Sky This Month May 2019
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Mother’s Day The Sky This Month Edition RASC Recreational Astronomy for Apr 24th to May 21st Location: M.A.M.A. Prepared by: Bryon Czarnik !1 Mother’s Luna and Sol Dates . Day Edition • Luna [Gr. Selene] rides her chariot across the night sky, while her brother, Sol [Gr. Helios], rests � Last Qtr � Earth Day 6:18 pm Moon Apogee � 404,576 km New Moon 2:21 pm 6:45 pm � First Qtr 9:12 pm Int’l Astronomy Day Mothers Day Moon Perigee � 369,015 km Full Moon � 5:54 pm � 5:11 pm Flower Moon, Corn Planting Moon, and Milk Moon Tigmiyikvik (Inuit), “time when ducks & geese return from south” Blue Moon (3rd full moon in astro. season with 4 full moons) Hunter’s Moon (S Hemisphere) Native Full Moon Names: http://americanindian.net/moons.html !2 Mother’s Luna and Sol Dates . Day Edition • Luna [Gr. Selene] rides her chariot across the night sky, while her brother, Sol [Gr. Helios], rests � Last Qtr � Earth Day 6:18 pm Moon Apogee � 404,576 km New Moon 2:21 pm 6:45 pm Sunrise / Sunset (Daylight) Astronomical Twilight (Night) Apr 24 6:20 am / 8:11 pm (13:51) 4:32 am / 10:00 pm (6:32) � May 21 5:46 am / 8:41 pm (14:55) 3:39 am / 10:49 pm (4:50) First Qtr 9:12 pm Int’l Astronomy Day Mothers Day Moon Perigee � 369,015 km Full Moon � 5:54 pm � 5:11 pm Flower Moon, Corn Planting Moon, and Milk Moon Tigmiyikvik (Inuit), “time when ducks & geese return from south” Blue Moon (3rd full moon in astro. season with 4 full moons) Hunter’s Moon (S Hemisphere) Native Full Moon Names: http://americanindian.net/moons.html !2 Mother’s Mothers in the Solar System Day . Edition Gaia “Mother Earth” !3 Mother’s Mothers in the Solar System Day . Edition • Venus [Aphrodite], mother of Cupid and Aeneas; affair with Mars [Ares] • Juno [Hera], jealous wife separated from Jupiter [Zeus] in asteroid belt • Jupiter [Zeus] • Io led a life tortured by jealous Hera. Was an ancestor of Hercules • Europa kept captive on and populated Crete. Source of name for Europe • Callisto transformed by Hera with son into Bear: Ursa Major and Ursa Minor • Leda, mother of Castor and Pollux • Amalthea, foster mother of Zeus • Saturn [Chronus] • Tethys, Titan daughter of Uranus & Gaia, and mother of Oceanus of river gods • Calypso, sea nymph, kept Odysseus on island, till freed by Zeus Tethys • Dione, Titan mother of Venus [Aphrodite] • Phoebe, mother of Leto Phoebe Dione Calypso !3 Mother’s πλανήτης (planēt) or Wanderers Day . Edition Earth Moon Fit all 700,000+ asteroids here since only ≅ 4% Moon’s mass! 4 Largest Asteroids You can fit all the planets in the Solar System back to back into the distance from the Earth to the Moon (about 384,400 km), with room to spare (8,030 km.) Ref: https://www.universetoday.com/115672/you-could-fit-all-the-planets-between-the-earth-and-the-moon/ !4 Mother’s A “Star” for Luna Day • Mercury is low and past its prime for viewing (Apr 24th Edition rises 4:30 am). Superior conjunction on May 21st • Venus is best observed over the next couple of weeks (-3.9 Mag, 11” size, gibbous) • Mars visible in Taurus (WNW) after sunset (1.6 Mag, 4” size) Conjunctions with crescent Moon: Venus (-4 Mag) within 5° Mars within 5° but grazing horizon (5°) Pre-dawn May 2nd May 6th & 7th 9:47pm !5 Mother’s A “Star” for Luna Day • Mercury is low and past its prime for viewing (Apr 24th Edition rises 4:30 am). Superior conjunction on May 21st • Venus is best observed over the next couple of weeks (-3.9 Mag, 11” size, gibbous) • Mars visible in Taurus (WNW) after sunset (1.6 Mag, 4” size) Low Low May 18th @ 10:30 pm (Alt. 8°) May 19th @ 10:30 pm (Alt. 8°) !5 Mother’s Day Gas Giants Edition • Jupiter and Saturn rise in the SE at 12:30 am and 2:15 am, respectively, on Apr 24th. Both rise 2 hr earlier by the end of May • Jovian Events • Apr 26th: Io eclipsed 12:46 am and occultation ends 3:54 am; Europa and shadow transit from 3:33 am • May 11th: Io and its shadow transit Jupiter; starting 2:32 am ✓May 18th: Ganymede exits occultation 2:16 am; Io & shadow transit Jupiter, from 3:44 am • Great Red Spot (GRS) transits around 12:30 am on May 3rd and May 15th • Uranus and Neptune make poor morning targets • Uranus (+5.9) is lost in sun’s/dawn’s glare. Visibility of May 18th Venus conjunction (≅1°) unlikely • Neptune (+7.9) rises by 5 am on Apr 24th. By May 21st, it rises 1½ hr earlier 21st within 5-6° of Moon Jupiter Moon within 5° of Saturn @ -2.5 Mag, 45” size @ +0.5 Mag, 18” (36”) size, 24° ring tilt May 20th @ 4:00 am Apr 25th @ 4:00 am nd !6 (Also, May 22 ) Lunacy Mother’s Day • Moon (6 da old) crosses Beehive May 10th Edition 9:45 pm 10:45 pm 11:45 pm !7 Lunacy Mother’s Day Edition • Only 27 of 1,600+ craters (<2%) are named after women, such as Leavitt, C. Herschel, Sklodovska (Marie Curie) Ref: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/the-women-on-the-moon/article29128012/ !7 Lunacy T • Young and Old craters on May 13th � vs May18th � C “Youthful” Tycho “Ancient” Clavius 108 M yr from Apollo 16 ray samples. 4 B yr old, almost as old as our Solar Sys. Age Formed by 8-10 km asteroid during Earth’s One of the older craters. Well preserved Cretaceous Period (Dinosaurs) 2nd largest; 231 km wide by 3.5 km deep; Physical Bright ray system extending up to 2,000 km. Unique counterclockwise arc of 5 interior Characteristics 86 km wide by 4.8 km deep craters of diminishing size from Rutherfurd 16th C German supported geocentric model; Astronomer 16th C Danish Tycho Brahe peer of Galileo Fame Site of alien monolith (2001: A Space Odyssey) Lunar Admin Base (2001: A Space Odyssey) Rutherfurd https://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/full-moon-is-tycho-time/ !8 Mother’s Space Debris Day Edition • Meteors [Gr. ta meteōra: “the celestial phenomena” or “things in heaven above”] —> η (Eta) Aquarids • Asteroids. [Gr. asteroeides: “star-like”] —> Pallas • Comets � [Gr. komētēs: “long-haired (star)”] —> • Zodiacal Light [Gr. zodiakos: “circle of animals”] —> ? • ISS Passes starting Apr 28th, evening & morning ISS May 15th, 5am -3.1 ISS May 17th, 5am -3.7 ISS May 17th, 11pm -3.4 ISS May 18th, 10:19pm -4 www.heavens-above.com !9 Mother’s Victoria Day Fireworks? …Day Edition If you can’t wait until 2061 for Halley’s Comet to return, catch the Eta (η) Aquarids (or Orionids in October) Origin: a stream from 1P/Halley 100’s of years ago • Broad 5 da maximum centered on May 6th • Less than 40/hr (<1/min) with swift and persistent trains Brightening Twilight! Boo! No Moon! Yeah! Low in the pre-dawn sky from 3am to 5am Source: SkySafari …… radiant rises to 25°by twilight !10 Mother’s Asteroids Day Edition • (2) Pallas (8.4 mag) well placed evenings in Coma Berenices • 2nd asteroid discovered (1802) after Ceres. Protoplanetary remnant? • 3rd most massive @ 7% of mass of asteroid belt (10-30% < Vesta) • About 500 km diameter • Pallas meteorites on Earth? Sources: NASA, Wikipedia Commons; Heavens Above, Stellarium, !11 https://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/celestial-objects-to- watch/do-we-have-pieces-of-pallas-on-earth05062015/ Mother’s Asteroids Day Edition Name a KBO! Enter by May 10th To name 2007 OR10 “Gonggong", "Holle" or “Vili” (Chinese, European and Nordic mythological figures) An icy, rocky reddish Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) of an estimated 1,250 km diameter, making it one of the 10 largest discovered https://2007or10.name !11 Mother’s Star Struck Day Edition ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ ⃝ Source: SkySafari for Wed May 8, 2019 10:30pm !12 Mother’s Celestial Mothers Day Edition Source: SkySafari !13 Mother’s Celestial Mother’s Day Presents………Day • Jewelry Edition • Flowers • Chocolate Mother’s Celestial Mother’s Day Presents………Day • Jewelry Edition Diamond Ring Ast Ursa Minor 45’ around Polaris Polaris Berenices Hair Clip G Coma Berenices NGC 4565 Coma Star Cluster OC Coma Berenices Mel 111 Hj1470 Crown C Corona Borealis / Australis Fairy Ring Ast Cygnus 22’ ring of faint double stars Fairy Ring incl Hj1470/HD190466/SAO69335 Ring Nebula PN Lyra M57 Little Gem Nebula PN Sagittarius NGC 6818; visible in morning 1 DSantiago, Pbase, Fairy Ring • Flowers 167818492 • Chocolate Notes: Ast (Asterism), OC (Open Clustr), G (Galaxy), N (Nebula), PN (Planet Nebula), A (Asteroid), C (Constellation) ref. Birren, Peter, Objects In The Heavens (OITHv6), http://www.birrendesign.com/astro.html Mother’s Celestial Mother’s Day Presents………Day • Jewelry Edition Diamond Ring Ast Ursa Minor 45’ around Polaris Polaris Berenices Hair Clip G Coma Berenices NGC 4565 Coma Star Cluster OC Coma Berenices Mel 111 Hj1470 Crown C Corona Borealis / Australis Fairy Ring Ast Cygnus 22’ ring of faint double stars Fairy Ring incl Hj1470/HD190466/SAO69335 Ring Nebula PN Lyra M57 Little Gem Nebula PN Sagittarius NGC 6818; visible in morning 1 DSantiago, Pbase, Fairy Ring • Flowers 167818492 Rosette Nebula N/ Monoceros Caldwell 49 w OC NGC 2244 OC Iris Nebula N/ Cepheus NGC 7023 OC Caroline’s Rose OC Cassopeia NGC 7789 86 Asteroids named e.g. Begonia, Petunia, after Flowers and A Asteroids Camelia, Azalea, Orchis, Plants Tulipa • Chocolate Notes: Ast (Asterism), OC (Open Clustr), G (Galaxy), N (Nebula), PN (Planet Nebula), A (Asteroid), C (Constellation) ref.