Sky-High 2015
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Sky-High 2015 Total Lunar Eclipse, 2010 This is the 23rd annual guide to astronomical phenomena visible from Ireland during the year ahead (naked-eye, binocular and beyond) by John O’Neill and Liam Smyth Published by the Irish Astronomical Society € 5 (Phone: 087-6398143) [email protected] www.irishastrosoc.org Page 1 Foreword Contents We send greetings to all fellow astronomers and 3 Your Night Sky Primer welcome you to this, the twenty-third edition of our annual almanac for Irish Observers, Sky-High. 5 Sky Diary 2015 We are always glad to hear what you liked or what 9 Phases of Moon; Sunrise and Sunset for 2015 you would like to have included in Sky-High. And if you would like to clarify your understanding of any- 10 The Planets in 2015 thing feel free to contact us at the Society e-mail address: [email protected]. Any updates or 13 Eclipses in 2015 errata for Sky-High will be posted on the Sky-High 2015 web page (see page 27). 15 Comets in 2015 Please acknowledge use of Sky-High if it has helped 16 Meteors Showers in 2015 you. 17 Asteroids in 2015 We thank the following contributors for their articles: John Flannery and James O’Connor. The 18 Variable Stars in 2015 remaining material was written by the editors John O’Neill and Liam Smyth. The times of sunrise, vari- 21 Spaceflight 2015 able star minima, etc. are from software by J. O’Neill. The charts were generated using Guide 22 The Wonder of it all 9. LPV Maxima are from Elizabeth Waagen (Senior Technical Assistant, AAVSO). Also thanks to Patricia 25 Piazzi, Bode’s Law and the Celestial Police Carroll for proofreading. 27 Useful web sites Wishing you clear skies for 2015, John O’Neill and Liam Smyth 28 Gallery Sky-High 2015 © IAS, 2014 The Irish Astronomical Society The Irish Astronomical Society was founded in The Society also has a well stocked library of 1937. It caters for those of all ages and interests in books, journals and videos that members can bor- astronomy and space. row as well as access to a number of telescopes that can be loaned for a period. You don’t have to be an expert to be part of our Society. Many of our members are taking their first A number of IAS members have made their own steps in the hobby and you are sure to receive telescopes, while others possess telescopes ranging friendly advice from some of the more experienced in size to well above 50 cm aperture. Many are now amateur astronomers among us. experimenting with the latest technologies to hit the amateur community such as robotic tele- Activities include monthly meetings, receiving our scopes. quarterly magazine Orbit, observing groups, e-mail alert notices of transient astronomical phenomena If you are considering purchasing a telescope then such as aurora, and outings to places of astronomi- we’ll point you in the right direction before you cal interest. part with your hard-earned cash. Members have joined expeditions to observe sev- The Dublin Sidewalk Astronomers (a group within eral total solar eclipses world wide. Also note, the the IAS) hold public star parties at regular inter- printed Sky-High is a free benefit of IAS vals, usually by the seafront in Sandymount, Dublin membership. (see IAS website for details). Page 2 Your Night Sky Primer As with any hobby, astronomy seems to have its a small telescope, you will need a more detailed own set of terminology designed to confuse. How- map showing all stars to at least sixth magnitude. A ever, with a little patience you'll soon pick up the handy atlas is the Pocket Star Atlas published by Sky jargon and be well on the way to knowing your way Publishing (for about €15). This shows stars to mag- around the sky. nitude 7.6 and the positions of many deep sky ob- jects. The revolving heavens We all know the Heavens don't revolve. It is the An idea of size or scale other way round, the Earth rotates on its axis. But If you have seen a picture of a total eclipse of the it looks otherwise and it is easier to describe things Sun you will have noticed that the black disk of the as we see them for our immediate purpose. The Moon just about covers the bright disk of The Sun. If fact that the Earth turns on its axis about every 24 you were to suspend a one Euro coin about two and hours causes the Sun to rise in the east and set in a half metres in front of your eye, it would just the west, and it is due south at noon. A similar about cover the Moon's disk. situation applies to all the other heavenly bodies except that since they appear to move relative to The Sun is nearly 1.4 million km in diameter, the the Sun they are not south every day at noon. Moon is 3476 km and the one Euro coin is just over two centimetres in size. Yet they appear nearly The stars appear to drift west in such a way that equal. This is because they all seem to take up the any particular star is due south four minutes earlier same amount of the space in front of our eyes. We each day or night. If you multiply four minutes by may say they have the same angular diameter. In 365 you get something close to 24 hours. So if a this case it is about half a degree (½°). star is south at eight o'clock tonight, it will be south four minutes earlier tomorrow, and two Degrees are further divided into 60 arcminutes (60') hours earlier in a month. In six months it will be with each arcminute made up of 60 arcseconds south at about eight in the morning. In a year it (60"). The scale allows us to measure angles in the will again be south at eight in the evening. It fol- sky or the apparent size of a celestial object. For lows that we see different constellations in differ- example, the Full Moon measures an average of ½° ent seasons, but over a year, we see all that por- or 30', in diameter. tion of the heavens that can be seen from Ireland. Your closed fist held at arms length is about ten de- Star maps grees (10°). Your stretched out hand, i.e. from the You will need at least one star map. This could be tip of your thumb to the tip of your little finger, is a set of monthly charts such as are included in about twenty degrees. Between four and five out- many books on astronomy. A Planisphere is very stretched hands or twice as many closed fists will useful. They come in various sizes at equivalent take you from the horizon to zenith. If you know the cost. It allows you to show the constellations visi- Plough you will find that its overall length is rather ble at any time of the night, any time in the year. more than one outstretched hand - it is almost 25°. You could get away with using the monthly charts Some familiarity with angular measure is necessary published in newspapers but there are a couple of to find your way easily about the sky. drawbacks. Each chart is correct for only one time on a given night, say 10 p.m. If you are observing Positioning in the sky two hours later you would need the following Starting at any landmark and going right around the month's chart. These charts also show the planets horizon is three hundred and sixty degrees. The azi- visible for a particular month, so they can be con- muth of an object is a measure of its position rela- fusing unless you tippex them out. When learning tive to the horizon as measured from true north the constellations check first from the monthly which starts at 0° with due east being 90° and so notes if there is a bright planet in the area. on. Going from a point on the horizon straight up to the point overhead - the zenith - is ninety degrees Once you can find the constellations you will enjoy and a measure of altitude. learning more about them. Astronomers use a kind of celestial longitude and lati- A useful guide is the Collins Stars & Planets which tude called right ascension and declination to accu- has constellation charts as well as all-sky charts, rately plot the position of an object in the sky. The along with sections on the stars and planets. For basis for this system is the equator and the poles. more detailed studies, especially with binoculars or Page 3 Right ascension is expressed in hours (h), minutes hour system starting at mean midnight as measured (m) and seconds (s) running eastward from 0 to 24 at Greenwich. It is the same as Greenwich Mean hours around the equator. The zero point of right Time GMT. UT is the same as Irish civil time, except ascension is taken as the vernal equinox - the point when Summer Time is in use. To translate UT into where the Sun crosses the celestial equator, moving Summer Time just add one hour. from south to north, in its course around the sky. Star magnitudes An object's declination is written in terms of how The magnitude of a star refers to its brightness, not many degrees, minutes, and seconds north (+) or to its size.