‘Star Gazer’ Jack Horkheimer dies

The host of Public Television’s “Star Gazer” show, Jack Horkheimer, died on August 20, 2010. Originally called the ‘Star Hustler,’ the program ran for 30 years and Horkheimer’s craggy voice combined with his flamboyant, show-biz style made him a unique and internationally recognized pioneer in popularizing naked-eye astronomy. Horkheimer was 72 and died of a respiratory ailment, according to a spokesman for the Miami Museum of Science and Space Transit Planetarium, where Horkheimer was the executive director for over 35 years.
Continue reading “‘Star Gazer’ Jack Horkheimer dies”

Stunning Aurora Videos

If you weren’t lucky enough to be in the right place or the right time to see any of the aurora produced by the Sun’s recent spate of activity, skywatchers around the world have started posting videos online of some really spectacular Northern Lights. Above, is the view on August 4, 2010 from Telemark, Norway. Below are more sights, also from August 4, from Latvia and Risør, Norway. These videos were posted on CitizenTube, a newsy version of YouTube.
Continue reading “Stunning Aurora Videos”

Weekend SkyWatcher’s Forecast: July 9-11, 2010

Greetings, Fellow SkyWatchers! Is it hot enough for you where you live? Not if you’re in the southern hemisphere… But this weekend the southern hemisphere is the place to be if you’re interested in catching a total solar eclipse! If you can’t travel that close, then let’s travel far, far away as we take a look at the season’s globular clusters… from easy to challenging! Be sure to keep an eye on Saturn and Mars as they draw closer together and look for bright Jupiter in the morning skies! Whenever you’re ready? Grab your optics and I’ll see you in the backyard…

July 9, 2010 – On this date in 1979, Voyager 2 quietly made its closest approach to Jupiter. How about if we take a close approach before dawn as well? Enjoy the waltz of the Galileans and all the fine details! If you enjoy watching the planets swim against the night sky, then be sure to keep an eye on the early evening visage of Saturn as Mars “back strokes” its way towards the Ring King!

Tonight let’s head on out toward two more close objects that appear differently from the rest (and each other)—same-field binocular pair M10 and M12. Located about half a fist-width west of Beta Ophiuchi, M12 (RA 16 47 14 Dec –01 56 52) is the northern most of this pair. Easily seen as two hazy round spots in binoculars, let’s go to the telescope to find out what makes M12 tick.


Since this large globular is much more loosely concentrated, smaller scopes will begin to resolve individual stars from this 24,000-light-year-distant Class IX cluster. Note that there is a slight concentration toward the core region, but for the most part the cluster appears fairly even. Large instruments will resolve out individual chains and knots of stars.

Now let’s drop about 3.5 degrees southeast and check out Class VII M10 (RA 16 57 08 Dec –04 05 57). What a difference in structure! Although they seem to be close together and similar in size, the pair is actually separated by some 2,000 light-years. M10 is a much more concentrated globular, showing a brighter core region to even the most modest of instruments. This compression of stars is what differentiates one type of globular cluster from another and is the basis of their classification. M10 appears brighter, not because of this compression but because it is about 2,000 light-years closer than M12.

July 10, 2010 – Today we celebrate the 1832 birth on this date of Alvan Graham Clark. An astronomer himself, Clark was also a member of a famous American family of telescope makers. He helped to create the largest refractor in the world—the lenses for the 40″ Yerkes Telescope. Perhaps the stress of worrying for their safety took its toll on Alvan, for he died shortly after their first use. Tonight let’s honor Clark’s work by studying a globular cluster suitable for all optics, M4. All you have to know is Antares!

Just slightly more than a degree west (RA 16 23 35 Dec –26 31 31), this major 5th magnitude Class IX globular cluster can even be spotted unaided from a dark location. In 1746 Philippe Loys de Cheseaux happened upon this 7,200-light-year-distant beauty, one of the nearest to us. It was also included in Lacaille’s catalog as object I.9 and in Messier’s in 1764. Much to Charles’s credit, he was the first to resolve it!


As one of the loosest, or most ‘‘open,’’ globular clusters, M4 would be tremendous if we were not looking at it through a heavy cloud of interstellar dust. To binoculars, it is easy to pick out a very round, diffuse patch, yet it will begin to resolve with even a small telescope. Large telescopes will also easily see a central ‘‘bar’’ of stellar concentration across M4’s core region, which was first noted by Herschel. As an object of scientific study, in 1987, the first millisecond pulsar was discovered within M4, which turned out to be ten times faster than the Crab Nebula pulsar. Photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope in 1995, M4 was found to contain white dwarf stars—the oldest in our galaxy—with a planet orbiting one of them! A little more than twice the size of Jupiter, this planet is believed to be as old as the cluster itself. At 13 billion years, it would be three times the age of the Solar System!

July 11, 2010 – Today marks the 1732 birth on this date of Joseph Jerome Le Francais de Lalande, who determined the Moon’s parallax and published a comprehensive star catalog in 1801. While we might not be determining the Moon’s parallax against the background stars, we’re certainly going to see its effects against the background Sun! Right now the southern hemisphere is the place to be if you’re interested in catching a total solar eclipse – but this eclipse isn’t going to be an easy one to observe unless you’re on the water.


Starting roughly 2000 kilometers northeast of New Zealand at 18:15 UT, totality will begin at local sunrise over the ocean. Minutes later the shadow pass will actually cross land as it encounters the island of Mangaia for about 3 minutes total time. Totality will brush by Tahiti, encompass the uninhabited atolls of the Tuamotu Archipelago and slide its way across the mysterious Easter Island. The Moon’s shadow will take once again to the water for another 3700 kilometers where it will reach its end at the very southernmost tip of South America. For those of you who have the great fortune to eclipse chase? We wish you the very best of skies and luck!

For hard-core observers, tonight’s globular cluster study will require at least a mid-aperture telescope, because we’re staying up a bit later to go for a same-low-power-field pair—NGC 6522 (RA 18 03 34 Dec –30 02 02) and NGC 6528 (RA 18 04 49 Dec –30 03 20). You will find them easily at low power just a breath northwest of Gamma Sagittarii, better known as Al Nasl, the tip of the ‘‘teapot’s’’ spout. Once located, switch to higher power to keep the light of Gamma out of the field, and let’s do some study.


The brighter, and slightly larger, of the pair to the northeast is Class VI NGC 6522. Note its level of concentration compared to the Class V NGC 6528. Both are located around 2,000 light years away from the galactic center and are seen through a very special area of the sky known as ‘‘Baade’s Window’’—one of the few areas toward our galaxy’s core region not obscured by dark dust.

Although each is similar in concentration, distance, etc., NGC 6522 has a slight amount of resolution toward its edges, while NGC 6528 appears more random. Although both NGC 6522 and NGC 6528 were discovered by Herschel on July 24, 1784, and both are the same distance from the galactic core, they are very different. NGC 6522 has an intermediate metallicity. At its core, the red giants have been depleted, or stripped tidally by evolving into blue stragglers. It is possible that core collapse has already occurred. NGC 6528, however, contains one of the highest metal contents of any known globular cluster collected in its bulging core!

Until next time? Keep reaching for the stars!

This week’s awesome images are: M10, M12, M4, NGC 6522 and NGC 6528 from Palomar Observatory, courtesy of Caltech. Alvan Clark historical image and eclipse information courtesy of NASA. We thank you so much!

Weekend SkyWatcher’s Forecast: June 25-27, 2010

Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! If we can keep the clouds and rain away, this will be an incredible weekend to enjoy some peaceful and relaxing time under the Moon and stars. We’ll begin with a heads up on a partial lunar eclipse whose beginning – or end – will be visible to most of us. Check your times carefully, because this one crosses the international date line! While you’re out, take a look at the lunar surface for some very interesting craters – or just relax with binoculars and suck in the photons of some curious variable stars. Are you ready? Then I’ll see you in the back yard…

June 25, 2010 – Today celebrates the birth of Hermann Oberth. Born in 1894 on this date, Oberth is considered to be the father of modern rocketry and space travel. But you won’t need a rocket to travel skyward as we gear up for the 2010 partial lunar eclipse!

A major section of western North and South America is in for treat as they will be able to see the beginning stages. These areas include Western Brazil, western Venezuela, and South American countries west of these locations. Believe it or not, a section of the southeastern United States will even be able to witness the eclipse – if it’s not raining!


The dividing line runs through the state of Georgia following a diagonal path north to Minnesota. States west of this line will also be within range of seeing the entire event until sunrise. On the west coast of the United States, the Moon will slide into umbral eclipse at 3:16 a.m. PDT, be deepest in shadow at 4:38 a.m. PDT, and the eclipse ends at 6:00 a.m. PDT – right about dawn. Locations that will be able to see the entire partial eclipse include the Pacific islands such as Hawaii, Polynesia, Fiji, Marshall Islands, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Australia, and most of Japan and the Philippines. Regions such as eastern China, the east edge of the USSR, Indonesia and the Thailand area will be able to see the very end of the 2010 partial lunar eclipse.

Despite bright skies tonight, take out your binoculars and look for a circlet of seven stars that reside about halfway between orange Arcturus and brilliant blue-white Vega. This quiet constellation is named Corona Borealis, or the Northern Crown.


Just northwest of its brightest star is a huge concentration of over 400 galaxies that reside over a billion light-years away from us. Known as Abell 4065, the Corona Borealis Galaxy Cluster is an area so small in apparent size that from our point of view we could eclipse it with a small coin held at arm’s length!

June 26, 2010 – Happy Birthday, Charles Messier! Born in 1730 on this date, almost everyone recognizes the name of this French astronomer who discovered 15 comets. He was the first to compile a systematic catalog – the ‘‘M objects.’’ The Messier Catalogue (1784) contains 103 star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies. But did you know Lyman Spitzer, Jr, shared this birthday? Born in 1914, Spitzer advanced our knowledge of physical processes in interstellar space and pioneered efforts to harness nuclear fusion as a clean energy source. He studied star-forming regions and suggested that the brightest stars in spiral galaxies formed recently. Not only that, but Spitzer was the first person to propose placing a large telescope in space, and so launched the development of the Hubble Space Telescope!

Tonight the mighty Moon will still rule the sky, providing a wonderful opportunity for casual inspection. Why not grab a telescope and view the lunar surface for a couple of telescopic challenges that are easy to catch? All you have to know is Mare Crisium!


On the southeastern shoreline is a peninsula that reaches into Crisium’s dark basin. This is Promontorium Agarum. On the western shore, bright Proclus lights the banks, but look into the interior for the two dark pockmarks of Pierce to the north and Picard to the south. Be sure to mark them on your notes!

When you’re finished, point your binoculars or telescopes back toward Corona Borealis and about three finger-widths northwest of Alpha for variable star R (RA 15 48 35 Dec +28 09 24). This star is a total enigma. Discovered in 1795, most of the time R carries a magnitude near 6 but can drop to magnitude 14 in a matter of weeks – only to unexpectedly brighten again! It is believed that R emits a carbon cloud, which blocks its light. Oddly enough, scientists can’t even accurately determine the distance to this star! When studied at minimum, the light curve resembles a ‘‘reverse nova’’ and has a peculiar spectrum. It is very possible that this ancient Population II star has used all of its hydrogen fuel and is now fusing helium to form carbon.

July 27, 2010 – Tonight we’ll again honor the June 26 birth of Charles Messier by heading toward the lunar surface first, in order to pick off another study object on our list – the twin crater pair Messier and Messier A.


Located in Mare Fecunditatis about a third of its width from west to east, these two craters will be difficult to find in binoculars, but not hard for even a small telescope and intermediate power. Indeed named for the famed French astronomer, the easternmost crater is somewhat oval in shape, with dimensions of 9 by 11 kilometers. At high power, Messier A to the west appears to have overlapped a smaller crater during its formation; and it is slightly larger at 11 by 13 kilometers. Although it is not on the challenge list, you’ll find another point of interest to the northwest. Rima Messier is a long surface crack, which runs diagonally across Mare Fecunditatis’s northwestern flank and reaches a length of 100 kilometers.

For variable star fans, let’s return to and focus our attention on S Coronae Borealis, located just west of Theta and the westernmost star in the constellation’s arc formation (RA 15 21 23 Dec +31 22 02). At magnitude 5.3, this long-term variable takes almost a year to go through its changes – usually far outshining the 7th magnitude star to its northeast – but will drop to a barely visible magnitude 14 at minimum. Compare it to the eclipsing binary U Coronae Borealis about a degree northwest. In slightly over 3 days, this Algol-type will range by a full magnitude as its companions draw together.

Until next week? Wishing you clear skies!

This article’s awesome illustrations are: Eclipse Chart courtesy of NASA, Abell 4065, R CorBor and S CorBor from Palomar Observatory, courtesy of Caltech, Lyman Spitzer historical image, Crisium in Decline courtesy of Shevill Mathers and Messier craters by Damien Peach. We thank you so much!

Weekend SkyWatcher’s Forecast – June 18-20, 2010

Greetings, fellow Stargazers! Have you been enjoying the rain? Then keep your eyes open for a “celestial shower” as meteoritic activity picks up over the next few nights, culminating in the peak of the Ophiuchid meteor Saturday night through Sunday morning. While you’re out relaxing, be sure to spare some time for lunacy and take a look some interesting features on the Moon. Need a test of your telescope’s resolving power? Then I “double dare” you to take on Gamma Virginis! Whenever you’re ready, I’ll see you in the back yard….

Friday, June 18, 2010 – Let’s begin the day by recognizing the 1799 birth on this date of William Lassell, telescope maker and discoverer of Triton (a moon of Neptune), and Ariel and Umbriel (satellites of Uranus). As often happens, great astronomers share birth dates, and this time it’s 187 years later for Allan Rex Sandage. A Bruce Medalist, Dr. Sandage is best known for his 1960 optical identification of a quasar, with his junior colleague, Thomas Matthews.

Our telescope lunar challenge tonight will be Hadley Rille. Find Mare Serenitatis and look for the break along its western shoreline that divides the Caucasus and Apennine mountain ranges. South of this break is the bright peak of Mons Hadley, which is of great interest for several reasons, so power up as much as possible.

Impressive Mons Hadley measures about 24 by 48 kilometers at its base and reaches up an incredible 4,572 meters. If volcanic activity had created it, Mons Hadley would be comparable to some of the very highest volcanically formed peaks on Earth, like Mount Shasta and Mount Rainer. South is the secondary peak, Mons Hadley Delta. It is home to the Apollo 15 landing site just a breath north of where it extends into the cove created by Palus Putredinus. Along this ridge line and smooth floor, look for a major fault line, winding its way across 120 kilometers of lunar surface; this is Hadley Rille. In places, the Rille spans 1,500 meters in width and drops to a depth of 300 meters below the surface. Believed to have been formed by volcanic activity 3.3 billion years ago, we can see the impact lower gravity has on this type of formation. Earthly lava channels are usually less than 10 kilometers long, and only around 100 meters wide. During the Apollo 15 mission, Hadley Rille was visited at a point where it was only 1.6 kilometers wide, still a considerable distance. Over a period of time, the Rille’s lava may have continued to flow through this area, yet it remains forever buried beneath years of regolith.

Saturday, June 19, 2010 – Tonight on the Moon we’ll be looking for another challenging feature and the craters that conjoin it—Stofler and Faraday. Located along the terminator to the south, crater Stofler was named for Dutch mathematician and astronomer Johan Stofler.

Consuming lunar landscape with an immense diameter of 126 kilometers, and dropping 2,760 meters below the surface, Stofler is a wonderland of small details in an eroded surrounding. Breaking its wall on the north is Fernelius, but sharing the southeastern boundary is Faraday. Named for English physicist and chemist Michael Faraday, this crater is more complex and deeper (4,090 meters) but far smaller in diameter (70 kilometers). Look for myriad smaller strikes that bind the two together!

When you’re done, let’s have a look at a delightful pair—Gamma Virginis (RA 12 41 41 Dec +01 26 54). Better knownas Porrima , this is one cool binary whose components are of almost equal spectral type and brightness. Discovered by Bradley and Pound in 1718, John Herschel was the first to predict this pair’s orbit in 1833, and stated that one day they would become inseparable to all but the very largest of telescopes—and he was right. In 1920 the A and B stars had reached their maximum separation, and during 2007 they were as close together as they ever can be. Observed as a single star in 1836 by William Herschel, its 171-year orbit puts Porrima in almost the same position now as it was when Sir William saw it!

Sunday, June 20, 2010 – In the predawn hours, we welcome the ‘‘shooting stars’’ as we pass through another portion of the Ophiuchid meteor stream. The radiant for this pass lies nearer Sagittarius, and the fall rate varies from 8 to 20 per hour, but the Ophiuchids can sometimes produce more than expected! Perhaps the sky acknowledges the 1966 passing of Georges Lemaitre on this date? Lemaitre researched cosmic rays and the three-body problem and in 1927 formulated the Big Bang theory using Einstein’s theories.

Are you ready to explore some more history? Then tonight have a look at the Moon and identify Alphonsus; it’s the centermost in a line of rings and looks much like the Theophilus, Cyrillus, and Catharina trio.


Alphonsus is a very old Class V crater, spans 118 kilometers in diameter, drops below the surface to about 2,730 meters, and contains a small central peak. Eugene Shoemaker had studied this partially flooded crater and found dark haloes on the floor. Again, this could be attributed to volcanism. Shoemaker believed they were maar volcanoes, and the haloes were dark ash. Power up and look closely at the central peak, for not only did Ranger 9 hard land just northeast, but this is the only area on the Moon where an astronomer has observed a change and backed up that observation with photographic proof.

On November 2, 1958, Nikolai Kozyrev long and arduous study of Alphonsus was about to be rewarded. Some two years earlier Dinsmore Alter had taken a series of photographs from the Mt. Wilson 60’’ reflector that showed hazy patches in this area that could not be accounted for. Night after night, Kozyrev continued to study at the Crimean Observatory, but with no success. During the process of guiding the scope for a spectrogram, the unbelievable happened—a cloud of gaseous molecules containing carbon had been captured! Selected as the last target for the Ranger series of photographic missions, Ranger 9 delivered 5,814 spectacular high-resolution images of this mysterious region before it crashed nearby. Capture it yourself tonight!

Until next time? Ask for the Moon… But keep on reaching for the stars!

This week’s awesome images are (in order of appearance): Dr. Alan Sandage courtesy of Dr. Sandage, Hadley Rille, courtesy of Wes Higgins, Stoffler and Faraday courtesy of Wes Higgins, Porrima – Palomar Observatory courtesy of Caltech, Georges Lemaitre and Albert Einstein (historical image), Ranger 9 Image of Alphonsus taken 3 minutes before impact courtesy of NASA, Alphonsus’ central peak taken 54 seconds before Ranger 9 impact courtesy of NASA. We thank you so much!

Planet Dance…

Have you been watching the conjunction of Venus and Mercury? Right now the inner planets are putting on quite a show just after sunset…

If you missed Mercury at its closest to Venus and brightest this weekend, don’t worry. The pair will still be mixing it up in the twilight sky through April 12. What will really be fun is watching the orbital path over the next week. Thanks to Sky & Telescope Magazine, you’ve got a wonderful diagram to help you see visualize the orientation. Don’t give up if you don’t spot Mercury right away, because even the slightest amount of sky haze can conceal it. Instead, try using binoculars to assist you… and use a telescope to pick out the phases of both planets!

And don’t forget… There is more than one planetary pair dancing right now, too! As the skies darken, be sure to look higher overhead as Mars and Saturn take their posts at either end of Leo the Lion. It’s a spectacular evening showing that doesn’t even require a telescope!

Enjoy….

Many thanks to Mike Romine for the conjunction photo and to Sky and Telescope for the planetary diagram.

Weekend SkyWatcher’s Forecast: March 12-14, 2010

Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! If you’re a die-hard amateur astronomer, then you’ll recognize this as one of the prime times to undergo the rigorous “Messier Marathon” – an all night race to see how many Messier objects you can capture! If you need a bit of assistance, be sure to visit the Guide To Space section of Universe Today where you’ll find plenty of information to help you along with your quest. If you’re into a more quiet weekend, then come along as we discover some galactic star clusters that are a little bit more off the beaten path. Whenever you’re ready, I’ll see you in the backyard…

March 12, 2010 – Today let’s celebrate three births! First comes Simon Newcomb. Born on this date in 1835, Newcomb was a Canadian–American astronomer who was really good with numbers. We have him to thank for ephemerides, those great tables of computed places of celestial bodies over long periods of time. Next is 1824 and Gustav Robert Kirchhoff, a physicist who established the theory of spectral analysis. Kirchhoff’s rule states: ‘‘When light passes through a gas, the gas absorbs the wavelengths it would emit if heated.’’ Kirchhoff was very knowledgeable in the field of electricity as well. In 1845, he proved current would flow at the speed of light in a zero resistance conductor. Last is Dorrit Hoffleit (b. 1906), the author of the Yale Bright Star Catalog. Dorrit enjoyed an 80-year career in astronomy and was one of the last living links to Annie Jump Cannon and the senior women’s astrophysics team at Harvard. In her 100-year life, Hoffleit certainly saw a lot of advances in astronomy!

While this is traditionally a “Messier Marathon Weekend”, tonight we’ll break with tradition and locate 6 Canis Minoris about three finger-widths northwest of Procyon. This normal K-type orange giant is around 560 light-years away from Earth, but aim a telescope its way for an opportunity to study an overlooked open cluster—Dolidze 26 (RA 07 30 06 Dec +11 54 00).


In the eyepiece, you’ll find a faint collection of stars that aren’t related to 6 Canis Minoris. Clusters of this type aren’t highly studied yet, but they belong to a group near in age and population and sharing similar star formation processes. Unlike other open clusters, these odd collections contain peculiar stars that produce very high velocity stellar winds and steady X-ray emission. Although it might not be as splashy as a Messier object, Dolidze 26 may very well accelerate cosmic ray particles!

March 13, 2010 – Today note the 1886 birth of Albert William Stevens, a daring balloonist who took the Explorer II to an altitude of 72,395 feet. He took the first photo showing Earth’s curvature and the first solar eclipse photo of the Moon’s shadow on Earth. Also, salute the 1855 birth on this date of Percival Lowell, who predicted the existence of Pluto (but Clyde Tombaugh was the one who actually discovered it, on Lowell’s 75th birthday!). Sir Percival was a determined soul who spent his life trying to find proof of life on Mars. He founded Lowell Observatory in 1894, where he studied Mars intensively, drawing the Red Planet covered with canals and oases. As Lowell once said: ‘‘Imagination is as vital to any advance in science as learning and precision are essential for starting points.’’

Tonight we’ll look at a bright collection of stars located less than a handspan west of Procyon. Its name is Collinder 106 (RA 06 37 19 Dec +05 57 55).


At a combined magnitude of 4.5, this expansive open cluster can be spotted as a hazy patch with the unaided eye and comes to full resolution with binoculars. It contains only around 14 members, but this widely scattered galactic collection has helped scientists determine size scales and dispersion among groups of its type. Viewed telescopically at low power, the observer will find it rich in background stars and a true delight in a low power, wide field eyepiece. If you’d like a challenge, hop a half degree to the northeast to spot Collinder 111 (RA 06 38 42 Dec +06 54 00). While visually only about one-tenth the apparent size of its larger southwestern neighbor, spare little Collinder 111 also belongs to the same class of open clusters. Who knows what may lurk around these understudied clusters?

March 14, 2010 – Celebrate today’s famous astro births, starting with astronaut Frank Borman (b. 1928), a crew member of Apollo 8, the first manned flight around the Moon. Next, astronaut Eugene Cernan (b. 1934), who floated in space for more than 2 hours during the Gemini 9 mission and piloted Apollo 10. How about Giovanni Schiaparelli (1835), the Italian astronomer who described Mars’s ‘‘canali’’ and named its ‘‘seas’’ and ‘‘continents.’’ Schiaparelli’s comet studies demonstrated that meteoroid swarms existed in the path of cometary orbits, and thus predicted annual meteor showers. He was first to suggest that Mercury and Venus rotate and discovered the asteroid Hesperia. Still not enough? Then wish a happy birthday to Albert Einstein (b. 1879), the German–American physicist considered the most brilliant intellect in human history!

For a moment let’s reflect on Einstein’s Cross, proof of his genius. We can’t observe this Pegasus based gravitational lens right now, but we can try to understand Einstein’s theory of gravity as an effect of the curvature in space–time. For example, if you draw a line around the center of a ball, the line would be straight, eventually coming back to its point of origin. We don’t see the point until we reach it, but we know it’s there. Einstein knew this dimension existed and predicted any object with mass will bend space and time around it, just like our line around the ball. He predicted light would also follow a curved path around an object. . .such as a distant quasar located behind a closer galaxy!

Tonight’s object is a ‘‘cross’’ of stars that we’ll dub “Einstein’s Asterism”. Begin at Procyon and shift about 10 degrees southwest (or 2 degrees south of 18 Monocerotis) to locate this pretty grouping of stars. Yes it’s true. It’s just an unknown, undocumented, and unnamed asterism, but how fitting to honor all these famous astro figures and a brilliant man who once said: ‘‘The fairest thing in life we can experience is the mysterious. It. . .stands at the cradle of true art and true science.’’

Until next week, best of luck and clear skies to our marathoning friends!

This week’s awesome images are a historical collection of famous astronomers, “Einstein’s Cross” as imaged by the HST and provided by NASA, and all the great cluster images as done by Palomar Observatory, courtesy of Caltech. We thank you so much!

Astronomy Without A Telescope – Don’t Make a Meal of It

You should always put out the old dinner set when you have astronomers around. It all starts innocently enough with imagine this wineglass is the Earth rotating on its axis… But then someone decides that large plate is just right to show the orientation of an orbital plane and more wine glasses are brought to bear to test a solution to the three body problem and…

My favorite dinner set demonstration is to use the whole table to represent the galactic plane – ideally with an upturned wide rimmed soup bowl in the middle to mimic the galactic hub. Then you get a plate to represent the solar system’s orbital plane and hold it roughly facing the galactic hub, but at a 63 degree angle from the horizontal. We know the equatorial plane of the Milky Way is tilted 63 degrees from the ecliptic – or vice versa since here we are arbitrarily making the galactic plane (table) the horizontal. This means galactic north is up towards the ceiling – and incidentally a line drawn north up from the galaxy’s centre (i.e. the galactic axis) passes fairly close to Arcturus.

Now for the Earth. Wine glasses make an excellent Earth model since the stem can represent the Earth’s axis of rotation. The glass is at least a bit round and you can see through it for a view of what someone would see from the surface of that glass.

Looking down on the solar system (plate) from its north, which is orientated away from the galactic hub (table), it actually rotates anti-clockwise. So if you hold the glass at the top of the plate – that’s Earth at about September, then move it to the left for December, down to the bottom for March, right side for June and back to September. 

So, holding your plate at 63 degrees to the table, now hold the wine glass tilted at 23.5 degrees to the plate. Assuming you left your protractor at home – this will mean the wine glass stem is now almost parallel to the table – since 63 + 23.5 is close to 90 degrees. In other words, the Earth’s axis is almost perpendicular to the galactic axis.

The range of different orientations available to you. The axis of Earth's rotation (represented by the 'celestial equator') is almost perpendicular to the orbital plane of the galaxy.

You should really imagine the plate being embedded within the table, since you will always see some part of the Milky Way at night throughout the year. But, in any case, the wine glass gives a good demonstration of why we southerners get such a splendid view of the galactic hub in Sagittarius. It’s hidden in the daytime around March – but come September about 7pm you get the Milky Way running almost north-south across the sky with Sagittarius almost directly overhead. Arcturus is visible just above the western horizon, being about where the galaxy’s northern axis points (that is, the ceiling above the middle of the table).

And if you look to the north you can see Vega just above the horizon – which is more or less the direction the solar system (plate) is heading in its clockwise orbit around the galaxy (table).

Now, what’s really interesting is if I add the Moon in by just, oh… Er, sorry – that wasn’t new was it?

Weekend SkyWatcher’s Forecast – February 12-14, 2010

Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! What better way to celebrate a snow-bound weekend than by having a look at the “Eskimo”! While we’re at it, we’ll take a look at an awesome open cluster suitable for all optics and take an adventure towards one of the best supernovae remnants in the night sky. Along the way, we’ll explore some of the history and mystery behind these objects, so dust off your optics and I’ll see you in the backyard….

Friday, February 12, 2010 – Today is unofficially Physicist’s Day! We’ll begin by celebrating three notable births on this date, starting in 1893 with Marcel Minnaert, solar physicist. Minnaert’s innovative techniques in solar spectrophotometry aided the discovery of structure in the Sun’s outer layers. Next is 1918 and Julian Schwinger, a physicist big on electromagnetic field theory, who shared the Nobel Prize for work in quantum electrodynamics. Last is the 1936 birth of Fang Lizhi, who published his work on the Big Bang theory in 1972. Even in exile from Communist China, he continues to express his belief in freedom of intellectual expression and continues his work in theoretical cosmology.

Tonight we’ll time-travel back 5,000 years as we head for NGC 2392. Located about two fingerwidths southeast of Delta Geminorum (RA 07 29 10 Dec +20 54 42), this beauty is a planetary nebula commonly known as the ‘‘Eskimo.’’ Discovered in 1787 by Sir William Herschel, a small telescope will see it as a fuzzy green star, while aperture will reveal definite annulus around its central stellar point. A steady night helps to reveal details, and a nebula filter lights it up! NGC 2392 is so complex that it is not yet fully understood. As with Minnaert’s solar work, we know the glowing gases are the outer layers of its central star, shed 10,000 years ago, while the inner ribbons of light (called filaments) are areas where particles are being pushed away by the strong stellar wind. Even now, we still can’t quite explain the unusual outer filaments! It won’t look like a Hubble image in your telescope, but you can still marvel at a unique mystery—seeing its light as it was when ‘‘physicists’’ began using the first ‘‘computer’’—the newly invented abacus!

February 13, 2010 – We salute Johan Ludvig Emil Dreyer, who was born on this date in 1852. At age 30, Danish astronomer Dreyer became director of the Armagh Observatory—not a grand honor, considering the observatory was so broke it couldn’t afford to replace its equipment. Like all good directors, Dreyer somehow managed to get a new 1000 refractor but no funds for an assistant to practice traditional astronomy. However, J.L.E. was dedicated and within 6 years had compiled all observations known to him into one unified work called the New General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars (NGC). Originally containing 7,840 objects, and supplemented in 1895 and 1908 with another 5,386 designations, the NGC remains the standard reference catalog. Although Dreyer’s personal observations included such nebulous descriptions as ‘‘a vault of stars,’’ modern astronomers continue to use his abbreviations as a kind of shorthand.

Honor Dreyer tonight by discovering one of his catalog objects suited for all optics—NGC2287. Located about two finger-widths south of Alpha Canis Majoris (RA 06 46 00 Dec +20 46 00), only an open cluster this bright could stand up against brilliant Sirius. From a dark-sky location, your unaided eye can even spot this magnitude 4.5 star vault as a hazy patch. Aristotle saw it as early as 325 BC! Officially discovered by Hodierna, we know it best by the designation Messier Object 41. Even from 2,300 light-years away, the cluster’s brightest star, an orange giant, stands out clearly from the stellar nest. With large aperture, you’ll notice other K-type stars, all very similar to Sol. Although small scopes and binoculars won’t reveal too much color, you might pick up on the blue signature of young, hot stars. NGC 2287 could be anywhere from 190 to 240 million years old, but its stars shine as brightly now as they did in Aristotle’s day. . .and Dreyer’s!

February 14, 2010 – On this date in 1747, astronomer James Bradley presented his evidence of Earth’s wobble, called nutation. The study took 19 years, but won Bradley the Copley Medal! In 1827, George Clark was born. The name might not ring a bell, but it was indeed a bell—melted down—that he used to create his first brass telescope. George’s family went on to produce the finest—and largest—telescopes of their time. In 1898 one of my personal heroes, Fritz Zwicky came along, his name synonymous with the theory of supernovae. The Swiss-born Caltech professor was also a salty character, often intimidating his colleague Walter Baade and referring to others as ‘‘spherical bastards.’’ Although Zwicky was reportedly difficult to work with (geez… wonder why?), he was also brilliant—predicting the phenomenon of gravitational lensing. An unsung genius!

Tonight we’ll look at a supernova remnant as we venture to the Crab Nebula. Finding M1 is easy: it can be seen with as little as 7x magnification. Locate Zeta Tauri (about halfway between Orion’s ‘‘head’’ and the southernmost bright star in Auriga) and aim about 1 degree northwest (RA 05 34 31 Dec +22 00 52). Viewing M1 with small optics helps to understand why Charles Messier decided to compile his famous catalog. Unaware of its earlier discovery, Messier located a fuzzy object near the ecliptic and assumed it was the return of Halley’s Comet. Considering his primitive telescope, we can’t fault his observation. But Chuck was a good astronomer. When he realized the object wasn’t in motion, he began compiling a log of things not to be confused with comets—the famous Messier objects. Enjoy looking at this spectacular deep-sky jewel, and we’ll study it in depth another time. Of course, Zwicky may have cursed me for saying that observing without science is an ‘‘empty brain exercise and therefore a waste of time.’’ But on the date of his birth, I took his advice. . . ‘‘Give me a topic and I’ll give you an idea!’’

Until next week? Dreams really do come true when you keep on reaching for the stars!

This week’s awesome stellar images are from Palomar Observatory, courtesy of Caltech. We thank you so much!

Weekend SkyWatcher’s Forecast – January 22-24, 2010

Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! I don’t know about everyone else, but most observations here have been of the big M0. Clouds, clouds and more clouds! Perhaps we’re really in a nebula? However, for those fortunate few that do have clear skies, let’s take a look at what’s happening on the lunar surface each night. And, since we’ve got to deal with a little “Moonlight Sonata”, we’ll also inspect some bright stars and alternative catalog studies to add to your knowledge and pleasure of the night sky! Whenever you are ready, dust off your optics and I’ll meet see you in the backyard….

January 22, 2010: Start the astronomical day by observing the 1592 birth on this date of Pierre Gassendi, French scientist, mathematician, philosopher… and the first to use a Galilean telescope to observe a Mercury transit by the projection method. Gassendi was a prodigious observer, known for his humor, and was friends with Cassini, Galileo, Hevelius, and Kepler. His writings included work on falling bodies – a rare coincidence, since the only known piece of ‘‘space junk’’ to ever re-enter our atmosphere and strike a human occurred on the 405th anniversary of his birth!

Let’s begin our weekend by taking a look with binoculars at the first quarter Moon and see what we can discover… First repeat our first litany: #1—Mare Crisium, #2—Mare Fecunditatis, and #3—Mare Nectaris. Head north to the huge area of #4, Mare Tranquillitatis, which appears with its irregular borders. Beneath the smooth appearing regolith, the ‘‘Tranquil Sea’’ basin is cracked and overlapped by accompanying basins – lava spilling and flowing into other areas as large as the Kimberley region of Australia, or three times larger than England! Now, #5 Mare Serenitatis, the ‘‘Sea of Serenity.’’ Home to a violent past, its outer edges appear darker than the interior—mute testimony to continued seismic and volcanic activity allowing the basin to fill with lava more than once. Take a telescopic look at the rilles adorning this lunar desert, whose surface is the size of Italy. Then go north for #6, Mare Frigoris, the ‘‘Sea of Cold.’’ Congratulations on another learning exercise and if you’re thinking about how cold you are, think about how cold you’d be if you were observing Earth from Mare Frigoris!

Now open your eyes and let’s head for the star on Orion’s western shoulder, Gamma. Named Bellatrix, the 243 light-year distant ‘‘Amazon’’ is not actually part of the Orion association. Gamma is a foreground star and is the hottest of its type visually observable. Historically this star was used as a luminosity standard to compare with other stars to check for variability. But it was later discovered that Bellatrix itself is an eruptive variable, changing in luminosity by a few percent over time. It ranges in magnitude from 1.59 to 1.64. Sure, it’s a minor change – but still a change! There are a couple of types of eruptive variable stars, some with a broad range of increase in luminosity and a fixed time line. These types of eruptive variables include flare stars – very faint stars on the main sequence; novae and dwarf novae – which are caused by the sharing of material between evolved stars in binary systems; and supernovae – the violent and uber brilliant end for several classes of star.


Use binoculars to spot a fainter star about a half degree northeast and say hello to alternative catalog study Dolidze 21 (RA 05 26 50 Dec +06 58 30). This loose association of stars contains a few solar types, and many stars fainter than small optics can resolve – an unusual observation for your notes. Here we have what is considered a “poor” open cluster. Not because it isn’t nice – but because it isn’t populous. It is home to around 20 or so low wattage stars of mixed magnitude with no real asterism to make it special.

January 23, 2010: On the Moon the clockwork movement of the terminator has slowly marched across the surface, revealing more lunar landscape and its 12 maria for exploration. While it ticks along the ecliptic, Luna is passing by other orbiting bodies. Want a challenge? Then we’ll pass on the Moon and aim binoculars towards the constellation of Leo and take on an asteroid! Although Vesta isn’t as exciting, now is a good time to practice observing these rocky Solar System bodies. Spinning completely on its axis about every 5.5 hours and spanning 525 kilometers, this Arizona-sized minor planet is a treat for amateurs because its surface is highly reflective. At times Vesta can reach near unaided-eye visibility, but moonlight steals away fainter objects from easy view. Chances are very good that even in a starry field Vesta will be one of the brightest points visible. See if you can discover Vesta tonight!

Looking for an unusual star to spark your imagination? Then set your sights on the westernmost star of Orion’s ‘‘belt’’ – Mintaka. Like clockwork, astronomical objects can also keep incredibly accurate time. Located around 1,500 light-years away, Delta Orionis is a multiple star system: its companion star is almost equal in brightness and orbiting at a clockwork rate of 5.7325 days from only 8 million kilometers away. In astronomical terms, these two white-hot suns are nearly touching! Mintaka is a prime example of a spectroscopic binary star – a pair so close they are only detectable by changes in the stars’ spectra. Its stationary spectral lines proved the existence of interstellar matter! Take a closer look, and Delta Orionis will reveal a visible 6.7 magnitude companion to its north – a challenge well suited to small optics.

January 24, 2010: Tonight, let’s take time to work toward learning more major lunar features by sailing across 12 seas. The key to learning is to repeat these again and again: #1: Mare Crisium, #2: Mare Fecunditatis, #3: Mare Nectaris, #4: Mare Tranquillitatis, #5: Mare Serenitatis, and #6: Mare Frigoris. Excellent work! Now let’s go have a closer look at #7: Mare Imbrium. Identical in size to Saudi Arabia and about one-fourth the size of the United States, the ‘‘Sea of Rains’’ basin was formed 38 million years ago during a dramatic impact causing a Moon-wide series of faults. The massive strike shattered the lithosphere to a depth of 100 kilometers, embedding the impactor as a mascon. Seismic waves traveled through the interior—re-shaping the far side and creating magnetic anomalies—while the basin floor rebounded and flung ejecta 800 kilometers away. Over 500 million years, at least three areas of distinct lava flow poured into the impact basin (the oldest and largest about 1,200 kilometers long), far out-producing any earthly volcano. The youngest and smallest is about 400 kilometers in length, matching our terrestrial Columbia River Flood Basalt, an area stretching from Idaho to the Pacific Ocean! Now, here are some more to learn: #8: Mare Vaporum, #9: Mare Insularum, #10: Mare Cognitum, #11: Mare Nubium, and #12: Mare Humorum. Remember: repeat, repeat, repeat!

Now turn your eyes towards Orion and its Alpha star – Betelgeuse. Early in the evening, Orion the ‘‘Hunter’’ is beginning its journey across the night sky. Alpha stands out as an orangish star in the northeastern corner. It is a giant among stars! Betelgeuse has a long literary history and was one of the most massive stars known. In the mid-1800s, John Herschel observed that Betelgeuse varied in brightness, its light intensity changing by as much as a magnitude in under 6 years. The red giant is continually contracting and expanding to a formidable size – one that would fill the orbit of Jupiter around our own small star. But, it’s not alone…. Alpha also has four companion suns! Estimated to be 6 million years old, the light you see tonight from Betelgeuse left the
star around the time Nostradamus was making his predictions. Should it go supernova tomorrow, it would be almost another half century before this spectacular sight would be seen in our night sky!

Until next week? Ask for the Moon… But keep on reaching for the stars!

This week’s awesome images are an historical photo of Gassendi, lunar images we done by Greg Konkel. Stellar and cluster images are from Palomar Observatory, courtesy of Caltech and the Betelgeuse diagram is courtesy of NASA. We thank you so much!