Happy Summer

Today, June 21, is the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere - when the earth's axial tilt is most inclined toward the sun - and marks the official start of summer (in some cultures it marks the middle).  Although the most hours of sunlight are experienced this day, the latest sunset is actually around the end of the month.  


The night hours are not as dark as they are in the winter.  This is because the sun doesn't set as far below the horizon while the northern hemisphere is tilted towards it (see the image below).  Instead of nice black skies at night, they are pretty much grey in my area.

Despite this, there are still plenty of great things about summer observing; warm weather, summer constellations such as Sagittarius - at the heart of the Milky Way, where many beautiful nebulae and clusters can be seen; the Sagittarius star cloud, the Lagoon Nebula, Trifid Nebula, Omega Nebula, and the M22 cluster.  There are noteworthy meteor showers (a post about which is soon to follow), Jupiter rises earlier each night, around 1:30 AM by the end of the week, and along with him, Uranus. 


There will also be a partial lunar eclipse on June 26th for the western US and pacific region out to Australia, which should start around 4:20 AM.


Happy summer!




























image source

Skunked

I have done little observing the past two weeks, and it's not because of the weather.  My problem is with the local skunk.  I'm sure it sounds silly, even I think so.  The first time I saw him he came around the side of the house, and swaggered into my neighbors yard, and eventually made a U turn back to my yard.  He was there again when I woke up in the wee hours to view comet McNaught, forcing me back into the house.  Last Friday I had set up a little more equipment then usual, hoping to spend more than 2 hours observing - but guess who crashed the party?  Yes, within 30 minutes the mephitidae snuck up behind me.  No regular flashlight spooked him before, so I had with me a larger and brighter light which sent him scurrying away.  But even if he does scurry away, I just can't relax. Time to educate myself about Mr. Skunk.

A brief lesson on the Skunk, and why he wants to be my neighbor.

 The striped skunk is a solitary, omnivorous, nocturnal animal, with powerful claws (for digging) and the ability to accurately spray an offensive liquid up to 16' as a defensive mechanism (hence why they fearlessly walk around in the open).  Their diet includes, but is not limited to,  insects, grubs, berries and fungi.  Their vision is relatively poor, only being able to see approximately 10 feet (perhaps another reason why he get's so close to me).

This information alone is enough to understand why the skunk keeps visiting me.  On the border of my yard stands a Red Mulberry tree.  Obviously Mr. Skunk is feasting nightly on these berries, as is evident by the seed filled droppings I've been finding around my yard - pretty rude if you ask me.  But I can't possibly get rid of the berries, there are far too many on the ground to pick up.  I really don't think there's much I can do about this except remain vigilant while outside.

Bootids Meteor Shower

Has the recent flyby of McNaught got you in the mood for observing other comets and meteors?  It's had that effect on me.  We can look forward to welcoming summer with the June Bootids meteor shower from around (the dates for this shower vary slightly) June 22 to July 1, peaking Sunday, June 27.  This annual shower isn't exactly known for extravagant displays, but rather for its inconsistency.  The normal hourly rate is probably less than 5 for most years, but in 1998 the ZHR was up to 100!  Some predictions say there's another chance for such an outburst this year.  The moon will be full at the end of the month, but either way, I say "what the heck".  Relax, pull up a lawn chair and grab those binoculars!  You never know what you'll see unless you get out there.

Where to look

Sources: 
meteorshowersonline
spaceweather.com

Search For McNaught Part 2

I awoke at 4:20 AM and peeked out the window - no clouds!  The moon, however was within my FOV this time (in a few days it will be behind trees low in the east), but I grabbed my binoculars anyway.  I didn't bother stepping outside for I figured that skunk would be lurking around the corner.   By 4:30 I knew it was getting late to be able to see the comet.  The sun was just under the horizon, and the moon wasn't helping.  But nonetheless, I did manage to see it, just near Almaak.  It appeared as a blue/green fuzzy dot with a faint and short tail.  I tried moving upstairs for a better view, but it was already too late - it was getting too bright.

I really want to check McNaught out in my scope.  Before 4 AM is going to be the best time to see it for sure.  By June 12 the moon won't be hanging around at this time, and the comet will actually be a little higher in the sky.  Plus, that's a Saturday!  No problem stargazing in the wee hours of the morning on a weekend.  I hope to get a much better view then.  For now though, I'm glad I saw it.

Search For McNaught Part 1

It happened that when I rolled over to look at the clock this morning, it was 4:00 AM.  I nearly fell back asleep when I recalled that Comet McNaught was in the sky.  I grabbed my binoculars and crept downstairs.  As I was stepping out onto the deck, I spied something at the end of the house. One quick look through the binoculars revealed a snooping skunk.  I decided I'd stand behind the glass door and look for McNaught from there. 

The first thing I noticed as I gazed up was that the sky was quite cloudy - at least ENE.  I glanced at the moon, and then noticed Jupiter sitting just to the right.  A consolation prize perhaps to steal a view of Jupiter.  Through my binoculars I could make out very faint banding, and a single moon (not sure which moon).  After Jupiter, I noticed I could then see Cassiopeia.  Great! But I still couldn't make out Andromeda.  No matter, the clouds were moving away.  I spotted M31, the last time I saw the Andromeda Galaxy was in mid January. 

The clouds never did fully break away, but most of Andromeda was visible. I look around for McNaught until the sun chased the stars away, but never caught a glimpse of it.  The clouds made it difficult anyway, but after returning to my map just before bed, I realized I wasn't looking around the right star.  Turns out I was looking at Mirach, not Almaak - oops.  Perhaps tomorrow morning - before work even.  Stay tuned for Part 2, lol.

Comet McNaught

It's not very often we amateurs have an opportunity  to catch a glimpse of a passing comet.  However, we have one now.  Comet McNaught, discovered September 2009, is any icy ball of debris, probably originating from the Oort Cloud.  The comet appears to be in an open hyperbolic orbit, which means this is its first and probably last visit to the inner solar system.

The comet is expected to be fairly dim, though you will be able to see it in a small telescope or decent pair of binoculars.  Brightness is difficult to predict for comets.  There always a chance it will get brighter, perhaps bright enough to see with the naked eye in a dark sky.

 

Here's how to find it:

Around 4 AM, look ENE about 20° below Cassiopeia.  There are a line of stars pointing to the northern horizon starting with Mirach and Almaak (in Andromeda), Mirphak (in Perseus), and Capella (in Auriga).  The comet follows a path along these stars.

From June 1-7, it flies between Mirach and Almaak.  From June 13-15, just below Mirphak: this is likely the best time to see it, since the moon won’t be around to wash out the sky.  In binoculars or a small telescope, the comet will look fuzzy and with a faint and small tail.

It will get brighter as it moves closer to the Sun near the end of the month.  After June 15, it appears to sink about one degree lower in the sky each day and approaches Capella near sunrise.  At the end of June, the comet will swing behind the sun, then reappear in the southern sky briefly before it fades from view.

Leave a comment if you've had an chance to see this visitor!

Amateur Documents Impact on Jupiter

Anthony Wesley, the amateur astronomer who imaged the 2009 impact on Jupiter has done it again.  This time capturing video of the impact.

The impact site reaches the bright limb of Jupiter at around 06/04 02:52 UTC. It crosses the central meridian around 05:15 UTC and reaches the evening terminator around 07:22 UTC.

Read more here.
See the video here.

Iridium Flares for June 2, 2010

I thought I'd post information for local iridium flares.  These flares are the phenomenon caused by the satellites reflecting sunlight towards the Earth, and appear as a bright "flare".  They're just one more neat object you can see as you look up at night. 

Tonight, June 2nd, at 8:58:26 PM the Iridium 18 satellite will appear be about magnitude -2 with the flare brightening to approx -8.  Location should be about 67° Alt 77° Az (ENE).

What do those coordinates mean?  Well, Alt means altitude, or vertical.  Your fist at arms length is about 10°, so from the horizon, about 6.5 fists will get you to around 67°.  Az is Azimuth, or horizontal.  This is the direction you'll face.  North is 0°.  East is 90°.  77° will be ENE above Pegasus.

Planetary Objects In June

I'm pretty excited about June.  7 of our planets will be visible, and I plan on catching them all.  There are only 2 that I haven't seen yet, Uranus and Neptune.

• Mercury will be best viewed during twilight before sunrise on June 10th.
• Venus, the Evening Star will continue to shine brightly in the evening after sunset.  At magnitude -4 it will be the first object to appear after sunset.  Look up and be dazzled.
• Mars was at opposition on January 29 this year, but it's still around for you to see.  The planet will appear as a red star to the naked eye, or red disc in a scope.  Look for it in the constellation Leo.
• Both Jupiter and Uranus can be seen near each other this month.  They will rise in the early AM to start, but as the month progresses will rise earlier.  Look for them in Pisces to the East.
• Saturn will stay well in view as she sits in Virgo to the SW, but if you don't catch the planet this month, you'll probably have to wait until November.
• Neptune will rise ahead of Jupiter and Uranus in Aquarius around midnight mid-month.

Hello, Saturn.

I hope you all had a nice holiday weekend. The weather was beautiful in the northeast. I had an opportunity to do some viewing with my brother on Sunday night. The sky was quite clear, and the warm evening air was quite pleasant.

I love being able to share the night sky with others, and my brother and I had been waiting for a suitable evening for several weeks now. I was also excited to finally have a chance to use my new Siebert Barlow and Nikon binoculars.

I set my equipment out about 30 minutes before my brother arrived, and was forced to drape the grill cover over the railings on our deck to shield us from my neighbors incredibly intrusive street lamp. I also ran extension cords out to the yard to keep a large fan on us - warm weather astronomy is great, but mosquitoes aren't.

So, the trouble with showing DSO's to inexperienced stargazers is finding objects that won't disappoint. Basically, a faint fuzzy galaxy that appears as a grey smudge might be thrilling for me to look at, but I'm sure it would be rather anti-climactic for a first-timer. Planetary objects, stars, and clusters are great objects to show off because they are relatively bright, easy to see and less impacted by light pollution and atmospheric conditions than nebula and galaxies.

I started us off with a view of Saturn. By 10:00 PM Saturn is pretty well overhead, but not as bright as it was a while ago. At 48x you can see the golden globe and her rings, which look more like a line running across, but which is an impressive sight nonetheless. My brother's reaction to his first glimpse of Saturn was gratifying, "Oh Sh*t..I had no idea...you could see that much".

I then swapped in my 8mm Stratus, the atmosphere seemed still enough to go to 150x. At this magnification I can count 5 moons, see the distinct shadow and 3d effect of the rings, and slight coloration changes on the planet. Beautiful. I couldn't wait to attach the Barlow, which would bring my magnification to 300x - pretty high on any night, but the atmosphere was clear and still. I was not disappointed. Viewing Saturn at 300x yielded a breathtaking view. At this point, nearly the entire field of view comprised of Saturn and a visible 5 moons. Although focusing at 300x is a little tricky, I could see distinct banding on the planet, and can only imagine how amazing those rings will look in a few years as they tilt away from the current edge-on position.

Next on the list was the Great Cluster in Hercules, M13. This one is an easy find, situated near Hercules's hip. In a dark sky this cluster is visible with the naked eye. Not the case for me, but through the scope it's a real beauty.

Just below Hercules is the constellation Lyra. This was a good night to try for M57, the Ring Nebula. Wow, for a magnitude 9 object, the visibility of this nebula is really good. The doughnut shape is easy to identify, and I was able to make out shading in the gas. I'm sure with more studying I would be able to see surrounding stars and perhaps more detail.

By midnight the Moon crashed the party. It was just full on Friday, so the light it was throwing off into the sky made it entirely futile to find some nice galaxies for my brother to see - M81 and M82 would have been nice targets, but alas, the Moon and a large tree and a skunk made it difficult.

All in all it was a nice night. I was able to show my brother something new, I saw the Ring Nebula for the first time, and am pleased with my new views of Saturn. Hopefully in the coming week I'll be able to show him more wondrous views of our universe.

  My approximate views of Saturn, M13 and M57