2018Celestial Viewing Guide

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2018 CELESTIAL VIEWING GUIDE FULL MOON Just a regular full moon, here for reference. Evening Sky: June - October Delta Aquarids Meteor Shower SUPER MOON JUPITER Morning Sky: January-April July 12 - August 23 A full moon that occurs when the Both Skies: May Peak: July 28-29 after midnight moon makes it closest approach Opposition: to Earth. Supermoons are up to May 9 Up to 20 meteors per hour 14% larger and 30% brighter BEST NIGHT than a full moon. TO VIEW! LUNAR ECLIPSE Evening Sky: July-December Also called a "Blood Moon," this SATURN Morning Sky: January-May phenomenon occurs when the moon Both Skies: June enters the Earth's shadow, taking on a rusty red hue. Opposition: June 28 Perseids Meteor Shower July 17 - August 24 Peak: August 12-13 after midnight BLUE MOON Up to 60 meteors per hour Spoiler: it's not really blue. The term "Blue Moon" just refers to the second full moon in the same Evening Sky: August-December calendar month. MARS Morning Sky: January-June Both Skies: July BEST METEOR Opposition: July 27 SHOWER OF BLACK MOON THE YEAR! A month with no full moon is called a "Black Moon." It's a great time to view faint deep sky objects that are Evening Sky: March-October Geminids Meteor Shower overpowered by the bright light of a VENUS Morning Sky: November-December December 7 - 17 full moon. Greatest Eastern Elongation: Aug 17 Peak: December 13 Up to 120 meteors per hour DEEP SKY CHECKLIST MONTHLY HIGHLIGHTS SPRING SUMMER AUTUMN WINTER JAN FEB MAY JUNE JUNE JULY Beehive Cluster (M44) Milky Way Andromeda Galaxy (M31) Orion Nebula (M42) 31 01 09 21 27 27 Leo Triplet Galaxies Hercules Cluster (M13) Double Cluster Pleiades Cluster (M45) (M65, M66, & NGC 3628) Ring Nebula (M57) (NGC869, NGC884) Beehive Cluster (M44) 28 Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) Globular Cluster (M15) SUMMER Lagoon Nebula (M8) Auriga Open Clusters SOLSTICE Bode’s Galaxy (M81) Trifid Nebula (M20) (M36, M37, M38) Cigar Galaxy (M82) Lepus Globular Sagittarius Cluster (M22) JULY AUG AUG DEC DEC LONGEST Double Star, Mizar & Alcor Cluster (M79) Eagle Nebula (M16) NIGHT OF Sombrero Galaxy (M104) Hyades Cluster (M25) Omega Nebula (M17) 28 12 17 13 21 THE YEAR! Globular Cluster (M3) Dumbbell Nebula (M27) 29 13 14 WINTER Albireo Double Star SOLSTICE Wild Duck Cluster (M11) .

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Planetary Nebula
How Far Away Is It – Planetary Nebula Planetary Nebula {Abstract – In this segment of our “How far away is it” video book, we cover Planetary Nebula. We begin by introducing astrophotography and how it adds to what we can see through a telescope with our eyes. We use NGC 2818 to illustrate how this works. This continues into the modern use of Charge-Coupled Devices and how they work. We use the planetary nebula MyCn18 to illustrate the use of color filters to identify elements in the nebula. We then show a clip illustrating the end-of-life explosion that creates objects like the Helix Planetary Nebula (NGC 7293), and show how it would fill the space between our Sun and our nearest star, Proxima Centauri. Then, we use the Cat’s Eye Nebula (NGC 6543) to illustrate expansion parallax. As a fundamental component for calculating expansion parallax, we also illustrate the Doppler Effect and how we measure it via spectral line red and blue shifts. We continue with a tour of the most beautiful planetary nebula photographed by Hubble. These include: the Dumbbell Nebula, NGC 5189, Ring Nebula, Retina Nebula, Red Rectangle, Ant Nebula, Butterfly Nebula, , Kohoutek 4- 55, Eskimo Nebula, NGC 6751, SuWt 2, Starfish, NGC 5315, NGC 5307, Little Ghost Nebula, NGC 2440, IC 4593, Red Spider, Boomerang, Twin Jet, Calabash, Gomez’s Hamburger and others culminating with a dive into the Necklace Nebula. We conclude by noting that this will be the most likely end for our Sun, but not for billions of years to come, and we update the Cosmic Distance Ladder with the new ‘Expansion Parallax’ rung developed in this segment.} Introduction [Music @00:00 Bizet, Georges: Entracte to Act III from “Carman”; Orchestre National de France / Seiji Ozawa, 1984; from the album “The most relaxing classical album in the world…ever!”] Planetary Nebulae represent some of the most beautiful objects in the Milky Way.
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Central Coast Astronomy Virtual Star Party May 15Th 7Pm Pacific
Central Coast Astronomy Virtual Star Party May 15th 7pm Pacific Welcome to our Virtual Star Gazing session! We’ll be focusing on objects you can see with binoculars or a small telescope, so after our session, you can simply walk outside, look up, and understand what you’re looking at. CCAS President Aurora Lipper and astronomer Kent Wallace will bring you a virtual “tour of the night sky” where you can discover, learn, and ask questions as we go along! All you need is an internet connection. You can use an iPad, laptop, computer or cell phone. When 7pm on Saturday night rolls around, click the link on our website to join our class. CentralCoastAstronomy.org/stargaze Before our session starts: Step 1: Download your free map of the night sky: SkyMaps.com They have it available for Northern and Southern hemispheres. Step 2: Print out this document and use it to take notes during our time on Saturday. This document highlights the objects we will focus on in our session together. Celestial Objects: Moon: The moon 4 days after new, which is excellent for star gazing! *Image credit: all astrophotography images are courtesy of NASA & ESO unless otherwise noted. All planetarium images are courtesy of Stellarium. Central Coast Astronomy CentralCoastAstronomy.org Page 1 Main Focus for the Session: 1. Canes Venatici (The Hunting Dogs) 2. Boötes (the Herdsman) 3. Coma Berenices (Hair of Berenice) 4. Virgo (the Virgin) Central Coast Astronomy CentralCoastAstronomy.org Page 2 Canes Venatici (the Hunting Dogs) Canes Venatici, The Hunting Dogs, a modern constellation created by Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius in 1687.
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MESSIER 13 RA(2000) : 16H 41M 42S DEC(2000): +36° 27'
MESSIER 13 RA(2000) : 16h 41m 42s DEC(2000): +36° 27’ 41” BASIC INFORMATION OBJECT TYPE: Globular Cluster CONSTELLATION: Hercules BEST VIEW: Late July DISCOVERY: Edmond Halley, 1714 DISTANCE: 25,100 ly DIAMETER: 145 ly APPARENT MAGNITUDE: +5.8 APPARENT DIMENSIONS: 20’ Starry Night FOV: 1.00 Lyra FOV: 60.00 Libra MESSIER 6 (Butterfly Cluster) RA(2000) : 17Ophiuchus h 40m 20s DEC(2000): -32° 15’ 12” M6 Sagitta Serpens Cauda Vulpecula Scutum Scorpius Aquila M6 FOV: 5.00 Telrad Delphinus Norma Sagittarius Corona Australis Ara Equuleus M6 Triangulum Australe BASIC INFORMATION OBJECT TYPE: Open Cluster Telescopium CONSTELLATION: Scorpius Capricornus BEST VIEW: August DISCOVERY: Giovanni Batista Hodierna, c. 1654 DISTANCE: 1600 ly MicroscopiumDIAMETER: 12 – 25 ly Pavo APPARENT MAGNITUDE: +4.2 APPARENT DIMENSIONS: 25’ – 54’ AGE: 50 – 100 million years Telrad Indus MESSIER 7 (Ptolemy’s Cluster) RA(2000) : 17h 53m 51s DEC(2000): -34° 47’ 36” BASIC INFORMATION OBJECT TYPE: Open Cluster CONSTELLATION: Scorpius BEST VIEW: August DISCOVERY: Claudius Ptolemy, 130 A.D. DISTANCE: 900 – 1000 ly DIAMETER: 20 – 25 ly APPARENT MAGNITUDE: +3.3 APPARENT DIMENSIONS: 80’ AGE: ~220 million years FOV:Starry 1.00Night FOV: 60.00 Hercules Libra MESSIER 8 (THE LAGOON NEBULA) RA(2000) : 18h 03m 37s DEC(2000): -24° 23’ 12” Lyra M8 Ophiuchus Serpens Cauda Cygnus Scorpius Sagitta M8 FOV: 5.00 Scutum Telrad Vulpecula Aquila Ara Corona Australis Sagittarius Delphinus M8 BASIC INFORMATION Telescopium OBJECT TYPE: Star Forming Region CONSTELLATION: Sagittarius Equuleus BEST
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Our Place in Space for Young Scientists Ages 6 –10 Order and Classify Some of the Objects in Our Universe
Family STEM Activity Our Place in Space For young scientists ages 6 –10 Order and classify some of the objects in our universe. Prep Time: 15 minutes • Activity Time: 15 minutes or longer Materials (printer required): • 15 printable Universe Cards containing images and information about astronomical objects (pages 3 – 9) 1 Print out the Universe Cards double-sided if possible, Object Classification or print single-sided and attach the information card Classify the objects in a variety of ways. You can even for each object on the reverse side of the image of that come up with your own categories of classification. object. Print the image card in color if you can. Here are just a few ideas: 2 Once you have assembled the cards, they can be used • Classify by object type: is the object a planet, moon, either as fact cards or for a variety of activities, including: star, galaxy, etc.? • Classify by location in the universe: is the object in our Put the Universe in Order by Distance to Earth solar system, the Milky Way Galaxy, or beyond? Organize the object cards by their distance from Earth starting with the closest object to us and continuing to • Classify by age: research the age of each object and the farthest. See page 2 for the correct order. place in order from youngest to oldest. Put the Universe in Order: Size Organize the object cards by their size starting with the smallest object and continuing to the largest. Share Your Results with Us on Social! #MOSatHome Our Place in Space ANSWER KEY Order of the objects from closest to farthest
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Messier Objects
Messier Objects From the Stocker Astroscience Center at Florida International University Miami Florida The Messier Project Main contributors: • Daniel Puentes • Steven Revesz • Bobby Martinez Charles Messier • Gabriel Salazar • Riya Gandhi • Dr. James Webb – Director, Stocker Astroscience center • All images reduced and combined using MIRA image processing software. (Mirametrics) What are Messier Objects? • Messier objects are a list of astronomical sources compiled by Charles Messier, an 18th and early 19th century astronomer. He created a list of distracting objects to avoid while comet hunting. This list now contains over 110 objects, many of which are the most famous astronomical bodies known. The list contains planetary nebula, star clusters, and other galaxies. - Bobby Martinez The Telescope The telescope used to take these images is an Astronomical Consultants and Equipment (ACE) 24- inch (0.61-meter) Ritchey-Chretien reflecting telescope. It has a focal ratio of F6.2 and is supported on a structure independent of the building that houses it. It is equipped with a Finger Lakes 1kx1k CCD camera cooled to -30o C at the Cassegrain focus. It is equipped with dual filter wheels, the first containing UBVRI scientific filters and the second RGBL color filters. Messier 1 Found 6,500 light years away in the constellation of Taurus, the Crab Nebula (known as M1) is a supernova remnant. The original supernova that formed the crab nebula was observed by Chinese, Japanese and Arab astronomers in 1054 AD as an incredibly bright “Guest star” which was visible for over twenty-two months. The supernova that produced the Crab Nebula is thought to have been an evolved star roughly ten times more massive than the Sun.
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Investigating the Beehive Cluster with Gaia Blaise Whitesell — Astronomy Capstone 2019
Investigating the Beehive Cluster with Gaia Blaise Whitesell — Astronomy Capstone 2019 In this problem set, we will explore the capabilities of the publicly available data from Gaia DR2, which can be found at http://gea.esac.esa.int/archive/ or queried directly from within Python. We will focus on a single target: the Beehive cluster (M44, also known as Praesepe or NGC 2632). This open cluster is located at a distance of roughly 200 pc in the constellation Cancer with coordinates (α; δ) = (130:1°; 19:67°). We will download Gaia data in the vicinity of the cluster, select only the stars belonging to the cluster, and then characterize the properties of those stars in the cluster. 1. Getting Data For our analysis we need these columns from the Gaia DR2 database gaiadr2.gaia_source: source_id A numeric identiﬁer for the object ra Right ascension (degrees) dec Declination (degrees) parallax Parallax (mas) pmra Proper motion in right ascension (mas/yr) pmdec Proper motion in declination (mas/yr) phot_g_mean_mag Magnitude in Gaia G band (mags) bp_rp Gaia BP–RP color (mags) Select objects within 4 degrees of the cluster center. At the rough distance of the Beehive cluster, how many parsecs does that correspond to? We want to include objects at least that far in front and behind the cluster. Since we don’t know distances as precisely, we should expand the range by a factor of 3 or 4 to avoid missing cluster stars. What parallaxes (in mas) does this distance range correspond to? Use those parallax values as conditions to exclude objects far away from the cluster.
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Of Galaxies, Stars, Planets and People
The Cosmic Journeys of Galaxies,A Research Programme forStars, the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium Planets and People This document was produced by the staff of the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, in particular through discussions and contributions from the tenured astronomers, together with input from the Governors and the Management Committee. The document was edited by the Director, Michael Burton and designed by Aileen McKee. Produced in March 2017 Front Cover Images The Four Pillars of the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium Research Outreach The Armagh Observatory was founded in 1790 as The Armagh Planetarium was founded by Dr Eric part of Archbishop Richard Robinson’s vision to see Lindsay, the seventh director of the Observatory, as the creation of a University in the City of Armagh. part of his vision to communicate the excitement of It is the oldest scientific institution in Northern astronomy and science to the public. It opened on Ireland and the longest continuously operating the 1st of May, 1968 and is the oldest operating astronomical research institution in the UK and planetarium in the UK and Ireland. Ireland. History Heritage Dreyer's NGC – the New General Catalogue – was The Observatory has been measuring the weather published in 1888 by JLE Dreyer, fourth Director of conditions at 9am every day since 1794, a the Observatory. It has been used extensively by meteorological record covering more than 200 astronomers ever since. This is his annotated copy, years, believed to be longest standing in the British complete with all known corrections at the time. Isles. This image shows the sunshine recorder and Galaxies and nebulae are still often cited by their anemometer.
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2020 Observatory Schedule
Astronomy Club of Akron 2020 Observatory Schedule 5031 Manchester Road, Akron, OH www.acaoh.org – The following events are open to the public. Please join us for stargazing and educational activities. Please arrive on time to avoid headlight distraction. – For notice of “impromptu star parties” not listed, send e-mail to [email protected] to request e-mail notification of unscheduled observing sessions. – Events will be cancelled if skies are cloudy. Always check website for star party status two hours before event. – This is an outdoor activity in an unheated environment. Nighttime temperatures drop rapidly, even during summer. A general rule of thumb is to dress for 15 degrees cooler than predicted nighttime low temperature. – Please respect those who set up their telescopes. Children should be supervised at all times. The observatory grounds are no place for toys or tomfoolery. – Please, No Smoking on observatory grounds. Smoke reacts with optical surfaces, damaging optical coatings. – Please, no use of cell phones or tablets in observatory (to preserve night vision). April 18 – 8:15pm July 18 – 9:00pm Venus is well placed for observing early, and then we’ll view Come out to view open cluster NGC6633, Wild Duck Ghost of Jupiter and the beautiful star cluster M37 through Cluster, Ring Nebula, M26 Star Cloud, and Swan Nebula the 16” observatory telescope and view Beehive Cluster using an OIII filter. through the 100mm wide field telescope. July 25 – 9:00pm April 25 – 8:30pm We’ll be observing a 5-day old Moon. This is a great Special Event: Messier Marathon – stay all night to observe opportunity to see crater central peaks lit up by the grazing all 110 Messier objects with ACA members.
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Whirlpools and Pinwheels on the Sky
Whirlpools and pinwheels on the sky Domingos Soares Galaxies exist in many diﬀerent forms and count by, at least, the hundreds of billions, according to estimations made from the observations of the Hubble Space Telescope. Among all of them, there are no doubts that the most spectacular are the so-called \spiral galaxies". Our own galaxy, the Milky Way galaxy, is a member of that family. Spiral galaxies are so named because of the distinctive aspect they present to the observer, namely, of a spiral-shaped structure similar to a whirlpool or a pinwheel. They are also called \disk galaxies" because the galactic material | stars, gas and interstellar dust | is distributed in the shape of a \thick" disk. The stars constitute the main constituents of galaxies, at least with respect to their visual appearance. They emit the major part of the visible light of a galaxy, be it a spiral or not. The typical visual aspect of spiral galaxies is due to the structures that astronomers call \spiral arms". The most bright stars of a galaxy are those that delineate the arms. These, however, contribute little to the total mass of the galaxy, but due to their extraordinary brightness they are the most noticeable on a visual inspection. The spiral galaxy disks rotate. And this is typical in those galaxies: the galactic material spins around the disk center, which is called \galactic center". But the rotation is not like the spin of a rigid disk, like, for example, a CD, in which all the points make a full turn in the same time interval.
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PUBLIC OBSERVING NIGHTS the William D. Mcdowell Observatory
THE WilliamPUBLIC D. OBSERVING mcDowell NIGHTS Observatory FREE PUBLIC OBSERVING NIGHTS WINTER Schedule 2019 December 2018 (7PM-10PM) 5th Mars, Uranus, Neptune, Almach (double star), Pleiades (M45), Andromeda Galaxy (M31), Oribion Nebula (M42), Beehive Cluster (M44), Double Cluster (NGC 869 & 884) 12th Mars, Uranus, Neptune, Almach (double star), Pleiades (M45), Andromeda Galaxy (M31), Oribion Nebula (M42), Beehive Cluster (M44), Double Cluster (NGC 869 & 884) 19th Moon, Mars, Uranus, Neptune, Almach (double star), Pleiades (M45), Andromeda Galaxy (M31), Oribion Nebula (M42), Beehive Cluster (M44), Double Cluster (NGC 869 & 884) 26th Moon, Mars, Uranus, Neptune, Almach (double star), Pleiades (M45), Andromeda Galaxy (M31), Oribion Nebula (M42), Beehive Cluster (M44), Double Cluster (NGC 869 & 884)? January 2019 (7PM-10PM) 2nd Moon, Mars, Uranus, Neptune, Sirius, Almach (double star), Pleiades (M45), Orion Nebula (M42), Open Cluster (M35) 9th Mars, Uranus, Neptune, Sirius, Almach (double star), Pleiades (M45), Orion Nebula (M42), Open Cluster (M35) 16 Mars, Uranus, Neptune, Sirius, Almach (double star), Pleiades (M45), Orion Nebula (M42), Open Cluster (M35) 23rd, Moon, Mars, Uranus, Neptune, Sirius, Almach (double star), Pleiades (M45), Andromeda Galaxy (M31), Orion Nebula (M42), Beehive Cluster (M44), Double Cluster (NGC 869 & 884) 30th Moon, Mars, Uranus, Neptune, Sirius, Almach (double star), Pleiades (M45), Andromeda Galaxy (M31), Orion Nebula (M42), Beehive Cluster (M44), Double Cluster (NGC 869 & 884) February 2019 (7PM-10PM) 6th
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Experiencing Hubble
PRESCOTT ASTRONOMY CLUB PRESENTS EXPERIENCING HUBBLE John Carter August 7, 2019 GET OUT LOOK UP • When Galaxies Collide https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HP3x7TgvgR8 • How Hubble Images Get Color https://www.youtube.com/watch? time_continue=3&v=WSG0MnmUsEY Experiencing Hubble Sagittarius Star Cloud 1. 12,000 stars 2. ½ percent of full Moon area. 3. Not one star in the image can be seen by the naked eye. 4. Color of star reﬂects its surface temperature. Eagle Nebula. M 16 1. Messier 16 is a conspicuous region of active star formation, appearing in the constellation Serpens Cauda. This giant cloud of interstellar gas and dust is commonly known as the Eagle Nebula, and has already created a cluster of young stars. The nebula is also referred to the Star Queen Nebula and as IC 4703; the cluster is NGC 6611. With an overall visual magnitude of 6.4, and an apparent diameter of 7', the Eagle Nebula's star cluster is best seen with low power telescopes. The brightest star in the cluster has an apparent magnitude of +8.24, easily visible with good binoculars. A 4" scope reveals about 20 stars in an uneven background of fainter stars and nebulosity; three nebulous concentrations can be glimpsed under good conditions. Under very good conditions, suggestions of dark obscuring matter can be seen to the north of the cluster. In an 8" telescope at low power, M 16 is an impressive object. The nebula extends much farther out, to a diameter of over 30'. It is ﬁlled with dark regions and globules, including a peculiar dark column and a luminous rim around the cluster.
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Astronomy 2008 Index
Astronomy Magazine Article Title Index 10 rising stars of astronomy, 8:60–8:63 1.5 million galaxies revealed, 3:41–3:43 185 million years before the dinosaurs’ demise, did an asteroid nearly end life on Earth?, 4:34–4:39 A Aligned aurorae, 8:27 All about the Veil Nebula, 6:56–6:61 Amateur astronomy’s greatest generation, 8:68–8:71 Amateurs see fireballs from U.S. satellite kill, 7:24 Another Earth, 6:13 Another super-Earth discovered, 9:21 Antares gang, The, 7:18 Antimatter traced, 5:23 Are big-planet systems uncommon?, 10:23 Are super-sized Earths the new frontier?, 11:26–11:31 Are these space rocks from Mercury?, 11:32–11:37 Are we done yet?, 4:14 Are we looking for life in the right places?, 7:28–7:33 Ask the aliens, 3:12 Asteroid sleuths find the dino killer, 1:20 Astro-humiliation, 10:14 Astroimaging over ancient Greece, 12:64–12:69 Astronaut rescue rocket revs up, 11:22 Astronomers spy a giant particle accelerator in the sky, 5:21 Astronomers unearth a star’s death secrets, 10:18 Astronomers witness alien star flip-out, 6:27 Astronomy magazine’s first 35 years, 8:supplement Astronomy’s guide to Go-to telescopes, 10:supplement Auroral storm trigger confirmed, 11:18 B Backstage at Astronomy, 8:76–8:82 Basking in the Sun, 5:16 Biggest planet’s 5 deepest mysteries, The, 1:38–1:43 Binary pulsar test affirms relativity, 10:21 Binocular Telescope snaps first image, 6:21 Black hole sets a record, 2:20 Black holes wind up galaxy arms, 9:19 Brightest starburst galaxy discovered, 12:23 C Calling all space probes, 10:64–10:65 Calling on Cassiopeia, 11:76 Canada to launch new asteroid hunter, 11:19 Canada’s handy robot, 1:24 Cannibal next door, The, 3:38 Capture images of our local star, 4:66–4:67 Cassini confirms Titan lakes, 12:27 Cassini scopes Saturn’s two-toned moon, 1:25 Cassini “tastes” Enceladus’ plumes, 7:26 Cepheus’ fall delights, 10:85 Choose the dome that’s right for you, 5:70–5:71 Clearing the air about seeing vs.
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