Snake River Skies
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Snake River Skies The Newsletter of the Magic Valley Astronomical Society June 2014 Membership Meeting Message from the President – Robert Mayer Astronomy Day Saturday June 14th 2014 Colleagues, 7:00pm at the Herrett Center for Arts & Science It has been a busy month of May, and it will be a busy month of June. We started off College of Southern Idaho the month with a great Astronomy Day at the Herrett Center at the College of Public Star Party follows the Southern Idaho. Later that day, Mark Daily, chair of the College of Southern Idaho General Mtg. at Centennial Obs. Physical Science department taught us just how a hot plate and a laser can be used to teach us about adaptive optics and opened our eyes into how lasers are being used to deal with the distortion our atmosphere does to the light we see. At the end Club Officers: of the month we attempted to catch a new meteor shower, the Camelopardalis, but as did the many of the country learned as we did, we are sad to say that very little Robert Mayer, President manifested. Still, the evening wasn’t wasted as we took advantage of the dark skies [email protected] of the Jerome Gun Club to look up other objects. Just after this newsletter went to 208-312-1203 press, we were preparing for the first ever Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument Star Party. Jim Hoggatt, Vice President [email protected] This month has the potential to be just as busy. Yes, the regular Wednesday solar 208-420-7690 sessions at the Centennial Observatory are picking up, but perhaps the highlight of the month is the Idaho Falls’ Astronomical Society’s star party at the Craters of the Gary Leavitt, Secretary Moon National Monument, set for June 27-28. While this is the IFAS’ star party, four [email protected] of us went last year and were warmly welcomed. I think IFAS would love to have 208-731-7476 more of us down there, so feel free to take advantage of the dark skies of the desert landscape. That’s just one of the few activities going around astronomy and Jim Tubbs, Treasurer / ALCOR southern Idaho, so let’s keep in touch via MVAS E-mails [email protected] 208-404-2999 Clear Views, David Olsen, Newsletter Editor [email protected] Rob Mayer Rick Widmer, Webmaster [email protected] Magic Valley Astronomical Society is a member of the Astronomical League In this Issue President’s Message / Board Members Contact Page 1 Table of Contents / May Overview Page 2 Calendar Page 3 Planisphere Page 4 Idaho Skies Page 5 - 6 Solar System Page 7 Comets and Meteors for May Page 8 - 12 Deep Sky Page 13 Club Announcements Page 14 Looking Through the Eyepiece / Trivia Page 15 - 16 NASA Space Place Page 17 Observatories / Planetarium Schedules Page 18 - 19 About the Magic Valley Astronomical Society Page 20 June Overview The length of the day stops getting longer by the 21st of the month. Our day in Idaho lasts13 hours and 17 minutes on the first and is only 21 minutes longer on the 30th. A thin crescent moon is visible on the night of the 1st. In binoculars, you should be able to see Earthshine. A second opportunity to observe Earthshine occurs in the morning starting the 22nd as the moon approaches Venus Venus remains very low in the east. You’ll need to look an hour before sunrise (around 5:00 AM) to see it. Mars is located in the southwest after dark and appears as a yellow-orange star. The moon makes a close passage to the planet on the 7th. This is your last month to observe Jupiter in the evening. Look for the bright planet low in the west-northwest. The moon appears close to Jupiter on the 1st. June is Saturn’s month. The pale yellow-white planet appears in the southern sky after darkness sets. The moon passes close to Saturn and the wide double star Zubenelgenubi on the 9th. Giovanni Cassini (1625-1712), Charles Messier (1730-1817), and George Ellery Hale (1868-1938) were born this month. Mercury is in the northwest, Mars is in the southwest, Jupiter is in the west, and Saturn is in the south in the evening sky. At midnight, Mars and Saturn lie in the southwest. Venus and Uranus can be found in the east and Neptune in the southeast at dawn. Brightness, apparent size, illumination, distance from the Earth in astronomical units, and location data for the planets and Pluto on June 1: Mercury (magnitude +1.9, 9.5", 25% illuminated, 0.71 a.u., Gemini), Venus (magnitude -4.1, 13.9", 77% illuminated, 1.20 a.u., Aires), Mars (magnitude -0.5, 11.8", 91% illuminated, 0.79 a.u., Virgo), Jupiter (magnitude -1.9, 32.9", 100% illuminated, 5.99 a.u., Gemini), Saturn (magnitude +0.2, 18.5", 100% illuminated, 8.97 a.u., Libra), Uranus on June 16th (magnitude +5.9, 3.5", 100% illuminated, 20.37 a.u., Pisces), Neptune on June 16th (magnitude +7.9, 2.3", 100% illuminated, 29.66 a.u., Aquarius) and Pluto on June 16th (magnitude +14.1, 0.1", 100% illuminated, 31.70 a.u., Sagittarius). June marks the end of productive telescopic observing of the planet with small and medium apertures. Calendar June 2014 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Moon is at Triple Galilean First Quarter apogee satellite Moon subtending transit at noon 47% Visible 29'30" 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Flag Day General Membership Mtg at 19:00 Herrett Center Full Moon College of 100% Visible Southern Idaho Greatest southern Earliest Sunrise declination -19.1° of the year. 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Summer Earliest Last Quarter Moon is at Solstice Father's Day morning Moon perigee, Begins at twilight of the 57% Visible subtending 04:51-hrs. Fri. 33'00" year 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Moon greatest New Moon northern 1% Visible declination of +19.1° 29 30 Snake River Skies is the Newsletter of the Magic Valley Astronomical Society and is published electronically once a month Snake River Skies is copyrighted, except where noted and credit is via permission of the respective author. Snake River Skies © 2014 by David Olsen for the Magic Valley Astronomical Society, All Rights Reserved. Images used in this newsletter, unless otherwise noted, are in the public domain and are courtesy of NASA, Wikimedia, or from MVAS File Photos. Planisphere Be Safe – Get Out There – Explore Your Universe! Solar System Mercury is less than one half of a degree south of the bright open cluster M35 on June 2nd. It is at the descending node on June 5th. On June 6th, Mercury begins retrograde motion. It is stationary on June 7th and is at aphelion on June 15th. The speedy planet is at inferior conjunction on June 19th and is lost in the glare of the Sun for the remainder of June. Venus continues to shrink in apparent size (13.9 to 12.0 arc seconds) but grow in illumination (77 to 85%) this month. It rises about two hours before sunrise. Venus departs Aries and enters Taurus on June 18th. The brightest planet is located a bit more than two degrees south of the waning crescent Moon on the morning of June 24th. During the last week of June, Venus passes between the Pleiades and the Hyades. Mars shrinks in apparent size (11.8 to 9.5 arc seconds) and decreases in brightness (-0.5 to 0.0 magnitude), as it continues to recede from the Earth. At sunset, it is already to the west of the meridian. Mars is less than two degrees north of the Moon for western hemisphere observers on the night of June 7th. It is at the descending node on June 11th, as it passes south of the ecliptic. June marks the end of productive telescopic observing of the planet with small and medium apertures. The gas giant Jupiter disappears into the glare of evening twilight by the end of June. A 95-minute-long triple Galilean satellite shadow transit takes place on June 3rd but occurs during the daytime from the western hemisphere. On June 21st, Jupiter passes 6 degrees south of Pollux. Saturn shines at magnitude 0.3 and spans 18.3 arc seconds as it retrogrades in Libra. Its rings subtend 42 arc seconds and are inclined by 21 degrees. Saturn is occulted by the Moon in some parts of the southern hemisphere on June 10th. The peculiar satellite Iapetus shines at tenth-magnitude this month. It lies 2.3 arc minutes south of the planet on June 12th and 8.8 arc minutes west of the planet on June 30th. Uranus can be found two to three degrees south-southwest of the fourth-magnitude star Delta Piscium. The sixth-magnitude stars 73 and 80 Piscium lie to the east of Uranus. Neptune is located between two seventh magnitude stars, approximately two degrees northeast of the fifth-magnitude star Sigma Aquarii. The distant planet begins retrograde motion on June 10th. Pluto lies in northern Sagittarius, about one half of a degree north of the fifth-magnitude star Xi1 Sagittarii. A finder chart is available on pages 50 and 51 of the June issue of Sky & Telescope Comet C/2012 X1 (LINEAR) and Comet C/2012 K1 (PanSTARRS) are at 8th magnitude and will remain that bright until July. PanSTARRS moves through Leo Minor and will continue above the head of Leo in July.