OBSERVING BASICS by GUY MACKIE
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Eclipse Newsletter
ECLIPSE NEWSLETTER The Eclipse Newsletter is dedicated to increasing the knowledge of Astronomy, Astrophysics, Cosmology and related subjects. VOLUMN 2 NUMBER 1 JANUARY – FEBRUARY 2018 PLEASE SEND ALL PHOTOS, QUESTIONS AND REQUST FOR ARTICLES TO [email protected] 1 MCAO PUBLIC NIGHTS AND FAMILY NIGHTS. The general public and MCAO members are invited to visit the Observatory on select Monday evenings at 8PM for Public Night programs. These programs include discussions and illustrated talks on astronomy, planetarium programs and offer the opportunity to view the planets, moon and other objects through the telescope, weather permitting. Due to limited parking and seating at the observatory, admission is by reservation only. Public Night attendance is limited to adults and students 5th grade and above. If you are interested in making reservations for a public night, you can contact us by calling 302-654- 6407 between the hours of 9 am and 1 pm Monday through Friday. Or you can email us any time at [email protected] or [email protected]. The public nights will be presented even if the weather does not permit observation through the telescope. The admission fees are $3 for adults and $2 for children. There is no admission cost for MCAO members, but reservations are still required. If you are interested in becoming a MCAO member, please see the link for membership. We also offer family memberships. Family Nights are scheduled from late spring to early fall on Friday nights at 8:30PM. These programs are opportunities for families with younger children to see and learn about astronomy by looking at and enjoying the sky and its wonders. -
What's up This Month – December 2019 These Pages Are Intended to Help You Find Your Way Around the Sky
WHAT'S UP THIS MONTH – DECEMBER 2019 THESE PAGES ARE INTENDED TO HELP YOU FIND YOUR WAY AROUND THE SKY The chart above shows the night sky as it appears on 15th December at 21:00 (9 o’clock) in the evening Greenwich Meantime Time (GMT). As the Earth orbits the Sun and we look out into space each night the stars will appear to have moved across the sky by a small amount. Every month Earth moves one twelfth of its circuit around the Sun, this amounts to 30 degrees each month. There are about 30 days in each month so each night the stars appear to move about 1 degree. The sky will therefore appear the same as shown on the chart above at 10 o’clock GMT at the beginning of the month and at 8 o’clock GMT at the end of the month. The stars also appear to move 15º (360º divided by 24) each hour from east to west, due to the Earth rotating once every 24 hours. The centre of the chart will be the position in the sky directly overhead, called the Zenith. First we need to find some familiar objects so we can get our bearings. The Pole Star Polaris can be easily found by first finding the familiar shape of the Great Bear ‘Ursa Major’ that is also 1 sometimes called the Plough or even the Big Dipper by the Americans. Ursa Major is visible throughout the year from Britain and is always easy to find. This month it is in the north east. -
Meeting Announcement Upcoming Star Parties And
CVAS Executive Committee Pres – Bruce Horrocks Night Sky Network Coordinator – [email protected] Garrett Smith – [email protected] Vice Pres- James Somers Past President – Dell Vance (435) 938-8328 [email protected] [email protected] Treasurer- Janice Bradshaw Public Relations – Lyle Johnson - [email protected] [email protected] Secretary – Wendell Waters (435) 213-9230 Webmaster, Librarian – Tom Westre [email protected] [email protected] Vol. 7 Number 6 February 2020 www.cvas-utahskies.org The President’s Corner Meeting Announcement By Bruce Horrocks – CVAS President Our next meeting will be held on Wed. I don’t know about most of you, but I for February 26th at 7 pm in the Lake Bonneville Room one would be glad to at least see a bit of sun and of the Logan City Library. Our presenter will be clear skies at least once this winter. I believe there Wendell Waters, and his presentation is called was just a couple of nights in the last 2 months that “Charles Messier and the ‘Not-Comet’ Catalogue”. I was able to get out and do some observing and so I The meeting is free and open to the public. am hoping to see some clear skies this spring. I Light refreshments will be served. COME AND have watched all the documentaries I can stand on JOIN US!! Netflix, so I am running out of other nighttime activities to do and I really want to get out and test my new little 72mm telescope. Upcoming Star Parties and CVAS Events We made a change to our club fees at our last meeting and if you happened to have missed We have four STEM Nights coming up in that I will just quickly explain it to you now. -
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 -
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. -
Kent Sundell Compiled the Field Logs
AAPG TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE SEMINAR FIELD GUIDE to: Impact Craters and Outcrops of the K-T Boundary Casper, Wyoming USA August 18-22, 2017 Published July 28, 2017 2 | P a g e AAPG TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE SEMINAR FIELD GUIDE CONTENTS Itinerary………………………………………………………………Page 5 Instructor Bios…………………………………………………….Page 9 Packing List Field Gear…..……………………………………Page 13 Field Safety…………………………………………………………Page 14 Casper Area Geologic Map………………………………….Page 16 Casper Area Sat. Images……………………………………..Page 17 Wyoming Stratigraphic Nomenclature Chart……….Page 19 Field Day 1- August 19, 2017………………………………Page 21 Trip Log Salt Creek, WY Cretaceous Fossils..Page 24 Trip Log Linch/Sussex, WY K/T Boundary…..Page 29 Field Day 2- August 20, 2017…………………………..….Page 31 Paleontology and Geology of the White River Formation……………………. Page 40 Trip Log Douglas, WY Impact Craters…………Page 45 Trip Log White River Fm. Fossils………………..Page 47 Star Gazing Guide……………………………………………….Page 49 Field Day 3- August 21, 2017……………………………….Page 56 Total Solar Eclipse- Isaak Walton Lodge, Casper Additional Literature on the Subjects Covered…..Page 73 3 | P a g e ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This Field Guide was compiled by Doug Cook who accepts all responsibility for mistakes, errors, and omissions. Kent Sundell compiled the field logs. Special thanks to Jack Schmitt and Jim Reilly whose tireless participation and enthusiasm in AAPG Astrogeology events give us their professional perspective and expertise. We owe mountains of gratitude to Kent Sundell, Casper College, staff and students for organizing, guiding, and operating the field trips in this Seminar. Thanks to Don Clarke whose eclipse experience, ideas, and Casper connections were the catalyst for the AAPG Eclipse Seminar. -
The Midnight Sky: Familiar Notes on the Stars and Planets, Edward Durkin, July 15, 1869 a Good Way to Start – Find North
The expression "dog days" refers to the period from July 3 through Aug. 11 when our brightest night star, SIRIUS (aka the dog star), rises in conjunction* with the sun. Conjunction, in astronomy, is defined as the apparent meeting or passing of two celestial bodies. TAAS Fabulous Fifty A program for those new to astronomy Friday Evening, July 20, 2018, 8:00 pm All TAAS and other new and not so new astronomers are welcome. What is the TAAS Fabulous 50 Program? It is a set of 4 meetings spread across a calendar year in which a beginner to astronomy learns to locate 50 of the most prominent night sky objects visible to the naked eye. These include stars, constellations, asterisms, and Messier objects. Methodology 1. Meeting dates for each season in year 2018 Winter Jan 19 Spring Apr 20 Summer Jul 20 Fall Oct 19 2. Locate the brightest and easiest to observe stars and associated constellations 3. Add new prominent constellations for each season Tonight’s Schedule 8:00 pm – We meet inside for a slide presentation overview of the Summer sky. 8:40 pm – View night sky outside The Midnight Sky: Familiar Notes on the Stars and Planets, Edward Durkin, July 15, 1869 A Good Way to Start – Find North Polaris North Star Polaris is about the 50th brightest star. It appears isolated making it easy to identify. Circumpolar Stars Polaris Horizon Line Albuquerque -- 35° N Circumpolar Stars Capella the Goat Star AS THE WORLD TURNS The Circle of Perpetual Apparition for Albuquerque Deneb 1 URSA MINOR 2 3 2 URSA MAJOR & Vega BIG DIPPER 1 3 Draco 4 Camelopardalis 6 4 Deneb 5 CASSIOPEIA 5 6 Cepheus Capella the Goat Star 2 3 1 Draco Ursa Minor Ursa Major 6 Camelopardalis 4 Cassiopeia 5 Cepheus Clock and Calendar A single map of the stars can show the places of the stars at different hours and months of the year in consequence of the earth’s two primary movements: Daily Clock The rotation of the earth on it's own axis amounts to 360 degrees in 24 hours, or 15 degrees per hour (360/24). -
Guide Du Ciel Profond
Guide du ciel profond Olivier PETIT 8 mai 2004 2 Introduction hjjdfhgf ghjfghfd fg hdfjgdf gfdhfdk dfkgfd fghfkg fdkg fhdkg fkg kfghfhk Table des mati`eres I Objets par constellation 21 1 Androm`ede (And) Andromeda 23 1.1 Messier 31 (La grande Galaxie d'Androm`ede) . 25 1.2 Messier 32 . 27 1.3 Messier 110 . 29 1.4 NGC 404 . 31 1.5 NGC 752 . 33 1.6 NGC 891 . 35 1.7 NGC 7640 . 37 1.8 NGC 7662 (La boule de neige bleue) . 39 2 La Machine pneumatique (Ant) Antlia 41 2.1 NGC 2997 . 43 3 le Verseau (Aqr) Aquarius 45 3.1 Messier 2 . 47 3.2 Messier 72 . 49 3.3 Messier 73 . 51 3.4 NGC 7009 (La n¶ebuleuse Saturne) . 53 3.5 NGC 7293 (La n¶ebuleuse de l'h¶elice) . 56 3.6 NGC 7492 . 58 3.7 NGC 7606 . 60 3.8 Cederblad 211 (N¶ebuleuse de R Aquarii) . 62 4 l'Aigle (Aql) Aquila 63 4.1 NGC 6709 . 65 4.2 NGC 6741 . 67 4.3 NGC 6751 (La n¶ebuleuse de l’œil flou) . 69 4.4 NGC 6760 . 71 4.5 NGC 6781 (Le nid de l'Aigle ) . 73 TABLE DES MATIERES` 5 4.6 NGC 6790 . 75 4.7 NGC 6804 . 77 4.8 Barnard 142-143 (La tani`ere noire) . 79 5 le B¶elier (Ari) Aries 81 5.1 NGC 772 . 83 6 le Cocher (Aur) Auriga 85 6.1 Messier 36 . 87 6.2 Messier 37 . 89 6.3 Messier 38 . -
Injunction Sought to Delay J.C. Penney
Injunction sought to delay J.C. Penney and meaningful consideration of en the town’s Economic Development original complaint but not in the By Scot French Manchester law firm of Beck & new,” since it has been part of the vironmental factors.” Commission, said this morning he complaint for a new trial. He Herald Reporter Pagano, said the coalition has coalition’s plans for several years. ’The environmentalists, organized The justices ruled that the lower had not yet seen a copy of the injunc speculated that the motion was filed already proved that the lack of a tion motion and therefore could not to correct that oversight. A Manchester enviromnmeiital mass transit system to serve the by local pharmacist Michael court had followed improper Dworkin, won a major victory last procedures in rejecting the en comment. The J.C. Penney vvarehouse, a coalition fighting for a mass transit site will dangerously increase air regional distribution center for system to serve the Buckiand In- May when the state Supreme Court vironmentalists case and ordered a Bourke G. Spellacy, an attorney pollution in the area. who has represented J.C. Penney catalogue sales in the northeast, dustriai Park has formally asked He said the injunction is the “only struck down a lower court ruling new trial. against the coalition and ordered a since the originai suit was filed in began accepting applications for 1,- the courts to block the J.C. Penney relief avaiiable” while the coalition I’AGANO SAID PROCEDURAL 500 full-time jobs last month. warehouse from opening this fall. new trial. -
February 2019 These Pages Are Intended to Help You Find Your Way Around the Sky
WHAT'S UP THIS MONTH – FEBRUARY 2019 THESE PAGES ARE INTENDED TO HELP YOU FIND YOUR WAY AROUND THE SKY The chart above shows the night sky as it appears on 15th February at 21:00 (9 o’clock) in the evening Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). As the Earth orbits the Sun and we look out into space each night the stars will appear to have moved across the sky by a small amount. Every month Earth moves one twelfth of its circuit around the Sun, this amounts to 30 degrees each month. There are about 30 days in each month so each night the stars appear to move about 1 degree. The sky will therefore appear the same as shown on the chart above at 10 o’clock GMT at the beginning of the month and at 8 o’clock GMT at the end of the month. The stars also appear to move 15º (360º divided by 24) each hour from east to west, due to the Earth rotating once every 24 hours. The centre of the chart will be the position in the sky directly overhead, called the Zenith. First we need to find some familiar objects so we can get our bearings. The Pole Star Polaris can be easily found by first finding the familiar shape of the Great Bear ‘Ursa Major’ that is also sometimes called the Plough or even the Big Dipper by the Americans. Ursa Major is visible 1 of 13 pages throughout the year from Britain and is always easy to find. This month it is in the North East. -
A Basic Requirement for Studying the Heavens Is Determining Where In
Abasic requirement for studying the heavens is determining where in the sky things are. To specify sky positions, astronomers have developed several coordinate systems. Each uses a coordinate grid projected on to the celestial sphere, in analogy to the geographic coordinate system used on the surface of the Earth. The coordinate systems differ only in their choice of the fundamental plane, which divides the sky into two equal hemispheres along a great circle (the fundamental plane of the geographic system is the Earth's equator) . Each coordinate system is named for its choice of fundamental plane. The equatorial coordinate system is probably the most widely used celestial coordinate system. It is also the one most closely related to the geographic coordinate system, because they use the same fun damental plane and the same poles. The projection of the Earth's equator onto the celestial sphere is called the celestial equator. Similarly, projecting the geographic poles on to the celest ial sphere defines the north and south celestial poles. However, there is an important difference between the equatorial and geographic coordinate systems: the geographic system is fixed to the Earth; it rotates as the Earth does . The equatorial system is fixed to the stars, so it appears to rotate across the sky with the stars, but of course it's really the Earth rotating under the fixed sky. The latitudinal (latitude-like) angle of the equatorial system is called declination (Dec for short) . It measures the angle of an object above or below the celestial equator. The longitud inal angle is called the right ascension (RA for short). -
Nrao Printersprd2
NRAO National Radio Astronomy Observatory National Radio Astronomy Observatory www.nrao.edu The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities Inc. Design: Photoworks Creative Group, Charlottesville,Virginia The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) enables cutting-edge research in the study of the Universe using radio astronomy techniques, attracts and trains future scientists and engineers, and stimulates public interest in science. The radio emission (orange) detected by the NRAO Very Large Array (VLA) is synchrotron radiation emitted by electrons moving at nearly the speed of light in a cosmic magnetic field. These electrons originate in enormous energy outflows from jets fueled by supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies. Credit: NRAO/AUI, J. M. Uson (cover image) NRAO VLA located in New Mexico. The NRAO seeks to bring the excitement of modern astronomy to persons of every age.The Green Bank Science Center in West Virginia, and the Very Large Array Visitor Center in New Mexico offer numerous opportunities to explore astronomy through hands-on exhibits, tours, informative videos, and shops. Special activities and programs are available for school and youth groups of all ages. Credit: NRAO/AUI Want to Learn More? The Green Bank Science Center is located adjacent to the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope, 300 miles west of Washington D.C. in Pocahontas County, West Virginia. The VLA Visitor Center is located at the Very Large Array, south of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and 50 miles west of Socorro, New Mexico, on Highway 60. For detailed maps, operations hours, program opportunities and times, and other information please visit the NRAO on-line at www.nrao.edu/epo, or contact us by phone or email.