Author: Tammy Plotner

Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! Sorry to be so late, but satellite internet connections and electrical storms don’t mix! Even though there’s not a snowball’s chance in the desert of observing here tonight, don’t let that stop you from enjoying some of the finest galaxies you’ll ever trip the light fantastic with! Find yourself a dark sky site and enjoy three of my favorites of the season… and share your observations! This time I’ll join you in your backyard….

June 4, 2010 – Did you ever wonder who was the first to organize an astronomy group? No less a personage than Baron Franz Xaver Freiherr von Zach. Born on this date in 1754, von Zach was the director of an observatory near Gotha, and in 1798 he organized the first congress of astronomers, with Joseph LaLande as the honored guest. He later formed another group of two dozen astronomers to help locate the ‘‘missing planet’’ between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. I wonder what they discovered?

Tonight we’ll head toward Leo for another galaxy worth a visit. . . and even binoculars can spot it! You’ll need to identify slightly fainter Lambda to the southwest of Epsilon and head south about one finger-width for NGC 2903 (RA 09 32 09 Dec +21 30 02). William Herschel discovered this awesome oblique spiral galaxy in 1784. At slightly brighter than magnitude 9, it’s in easy range of most binoculars. It is odd that Messier missed this one, considering both its brightness and the fact that three of the comets he discovered passed by it! Perhaps it was cloudy when Messier was looking, but we can thank Herschel for cataloging NGC 2903 as H I.56.

Although small optics will only perceive this 25-million-light-year-distant beauty as a misty oval with a slightly brighter core region, larger aperture will light this baby up. Soft suggestions of its spiral arms and concentration will begin to appear. One such knot is star cloud NGC 2905—a detail in a distant galaxy so prominent that it received its own New General Catalog designation. NGC 2903 is roughly the size of our own Milky Way and includes a central bar, yet the nucleus of our distant cousin has ‘‘hot spots’’ that were studied by the HST and extensively by the Arecibo telescope. Although our own galactic halo is filled with ancient globular clusters, this galaxy sports brand new ones! Be sure to mark your notes with your observations, because many different organizations consider this to be on their ‘‘Best of’’ lists.

June 5, 2010 – Let’s take a look at John Couch Adams, a discoverer of Neptune who was born on this date in 1819. Said he: ‘‘. . .the beginning of this week of investigating, as soon as possible after taking my degree, the irregularities in the motion of Uranus. . .in order to find out whether they may be attributed to the action of an undiscovered planet beyond it.’’ But that’s not all Adams contributed! He was the first to associate the Leonid meteor shower with the orbital path of a comet, and he also observed the Moon.

Tonight we’ll take a look at our moving universe, and we begin by locating 5th magnitude 6 Comae Berenices about three finger-widths east of Beta Leonis. Remember this star! We are going on a galaxy hop to a Mechain discovery that is less than a degree west, and its designation is M98 (RA 12 13 48 Dec +14 53 58). At magnitude 10, this beautiful galaxy is a telescope-only challenge and a bit on the difficult side for small aperture. Long considered part of the Virgo Cluster , M98 is approaching us at a different rate than other cluster members, giving rise to speculation that it may simply be in the line of sight. Quite simply put, it has a blue shift instead of red! But considering that all these galaxies (and far fainter ones than we can see), are in close proximity leads some researchers to believe it is a true member by virtue of the extreme tidal forces that must exist in the area—pushing it toward us at this point in time, rather than away.

In a small telescope, M98 will appear like a slim-line with a slightly brighter nucleus, a characteristic of an edge-on galaxy. To large aperture, its galactic disk is hazy and contains patchiness in structure. These are regions of newly forming stars and vast regions of dust, yet the nucleus remains a prominent feature. M98 is a very large galaxy, so be sure to use a minimum of magnification and plenty of aversion to make out small details in this fine Messier object!

June 6, 2010 – Today we begin with the 1932 birth on this date of David Scott, the seventh person to walk on the Moon and the first to ride the Lunar Rover on the surface during the Apollo 15 mission. Sharing his birth date, but almost 500 years earlier, was the astronomer Regiomontanus (1436). Regiomontanus made observations of a comet, which were accurate enough to associate it with Comet Halley 210 years later, and his interest in the motion of the Moon led him to make the important observation that lunar distances could be used to determine longitude at sea!

No galactic tour through Coma Berenices would be complete without visiting one of the most incredible ‘‘things that Messier missed.’’ You’ll find NGC 4565 (RA 12 36 21 Dec +25 59 13) located less than 2 degrees east of 17 Comae. Residing at a distance of around 30 million light-years, this large 10th magnitude galaxy is probably one of the finest edge-on structures you will ever see. Perfectly suited for smaller scopes, this ultra-slender galaxy with the bright core has earned its nickname of the ‘‘Needle.’’ Although photographs sometimes show more than what can be observed visually, mid-to-large aperture can easily trace out NGC 4565’s full photographic diameter.

Although Lord Rosse in 1855 saw the nucleus of the Needle as stellar, most telescopes will resolve a bulging core region with a much sharper point in the center and a dark dust lane upon aversion. The core itself has been extensively studied for its cold gas and emission lines, pointing to the fact that it has a barred structure. This is much how the Milky Way would look if viewed from the same angle! It, too, shines with the light of 30 billion stars. Chances are NGC 4565 is an outlying member of the Virgo Cluster, but its sheer size points to the fact that it is probably closer than the others. If we were to place it at the accepted distance of 30 million years, its diameter would be larger than any galaxy yet known! Get acquainted with it tonight… Because big is beautiful, too!

Until next week? Keep reaching for the stars!

This week’s awesome images are (in order of appearance): NGC 2903, M98 and NGC 4565 are from Palomar Observatory, courtesy of Caltech. We thank you so much!

Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! It’s a green “Corn Moon” weekend and time to get out of the house and enjoy the night sky! Enjoy sharing “Moon Illusion” with friends or simply spotting bright features with easy optics. In the mood to kick back and stargaze? The learn more about the constellation of Leo and what to look for when skies are bright. If you’re ready for a challenge, then try your hand at a few bright galaxies by holiday’s end. Whenever you’re ready, I’ll see you in the backyard….

May 28, 2010 – Today, we begin by saluting the 1930 birth on this date of Frank Drake, father of Project Ozma and formulator of the ‘‘Drake Equation,’’ used to estimate the number of technological civilizations that may exist in our galaxy. Dr. Drake also worked with Carl Sagan on the plaques placed aboard Pioneers 10 and 11, which greet any visitors the probes might encounter. Also remember Rudolph Leo B.Minkowski on this 114th anniversary of his birth. Minkowski studied spectra and contributed to the discovery of more than half of the planetary nebulae now known. Along with Walter S. Baade, Minkowski separated supernovae into spectral types and identified optical counterparts for early radio source galaxies.

Tonight is the ‘‘Full Flower Moon.’’ Earth is awakening again! Agricultural literature refers to it as the ‘‘Full Corn Planting Moon,’’ or the ‘‘Milk Moon.’’ No matter what it’s named, Moonrise is majestic to watch. Participate in a Lunar Club Challenge and do some outreach work by demonstrating ‘‘Moon Illusion’’ to someone. We know it’s purely psychological and not physical, but the fact remains that the Moon seems larger on the horizon. Using a small coin held at arm’s length, compare it to Luna as it rise, and then again as it seems to ‘‘shrink’’ as it moves up! You’ve now qualified for extra credit.

Try using colored or Moon filters to look at the many surface features that throw amazing patterns across its surface. If you have none, a pair of sunglasses will suffice. Look for things you might not ordinarily notice, such as the huge streak emanating from crater Menelaus, the pattern projected from Proclus, or the bright tiny dot of little-known Pytheas north of Copernicus. It’s hard to miss the blinding beacon of Aristarchus! Check the southeastern limb, where the edge of Furnerius lights up the landscape.. or how a nothing crater like Censorinus shines on the southeast shore of Tranquillitatis, while Dionysus echoes it on the southwest. Could you believe Manlius just north of central could be such a perfect ring, or that Anaxagoras would look like a northern polar cap? Although it might be tempting to curse the Moon for hiding the stars when it’s full, there is no other world outvthere that we can view in such detail – even if you just look with your eyes!

May 29, 2010 – Today we begin with the 1794 birth on this date of Johann Heinrich von Madler who, along with Wilhelm Beer, published the most complete map up to that time of the Moon, Mappa Selenographia. How fitting it is then, that we should have the bright Moon tonight! Before the Moon rises, take a look at the constellation of Leo and its brightest stars.

Our first destination is 85 light-year-distant Regulus. As the 21st brightest star in the night sky, 1.35-magnitude Alpha Leonis is a helium star about 5 times larger and 160 times brighter than our own Sun. Speeding away from us at 3.7 kilometers per second, Regulus is also a multiple system whose 8th magnitude B companion is easily seen in small telescopes. Regulus B is also a double, with a magnitude 12 dwarf companion of uncertain type. There’s an additional 13th magnitude star in this grouping, but it’s probably not associated with Regulus, since the ‘‘Little King’’ is moving toward it and will be very close to it in 800 years.

About a fist-width northeast of Regulus is 2.61-magnitude Gamma Leonis. Algieba is a very fine double star, but difficult to see at low power, since the 90 light-year distant pair is bright and close. Separated by about twice the diameter of our own Solar System, the gap between Algieba and its companion is slowly widening! Another two finger-widths north is 3.44-magnitude Zeta. Aldhafera is about 130 light-years away and also has an optical companion—35 Leonis. Remember this binocular pair, because they’ll lead you to galaxies later! Before we leave, look east for 3.34-magnitude Theta. Mark this one in your memory, because Chort and 3.94-magnitude Iota to the south serve as markers for a galaxy hop! Last is easternmost 2.14 magnitude Beta. Denebola is the ‘‘Lion’s Tail’’ and has several faint optical companions.

May 30, 2010 – Today we begin with the 1423 birth of Georg von Peuerbachon this date, a follower of Ptolemy’s astronomy. Georg calculated eclipses; observed Halley’s Comet before it was so named; and created astronomical instruments. Following Georg nearly half a millennium later was Hannes Alfven, born in 1908. Alfven’s life work was plasma and its electric and magnetic forces. Lastly, we have Aleksei Arkhipovich Leonov, who was born in 1934. Leonov was the first man to climb out of a spacecraft (the Voskhod II ) and into space. He was the first true ‘‘astrophotographer’’ as he filmed for 10 minutes while orbiting!

Tonight’s study is for mid- to large-aperture telescopes. Begin by heading west about a fist-width from Regulus and identify 52 Leonis. Our mark is 1.5 degrees south. At lower power, you’ll see a triangle of galaxies.

The largest and brightest is M105 (RA 10 47 49 Dec +12 34 54). This dense elliptical galaxy appears evenly distributed, but the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) revealed a huge mass within the core equal to about million suns. The companion elliptical to the northeast— NGC 3384—reveals a bright nucleus and an elongated form. The faintest of this group— NGC 3389—is a receding spiral; larger scopes will see ‘‘patchiness’’ in structure.

Continue another degree south and enjoy another galactic pair. The widely spaced M96 (RA 10 46 45 Dec +11 49 10) and M95 (RA 10 43 57 Dec +11 42 12) belong to a galaxy grouping called Leo I. The dusty spiral—M96—will appear as a silver oval, with a nucleus much sharper than its faint spiral arms. M96 hosted a supernova as recently as 1998. To its west, you’ll discover a beautiful barred spiral—M95—a prime target of the HST. Visually, we enjoy M95 for its unique ring-like arms and unmistakable barred core, but the HST was looking for Cepheid variables to help determine the Hubble constant. Although we don’t need a space telescope to view this group of galaxies, we can appreciate taking a 38-million-light-years journey from our own backyard!

Until next week? Dreams really do come true when you keep on reaching for the stars!

This week’s awesome photos are (jn order of appearance): Frank Drake (archival image), Full Moon courtesy of NASA, Leo courtesy of NASA, Aleksei Arkhipovich Leonov (archival image), M105 and M95 – Palomar Observatory, courtesy of Caltech. We thank you so much!

Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers… Are you enjoying the typical “change of seasons” weather in your area? If skies should clear for you this weekend, we have some very nice lunar challenges along with some very interesting stars! Why not spend a little time contemplating lunacy and gathering a few photons? When ever you are ready, I’ll see you in the back yard…

May 21, 2010 – Today we’d like to wish a happy birthday to Nils Christofer Duner. Born in 1839, this classical astronomer studied the rotational period of the Sun. Duner was an outstanding observer and made 2,679 measurements of 445 double and multiple stars. He also specialized in observing the spectra of red stars, and later made a series of measurements of the Doppler shift caused by solar rotation. As you know, one of our own Sun’s main ingredients is helium. If you would like to see a helium-rich star, look no further tonight than Alpha Virginis See Spica— Spica . As the 16th brightest star in the sky, this brilliant blue-white ‘‘youngster’’ appears to be about 275 light-years away and is about 2,300 times brighter than our own Sun. Although we cannot see it visually, Spica is a double star. Its spectroscopic companion is roughly half its size and is also helium rich.

Now, let’s have a look at the Moon! Tonight’s challenges are craters Cassini and Cassini A, which come into view just south of the black slash of the Alpine Valley.

The major crater spans 57 kilometers and reaches a floor depth of 1,240 meters. Your assignment, should you decide to accept it, is to spot the central crater A. It only spans 17 kilometers, yet drops down another 2,830 meters below the primary crater’s floor!

May 22, 2010 – Let’s begin the day by honoring the 1920 birth on this date of Thomas Gold, an astronomer known for
proposing the ‘‘steady-state’’ theory of the universe; for explaining pulsars; and for giving the magnetosphere its name. Gold was also an auditory research genius. In his interview with D.T. Kemp he stated: ‘‘I’m a compulsive thinker, I never turn my brain off, I’ve never in my life complained of being bored because I’m constantly thinking about some problem, mostly physics I suppose. A problem is always on my mind—evidently even in my sleep because I often wake up with a solution clearly spread out.’’

Tonight let’s take a long Moonwalk together and do some major crater exploration. Try using mid-range magnification in your telescope and see how many of the features you can identify:

(1) Sinus Asperitatis, (2) Theophilus, (3) Cyrillus, (4) Catharina, (5) Rupes Altai, (6) Piccolomini, (7) Sacrobosco, (8) Abulfeda, (9) Almanon, (10) Taylor, (11) Abenezra, (12) Apianus, (13) Playfair, (14) Aliacensis, (15) Werner, (16) Blanchinus, (17) Lacaille, (18) Walter, (19) Regiomontanus, (20) Purbach, (21) Thebit, (22) Arzachel, (23) Alphonsus, (24) Ptolemaeus, and (25) Albategnius.

May 23, 2010 – If you like to venture to the lunar surface tonight, we can enjoy a strange, thin feature that’s a nice challenge! Look toward the lunar south, where you will note the prominent rings of craters Ptolemaeus, Alphonsus, Arzachel, Purbach, and Walter descending from north to south. Just west of them, you’ll see the emerging Mare Nubium.

Between Purbach and Walter, you will see the small, bright ring of Thebit, with a crater caught on its edge. Look further west to spot a long, thin, dark feature cutting across the mare. Its name? Rupes Recta , better known as the ‘‘Straight Wall,’’ or sometimes Rima Birt. The Straight Wall is one of the steepest known lunar slopes, rising around 366 meters from the surface at a 41 degree angle. Be sure to mark your lunar challenge notes and visit this feature again!

If you’d like to take a look at a ‘‘habitable zone,’’ look no further than AX Microscopii (RA21 17 15 Dec – 38 52 02). AX is a dwarf red flare star, which resides only 12.9 light-years from us. Although it might not seem that important, it is the target of interferometric studies searching for planets that may have formed in habitable zones around stars similar to our own. Even though AX is slightly smaller than Sol, this cool main sequence star might in fact be inhospitable, due to its daily flare activity.

Until next week? Ask for the Moon… But keep on reaching for the stars!

This week’s awesome images (in order of appearance) are: Cassini – courtesy of Wes Higgins, Thomas Gold (archival image), Lunar Photo courtesy of Greg Konkel – Annotations by Tammy Plotner, Rupes Recta courtesy of Damien Peach and AX Microscopi was done by Palomar Observatory, courtesy of Caltech. We thank you so much!

Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! It is just amazing how much the night sky can change when you’re out of commission for a few weeks. Where did Orion go? If you’ve been missing your own “starry nights”, then why not celebrate the weekend with some of the finest objects this time of year has to offer? It’s a great time to get into the “Queen’s Hair”, get a “Blackeye” and rustle up a pair of very impressive gobular clusters! Whenever you’re ready, I’ll see you in the back yard….

May 14, 2010 – On this date in 1973, the United States launched its first manned space station and largest payload up to that time, Skylab 1. The orbiting laboratory housed crews of astronauts, performed experiments, and taught us much before its fiery return to Earth in July 1979.

Tonight we’ll start with an object you can view unaided from a dark location, and which is splendid in binoculars. As a matter of fact, it’s so outstanding it has even been viewed and photographed from the International Space Station (ISS)! Just northeast of Beta Leonis, look for a hazy patch of stars known as Melotte 111. Often called the ‘‘ Queen’s Hair,’’ this 5-degree span of 5–10th magnitude stars is wonderfully rich and colorful.

As legend has it, Queen Berenice offered her beautiful long tresses to the gods for the king’s safe return from battle. Touched by her love, the gods took Berenice’s sacrifice and immortalized it in the stars. The cluster is best in binoculars because of its sheer size, but you’ll find other things of interest there as well. Residing about 260 light-years away, this collection is one of the nearest of all star clusters, including the Pleiades and the Ursa Major moving group. Although Melotte 111 is more than 400 million years old and contains no giant stars, its brightest members have just begun their evolution. Unlike the Pleiades, the Queen’s Hair has no red dwarf stars and a low stellar concentration which leads astronomers to believe it is slowly dispersing. Like many clusters, it contains double stars, most of which are spectroscopic. With binoculars, it is possible to split star 17, but it will require very steady hands.

May 15, 2010 – Today we celebrate the 1857 birth on this date of Williamina Paton Stevens Fleming, who pioneered in the classification of stellar spectra and discovered the stars we now call white dwarfs. Now get this: she began by working as a maid for Harvard Observatory’s Edward Pickering, who then took her to the observatory to do clerical work. Fleming ended up cataloging over 10,000 stars for Harvard in a period 9 years. You go, girl!

Tonight let’s head out into space where we might get a ‘‘blackeye.’’ You’ll find it located just 1 degree east-northeast of 35 Comae Berenices, and it is most often called M64 (RA 12 56 43 Dec +21 41 00).

Discovered by Bode about a year before Messier cataloged it, M64 is about 25 million light years away and holds the distinction of being one of the more massive and luminous spiral galaxies. It has a very unusual structure and is classified as an ‘‘Sa’’ spiral in some catalogs and as an ‘‘Sb’’ in others. Overall, its arms are very smooth and show no real resolution to any scope, yet its bright nucleus has an incredible dark dust lane that consumes the northern and eastern regions around its core, giving rise to its nickname—the Blackeye Galaxy.

In binoculars, you can perceive this 8.5-magnitude galaxy as a small oval with a slightly brighter center. Small telescope users will pick out the nucleus more easily, but it will require both magnification and careful attention to dark adaptation to catch the dust lane. In larger telescopes, the structure is easily apparent, and you may catch the outer wisps of arms on nights of exceptional seeing. No matter what you use to view it, this is one compact and bright little galaxy!

May 16, 2010 – Today we’d like to wish Roy Kerr a happy birthday! Born on this date in 1934, Kerr solved Einstein’s field equations of general relativity to describe rotating black holes, or the space/time around them. The solution, called now a Kerr black hole, shows a vortex-like region outside the event horizon known as the ergo-region. In this region, space and time are dragged around with the rotating parent black hole.

Tonight let’s use our binoculars and telescopes to hunt down one of the best globular clusters for the Northern Hemisphere— M3 (RA 13 42 11 Dec+28 22 31). You will discover this ancient beauty about halfway between the pair of Arcturus and Cor Caroli, just east of Beta Comae. The more aperture you use, the more stars you will resolve.

Discovered by Charles Messier on May 3, 1764, this ball of approximately a half-million stars is one of the oldest formations in our galaxy. At around 40,000 light years away, the awesome M3 globular cluster spans about 220 light-years and is believed to be as much as 10 billion years old. To get a grasp on this concept, our own Sun is less than half that age! M3 is 40,000 years away, traveling at the speed of light; yet we can still see this great globular cluster.

Now let’s locate M53 (RA 13 12 55 Dec +18 10 09), near Alpha Comae. Aim your binoculars or telescopes there and you will find M53 about a degree northeast. This very rich, magnitude 8.7 globular cluster is almost identical to M3, but look at what a difference an additional 25,000 light-years can make as to how we see it!

Binoculars can pick up a small, round, fuzzy patch, while larger telescopes will enjoy the compact bright core as well as resolution at the cluster’s outer edges. As a bonus for scopes, look 1 degree to the southeast for the peculiar round cluster, NGC 5053. Classed as a very loose globular, this magnitude 10.5 grouping is one of the least luminous objects of its type, due to its small stellar population and the wide separation between members, yet its distance is almost the same as that of M3!

Until next week, enjoy your observations and keep on looking at the stars!

This week’s awesome images are: Skylab 1 courtesy of NASA, Melotte 111 courtesy of Astronaut Don Petit (NASA), Williamina Paton Stevens Fleming (historical image), M64, M3 and M53 are Palomar Observatory, courtesy of Caltech)