A Moment with the Universe

I felt compelled to share this. 

It was 10:10 PM last night.  I had decided to take a break from the computer and walked upstairs to grab myself a drink. Entering the dark kitchen, I noticed the pale blue moonlight pouring across the floor, gently bathing the room in a soft lunar glow - I smiled and approached the window and tilted my head upward. I gazed in wonder as my eyes settled upon Jove and Luna, which hung so majestically between a gap in the treeline. In that very moment, a meteor streaked eastward, passing between the two. It was magical.

Moments like these are my reward for looking toward the night sky.  They allow me a unique glimpse of the universe; to feel connected to it (as we so often don't in our modern lives), and to feel humbled.

Moon Report 8/19

Tonight's forecast finally called for a cloud free sky, and I couldn't wait to get out and sight up the moon.  The humidity was a little higher than ideal; 75%.  The view was a tad hazy, and a faint glow could be seen around the moon, but the air was pretty still.  I started setting up about 8:30; no reason to wait until complete darkness to view the moon.
It wasn't but a few minutes until I heard the buzzing of mosquitoes - talk about a party crasher.  I went out without bug repellent and didn't set up any fans; I wasn't planning on staying out long anyway.  I did, however, get some satisfying scope time identifying some of the major features using the map at InOMN.  Copernicus and Tycho looked great, and the Apennine Mountain range was a real pleasure.  I didn't last for more than 10 minutes, the mosquitoes were too much to deal with (btw, Burt's Bees Outdoor Bug Bite Relief works great).  I did manage to snap a few photos of Luna before heading in.  29 days until InOMN!

International Observe the Moon Night

You know what celestial object I think often gets overlooked [at least in my circle of friends]?  The Moon.  However, I think that's going to change.  On June 18, 2009 NASA launched the LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter).  LRO and LCROSS (Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite) are the first missions in NASA's plan to return humans to the moon and begin establishing a lunar outpost by 2020.  To celebrate this achievement, we have the International Observe the Moon Night, which will be held on September 18, 2010.  The mission of this event is to educate the general public, amateur astronomers and general space science enthusiasts in NASA's involvement in lunar research and exploration.  So what do they want us to do?  Share!  Learn!   The moon is the closest celestial object to us - it's right next door, and we still have to much yet to learn from it.
So about observing the moon - you don't need a telescope.  Binoculars would be great, and even if you only have your naked eye, there is still much beauty to see.  It's one thing just just stare at the moon, but much more fun to get intimate with it.  Go to the InOMN site and get yourself a copy of this moon map, and see if you can identify these major lunar landmarks.  Identifying these parts of our moon will not only make the object seem less alien to you, but hopefully spark an interest in space exploration.  Have fun!

Perseids Under Way

Naturally we have cloudy weather for the peak of the Perseid meteor shower.  I'm pretty bummed about it.

Edit: 8/13 - The clouds cleared for about 45 minutes, enough to catch 6 meteors, 3 of which were probably mag -1 to my eyes.  Also, very clear and black skies with low humidity revealed the Milky Way to the best I've ever seen it from my yard - a great view to end my night.


As sort of a consolation, I found this live stream from NASA.  You can watch and listen to the meteors as they pass.

Perseid Meteor Streaks Over Lake Erie 

Perseids over Chickamauga, GA

 Image credit NASA

Tears of St. Lawrence

Folks, the annual Perseid meteor shower is upon us.  This is a major shower, and can be considered the best shower of the year.  The peak nights will be August 12/13th, and this year will be especially nice as the waxing crescent moon will set early in the evening.  It's typical for this shower to reach a zenithal hourly rate of 60+.


The Perseid meteor shower is associated with the comet Swift-Tuttle, and is so named because the radiant lies within the constellation Perseus.  This shower has been observed annually for about 2000 years. The Catholics named the shower the Tears of St. Lawrence, since the date of his martyrdom is August 10.  The average ZHR will probably be about 1 per hour for now, but as we near August 10 the ZHR could reach 15.


OK, so here's where to look, and how to look:
Perseus rises in the NW.  This time of year it should be well above the horizon around 1:00 AM (for mid-northern latitudes).  Did I say 1:00 AM?  Yeah, it's best viewing meteor showers between 1:00 and 4:00 AM.  Does that mean you can't see meteors before 1:00 AM?  Sure, you can - it's just ideal to observe in the wee hours of the morning.  Prepare for a meteor shower as you might for a night of fireworks.  I like to lay out a blanket, but a lawn chair would be nice.  Use bug repellent unless you want to have mosquitoes ruining the fun.  If you can manage, I think it's a good idea to grab a fan and turn it on you - the bugs will have a hard time getting to you that way.   As always, keep away from any direct source of light - meteors can be bright, but you still want to preserve your night vision for the fainter ones.  I should add that you don't have to look at Perseus to see the meteors - they will be all over the sky - just radiating from Perseus.  Look 20-40 degrees away from the radiant.  Have fun!

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.