mercury. In actuality, Alpheratz does not belong to Pegasus – it’s the brightest star in Andromeda, and marks the princess’ head.

At first glance, the Great Square of Pegasus appears empty. You might be able to pick out one or two dim stars inside it – more if you are away from light-polluted skies. Draw an imaginary line joining Markab and Scheat and look 1.5 finger widths to the upper right (west) of the midpoint on that line for the magnitude 5.45 star designated 51 Pegasi, or Helvetios. In 1995, using the radial velocity technique, a large planet was discovered orbiting 51 Pegasi – the first exoplanet to be discovered around a sun-like star. The planet’s mass has been estimated to be half of Jupiter’s. With a “year” of 4.23 Earth-days, the planet orbits only 0.05 AU (that’s one-sixth the distance between the sun and Mercury!) from its star, making it the original “Hot Jupiter” type of exoplanet.

Zodiacal Light

During moonless periods in September and October, the steep morning ecliptic favors the appearance of the zodiacal light in the eastern sky for about half an hour before dawn. The glow is sunlight reflected from interplanetary particles drifting in the plane of our solar system. During this week, look east, below the stars of Leo (the Lion), for a broad wedge of faint light rising from the horizon and centered on the ecliptic. (The ecliptic passes directly through the bright star Regulus in Leo.) Don’t confuse the zodiacal light with distant light pollution, or the Milky Way, which is sitting further to the southeast. I posted a picture here.

Keep looking up to enjoy the sky! I love getting questions so, if you have any, send me a note.