ANOTHER “BLUE MOON” THIS MONTH
(March 19, 2018) The stars: While the bright stars of winter continue to dominate the southern sky in the early evening, turn around and look to the north, specifically the northeast. Here, low in the sky, we find the familiar pattern of the Big Dipper. It’s still not late enough in the year to see it high in the north, but we can see it rising, standing on its handle with the bowl opening to the left. Watch the dipper over the next several weeks as it gets higher and higher in the northeast until, with the coming of spring, it will lie high in the north.
MERCURY MAKES ITS BEST APPEARANCE OF THE YEAR
(March 5, 2018) Mercury and Venus: As you probably learned early on, there are two planets that are closer to the sun than the earth is. Throughout astronomical history there have been theories and even possible sightings, later discounted, of a planet even closer to the sun than Mercury. This planet has tentatively been named Vulcan after the god of the hearth, an apt name for one so close to our central star.
EARTH CHASES OUTER PLANETS AROUND THE SUN
(February 19, 2018) The planets: The English word planet comes from the Greek word planētēs meaning “wanderer.” This month the five visible planets are living up to that appellation. The Greeks noticed that, among the bodies in the heavens, all of them stayed put within their respective constellations except for seven from which, incidentally, we get the names of the days of the weeks. Of course, they included in their list of planets the brightest of them all, the sun and moon.
MARS PASSES BY ITS RIVAL
(February 5, 2018) The planets: They’re coming! Be patient! We have not had any bright planets in the evening sky for several months. They’ve been putting on a show in the predawn sky. But, planets move around the sky and the sky itself moves. So, let’s see where everybody is now…
BEGINNING OF A TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE VISIBLE BEFORE DAWN
(January 22, 2018) Total Lunar Eclipse: Lunar eclipses can occur a little less than six months apart. After no total lunar eclipses in over two years, there will be one at each of the next three opportunities, January 31 and July 27, 2018 and January 21, 2019. Only the first and last of these will be visible from the western Carolinas. In the case of the first, the very beginning will be visible here in the predawn hours of Wednesday, January 31…
ORION DOMINATES THE EVENING SKY>
(January 8, 2018) The stars: Winter is truly here now, marked for the astronomer, not by the errant snow shower, but by the inevitable appearance of Orion the hunter in the evening skies. Orion dominates the skies in the winter as does no other constellation in any other season. With his seven bright stars, especially the three in a row that mark his famous belt, he is easily spotted as he rises in the east in the early evening.
PLANET WATCHING FOR EARLY RISERS FOR THE HOLIDAYS
(December 18, 2017) The planets: Zeus does not bless us with visible planets these nights unless we get up early in the morning. But, those morning skies are improving for planet watchers. The red planet Mars is well up at sunrise and Jupiter is quickly approaching it from below; the two will pass on the night of January 6-7. In the meantime, Mercury, which passed the sun on our side last Tuesday, is now quickly rising out of the morning twilight.
BRILLIANT DOG STAR FOLLOWS HIS MASTER ORION
(December 4, 2017) The stars: In the evening skies we can see that autumn is quickly coming to a close; the signs are seen not only in the woods and felt in the air, but also apparent in the sky above. The central figure of the autumn skies, Pegasus the winged horse, has moved to the west in the evening. Alpheratz, the star at the northeastern corner of the Great Square of Pegasus actually marks the head of the chained princess Andromeda. Her body stretches off to the east. Shining dimly at her waist is the Great Galaxy in Andromeda, known to astronomers as Messier 31 (M31).
OPHIUCHUS DIVIDES THE SERPENT
(November 20, 2017) The stars: Cassiopeia the queen lies high in the northeast early these evenings. Some people refer to her as the “lady in the chair.” To the Navaho she is “First Woman.” This rather medium-sized constellation is quite easy to spot since she looks like a slightly squashed-down letter “W” or “M” made up of five reasonably bright stars. Cassiopeia was the queen of Aethiopia who unleashed all sorts of woe on her country by claiming she was more beautiful than the sea nymphs, the lovely daughters of Neptune the king of the sea.
THREE METEOR SHOWERS GRACE THE NIGHT SKY
(November 6, 2017) Meteor showers: Presently we are experiencing two meteor showers with another coming next week. The two showers are radiating out of the constellation of Taurus the bull. The South Taurids actually peaked yesterday morning while the North Taurids reach their peak this coming Sunday. Both have durations of 15 days each which means they are active now.
PEGASUS ANCHORS THE FALL SKIES
(October 16, 2017) The stars: Some refer to this time of the year as the Capricorn Hour since this faint but beautiful constellation is easily situated for viewing in the southern skies in the early evening. Capricornus is known as the “seagoat” and is really a celestial joke. It seems the god Pan, who was half boy and half goat, was startled by the monster Typhon. His immediate reaction was to change himself into a fish and swim to safety. But in his haste, he got all mixed up and ended up with the torso of a goat with the tail of a fish.
CASSINI IS GONE BUT SATURN IS STILL IN THE EVENING SKY
(October 2, 2017) After thirteen years of exploration in orbit around the beautiful ringed planet Saturn, last month the spacecraft Cassini took a final plunge to its demise in the atmosphere of the planet. Yes, this was planned. Originally designed as a 4-year period of exploration, Cassini’s mission was extended as it made multiple passes by and through the rings of the planet and passed its sixty-two moons multiple times.
PLANETS GATHER FOR A REUNION AFTER ONE MONTH
(September 18, 2017) The planets: The planets move. The ancients were well aware of this and, in fact, our English word planet comes from the Greek word for “wanderer.” Back on the day of the Eclipse of a Lifetime, August 21, those who were blessed with clear skies during totality were able to spot a total of four naked eye planets in the sky with the eclipsed sun. To the right or west of the sun and most obvious was the brilliant planet Venus.
(September 4, 2017) The planets: Well, the Eclipse of a Lifetime is history. No more observing the planets during the daytime . . . at least until the next total solar eclipse in Transylvania County on October 17, 2153. Actually, we really don’t have to wait that long since Venus is so bright that it is possible under good conditions to spot it during daytime.
MONDAY’S GREAT AMERICAN ECLIPSE!
(August 17, 2017) The stars and the sun: There is really only one star to write about this month. That is, of course, the sun which this coming Monday will disappear from our daytime sky for up to 2 minutes 40.2 seconds depending on where we are located to observe it. I am, of course, talking about the Great American Solar Eclipse a.k.a. the Eclipse of a Lifetime. Most of Transylvania County will be within the path of totality.
PERSEID METEOR SHOWER DUE THIS WEEKEND
(August 7, 2017) The stars: For the constellation study this time, let us go a bit later in the evening than usual. Rising in the northeast about sunset is the beautiful constellation of Cassiopeia the queen, sometimes referred to as “the lady in the chair.” Cassiopeia is best spotted by looking in the northeast for a big letter “W” made up of five bright stars.
THE “SUMMER TRIANGLE” IS FOR THE BIRDS!
(July 17, 2017) – The stars: Now that summer is upon us, it’s not too early to look high in the east in the early evening for the so-called “Summer Triangle.” This pattern of three bright stars is not one of the classical constellations but rather what astronomers refer to as an asterism.
THE SCORPION AND THE ARCHER DOMINATE OUR SOUTHERN SKY
(July 3, 2017) The stars: The summertime Milky Way is a beauty to behold if we can view it under clear, dark skies. The mountains of western North Carolina often present us with such opportunities. Becoming more and more prominent as the summer progresses are the constellations of Scorpius the scorpion and Sagittarius the archer.
SUMMER BEGINS WEDNESDAY
(June 19, 2017) The Earth: At 12:24 a.m. EDT Wednesday we have the summer solstice which marks the first moment of summer in the northern hemisphere. This is the point in the Earth’s orbit when the northern hemisphere reaches its maximum tilt towards the sun. Thus, the sun is highest in the sky at noon and the days are longest. In Brevard sunrise will occur at 6:17 a.m. EDT and sunset will occur at 8:49 p.m. that evening. This will give us 14 hours 32 minutes of daytime. The sun will rise at 6:15 a.m. in Asheville giving those folks two more minutes of daylight. Happy Solstice!
SATURN RETURNS TO THE EVENING SKY
(June 6, 2017) The planets: Perhaps the most exciting nighttime object to view through a telescope is the beautiful ringed planet Saturn. At public observing sessions such as the SkyTrek observing sessions offered at PARI (weather permitting, of course), one of more of our telescopes will be on this spectacular object if it is in the sky. To the naked eye, Saturn appears to be just another reasonably bright star although it doesn’t twinkle. (Planets don’t twinkle.)