12/14/10 – Ephemeris – The bright star Aldebaran
Tuesday, December 14th. The sun will rise at 8:11. It’ll be up for 8 hours and 50 minutes, setting at 5:02. The moon, 1 day past first quarter, will set at 2:20 tomorrow morning.
The central constellation of winter, Orion, is in the southeast at 9 p.m. Above right of it, high in the south is Taurus the bull. The bright orange star in Taurus is Aldebaran. Aldebaran appears at the upper left tip of a letter V group of stars that is the face of the bull. Aldebaran isn’t actually part of the group, called the Hyades star cluster. The cluster is about 151 light years away, while Aldebaran is 65. Aldebaran is heading southward while the Hyades is heading to the northeast. The star has an orange hue because its surface is cooler than the sun’s. However Aldebaran is 44 times larger in diameter, and shines 150 times brighter than the sun. The name Aldebaran means “Follower” because it follows the Pleiades star cluster to its right through the skies.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
12/13/10 – Ephemeris – Geminid meteors peak tomorrow morning
Monday, December 13th. The sun will rise at 8:10. It’ll be up for 8 hours and 51 minutes, setting at 5:02. The moon, at first quarter today, will set at 1:19 tomorrow morning.
Tomorrow morning will see the peak of the Geminid meteor shower. This is one of the most active showers of the year. Some say it’s even more active than the Perseid meteor shower of August with up to 100 meteors or shooting stars visible an hour. They will seem to come from near the star Castor in the constellation Gemini which is rising high towards midnight. The moon will interfere until it sets at 1:19 a.m. After that until dawn is the best time to view them. All you’ll need then is clear skies. If it does clear up, make sure you dress warmly. It will take up to 10 minutes or even more for your eyes to get accustomed to the darkness to be able to see the meteors. This is Michigan, you never know when it will clear up.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Cool local story about Carl Sagan’s Cosmos on its 30th anniversary
Local writer Pat Stinson wrote an article in the Grand Traverse Insider weekly newspaper called ‘Cosmos’ Shines Brightly. It’s about how Carl Sagan’s monumental 13 part documentary has affected some of us locals over the intervening 30 years. It’s a great read. Check it out here.
12/10/10 – Ephemeris – Viewing night at the NMC Observatory
Friday, December 10th. The sun will rise at 8:08. It’ll be up for 8 hours and 53 minutes, setting at 5:02. The moon, 3 days before first quarter, will set at 10:15 this evening.
Tomorrow night the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society and NMC Astronomy Club will host a public viewing night at Northwestern Michigan College’s Rogers Observatory starting at 8 p.m. On tap, if it’s clear, will be the moon, and the planet Jupiter. There are also the Great Orion Nebula, The closest star nursery, a cloud of gas and dust where stars form. Also on tap can be the famous Double Cluster, and using binoculars or telescope finder scopes, the even more famous Pleiades or Seven Sisters may be seen. The NMC Astronomy Club has hands on activities for visitors, especially the kids, in case of cloudy skies. The observatory is located south of Traverse City, on Birmley Road between Garfield and Keystone roads.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
12/09/10 – Ephemeris – Geminid meteor preview
Thursday, December 9th. The sun will rise at 8:07. It’ll be up for 8 hours and 54 minutes, setting at 5:02, the earliest sunset of the year. The moon, half way from new to first quarter, will set at 9:11 this evening.
On Tuesday morning we will have the chance to see the peak of the Geminid meteor shower. Some of its members can be seen tonight, but the meteors will be most numerous on the morning of Tuesday the 14th. This shower rivals the Perseid meteor shower of August. The problem for us in viewing this fabulous shower is the cold temperatures and usually cloudy skies. Another problem this year is the moon which will be at first quarter and will set at 1:19 a.m. Tuesday morning. I’ll have more on Monday. The source of the Geminids was discovered in 1983. It is a burnt out comet with the asteroid designation 3200 and given the name Phaethon which swoops down to only 13 million miles of the sun.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
SpaceX does it again!
Today SpaceX made their second successful launch out of two attempts of their Falcon 9 rocket. They put their Dragon capsule in orbit, and returned it to land on target in the Pacific Ocean. As always Emily Lakdawalla of the Planetary Society has the information. This is fantastic news.
While just about all NASA rockets are built by private companies, they are built to NASA specifications in cost plus bids, which often have cost overruns. The plus in cost plus means the contractors are guaranteed profits. The new commercial firms design and build their own systems based on the general requirements provided by NASA. Whatever they come up with must of course be certified by NASA. NASA’s also paying, but it’s a fixed amount, so the companies can make out like a bandit, or lose their shirt.
Congratulations SpaceX!
12/08/10 – Ephemeris – This weeks bright planets
Wednesday, December 8th. The sun will rise at 8:06. It’ll be up for 8 hours and 55 minutes, setting at 5:02. The moon, 3 days past new, will set at 8:06 this evening.
Lets take a look at the bright planets for this week. Mars is very low and lost in the evening twilight as is Mercury. The planet Jupiter is up in the southern sky in the early evening. It is a spectacular sight in a telescope with its four satellites, shifting their positions, and the cloud bands running in the directions of the satellites. Jupiter will pass due south at 7:13 p.m.. It is the brightest starlight object in the evening. It’s located below the Circlet in Pisces now and will set at 1:01 a.m. The ringed planet Saturn will rise at 2:43 a.m. in the east southeast. It’s located in the constellation Virgo this year. It’s rings are opening nicely for telescopic observers. Venus is brilliant in the morning sky and will rise at 4:25 a.m. in the east southeast.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
12/07/10 – Ephemeris – The Hyades star cluster
Tuesday, December 7th. The sun will rise at 8:05. It’ll be up for 8 hours and 56 minutes, setting at 5:02. The moon, 2 days past new, will set at 7:00 this evening.
The bright orange star Aldebaran is the most westerly bright star of winter Aldebaran appears at the upper left tip of a letter V group of stars that is the face of the bull. It appears above the constellation of Orion low in the east. Aldebaran isn’t actually part of the group, called the Hyades star cluster. The cluster is about 151 light years away, while Aldebaran is 65. The Hyades is the closest star cluster to us, and allows astronomers to measure the distance of even more distant star clusters. It has been determined to be moving in space relative to the sun to the northeast in our sky, and away from us. It will lose its V shape in time. It shares this motion with another star cluster the Praecepe cluster in Cancer which is just rising at 9 p.m.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
12/06/10 – Ephemeris – The Pleiades in mythology
Monday, December 6th. The sun will rise at 8:04. It’ll be up for 8 hours and 57 minutes, setting at 5:02. The moon, 1 day past new, will set at 5:55 this evening.
Visible in the east in the evening sky can be spotted a small group of stars. It’s called the Pleiades or Seven Sisters. The Pleiades are really spectacular when seen in binoculars. It is remarkable that both the Greeks and the American Plains Indians saw this group as female stars fleeing from danger. In the former case they were fleeing the constellation Orion the giant hunter of the winter sky who is nearer the eastern horizon, and in the latter case a giant bear. Legend has it that the maidens fled to the top of Devils Tower in Wyoming. It’s said that the claw marks of this bear are seen in the walls of the tower. The maidens were then spirited from the top of the tower to the heavens, where we see them today. Whichever story you like the Pleiades is worth searching for.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
12/03/10 – Ephemeris – GTAS program: In Search for the Star of Bethlehem
Friday, December 3rd. The sun will rise at 8:01. It’ll be up for 9 hours and 1 minute, setting at 5:03. The moon, 2 days before new, will rise at 7:00 tomorrow morning.
The Search for the Star of Bethlehem, will be presented at this evening’s meeting of the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society at Northwestern Michigan College’s Rogers Observatory starting at 8 p.m. This is my generally biennial presentation. We’ll check out the Biblical passages that mention the star, Johannes Kepler’s discovery that started the search some 1600 years later, ancient Chinese records, ancient writers all contribute to the evidence. Thanks to Kepler, Newton, Einstein and others plus the power of today’s computers and software we can go back and see the skies, and computer generated recreations of planet positions to see what the star might have been. The observatory’s located south of Traverse City on Birmley Road.
* Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
