Astronomy Targets: September 2018 Unless Stated Otherwise, All Times Are for Mid-Month, for Birmingham UK and Are GMT+1
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Art Matching
Art Matching Program Type: Demonstration or Classroom Audience Type: Grade 4–adult Program Description: Students explore how artists from different cultures have used art to represent space-related phenomena. Topics: Moon, space travel, art, stars, sky-watching Process Skills Focus: Critical thinking, observing, creativity. LEARNING OBJECTIVES For Next Generation Science Standards alignment, see end of outline. • Many artists are inspired by astronomy and the universe. • Cultures often have their own interpretations of the sky and celestial phenomena. • Art is one of many ways to capture our observations of and reflections on the sky. TIME REQUIRED Advance Prep Set Up Activity Clean Up 15 minutes 5 minutes 10 minutes 5 minutes SITE REQUIREMENTS • Table or other flat surface • Chairs (optional, but helpful for elderly or young audiences) Art Matching 1 Lenses on the Sky OMSI 2017 PROGRAM FORMAT Segment Format Time Introduction Large group discussion 2 min Art Matching Group Activity 5 min Wrap-Up Large group discussion 3 min SUPPLIES Permanent Supplies Amount Notes Laminated pages showing the artists 5 and their work Laminated cards showing 5 astronomical images ADVANCE PREPARATION • Print out, cut, and laminate the pages showing the artists and their work (at the end of the document). • Print out, cut, and laminate the five cards showing the astronomical images (at the end of the document). • Complete the activity to familiarize yourself with the process. SET UP Spread out the five pages showing the artists and their work on the table. Below the pages, place the five cards showing the astronomical objects. INTRODUCTION 2 minutes Let students speculate before offering answers to any questions. -
Filter Performance Comparisons for Some Common Nebulae
Filter Performance Comparisons For Some Common Nebulae By Dave Knisely Light Pollution and various “nebula” filters have been around since the late 1970’s, and amateurs have been using them ever since to bring out detail (and even some objects) which were difficult to impossible to see before in modest apertures. When I started using them in the early 1980’s, specific information about which filter might work on a given object (or even whether certain filters were useful at all) was often hard to come by. Even those accounts that were available often had incomplete or inaccurate information. Getting some observational experience with the Lumicon line of filters helped, but there were still some unanswered questions. I wondered how the various filters would rank on- average against each other for a large number of objects, and whether there was a “best overall” filter. In particular, I also wondered if the much-maligned H-Beta filter was useful on more objects than the two or three targets most often mentioned in publications. In the summer of 1999, I decided to begin some more comprehensive observations to try and answer these questions and determine how to best use these filters overall. I formulated a basic survey covering a moderate number of emission and planetary nebulae to obtain some statistics on filter performance to try to address the following questions: 1. How do the various filter types compare as to what (on average) they show on a given nebula? 2. Is there one overall “best” nebula filter which will work on the largest number of objects? 3. -
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. -
Winter Constellations
Winter Constellations *Orion *Canis Major *Monoceros *Canis Minor *Gemini *Auriga *Taurus *Eradinus *Lepus *Monoceros *Cancer *Lynx *Ursa Major *Ursa Minor *Draco *Camelopardalis *Cassiopeia *Cepheus *Andromeda *Perseus *Lacerta *Pegasus *Triangulum *Aries *Pisces *Cetus *Leo (rising) *Hydra (rising) *Canes Venatici (rising) Orion--Myth: Orion, the great hunter. In one myth, Orion boasted he would kill all the wild animals on the earth. But, the earth goddess Gaia, who was the protector of all animals, produced a gigantic scorpion, whose body was so heavily encased that Orion was unable to pierce through the armour, and was himself stung to death. His companion Artemis was greatly saddened and arranged for Orion to be immortalised among the stars. Scorpius, the scorpion, was placed on the opposite side of the sky so that Orion would never be hurt by it again. To this day, Orion is never seen in the sky at the same time as Scorpius. DSO’s ● ***M42 “Orion Nebula” (Neb) with Trapezium A stellar nursery where new stars are being born, perhaps a thousand stars. These are immense clouds of interstellar gas and dust collapse inward to form stars, mainly of ionized hydrogen which gives off the red glow so dominant, and also ionized greenish oxygen gas. The youngest stars may be less than 300,000 years old, even as young as 10,000 years old (compared to the Sun, 4.6 billion years old). 1300 ly. 1 ● *M43--(Neb) “De Marin’s Nebula” The star-forming “comma-shaped” region connected to the Orion Nebula. ● *M78--(Neb) Hard to see. A star-forming region connected to the Orion Nebula. -
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. -
August 13 2016 7:00Pm at the Herrett Center for Arts & Science College of Southern Idaho
Snake River Skies The Newsletter of the Magic Valley Astronomical Society www.mvastro.org Membership Meeting President’s Message Saturday, August 13th 2016 7:00pm at the Herrett Center for Arts & Science College of Southern Idaho. Public Star Party Follows at the Colleagues, Centennial Observatory Club Officers It's that time of year: The City of Rocks Star Party. Set for Friday, Aug. 5th, and Saturday, Aug. 6th, the event is the gem of the MVAS year. As we've done every Robert Mayer, President year, we will hold solar viewing at the Smoky Mountain Campground, followed by a [email protected] potluck there at the campground. Again, MVAS will provide the main course and 208-312-1203 beverages. Paul McClain, Vice President After the potluck, the party moves over to the corral by the bunkhouse over at [email protected] Castle Rocks, with deep sky viewing beginning sometime after 9 p.m. This is a chance to dig into some of the darkest skies in the west. Gary Leavitt, Secretary [email protected] Some members have already reserved campsites, but for those who are thinking of 208-731-7476 dropping by at the last minute, we have room for you at the bunkhouse, and would love to have to come by. Jim Tubbs, Treasurer / ALCOR [email protected] The following Saturday will be the regular MVAS meeting. Please check E-mail or 208-404-2999 Facebook for updates on our guest speaker that day. David Olsen, Newsletter Editor Until then, clear views, [email protected] Robert Mayer Rick Widmer, Webmaster [email protected] Magic Valley Astronomical Society is a member of the Astronomical League M-51 imaged by Rick Widmer & Ken Thomason Herrett Telescope Shotwell Camera https://herrett.csi.edu/astronomy/observatory/City_of_Rocks_Star_Party_2016.asp Calendars for August Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 2 3 4 5 6 New Moon City Rocks City Rocks Lunation 1158 Castle Rocks Castle Rocks Star Party Star Party Almo, ID Almo, ID 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 MVAS General Mtg. -
Feb BACK BAY 2019
Feb BACK BAY 2019 The official newsletter of the Back Bay Amateur Astronomers CONTENTS COMING UP Gamma Burst 2 Feb 7 BBAA Meeting Eclipse Collage 3 7:30-9PM TCC, Virginia Beach NSN Article 6 Heart Nebula 7 Feb 8 Silent Sky Club meeting 10 10-11PM Little Theatre of VB Winter DSOs 11 Contact info 16 Feb 8 Cornwatch Photo by Chuck Jagow Canon 60Da, various exposures, iOptron mount with an Orion 80ED Calendar 17 dusk-dawn The best 9 out of 3465 images taken from about 10:00 PM on the 20th Cornland Park through 2:20 AM on the 21st. Unprocessed images (only cropped). Feb 14 Garden Stars 7-8:30PM LOOKING UP! a message from the president Norfolk Botanical Gardens This month’s most talked about astronomy event has to be the total lunar Feb 16 Saturday Sun-day eclipse. The BBAA participated by supporting the Watch Party at the 10AM-1PM Chesapeake Planetarium. Anyone in attendance will tell you it was COLD, but Elizabeth River Park manageable if you wore layers, utilized the planetarium where Dr. Robert Hitt seemed to have the thermostat set to 100 degrees, and drank copious amounts Feb 23 Skywatch of the hot coffee that Kent Blackwell brewed in the back office. 6PM-10PM The event had a huge following on Facebook but with the cold Northwest River Park temperatures, we weren’t sure how many would come out. By Kent’s estimate there were between 100–200 people in attendance. Many club members set up telescopes, as well as a few members of the public too. -
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 -
Ghost Hunt Challenge 2020
Virtual Ghost Hunt Challenge 10/21 /2020 (Sorry we can meet in person this year or give out awards but try doing this challenge on your own.) Participant’s Name _________________________ Categories for the competition: Manual Telescope Electronically Aided Telescope Binocular Astrophotography (best photo) (if you expect to compete in more than one category please fill-out a sheet for each) ** There are four objects on this list that may be beyond the reach of beginning astronomers or basic telescopes. Therefore, we have marked these objects with an * and provided alternate replacements for you just below the designated entry. We will use the primary objects to break a tie if that’s needed. Page 1 TAS Ghost Hunt Challenge - Page 2 Time # Designation Type Con. RA Dec. Mag. Size Common Name Observed Facing West – 7:30 8:30 p.m. 1 M17 EN Sgr 18h21’ -16˚11’ 6.0 40’x30’ Omega Nebula 2 M16 EN Ser 18h19’ -13˚47 6.0 17’ by 14’ Ghost Puppet Nebula 3 M10 GC Oph 16h58’ -04˚08’ 6.6 20’ 4 M12 GC Oph 16h48’ -01˚59’ 6.7 16’ 5 M51 Gal CVn 13h30’ 47h05’’ 8.0 13.8’x11.8’ Whirlpool Facing West - 8:30 – 9:00 p.m. 6 M101 GAL UMa 14h03’ 54˚15’ 7.9 24x22.9’ 7 NGC 6572 PN Oph 18h12’ 06˚51’ 7.3 16”x13” Emerald Eye 8 NGC 6426 GC Oph 17h46’ 03˚10’ 11.0 4.2’ 9 NGC 6633 OC Oph 18h28’ 06˚31’ 4.6 20’ Tweedledum 10 IC 4756 OC Ser 18h40’ 05˚28” 4.6 39’ Tweedledee 11 M26 OC Sct 18h46’ -09˚22’ 8.0 7.0’ 12 NGC 6712 GC Sct 18h54’ -08˚41’ 8.1 9.8’ 13 M13 GC Her 16h42’ 36˚25’ 5.8 20’ Great Hercules Cluster 14 NGC 6709 OC Aql 18h52’ 10˚21’ 6.7 14’ Flying Unicorn 15 M71 GC Sge 19h55’ 18˚50’ 8.2 7’ 16 M27 PN Vul 20h00’ 22˚43’ 7.3 8’x6’ Dumbbell Nebula 17 M56 GC Lyr 19h17’ 30˚13 8.3 9’ 18 M57 PN Lyr 18h54’ 33˚03’ 8.8 1.4’x1.1’ Ring Nebula 19 M92 GC Her 17h18’ 43˚07’ 6.44 14’ 20 M72 GC Aqr 20h54’ -12˚32’ 9.2 6’ Facing West - 9 – 10 p.m. -
Binocular Challenge Here
AHSP Binocular Observing Award Compiled by Phil Harrington www.philharrington.net • To qualify for the BOA pin, you must see 15 of the following 20 binocular targets. Check off each as you spot them. Seen # Object Const. Type* RA Dec Mag Size Nickname 1. M13 Her GC 16 41.7 +36 28 5.9 16' Great Hercules Globular 2. M57 Lyr PN 18 53.6 +33 02 9.7 86"x62" Ring Nebula 3. Collinder 399 Vul AS 19 25.4 +20 11 3.6 60' Coathanger/Brocchi’s Cluster 3.1 4. Albireo Cyg Dbl 19 30.7 +27 57 35” Color Contrasting Double 5.1 5. M27 Vul PN 19 59.6 +22 43 8.1 8’x6’ Dumbbell Nebula 6. NGC 6992 Cyg SNR 20 56.4 +31 43 - 60'x8 Veil Nebula (east) 7. NGC 7000 Cyg BN 20 58.8 +44 20 - 120'x100' North America Nebula 8. M15 Peg GC 21 30.0 +12 10 7.5 12’ Great Pegasus Cluster 9. M39 Cyg OC 21 32.2 +48 26 4.6 32' 10. Barnard 168 Cyg DN 21 53.2 +47 12 - 100'x10' West of Cocoon Nebula 11. IC 5146 Cyg BN/OC 21 53.5 +47 16 - 12'x12' Cocoon Nebula 12. M110 And Gx 00 40.4 +41 41 10 17’x10’ 13. M32 And Gx 00 42.8 +40 52 10 8’x6’ 14. M31 And Gx 00 42.8 +41 16 4.5 178’ Andromeda Galaxy 15. NGC 457 Cas OC 01 19.1 +58 20 6.4 13’ Owl Cluster/ET Cluster 16. -
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).