OCTOBER 2 0 0 6 �������������� http://www.universetoday.com �������������� TAMMY PLOTNER WITH JEFF BARBOUR 283 SUNDAY, OCTOBER 1 In 1897, the world’s largest refractor (40”) debuted at the University of Chica- go’s Yerkes Observatory. Also today in 1958, NASA was established by an act of Congress. More? In 1962, the 300-foot radio telescope of the National Ra- dio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) went live at Green Bank, West Virginia. It held place as the world’s second largest radio scope until it collapsed in 1988. Tonight let’s visit with an old lunar favorite. Easily seen in binoculars, the hexagonal walled plain of Albategnius ap- pears near the terminator about one-third the way north of the south limb. Look north of Albategnius for even larger and more ancient Hipparchus giving an almost “figure 8” view in binoculars. Between Hipparchus and Albategnius to the east are mid-sized craters Halley and Hind. Note the curious ALBATEGNIUS AND HIPPARCHUS ON THE relationship between impact crater Klein on Albategnius’ southwestern wall and TERMINATOR CREDIT: ROGER WARNER that of crater Horrocks on the northeastern wall of Hipparchus. Now let’s power up and “crater hop”... Just northwest of Hipparchus’ wall are the beginnings of the Sinus Medii area. Look for the deep imprint of Seeliger - named for a Dutch astronomer. Due north of Hipparchus is Rhaeticus, and here’s where things really get interesting. If the terminator has progressed far enough, you might spot tiny Blagg and Bruce to its west, the rough location of the Surveyor 4 and Surveyor 6 landing area. Directly north of Rhaeticus will be a long series of surface “cracks” known as rimae. These particular ones are the Rimae Triesnecker and you will see the crater itself just to their west. Once lunar studies are complete, turn the scope north and have a look at a fine open cluster. Visible in binoculars most nights, 6.4 magnitude NGC 7243 will show more than two dozen of its brightest 10th and 11th magnitude mem- bers through the average scope and as aperture increases RIMAE TRIESNECKER - so does the stellar population. You’ll find it less than 2 finger-widths west- CREDIT: DAMIAN PEACH southwest of Alpha Lacertae. �������������� http://www.universetoday.com �������������� 284 WHAT’S UP 2006: 365 DAYS OF SKYWATCHING MONDAY, OCTOBER 2 Tonight on the lunar surface, we’ll return to previous study Eratosthenes. Lo- cated on the south shore of Mare Imbrium right where the Apennine mountain range meets the terminator, Eratosthe- nes is one unmistakable crater. Named after the ancient mathematician, geogra- pher and astronomer Eratosthenes, this splendid Class 1 crater is 58 km in di- ameter and 12,300 feet deep. Tonight it will display a bright west wall and a black interior hiding a massive crater-capped central peak that reaches 3570 meters high. Extending like a tail, a 50 mile long mountain ridge angles away from Eratos- thenes to the southwest. Now let’s dance. If you thought Er- atosthenes was it, power up and look again. Just at the end of that southwest trail of mountains are the ruins of S T A D I U S CREDIT: WES HIGGINS crater Stadius, which is peppered with small meteor impacts. Do you remember Shoemaker-Levy and Jupiter? Then look to Stadius’ northwest where you will see a long line of impact craters that must have occurred at roughly the same time from a series of similar sized meteors. If you turn east through Sinus Aestuum, you might spot the small impact of Bode. Go south of Stadius and trace the rilles through Mare Insularum to the blank, small ring of Gambart. Just northeast of this crater are two small punctures and the landing area of Surveyor 2. Now let’s go back to Lacerta and have a look at another moderately bright open cluster - NGC 7209. This large, 6.7 magnitude open cluster is normally visible in binoculars as a faint blur. Dominated by a handful of scattered brighter stars, most of this cluster’s fainter members take up residence in their midst. Start at Pi 2 Cygni and head a bit more than two finger-widths southeast. If you get to a line of fifth magnitude stars running northeast-southwest you’ve gone too far - but in the right direction! �������������� http://www.universetoday.com �������������� TAMMY PLOTNER WITH JEFF BARBOUR 285 TUESDAY, OCTOBER 3 We start tonight’s lunar tour with something that can even be spotted with un- aided vision - Plato. Located in the northern hemisphere of the Moon, its dark ellipse is unmistakable. Plato’s floor consists of 2700 square miles of lava fill and is considered by some observers as the darkest single low-albedo fea- ture on the Moon. Because of its low reflectivity, this crater has the distinction of being one of the only mountain-walled plains that doesn’t “disappear” as the Moon grows full. With Plato in the center of the field note the pyramid-like peak of Pico due south in northeastern Mare Im- brium. East of Pico is an unnamed dorsum - or lava wave - terminating just above crater Piazzi Smyth to the south. Power up and check out the triangular peak near its end. Having looked at the Moon to- night, take the time to view bright PLATO, MONS PICO AND MONS PITON southern star Fomalhaut ascending low to the southeast. Also known as “The CREDIT: GREG KONKEL Lonely One,” Alpha Pisces Austrinus resides in a rather desolate area of the southern sky some 23 light-years away. At magnitude 1.3, Fomalhaut is the 18th brightest star of night sky. This star is nearer, but one magnitude fainter than Vega - a star of similar spectral type. At twice the diameter of our Sun, “The Lonely One” is 14 times more luminous than Sol and is surrounded by what could be a protoplanetary accretion disk. �������������� http://www.universetoday.com �������������� 286 WHAT’S UP 2006: 365 DAYS OF SKYWATCHING WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4 Today in 1957, Sputnik 1 made space history by becoming the first manmade object to orbit the earth. Our Earth’s first artificial satellite was tiny - roughly the size of a basketball - and weighed no more than the average man. Its very first 98 minute elliptical swing around the Earth set off a “space race” that inspired man to the Moon. Many of us old enough to remember Sputnik’s grand passes recall just how inspiring it truly was. Take the time with children or grandchildren S P U T N I K 1 to check heavens-above.com to learn about the visible passes of the ISS and CREDIT: NASA other bright satellites as you think about how spaceflight has changed over the last 50 years! Tonight on the lunar surface, look southwest of striking crater Bullialdus for a pair of similar sized craters on the shore of Mare Nubium - Mercator to the southeast and Campanus to the north- west. Just to their south you will see a triangular dark area that looks like it might be part of Mare Nubium, yet has a few bright points of its own. This is Palus Epidemiarum, a very small plain. Look for the oval of crater Capuanus trapped on its southern edge. Now drop back the power and look at BULLIALDUS, CAPAUNUS the field of stars around the Moon...you just might discover that one of them AND MERCATOR is a planet! Not only will Uranus be very close tonight, but there will also be an CREDIT: GREG KONKEL occultation for some areas, so be sure to check IOTA for information. For southern hemisphere viewers, tonight would be a wonderful opportunity to re-discover one of the finest double stars in the sky - Rigel Kentaurus. Lo- cated low to the southwest, Alpha Centauri is the third brightest star in the sky, yet the most famous due to its distance of 4.34 light-years. �������������� http://www.universetoday.com �������������� TAMMY PLOTNER WITH JEFF BARBOUR 287 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5 Today marks the birth date of Robert Goddard. Born in 1882, Goddard is known as the father of modern rocketry - and with good reason. In 1907, he came into the public eye behind a cloud of smoke rising from the thruster of a small solid- fuel rocket in the basement of the physics building of Worcester Polytechnic Institute. By 1914, Robert had patented the use of liquid fuel and multi-stage solid fuel rockets. Driven by efforts to put equipment ever higher, by 1920 God- dard envisioned rockets reaching the Moon. Among his many achievements, he proved that a rocket would work in a vacuum and by 1926 he had sent the first scientific package along for the ride. By 1932, Goddard launched guided flights and in 1937 mounted thrusters on gimbals and stabilized them gyroscopically. Goddard’s lifetime of work went pretty much unnoticed until the dawn of the Space Age, but in 1959 (14 years after his death) he received due acclaim as ROBERT GODDARD CREDIT: NASA NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center was established in his memory. Today in 1923, Edwin Hubble was busily discovering the first Cepheid vari- able in M31. His discovery was crucial in proving “spiral nebulae” were actually independent and external galaxies. Tonight let’s look at a Cepheid variable as we head towards... well... Cepheus! “3.9” magnitude Delta, the prototype, is the easternmost in a trio of stars marking the southeastern corner of the constellation. Delta is the great-grand- daddy of all stars with smooth and predictable changes in luminosity. In fact, it’s so predictable you could set your “5 day, 8 hour, 47 minute, and 32 second” clock to it.