McCook, Nebraska · Thursday, March 11, 2010
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Playing fast and loose with clocks (03/11/10)
Okay, okay, I hear you, Venus is appearing in the west, not the east as I said last time. All I can say is I didn't have my trusty Boy Scout compass with me when I was out looking. But, Venus is making a very nice showing these evenings and will do so clear into late March and early April when it will be joined by sister inner-planet Mercury...
The stars, they are a changin' (03/04/10)
To quote the song of old -- I guess you could call the '60s old -- "The times they are a-changin'." That is true for the stars in the sky as well. It is only a little more than two weeks until the spring equinox, but the stars of spring have been peeking over the eastern horizon earlier each night for a couple of weeks now...
Spirit is a Rover no more (02/25/10)
There was much sadness at NASA this past week when it was announced that the plucky little "rover that could," Spirit, was hopelessly stuck in the soft sands of Mars. The determined little machine, which had stretched a 90-day mission into almost six years of exploring and finding new wonders on the red planet, is now stuck for good...
Milky Way, winter version (02/18/10)
Before we leave the area of the Winter Circle, or Hexagon, let's look at one more thing, the winter portion of the Milky Way. We are all familiar with the summer portion of the Milky Way, that grand, glowing, expanse of stars that seems to mark a path across the sky from north to south...
Stars right side up down under (02/11/10)
Oops. It is said that confession is good for the soul, but bad for the reputation. Well, I must confess to an oops. I can't seem to keep track of what I am writing. Last week I sent the What's Up column to the newspaper, only it was the copy that was meant for the astronomy blog I write for in Australia. Yep. Oz; Down Under...
In search of Castor and Pollux (02/04/10)
Now in our tour of the Winter Circle or Hexagon, onward and, well, sideways. The next stop is actually two stars, Castor and Pollux, the "twin" stars in the constellation Gemini, the Twins. The pair can be found by starting at our last stop, Capella in Auriga and extending a line right and slightly up for about 30 degrees (the distance of three clenched fists held at arms length)...
Continuing around the Winter Circle (01/28/10)
Continuing with our tour of the Winter Circle or Hexagon we go from the "V" shaped cluster of the Hyades and bright Aldebaran further up to the circle, or in this case the five-sided, constellation Auriga (or-EYE-ga), the Charioteer. Unfortunately, this is one of those constellations that doesn't look anything like its namesake. Although, you could say it does look kind of like a chariot wheel...
The second star in the Winter Circle (01/21/10)
Now on to our second star in the Winter Circle, or Hexagon. Beautiful orangish-red Aldebaran (al-DEB-a-ran), the brightest star in the zodiacal constellation Taurus, the Bull. Its name in Arabic means "follower" probably because it seems to follow the Pleiades (PLEE-a-deez) star cluster across the sky rising at about the same place on the eastern horizon. It is a red giant star with a diameter about 36 times greater than our sun...
The home of the Rigelian Slime Devils (01/14/10)
As promised, let's start our tour of the Winter Circle, or Winter Hexagon as some call it. Go outside (yes, outside. I know it's cold so dress warm) at about 8 p.m. MST and look to the southeast for the hourglass form of Orion, the Hunter. You won't even need a dark-sky place...
It's a great time for stargazing (12/31/09)
Aside from the usual nastiness of weather associated with winter, it is really a great time for some stargazing. Some of the brightest stars and the most interesting constellations are coming into view in the early evening hours. Six of the top 10 brightest stars as seen from Earth are displayed in the early winter evening hours...
Something eternal about the stars (12/24/09)
Kudos to Jim Wesch of McCook. In reading last week's column he caught the comment that the sun would be crossing the "equator" on Dec. 21, the first day of winter. The sun is actually on the Tropic of Capricorn on Dec. 21, which is 23.5 degrees south of the equator and as far south as it goes before returning north. Good going Jim, no one else caught it...
Astronomical gift, not price (12/17/09)
Are you in the market for something astronomical for someone, but don't want to put out the bucks for a telescope? How about a nice pair of binoculars? After all, binoculars are just two small telescopes placed side-by-side. Just as with telescopes, the measure of a pair of binoculars is aperture. The bigger the aperture, the more light that can be gathered and delivered to your retina...
Get ready for a 'blue moon' (12/03/09)
Last night's full moon is the first of two such events for December. When there are two full moons in a single month, the second one, on Dec. 31, is called a "blue moon." The name has nothing to do with the color of the moon on that night. It will be the same color it usually is. The reasoning behind such a name is an event that is lost in folklore...
Sorry, Chicken Little, the sky isn't falling (11/25/09)
I think we all know the story of Chicken Little. The character who, when hit on the head by a falling acorn, determines the sky is falling and sets off to tell the king. Along the way he gathers a varied group of like-minded believers who he has convinced the sky is indeed falling because he has been hit by a piece of it...
The chameleon constellation (11/05/09)
Before we leave the northern sky, lets take a closer look at what I call the "chameleon constellation," Cassiopeia, the Queen. By that I mean, at different times of the year, Cassiopeia will look different. For part of the year she looks like the letter "M" and six months later she will look like a "W."...
Full moon rare on Halloween (10/29/09)
In spite of what the cards and pictures indicate, there is rarely a full moon on Halloween. This year, Halloween 2009, the moon will be about two days before full. It will be about 25 degrees above the eastern horizon at 7 p.m. and should provide modest illumination for all the goblins, ghouls, and ghosties that happen to be out wandering the streets...
More darkness to go around (10/22/09)
With the advent of earlier darkness these October evenings, now is a time to get outside and peruse the sky. Of special interest will be the grouping of constellations I like to find this time of year telling the story of the hero Perseus and his feats of daring do to win the hand of the love of his life, the fair damsel Andromeda...
October skies among most clear, but what to see? (10/15/09)
Autumn is here and we can now expect the warm, clear night of summer to be relegated to only fading memories and the cloudy, cool nights of autumn will set in. Well now, hold on there Sparky, information obtained from the National Climatic Center reports October, for at least one quarter of the nation, is the least cloudy month of the year...
It was a dark, still and early morning (10/08/09)
It's dark outside at 4:30 in the morning. Now, before you give me a fish-eyed look like my kids used to do right before they would say, "Well Duh, dad," let me explain. This dark was different. It was more than just the absence of light, it was a dark that could almost be felt. As I walked out of the house with binoculars in hand to look for the Garnet Star I wrote about recently, there was a feeling, a sort of velvety, or almost silken touch to the air...
What size is the moon, really? (10/01/09)
Sunday, Oct. 4, at 2:10 a.m. MDT is when the moon will be officially a full moon. Since this is the full moon closest to the Autumnal Equinox, it will be a Harvest Moon. A Harvest Moon is unique in that the angle of the moon's path is almost parallel to the horizon. Normally the moon will rise about 50 minutes later each evening. However, because of the smaller angle in the moon's path, a Harvest Moon will rise only 20 to 25 minutes later each evening for three nights...
Cephus and the carbon star (09/24/09)
Fall has fell, at least as of 3:19 p.m. MDT Tuesday when the sun crossed the celestial equator moving south. Although the weather has been predicting such an event for a couple of weeks. Speaking of fall, the autumnal constellations are making a good showing above the eastern horizon these early to mid-evening hours, pushing the stars of summer off stage right...
The steam from the tea pot (09/17/09)
Time for a change. With the kind of weather we have been having here in Southwest Nebraska lately, it is time to change from T-shirts and shorts to longer sleeved shirts and longer pants. It is also time for a change of seasons. Autumn will start officially on Tuesday, Sept. 22, at 3:19 p.m. MDT. That is the time the sun will cross the equator traveling south...
Ready or not, here comes fall (09/10/09)
Well, the season is turning whether you are ready for it or not. Not only are the evenings becoming cooler temperature wise, I have another indicator of the impending arrival of autumn. A few blocks from my house there is a very large cottonwood tree. When the seasons are about to turn, the topmost branches start to turn yellow making the tree look like it has yellow spots...
The sun is heading south again (08/27/09)
Have you checked your favorite south facing window recently, especially about high noon? If so you will notice sunlight streaming in to paint a bright spot on your floor. That is one way you can verify the sun is indeed moving south toward its date with the equator on Sept. 22 for the autumnal equinox. I had forgotten to mention that Aug. 1 (often called Lammas Day, a cross quarter day), marks the halfway point between summer and fall and now we are almost all the way through August...
Confessions of a space case (08/20/09)
Nothing makes me happier than watching the launch of the space shuttle. To see the massive, billowing clouds of the exhaust plume from the zillion gallons of liquid fuel in the brown external tank along with the two solid rocket boosters as they hurl the shuttle assembly from a standing start to several thousand miles an hour and orbit in just a few minutes...
Back to the Scorpion (08/13/09)
Let's see now, where was I? Oh yes, Scorpius. Scorpius is one of the few constellations that actually looks like what it represents, a scorpion. The three third-magnitude stars making up its head are lined up running north to south just above the southern horizon...
Still recovering from the Star Party (08/06/09)
I am still trying to recover from the Nebraska Star Party. So much to see and do. Incredibly dark skies, the dazzling brightness of the Milky Way running right overhead from north to south. A sighting of an aurora, the Northern Lights, and even the opportunity to see the zodiacal light, the so-called false dawn where sunlight reflects off the zillions of dust particles orbiting in the plane of the Milky Way. That was just the second time I have seen the light...
The Great Nebraska Star Party (07/30/09)
The official score for the Great Nebraska Star Party is: Astronomers six--clouds zero. If you don't count having to wait until 1:30 am Tuesday morning for the sky to clear after the thunderstorm. At least that is up until Friday afternoon when we had to leave...
Scorpius sign summertime is really here (07/23/09)
Ah, summer is truly here! High temperatures, afternoon thunderstorms that clear the sky of dust, and Scorpius, the Scorpion is high in the south. One of the most prominent constellations in the night sky, Scorpius is one of the 12 zodiacal constellations that circle the ecliptic, the path the sun follows in the sky...
The give and take of orbital mechanics (07/16/09)
Orbital mechanics giveth and orbital mechanics taketh away, and sometimes orbital mechanics giveth back, at least for a while. The bright, glowing dot of the International Space Station has been gone from the early evening skies for several weeks due to the way it orbits Earth being visible only in the very early hours of the day...
Wow! A boy sees Saturn for the first time (07/09/09)
I enjoy doing public star viewings. Showing the things in the sky to those who perhaps have never seen them before. Such was the case recently when I was invited to do an astronomy session for a group of Cub Scouts out at one of the local lakes. There were to be about 20 scouts who would be spending the weekend at the lake for an overnight camping experience. ...
Clouds are gone, but not mosquitoes (07/02/09)
Woo-Hoo! Finally got some glass on those elusive planets. The clouds were gone, the sky was clear, and the temperature was great for sky watching. The only drawback was the pesky mosquitoes -- still in full force even at 4:30 in the morning. Jupiter, high in the south, shining brilliantly, gave a good display in the telescope. Three of the Galilean moons, (Europa, Callisto, and Ganymede) were showing as small pin-pricks of light. Io was too close to the planet to be seen...
Cookies go great with the Milky Way (06/25/09)
As much as the rain is needed, I would prefer clear skies. It is hard to make astronomical observations through clouds, or skies heavy with hazy humidity. Now that summer is here, however, the evenings are much warmer and more comfortable for staying outside to observe. Except for the mosquitoes and other such creepy pests...
Clouds foil stargazing plans (06/18/09)
Well, so much for that idea. For most of the last week, including the occultation of Antares by the moon on June 7, the skies have been clouded over. Of the 13 times the moon will occult, or cover up, Antares during the current year this was the best one for us here in the United States. Although there will be one viewable from Alaska on Nov. 17, if you want to go that far...
A grand tour of the solar system (06/11/09)
Technically all nine planets have the possibility of being viewed during the month of June. I hear you. You said "nine" in a questioning manner. Yes, nine. I still consider Pluto to be a planet. Alas, for us non-early risers, only one will be in the evening sky. That is our ringed friend, Saturn. It is just below Leo the Lion and can be found about 45 degrees above the southwest horizon beginning at about 9 p.m. local time...
The Mars monster that won't go away (06/04/09)
Just like the monster in the old grade-B movies, this one just won't die. The Mars hoax seems to have an annual life of its own, no matter how many times astronomers try to kill the "beast," it just keeps coming back. It is bad enough that this "thing" starts traveling the e-mail circuit each year at about this time. ...
And the score is ... two to nothing (05/28/09)
Clouds two, astronomer zero. That is the way it was last week when I was looking forward to viewing the conjunction of a couple of planets and the moon. I know, you will tell me there is always a next time, and that may be true for some things, but for that particular conjunction it may be a very long time. Like about a month...
Summer constellations make appearance (05/21/09)
With the spring constellations now high in the south in the early evening and the stars of winter setting in the west, it is time for the constellations of summer to make their show in the east, right now that occurs after midnight MDT. In the east the Summer Triangle, Deneb, the tail star in Cygnus, the Swan, very bright Vega in Lyra, the Lyre, and Altair, in Aquila, the Eagle are clearing the eastern horizon at about 1 a.m. ...
Exploring more spring constellations (05/14/09)
Jim Wesch of McCook wins the "Eagle Eye" award of the week for noticing that in the column printed on April 29 I had said we would be having equal day and night on the first day of summer June 21, the summer solstice. In actuality, equal day and night occur at the spring and autumn equinox, not the solstice. Mr. Wesch was kind in mentioning it must have been a typo. No Mr. Wesch, it was no typo, just a case of fingers-not-being-attached-to-brain-while-typing syndrome. I have a chronic case...
What's Up down under (05/07/09)
It is official (here play fanfare of trumpets, roll of drums, confetti and fireworks). In addition to eight local newspapers in Southwest Nebraska and Northwest Kansas, What's Up is now an international publication. Beginning last week the column is being carried on a Web page out of Sidney, Australia. Welcome to the good folks south of the equator who will soon be going into winter as we begin to enjoy the benefits of summer...
Moon, Venus get up close and personal (04/30/09)
Wow! Although I don't think that is a big enough adjective to describe the experience of watching the moon occult, or cover up, the planet Venus last Wednesday morning. I am not normally a morning astronomer, but this was an event worth watching so I popped up my trusty telescope and had a peek. The moon was an excruciatingly slender crescent almost lost in the blue of the sky just after sunrise and Venus was a very bright dot just to the moon's left...
Sighting the spring constellations (04/23/09)
I suppose we should take some time and discuss the spring constellations. They are showing generally due south after darkthirty these warming spring evenings, if you can dodge the thunderstorms. I am going to start with Cancer, the Crab. Cancer is more often thought of as a winter constellation, but I think with the jewel of M44, The Beehive star cluster it is worth a look...
The quietest sun in a century (04/16/09)
What is wrong with the sun? Oh, it isn't going to blow up or anything like that, at least not for a few billion years. What I am referring to is there have been no sunspots, what is being called a deep solar minimum. The sun has sunspot cycles that normally last for 11 years. Going from one peak of sunspot activity down to a minimum then back up to an active sunspot season. We are in a minimum period now...
Exciting observations from Hastings (04/09/09)
I had an absolutely exciting experience recently when I was in Hastings, Neb. I visited my friend, Dan Glomsky, who is the director of the J.M. McDonald Planetarium at the Hastings Museum. He was showing me the new all-digital projection system they had recently installed...
Spirit, Opportunity live up to their names (04/02/09)
In January 2004, NASA successfully landed two robotic rovers on the surface of Mars. The plucky little vehicles, originally scheduled to have a functional life of three months, have been functioning since. The pair, on opposite sides of the planet, have sent back tons of photographs and data about the Red Planet and have kept the teams operating them and planetary scientists agog with the new and exciting discoveries...
A short goodbye to our old friend Venus (03/26/09)
The time has come to say goodbye to our old friend Venus in the evening sky. However, it won't be a long goodbye. After passing between us and the sun on March 27, the bright planet re-emerges in the morning sky. In fact, it might be possible to see Venus in the evening sky just after sunset on one day and the next day see it in the morning sky just before sunrise...
Moving slowly toward spring (03/19/09)
The sun has been moving slowly along the horizon at sunrise and sunset these past days heading for the Vernal (spring) Equinox on Friday, March 20. It will cross the celestial equator at 5:45 a.m. MDT moving from south to north and will appear to rise directly east and set directly west on that day...
2009 DD45's near miss (03/12/09)
The conjunction of the moon and Venus on Friday, Feb. 27, was a grand sight to behold, almost a repeat of the Jan. 29 conjunction, except this time the pair were much closer. Witness this photo taken by my daughter, Kimberly Bartholomew from her front porch in Imperial...
In like a lamb? Out like a lion? (03/05/09)
It's March again. Did March come in like a lion or a lamb? I don't really know because this is being written well in advance of the event. You know the old saying, if March comes in like a lion, it will go out like a lamb. That old saying may have some astronomical roots...
Random things about the Milky Way (02/26/09)
The good folks at the Internet social gathering place Facebook have started something. It is called "25 Random things About Me." This is where, if you have a Facebook account, you can enter 25 random facts about yourself. While some folks may find that something "awesome" to do, I am not particularly moved by that. In fact, I don't even have a Facebook account...
'Comet of Cooperation' streaking by (02/12/09)
I don't normally do early morning astronomy, however, I occasionally make an exception. This time it was it was for a comet, comet C/2008 N3(Lulin) to be exact. I was able to put some glass on it late last week when it was in the constellation Libra on its way into Virgo...
Is somebody following us? (02/05/09)
Do you feel like you're being followed lately? Well, you are. Don't worry, it's no one or thing dangerous. Asteroid 2009BD, discovered in early January, has been following us in an orbit almost identical to Earth's. Just 30-feet across, 2009BD is no threat to Earth. ...
Time to get out that new telescope (01/26/09)
Now is a good time to take that new telescope you received for Christmas out for a look at one of the grandest sights in the sky, the Orion Nebula. Listed at number 42 on Messier's list of things that were not comets, it is a fabulous sight through any size telescope...
'Loneliest star' isn't loneliest any more (01/22/09)
Exciting news from the astronomical community recently: our old friend, the star Fomalhaut, the "loneliest" of the night sky's bright stars, isn't lonely anymore. Seems it has at least one planet in orbit around it. With an excess of 300 extrasolar planets (those outside our own Solar System) discovered so far, this would not normally be extraordinary astronomical news. ...
Heavenly bodies playing tag (01/15/09)
The conjunctions during the first few days of January involving Jupiter, tiny Mercury, bright Venus and the moon were magnificent! All of those heavenly bodies played tag in the early evening hours just after sunset. The only ones left from that dance now are Venus, found very high in the southwest, and perhaps, if you have a very clear horizon and look about a half hour after sunset, Mercury riding very low. Look quick because Mercury won't last long after sunset...
'Little things for looking through' (01/08/09)
Four hundred years ago, in November 1609, a man living in Padua, Italy, turned what was then thought of as a toy to the sky and proceeded to overturn 2,000 years of scientific thought. The man was Galileo Galilei, and while he didn't invent the telescope, he was one of the first, if not the first to turn it to the sky and began to make astonishing discoveries...
One good thing about winter (12/18/08)
If there is one good thing about winter, its the wide selection of celestial objects to view. Too bad the cold temperatures don't allow extended viewing time! Take the Double Cluster in the constellation Perseus for example. The almost-twin open star clusters are located about 7,000 light years away between the constellations of Perseus and Cassiopeia in the northeastern sky...
A picture is worth a thousand words (12/11/08)
I was going to write about the Moon-Venus-Jupiter conjunction on Dec. 1, but I don't think I have enough words for the task. The sight of all three of those celestial objects hanging there in the southwestern sky just at dusk was a sight I would really have a hard time describing without about 40 or so adjectives...
How big is space, really? (12/04/08)
Recently someone asked me, "How big is space?" Well, my answer was, "How big can you imagine?" When dealing with the great distances involved between astronomical objects, our mind sort of goes into a "boggle" state when we hear the numbers involved and we have a difficult time comprehending all of it...
After-sunset view is nothing short of fabulous (11/20/08)
The view to the southwest 45 minutes to an hour after sunset on these recent clear evenings is nothing short of fabulous. The two bright beacons of Jupiter (to the left) and Venus (to the lower right) are absolutely splendid. Both of them hanging there in the darkened sky looking for all the world like two bright stars blazing their glory for all the world to see...
The sun makes its southward march (11/13/08)
If you are a person who notices such things, and I am, the sun has been creeping further along the eastern horizon at sunrise and the western horizon at sunset in its day-by-day march south toward the winter solstice on Dec. 19. Another thing we can notice in this southward march is we are not getting as many daylight hours. The days are growing shorter and the nights are growing longer...
A good night for counting stars (11/06/08)
A good time was had by all. That would probably be the best way to describe the experience of those who gathered in front of the high school grandstand to participate in the annual Great Worldwide Star Count on Thursday evening, Oct. 30. They couldn't have asked for a better evening. ...
Join me tonight for the Great World-Wide Star Count (10/30/08)
The usual conception of Halloween will includes a full moon, a witch, a black cat or a Jack-o-lantern. Not to burst your bubble but Halloween rarely sports a full moon. In fact the next Halloween to have a full moon won't be until the year 2020. A better item to associate with Halloween would be the Pleiades star cluster. How could a small star cluster be associated with the spookiness of Halloween you ask?...
Ready for the star count? (10/23/08)
The Great World Wide Star Count starts on Thursday, Oct. 30, and will continue until Nov. 3. Got your activity guide and star magnitude comparison charts yet? Point your favorite Web browser to www.windows.ucar.edu/starcount to get the information. With activity guide and charts in hand, head outside about an hour after sunset on Oct. ...
Ready for the Great World Wide Star Count (10/16/08)
When I was in junior high school -- they call it middle school these days -- I used to really dislike having to write themes for Mrs. Anderson's English class. It was a dark day when she would come in and present the assignment of a theme to write. The idea of having to write something about something else really didn't appeal to me all that much...
Venus dominates the western sky (10/09/08)
The bright planet Venus, the second out from the sun, dominates the western evening sky for the next several months. At present it is hovering above the west to southwest horizon just after sunset. From our perspective here on Earth, Venus is just coming around from the far side of the sun, It will be in our evening sky until next March...
Sensational sunrises and the dance of the seasons (10/02/08)
There have been some absolutely fabulous sunrises during the past few days. Now, a sunrise is not an event that I would normally go out of my way for as I am, by self-proclamation, not a morning astronomer. However, if one is leaving work and heading home at 6 a.m. you can't hardly miss them...
The rescue of the princess (09/25/08)
With the advent of autumn comes the season of celestial royalty, the king and queen of the sky. Refering of course to the queen, Cassiopeia and the king Cepheus (pronounced SEE'-fee-us). The pair can be found high in the northern sky at about 8 p.m. by using our old friends, Dubhe and Merak, the pointer stars in the outer edge of the Big Dipper...
When day and night get equal time (09/18/08)
Time once again for all things to equal out, time wise that is. On Sept. 22, the sun will cross the celestial equator at 9:44 a.m. MDT, from the northern hemisphere into the southern and summer will end for us and fall, or autumn, will begin. The name for this crossing is the autumnal equinox, referring to the idea of "equal time" or daytime and night time will be equal...
How about a star party in our area (09/11/08)
I had a good time on the last Thursday of August. I had the occasion to attend the monthly meeting of the Platte Valley Astronomical Observers in Kearney. The PVAO is a group of like-minded folks who enjoy things astronomical. The evening began when we set up our telescopes at about 7 p.m. ...
Bursting the Mars bubble (09/04/08)
I should have known better, to think that we would get by another August without the Mars/moon hoax e-mail showing up. It did, again, as it has every year since 2003. The one that says that Mars will be closer to the Earth on Aug. 27 than it has been in 6,000 years and will be as big as the full moon to the naked eye and that we should tell everyone we know about it and to pass this e-mail along to everyone on our mailing list...
Spotting a planetary pair (08/28/08)
Clouds ... again. Only these were not the all-over-cover-the sky kind; rather, they blocked a strip of sky right along the western horizon -- right where I wanted to look; of course. The clouds partly hid the conjunction of Venus and Mercury on Wednesday, Aug. ...
Clouds, moon -- it's always something for the Perseids (08/21/08)
Drat, and double drat! Clouds, the bane of all astronomers, had the sky socked in on the morning of Aug. 12, so there was no good viewing of the Perseid meteor shower, at least in this area. Astronomers in the eastern part of the state told me their skies were no better. I would say we could wait until next year; but sadly, the moon will blot out the Perseids in 2009. It is always something isn't it?...
Just in time for a planetary parade (08/14/08)
I wish I could tell you how the Perseid meteor shower went, but, since I am writing this well in advance of the event we will just have to wait until next week. Starting this week we are just in time to watch a planet parade. Mercury will start a brief two-week visit to the evening skies this week, joining Saturn, Venus and Mars as evening objects. These are all extremely low in the west after sunset, however, and might be tough to see...
Watch out, Andromeda's on its way (08/07/08)
As if we didn't have enough to worry about what with global warming, high gasoline prices, the energy crunch, and wars and rumors of wars, now we have this--the Andromeda Galaxy is going to crash into our own Milky Way Galaxy. The Andromeda Galaxy, M31, is our closest neighbor in the local group of galaxies at 2.5 million light years away. It is rushing toward us at the calamitous speed of 270,000 miles per hour. At that speed we can expect the crash to begin in about, oh say, two billion years...
Pick out a dark place to view the Perseids (07/31/08)
If you haven't already, now is a good time to pick out a good dark-sky place to watch what is probably the premier meteor shower of the year, the Perseids. Meteors from the shower may be seen several evenings in advance of and following the peak day of Wednesday, Aug. 12...
Guess you just had to be there (07/24/08)
I guess you could put this one in the "You had to be there to see it" file. Late last week there was a transient phenomenon in the evening sky, it is called a sun dog, or parhelion, which means along side the sun and it lasted only about 15 minutes...
Leaving Cygnus and Lyra behind (07/10/08)
Let's see now ... where were we? Oh yes, just leaving Cygnus and Lyra heading south into Sagittarius and Scorpius. I was hesitant last week to include the North American Nebula in the list of things to look for; it is faint and hard to find. But, thanks to a clear night between the regular train of thunderstorms rolling through the area last week, I was able to get out under a moderately light polluted sky and I found it...
Settling down for some summer viewing (07/03/08)
I am starting to get the itch. With the evening temperatures warming it makes staying outside longer in the evening a distinct possibility. The itch to grab the binoculars and head out for an evening of viewing is really getting strong. Especially now that the Milky Way is coming into position for some optimum viewing...
Time to keep an eye on Mars (06/26/08)
If you haven't before, this is the week to start watching the planet Mars as it closes in on Regulus, the brightest star in the Constellation Leo, the Lion. Regulus is the dot in the backwards question mark outlining Leo's head and mane. For the last few weeks Mars has been moving steadily eastward against the background stars getting closer and closer. ...
Books, software for stargazers (06/12/08)
What is so rare as a day in June ... and with the recent vagaries in the weather in this part of the world that is a very true statement. When we start the morning with a comfortable 65 degrees, extend to a warmish 85 to 90 by 2 p.m. and end the evening with the clashing and bashing fireworks of lightning and thunder accompanied by high winds and large hail what else could be so rare...
The ever-changing panoply of heavenly objects (06/05/08)
There is good news and bad news about the summer season. First the good news? The nights are warmer for more comfortable observing sessions outside in the evening and the interesting constellations of summer are coming into view. The bad news? The sun sets later and rises earlier thus the nights are shorter so the time for observing is reduced. But, I guess only an astronomer would call that bad news...
Spotting satellites (05/29/08)
There must be a small bit of little boy yet in me, I still enjoy watching the satellites go over. That is what I used to do when I was much younger. We would sit on the front porch of my grandparents house late into the evening and wait for the satellites. That must be why I enjoy watching the International Space Station (ISS) so much...
Mars tries to look like it belongs (05/22/08)
Tonight is the night!! Grab the binoculars and head for a dark sky place and check just above the western horizon at about 9 p.m. local time for the great conjunction of Mars and the Beehive Star Cluster -- number 44 on Charles Messier's list of things that are not comets...
Moon, Mercury make a splendid pair (05/15/08)
It was beautiful! The excruciatingly thin crescent of a moon just hanging there in the evening sky with the bright, splendid dot of the planet Mercury riding just beneath it. Both could be seen in the same binocular field of view. Here the moon was, resplendent with the low-key glow of earthshine--that reflection of sunlight off the surface of the Earth lighting the moon -- offering just a hint of the craters and maria that otherwise would be completely hidden...
Mercury's ready to put on a show (05/06/08)
Welcome to Tuesday. Your editor asked for a volunteer to move the column from Saturday to Tuesday and evidently I won. This will give me a chance to make my observations of the machinations of the City Council a little more current. Then too, in my busy "retired" schedule, it will be easier to crank out the weekly column on Sunday afternoon followed by a little tuning up after the council meeting on Monday night...
And now, for something completely different (04/29/08)
Tired of watching Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, and the other same old ordinary star stuff? How about something new and exciting, something seen rarely and briefly? How about grabbing a glance at the first planet out from the Sun -- the swift, elusive planet Mercury?...
Mars is moving eastward (04/22/08)
Have you been watching Mars lately? It is moving eastward among the background stars and is traveling from the middle of the constellation Gemini up toward its two brightest stars, Castor and Pollux. By month's end it will form an almost straight line with the pair...
New constellations take the stage (04/08/08)
Now that the temperatures are warming, it will make staying outside longer for late evening sky viewing more comfortable. On the other hand the sun is setting later each day making it take longer to get dark. One hand giveth while the other hand taketh away...
Any excuse for a star party (04/01/08)
Talk about an excuse for a party! Recently our small group of skywatchers witnessed the triple pass of the ISS space station, the space shuttle Endeavour (mission STS-123) and the Jules Verne space station resupply vessel or ATV (automated transfer vehicle) as it is also known...
A new binocular challenge (03/25/08)
How did you do with the binocular challenge from two weeks ago? I didn't do too bad. I found all the objects except for the elusive M38. Mars and M35 were no problem, but chasing down the other three proved a challenge. Especially since you had to have been almost laying down or bent over almost backwards to get a good view of the sky almost directly overhead...
The vernal equinox -- wait, we missed it! (03/18/08)
After three months of waiting spring arrives Thursday. The vernal equinox, when the sun crosses the celestial equator traveling north, will occur at 11:48 am MDT on Thursday, March 20 to be precise. If you lived on the equator the length of day and night would be equal, hence the term equinox...
Spring is nearly ready to ... spring (03/11/08)
It is now time for the quoting of my favorite poem of spring ... "Spring has sprung, the grass is rizz, I wonder where the flowers is." Well, so much for my skills at poetry. Needless to say, you are well aware that the spring season starts officially at 11:49 am MDT on Thursday, March 20. That is the moment the sun crosses the celestial equator from the southern into the northern hemisphere bringing spring to us and autumn to the folks down south...
Despite clouds, eclipse party carries on (02/26/08)
Well, you pays your money and you takes your chance. That seemed to be the prevailing attitude of the 20 or so good folks who gathered at the Benkelman Elementary school last Wednesday evening, Feb. 20, to watch the last total eclipse visible in the Americas for the next three years...
Wednesday's the night for the sky show (02/19/08)
Wednesday night is the night -- for the total lunar eclipse that is. The eclipse party will start at about 6:30 p.m. MST at the southeast door of the Benkelman elementary school. Here we will discuss a little about what an eclipse is and then watch as the curved shadow of the Earth creeps across the lunar face...
See the shuttle, space station Friday (02/11/08)
With the successful launch of the space shuttle Atlantis last week, we may now have another opportunity to see the shuttle and the International Space Station together in the sky at the same time. The best opportunity for residents in the McCook area will be on Friday evening, Feb. 15, when the station and the shuttle will pass overhead together starting in the northwestern sky...
Objects coming together in the sky (02/05/08)
As I always say, I am not an early morning astronomer, unless there is something worth getting up to see. Friday morning, Feb. 1, was such an occasion. The bright planets Venus and Jupiter were so close together the tip of your little finger held at arms length would have covered them. The pair have been moving closer together for some months now and Friday was the "close" day. They were quite the sight in binoculars...
Asteroids passing too close for comfort (01/29/08)
Take heart good folks--we are half way through winter, or so the calendar says. Officially the halfway point is Feb. 4. However, the almanac will say Feb. 2 is the day. Of course, you know it as Groundhog's Day, or Candlemas as it is sometimes called...
Signs in the sky point to spring (01/22/08)
We don't need to be reminded it is winter; clearly the season still has the area in its icy grip. However, the stars hold for us the promise of spring. All you have to do is go look. Just rising over the eastern horizon at about 8 p.m. is the constellation Leo, the Lion, one of the first of the spring constellations. Rising with Leo is the ringed planet Saturn...
Red companions, new and old friends (01/15/08)
Bright Mars continues to dazzle during the early evening hours in cold January along with its two other red compantions, Betelgeuse in Orion the Hunter, and Aldebaran in Taurus the Bull. It will soon be joined by ringed Saturn as it makes its way from around behind the sun...
Vernon Whetstone
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