February 2012

     Well, the weather has not really been cooperating with us much here in southwest Georgia. Sometimes we can sky watch, some times we cannot. For the times the sky is clear, though, see if you can catch a glimpse of some of these things.

     The moon will be full on the 7^th and new by the 21^st, so there will be better sky watching towards the end of the month.

     The sun gave us quite a few powerful flares in January. This may continue through February.

     There are no regular meteor showers in February, although you may still catch a random “falling star” or two.

     One of the best constellations to observe this month is Gemini, the twins. Start by finding Orion, then look for two bright stars up and to the left. Only two deep space objects reside here: the open cluster M35 and NGC 2392, the “Eskimo” nebula.

     Most of the stars in Gemini are very faint, but Castor and Pollux are noticeably bright. Pollux is a K0III orange sub-giant that is only 33 light years away. It is a beta star, but is actually brighter than the alpha star. Castor, on the other hand, is actually several stars. This binary system has 6 stars all orbiting each other, and the two brightest stars (A1V/A2Vn) are both A class dwarves.

     Some other notable objects that were discovered in Gemini are Uranus and Pluto. You would need a pretty high-powered telescope to see them, however. The sky this month is dominated by the two brightest objects in the sky besides the sun and moon: Venus and Jupiter. Venus is setting now around 10:00pm, and Jupiter is starting this month in conjunction with the moon and Pisces. Also look for Mars rising just after 10:00pm close on the heels of Leo the lion.

     If you have any questions about these or any other subjects in astronomy, join us on the 3^rd Tuesday night of each month for our Astronomy Series in the Wetherbee Planetarium at Thronateeska Heritage Center.

January 2012

Happy New Year, everyone! Here’s to a wonderful new year full of great skywatching.

The year kicks off with a full moon on the 9^th and a new moon by the 23^rd.

If you want to try sunspotting, big spot 1389 is still harboring m class energy, but it’s just now starting to decay.

So far as meteors go, the year began with the Quadrantids meteor shower in the wee hours of the morning on the 4^th. They originated around the constellation Bootes and towards Polaris in the north, but actually originated from Comet 2003 EH1. NASA estimated a show of 60-200 per hour, but the average was about 100 spotted per hour.

If you plan on going to the southern hemisphere sometime this month, try to catch of glimpse of comet Lovejoy. It is putting on a fantastic display. This is the same comet that made a death-defying pass around the sun and survived.

For constellations, Orion is by far the easiest one to see in the northern hemisphere at this time. You can gaze at a super red giant or young, hot, blue stars. Best of all is the great Orion nebula. This is one of our galaxy’s best stellar nurseries. New stars are being born there every day. At 1500 light years away, it is the only nebula you can see with the naked eye.

If you are in to planet hunting, try to catch Jupiter in conjunction with the moon in the constellation Pisces. Mars will also be visible as it rises just before midnight, and the Venus will be visible just after the sun in Capricorn.

If you have any questions about these subjects or any other subjects in astronomy, be sure to visit the planetarium on the third Tuesday of every month from 7:00-8:30pm for the Astronomy Series.

December 2011, 12.01.11

As the year draws to a close, we can only grow more excited about all the great things we have yet to see this year. Bundle up, grab some coffee or cocoa, and get ready for the show!

This month, the full moon will grace us on the 10^th and we will have a new moon by the 24^th, just in time to do some Christmas Eve star gazing.

The march of sun spots continues. The end of November saw a goodly amount of flares and CME’s shot at us, and more can be expected this month. Remember to never try solar observation without the proper equipment.

The Geminids are coming! We always love a good meteor shower. From December 12^th-24^th, the earth will pass through the debris trail of comet 3200 Phaethon. This should be the best show of the year, with a multi-colored display that has produced fireballs in the past. The Geminids will appear to radiate from the star Castor, one of the twins, in the constellation Gemini as it rises higher and higher into the sky as the night progresses. With the darker skies we are expecting later this month and hopefully clear weather, we can expect up to 100 meteors per hour.

The coming of winter brings with it very bright, prominent constellations. A good one to try to pick out is Taurus the bull. There are many deep space objects in Taurus, the Pleiades open star cluster M45, and the Hades cluster NGC 1647. The famous M1 Crab nebula can be seen at the tip of the horn, a supernova remnant with a neutron star at its heart. Taurus’ alpha star Aldebaran, 65 light years away, used to be like our sun, but now it is running out of fuel and is classified as a K3 III sub-giant. Its days are numbered, for in the next million years or so the whole thing will go nova.

Venus and Jupiter are putting on a pretty good show this month. Jupiter is cruising high overhead through the constellation Pisces. Although it will only be visible for relatively short periods of time, many are dubbing Venus this year’s “Christmas star,” as it will be the brightest thing in the night sky besides the moon. You can see it about 15 degrees over the horizon towards the east-northeast just after sunset, especially around the 24^th, as the moon will be new and the skies will be extra-dark.

May 2011

April showers are trying to decide if they are going to leave us alone, but we will catch plenty of snatches of the sky in between the rain clouds to see some pretty neat stuff!

May begins with a nice, dark sky until around the 17th when the moon is finally full. We will end out the month with a new moon and dark skies again.

The year is continuing to bring a lot of sunspots; there have been 57 to date this year. Sunspot 1203 will be visible, bringing a low level threat of producing C-class flares.

There was more than one kind of April shower last month. The Lyrids shower is still flinging a few leftovers here and there, with a few impressive lone fireballs spotted by eyewitnesses in this region in recent days. We begin the month with another shower on the 5th and 6th, but it will probably be a weak show. This particular shower is caused by debris dropped by Halley's Comet, discovered by Edmond Halley in 1705.

An excellent constellation to check out this month is Virgo, with its bright alpha star Spica. Virgo is home to the Virgo cluster, a group of galaxies akin to M84 and M86, except all grouped together in one area. Stars 61vir and 70vir are known to harbor their own solar systems, too, so try to keep an eye out for those stars.

During the first week of May, a beautiful planetary conjunction will be visible in the morning sky just before dawn. Mercury, Venus, the Moon, Mars, and Jupiter will all be there to greet you in the east. Uranus will be there, as well, but you will need a decent telescope to catch a glimpse of it. All can be seen in the constellation Pisces. Saturn can be seen cruising through the constellation Virgo.

February 2011

Well folks, we would usually say that the chilly weather lends itself well to sky watching, and it certainly would if all those nasty rain clouds would leave us alone! Maybe we will have a few clear nights when we can catch some glimpses of these great things this month. Be sure to bundle up!

This month expect to see a new moon. OK, well, there is no moon to see. The new moon phase is the opposite of the full moon. Instead of seeing a head-on, full view of the moon, it is nowhere to be seen in the sky from our position on the globe. At least the means you can take advantage of the darker skies to see everything else!

Image credit: SDO/HMI, SDO/AIA.

For the braver souls out there (with the proper observation tools for sun watching, of course), there are a few small sunspots right now. There was a recent hole in the sun's coronasphere that blasted Earth's magnasphere with a good-sized solar storm, but no need to worry; it happens all the time. No harm done. Always remember to never look directly at the sun; take extra-special precautions, and make sure you always use the proper technology that was designed by professionals just for the task. Burning your vision away by staring at the sun make for very poor sky watching, after all, and we certainly would not want that!

For the more serious sky watchers, check out comet 103/P Hartley coursing through he constellation Monoceros this month. You will need at least an 8" telescope to see it, though; this is no casual observation.

February is also an excellent month to get a great view of the constellations Pegasus, Andromeda, Taurus (including galaxy M31), and Orion. while you are at it, the Pleiades in Taurus are a great target for binoculars, and are one of our favorites!

Venus appears as our morning star this month, near the constellation Sagittarius, and Mars will be in a conjunction of sorts, actually on the far side of the sun. Lastly, catch a glimpse of Jupiter going down after sunset, still in the constellation Pisces.

For more information or for tips on star gazing, call 229-432-6955.