Venus reflected in the Pacific Ocean late this fall seen from the island of Maui, Hawaii. The planet is now quickly dropping toward the sun. Credit: Bob King
I put down down the snow shovel to give my back a rest yesterday evening and couldn’t believe what I saw. Or didn’t see. Where was Venus? I looked to the south above the tree line and the goddess was gone! Sweeping my gaze to the right I found her again much closer to the western horizon point and also much lower.
As Venus revolves around the sun interior to Earth’s orbit, we see it pass through phases just like the moon. Tonight it’s still to the east of the sun (left side) and visible in the evening sky. On Jan. 11 it passes through conjunction and then appears on the other side of the sun in the morning sky. Illustration: Bob King
As 2013 gives way to the new year, Venus winds up its evening presentation as it prepares to transition to the morning sky. Catch it while you can. Each passing night sees the planet dropping ever closer to the horizon as its apparent distance from the sun shrinks. On January 11 it will pass through inferior conjunction as it glides between Earth and sun. Come the 12th, Venus nudges into the dawn sky – don’t expect to see it with the naked eye until around midmonth, when it’s far enough from the sun to bust through the twilight glare.
Phases of Venus during 2004 photographed through a telescope. When very close to inferior conjunction (bottom right) the crescent is seen to extend fully around the planet. Credit: Statis Kalyva / Wikipedia
Though the planet is departing, don’t let it disappear without at least a glance through binoculars. As conjunction approaches, Venus gets as close (and as large) as it can get to Earth and displays a most attractive crescent phase. Even 7x binoculars will show its thinning sickle shortly at dusk. Tonight (Dec. 27) Venus measures nearly 1 arc minute in diameter or 1/30 the width of the full moon and shines brightly at magnitude -4.5.
Venus is only about 12 degrees high in the southwestern sky some 20 minutes after sunset this evening Dec. 27. Stellarium
As the planet drops ever lower, the crescent grows both larger and thinner. A few days before conjunction, a telescope will show it extending beyond the usual 180-degree arc as sunlight beaming from behind Venus is scattered by the planet’s thick cloudy atmosphere.
When the air is transparent and seeing steady, amateur astronomers have photographed and observed the crescent wrapping a full 360 degrees around the planet’s disk – a sight quite unlike anything else in the sky.
Before Venus departs the evening sky, watch for it to pair up with a very thin crescent moon shortly after sunset on Jan. 2, 2014. Stellarium
In the coming week, watch for Venus starting about 15 minutes after sunset low in the southwestern sky. With each day, the planet becomes slightly less conspicuous as it competes against the twilight glow.
After final farewells late next week, we’ll look forward in the new year to welcoming the goddess in her new guise as morning star.
An early Draconid meteor caught by astrophotographer Cory Schmitz. (Used with permission?)
It’s here!
As 2013 draws to a close, we once again cast our thoughts to all things astronomical for the coming year. For the past five years, I’ve been constructing this list of all things astronomical for the coming year, lovingly distilling the events transpiring worldwide down to a 101 “best events of the year”. This is the first year this list has been featured on Universe Today, so we’ll lay out our ground rules and reasoning a bit as to selection criteria.
Events selected run the gamut from conjunctions and eclipses that are visible worldwide or over a good swath of the planet, to asteroid occultations of stars that are only visible along a thin path along the surface of the Earth. Geocentric conjunction times for occultations are quoted. Generally, only conjunctions involving bright stars, planets & the Moon are noted. The intent of this list is to bridge the gap between the often meager “10 Best Astronomy Events of 2014” listicles that make their rounds this time of year and the more tedious laundry lists of Moon phases and wide conjunctions.
As always, we look at the coming year with an eye out for the astronomically curious and the bizarre. Times are quoted in Universal Time (UT) using a 24-hour clock, which is identical to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) and Zulu for those in the military.
Some caveats as to how selections were made:
-To make the cut, asteroid occultations must have a rank of 99 or greater, and occult a star brighter than +8th magnitude.
– We only selected major annual meteor showers with a Zenithal Hourly Rate (ZHR) projected to be 20 or greater.
– Only lunar occultations of planets and bright stars are listed.
– Solstice seasons where the International Space Station reaches full illumination are approximate; the ISS gets boosted periodically, and therefore it’s impossible to project its precise orbit months in advance.
– Comets come and go. The comets included on this list are some of the “best bets” that are forcasted to reach binocular visibility for 2014. A big bright one could come up and steal the show at any time!
This list was meant to “whet the appetite” for what’s coming to skies worldwide in 2014 with a succinct rapid fire listing by month. Where an online resource exists that expands on the event, we linked to ‘em. A full resource list, both paper and cyber, is given at the end of the post. Print these events, post it on your refrigerator and/or observatory wall, and expect us to feature many these fine events on Universe Today in the coming year!
Some notes on 2014:
2014 sees Mars reach opposition in early April, which is sure to be a highlight as we head towards an exceptionally close opposition in 2018.
The month of February is also missing a New Moon, which last occurred in 1995 and won’t happen again until 2033. February is the only calendar month which can be missing the same moon phase twice!
We’re also coming off a profoundly weak solar maximum in 2014, though as always, the Sun may have some surprises in store for solar observers and aurora watchers worldwide.
The motion of the Moon in 2014 is headed towards a “shallow” year in 2015 relative to the ecliptic; it will then begin to slowly open back up and ride high around 2025.
2014 also contains the minimum number of eclipses that can occur in one year, 2 solar and 2 lunar. And while there are no total solar eclipses in 2014, there are two fine total lunar eclipses, both visible from North America.
And here’s the month by month rundown:
The view looking west from the US east coast at 6 PM on January 1st from latitude 30 degrees north. (Created in Stellarium).
03- Quadrantid meteors peak with a ZHR=120 at ~05:00 UT, best seen from the Atlantic region. Favorable in 2014, with the Moon a 2 day old waxing crescent.
04- Earth reaches perihelion at 12:00 UT, 147.1 million kilometres from the Sun.
04- Mars passes 1.3’ from the +11.5th magnitude galaxy NGC 4684.
10- A Possible meteor shower due to dust from the Comet (formerly known as) ISON over the next few days?
11- Venus reaches inferior conjunction between the Sun and the Earth, shining at -4th magnitude. It may be just possible to spot it five degrees north of the solar limb from high northern latitudes.
13- Moon reaches its farthest northern declination for 2014 a 19.4 degrees.
16- The most distant Full Moon, and visually smallest Full Moon of 2014 occurs, with the Moon reaching Full within two hours of apogee. MiniMoon!
25- The Moon occults Saturn for the South Pacific at ~13:58 UT.
27- The Moon reaches its farthest southern declination for 2014, at -19.3 degrees.
30- ABlack Moon occurs, as reckoned as the second New Moon in a month with two.
31- Mercury reaches a favorable elongation, shining at magnitude -0.9, 18.4 degrees east of the Sun.
Venus occultation footprint for February 26th. (Created using Occult v4.1.0).
February
06- Twoshadows transit the cloud tops of Jupiter from 10:20 UT-12:44 UT, favoring western North America.
21- The Moon occults Saturn for the Indian Ocean at ~22:18 UT.
26- The 14% waning crescent Moon occults Venus for central Africa at ~5:23 UT.
March
07- Asteroid 9 Metis occults a +7.9 magnitude star for Europe ~3:14 UT.
10- The 70% illuminated waxing gibbous Moon occults the +3.6 magnitude star Lambda Geminorum for North America in the evening sky.
14- Mercury reaches greatest morning elongation at 27.5 degrees west of the Sun shining at magnitude +0.1. Mercury’s best morning apparition in 2014 for southern hemisphere observers.
16- A double shadow transit of Jupiter’s moons occurs from 22:20 to 00:35 UT, visible from Atlantic Canada after sunset.
20- The Northward Equinox occurs at 16:57 UT.
20- GEO satellite eclipse season occurs, as geostationary satellites enter Earth’s shadow near the equinox.
20- Regulus is occulted by asteroid 163 Erigone for the NE United States and Canada at ~6:07 UT, The brightest star occulted by an asteroid in 2014.
21- The Moon occults Saturn for the South Atlantic at ~3:18 UT.
24- A double shadow transit of Jupiter’s moons occurs from 2:08 to 2:28 UT, favoring eastern North America.
24- Asteroid172 Baucisoccults a +6.7 magnitude star for South America at ~9:27 UT.
22- Venus reaches greatest morning elongation, at 47 degrees west of the Sun.
28- Asteroid 51 Nemausa occults a +7.7 magnitude star for Africa at 20:02 UT.
30- A Black Moon occurs, as reckoned as the second New Moon in one month.
The viewing prospects for the April 15th Total Lunar Eclipse. (Credit: NASA/GSFC/Espenak/Meeus).
April
08- Mars reaches opposition for 2014, shining at magnitude -1.5.
12- A close conjunction of Venus and Neptune occurs, with the planets just 0.7 degrees apart at 2:00 UT.
15- A Total Lunar Eclipse occurs, visible from the Americas and centered on 7:47 UT.
17- The Moon occults Saturn for South America at ~7:19 UT.
29- An Annular Solar Eclipse visible from Australia and the southern Indian Ocean occurs, centered on 6:05 UT. This is a unique, non-central antumbral eclipse!
May
03- Asteroid 105 Artemis occults a +7.7 magnitude star for NW Brazil and Peru at ~9:17 UT.
04- Asteroid 34 Circe occults a +7.4 magnitude star for Peru and Ecuador at ~10:12 UT.
06- The closest lunar apogee of 2014 occurs at 404,318 km distant at 10:23 UT.
07- Eta Aquariid meteors peak, with a ZHR=55 at 4:00 UT. Best observed from the Atlantic Region. Favorable in 2014, with the 7-day old Moon at waxing gibbous.
07- Asteroid 206 Hersilia occults a +7.5 magnitude star for Australia and Indonesia at ~17:49 UT.
10- Saturn reaches opposition for 2014, shining at magnitude +0.1. Saturn’s rings are tipped open a maximum of 23 degrees to our line of sight on February 11th, and widening overall in 2014.
13- A double shadow transit of Jupiter’s moons occurs from 9:20-9:32 UT favoring NW North America.
14- The Moon occults Saturn for Australia and New Zealand at ~12:18 UT.
24- Ameteor shower outburst may be in the offing, courtesy of Comet 209P LINEAR. Will the “Camelopardalids” perform?
24- Asteroid 33 Polyhymnia occults a +5.5 magnitude star for South America at ~8:30 UT.
25- Mercury reaches maximum dusk elongation, 22.7 degrees east of the Sun. Mercury’s best evening apparition for 2014 for northern hemisphere viewers.
The triple shadow transit of June 3rd, as seen at 19:00 UT. (Created by the author using Starry Night).
June
3- A triple Jovian shadow transit occurs from 18:05-19:44 UT, favoring eastern Europe and Africa. This is the only triple shadow transit for 2014.
10- The Moon occults Saturn for the southern Indian Ocean at ~18:48 UT.
21- The Northward Solstice occurs at ~10:51 UT.
22- The International Space Station enters a period of full illumination near the June solstice, favoring multiple views for northern hemisphere viewers.
26- The Moon occults Mercury just 20 hours prior to New… a tough catch, but may visible from the SE US and Venezuela just before sunrise.
27- The June Boötid meteors peak, with a ZHR variable from 0-100 at ~15:00 UT, favoring the Central Pacific. Optimal in 2014, as the Moon is at New phase.
July
04- Earth reaches aphelion at 2:00 UT, at 152,098,232 kilometres from the Sun.
04- Pluto reaches opposition at 3:00 UT.
05– 1 Ceres passes just 10’ from 4 Vesta in the constellation Virgo.
06– The Moon occults Mars for South America at ~01:21 UT
08– The Moon occults Saturn for Argentina & Chile at ~2:25 UT.
12- Mercury reaches its maximum elongation of 20.9 degrees west of the Sun, shining at magnitude +0.4 in the dawn.
12– The first Full Proxigean “Super” Moon (1 of 3) for 2014 occurs at 11:27 UT. The Moon reaches Full 21 hours prior to perigee.
30– The Southern Delta Aquarids peak, with a ZHR=20. Time variable, favorable in 2014 with the waxing crescent Moon 4 days past New.
20– Asteroid 451 Patientia occults a +7.1 magnitude star for South Africa at ~17:15 UT.
28- The farthest lunar apogee of 2014 occurs, with the Moon 406,568 kilometres distant at 3:28 UT.
30– Asteroid 103 Hera occults a +6.1 magnitude star for west Africa and central South America at ~1:11 UT.
A tri-conjunction of the Moon, Venus & Jupiter on the morning of August 23rd- A “Skewed Smiley face” conjunction!” Credit: Stellarium).
August
02– A close conjunction of Mercury and Jupiter occurs, with the planets just 0.9 degrees apart at 19:00 UT. Visible in SOHO’s LASCO C3 camera.
10– The closest lunar perigee of 2014 occurs, with the Moon 356,896 kilometres distant at 17:44 UT.
10- The Closest Full Moon of the year & “Super” Moon (2 of 3) for 2014 occurs, with Full Moon occurring just 27 minutes after perigee.
13– The Perseid meteors peak, with a ZHR=100 at ~04:00 UT favoring The Atlantic region. Unfavorable in 2014, with the 17 day old Moon at waning gibbous.
18- A conjunction of Venus and Jupiter occurs 5:00 UT, the closest conjunction of two naked eye planets in 2014, with the two just 15’ apart.
29- Neptune reaches opposition at 14:00 UT, shining at +7.8 magnitude.
31– The Moon occults Saturn for Africa and the eastern US (in the daytime) at ~18:59.
September
05- Venus passes 0.7 degrees from the bright star Regulus.
09– The final Full “Super” Moon (3 of 3) for 2014 occurs at 1:39 UT, just 22 hours after perigee.
15– Comet C/2013 V5 Oukaimeden may reach +5.5th magnitude for southern hemisphere observers.
20– Mercury passes 0.5 degrees south of the bright star Spica at 21:00 UT.
21- Mercury reaches its greatest elongation of 26.4 degrees east of the Sun shining at magnitude +0.0 in the dawn sky. Mercury’s best sunset apparition for 2014 for southern hemisphere observers.
23- The Southward Equinox occurs at 2:29 UT.
23- GEO satellite eclipse season occurs, as geostationary satellites enter Earth’s shadow near the equinox.
28– The Moon occults Saturn for the northern Pacific at ~4:25 UT. The Moon also occults 1 Ceres and 4 Vesta on the same day!
The path of Comet C/2013 A1 Siding Springs versus the planet Mars through October, 2014. (Created by the author using Starry Night).
October
04- 1 Ceres passes just 30’ north of Saturn.
06- PossibleDraconid meteor shower, highly variable in terms of rates and timing, but unfavorable in 2014, with the Moon just two days from Full.
08- A Total Lunar Eclipse visible from the Pacific Rim region occurs, centered on 10:56 UT. The planet Uranus will also lie less than a degree away from the eclipsed Moon!
14- Comet C/2012 K1 PanSTARRS may reach +5th magnitude for southern hemisphere viewers.
13– The Moon reaches it shallowest northern declination for 2014 at +18.5 degrees.
19- Comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring passes just 7’ from the planet Mars. Globular cluster NGC 6401 also lies nearby.
22– The Orionid meteor shower peaks at ~05:00 UT, with a predicted ZHR=25 favoring the Americas. Optimal in 2014, with the Moon at waning crescent.
22– The Moon occults Mercury for Australia just 24 hours prior to New as seen from Australia.
23- A Partial Solar Eclipse visible from western North America occurs centered on 21:46 UT.
25- The Moon occults Saturn for the northern Atlantic at ~15:43 UT.
25- The Moon reaches its shallowest southern point for 2014, at a declination of -18.6 degrees.
The partial solar eclipse of October 23rd, 2014. (Credit: NASA/GSFC/Fred Espenak).
November
01- Mercury reaches its greatest elongation 18.7 degrees west of the Sun, shining at magnitude -0.5. The best morning apparition of Mercury for 2014 as seen from the northern hemisphere.
18– Leonid meteors peak at 05:00 UT with a ZHR=20 favoring the Atlantic region. Optimal in 2014, with the 25 day old Moon at waning crescent phase.
20- Asteroid 3 Juno occults a +7.4 magnitude star for the US NE and eastern Canada.
27- The farthest lunar perigee of 2014 occurs with the Moon 369,824 km distant at 23:12 UT.
December
09- A double shadow transit of Jupiter’s moons occurs from 4:18 to 4:27 UT favoring eastern North America.
12- A double shadow transit of Jupiter’s moons occurs from 16:19 to 16:44 UT favoring NW North America.
13- The Geminid meteors peak with a ZHR=120 at ~01:00 UT, favoring the Middle East & Eastern Europe. Unfavorable in 2014, with the 20 day old Moon at waning gibbous.
18- Asteroid 702 Alauda occults a +6.2 magnitude star at 14:12 UT for eastern Australia.
21- The Southward Solstice occurs at 23:03 UT.
21- The International Space Station enters period of full illumination around the solstice, with multiple nightly views favoring the southern hemisphere.
21- A double shadow transit of Jupiter’s moons occurs from 14:17 to 15:55 UT, favoring the Far East and Australia.
Don’t see your favorite or most anticipated event of 2014 on the list? Drop us a line and let us know!
And finally, thanks to all of those too numerous to name who provided discussions/diatribes/input via Twitter/G+/message boards/etc to make this listing possible… let another exciting year of astronomy begin!
Why pick up a low quality, wobbly telescope from the department store when you can craft your own – just like Galileo, and all the great astronomers from history. For a minor investment, you can build a worthy telescope out of spare parts and high quality kits. Continue reading “Astronomy Cast Ep. 327: Telescope Making, Part 1: Toys and Kits”
Saturn makes a beautifully striped ornament in this natural-color image, showing its north polar hexagon and central vortex (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute)
Cassini couldn’t make it to the mall this year to do any Christmas shopping but that’s ok: we’re all getting something even better in our stockings than anything store-bought! To celebrate the holiday season the Cassini team has shared some truly incredible images of Saturn and some of its many moons for the world to “ooh” and “ahh” over. So stoke the fire, pour yourself a glass of egg nog, sit back and marvel at some sights from a wintry wonderland 900 million miles away…
Thanks, Cassini… these are just what I’ve always wanted! (How’d you know?)
Saturn’s southern hemisphere is growing more and more blue as winter approaches there — a coloration similar to what was once seen in the north when Cassini first arrived in 2004:
Saturn’s southern hemisphere images from a million miles away (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute)
(The small dark spot near the center right of the image above is the shadow of the shepherd moon Prometheus.)
Titan and Rhea, Saturn’s two largest moons, pose for Cassini:
Rhea (front) and Titan, images by Cassini in June 2011 (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute)
The two moons may look like they’re almost touching but in reality they were nearly half a million miles apart!
Titan’s northern “land of lakes” is visible in this image, captured by Cassini with a special spectral filter able to pierce through the moon’s thick haze:
Titan images by Cassini on Oct. 7, 2013 (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute)
The frozen, snowball-like surface of the 313-mile-wide moon Enceladus:
Enceladus: a highly-reflective and icy “snowball in space” (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute)
(Even though Enceladus is most famous for its icy geysers, first observed by Cassini in 2005, in these images they are not visible due to the lighting situations.)
Seen in a different illumination angle and in filters sensitive to UV, visible, and infrared light the many fractures and folds of Enceladus’ frozen surface become apparent:
View of the trailing face of Enceladus (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute)
Because of Cassini’s long-duration, multi-season stay in orbit around Saturn, researchers have been able to learn more about the ringed planet and its fascinating family of moons than ever before possible. Cassini is now going into its tenth year at Saturn and with much more research planned, we can only imagine what discoveries (and images!) are yet to come in the new year(s) ahead.
“Until Cassini arrived at Saturn, we didn’t know about the hydrocarbon lakes of Titan, the active drama of Enceladus’ jets, and the intricate patterns at Saturn’s poles,” said Linda Spilker, the Cassini project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “Spectacular images like these highlight that Cassini has given us the gift of knowledge, which we have been so excited to share with everyone.”
The full mosaic from the Cassini imaging team of Saturn on July 19, 2013... the "Day the Earth Smiled"
Just to demonstrate how far-reaching that Saturn snapshot of Earth this year was, the Skopje Astronomical Society (from Macedonia) made a video celebrating “The Day The Earth Smiled”, when the Cassini spacecraft looked at Earth on July 19 and thousands of people made pictures and video showing what they were doing at that time.
Watch the video, then look at some stunning pictures of Saturn below the jump.
Saturn and its rings, as seen from above the planet by the Cassini spacecraft. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute. Assembled by Gordan Ugarkovic.
Mosaic of Saturn seen in eclipse in September 2006. Earth is the bright dot just inside the F ring at upper left. (CICLOPS/NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI)A false-color view of Saturn’s storm, as seen through Cassini’s wide-angle camera. The blue bands at the edge are Saturn’s rings. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSISaturn, its rings and three moons are visible in this image from Cassini. Credit: NASA/ESA
A white storm in Saturn’s northern hemisphere, as seen on Dec. 14, 2010. Credit: Anthony Wesley
Jupiter+moon imaged recently by Paul Cotton (@paultbird66) of Lincolnshire, England. Used with permission.
Lovers of planetary action rejoice; the king of the planets is returning to the evening skies.
One of the very first notable astronomical events for 2014 occurs on January 5th, when the planet Jupiter reaches opposition. You can already catch site of Jove in late December, rising in the east about an hour after local sunset. And while Venus will be dropping faster than the ball in Times Square on New Year’s Eve to the west in early 2014, Jupiter will begin to dominate the evening planetary action.
Orbiting the Sun once every 11.9 years, oppositions of Jupiter occur about once every 13 months or about 400 days, as the speedy Earth overtakes the gas giant on the inside track. This means that successive oppositions of the planet move roughly one astronomical constellation eastward. In fact, this year’s opposition is it’s northernmost in 12 years, occurring in the constellation Gemini. “Opposition” means that an outer planet is rising “opposite” to the setting Sun. As this opposition of Jupiter occurs just weeks after the southward solstice, Jupiter now lies in the direction that the Sun will occupy six months from now during the June Solstice.
This all means that Jupiter will ride high in the sky for northern hemisphere observers towards local midnight, a boon for astrophotographers looking to catch the planet high in the sky and out of the low horizon murk.
Jupiter will reach its most northern point for 2014 at a declination of +23.3 degrees on March 11th.
Jupiter also “skipped” 2013, in the sense that it was an “oppositionless year” for the giant world, as said 13 month span fell juuusst right, first on December 2nd, 2012 and then on January 5th, 2014. The next opposition of Jupiter will occur on… you guessed it… February 6th, 2015. The last year missing an opposition of Jupiter was 2001.
Jupiter and Io (arrowed) as imaged on the evening of December 22nd, 2013 by the author.
The exact timing of Jupiter’s opposition to the Sun in right ascension occurs at 21:00 UT/4:00 PM EST on January 5th. Its closest approach to Earth, however, arrives 27 hours prior, owing to a slight outward curvature of the approach of the two worlds. Jupiter will then lie about 4.21 astronomical units (AUs) or 629 million kilometres distant. This is just about down the middle of how close it can pass; Jupiter was just under 4 AUs distant in September 2010, and can pass almost 4.5 AUs from Earth, as happened in April 2005.
Jupiter also reaches a maximum brightness of magnitude -2.7 at opposition in 2014 and presents a disk 46.8” arc seconds wide. The coming month also provides a great chance to catch Jupiter in the daytime sky just before sunset, when the waxing gibbous Moon passes 4.9 degrees south of the planet on the evening of January 14th.
The Moon and Jupiter on the evening of January 14th shortly before sunset. (Created by the Author using Stellarium).
The very first thing you’ll notice looking at Jupiter, even at low power with binoculars or a telescope, is it retinue of moons. Though the planet has 67 discovered moons and counting, only the four large Galilean moons of Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto are readily apparent in a telescope. It’s fun to see orbital mechanics in action and watch them from night to night as they change position, just as Galileo first did over four centuries ago. This provided him with evidence that there is much more to universe than meets the eye, though we can consider ourselves fortunate that his proposal to name them the “Medician Moons” after his Medici benefactors was never widely adopted.
Crank up the magnification, and you’ll notice the large twin stripes of the northern and southern equatorial cloud belts crossing the disk of Jupiter. While the northern belt is stable, the southern belt has been known to submerge and disappear from view about every decade or so, as last happened in 2009-2010. You’ll also notice the Great Red Spot, a massive storm system over three times larger than the Earth that has been tracked by astronomers since it was recorded by Samuel Schwabe in 1831. The planet has the fastest rotation of any world in our solar system at 9.9 hours, and you’ll notice this swift rotation tracking Jupiter over the course of a single evening.
Transits and occultations of Jupiter’s moons are also always interesting to watch. The variation in the timing of these events at differing distances led Danish astronomer Ole Rømer to make the first attempts at measuring the speed of light in 1676.
Europa just beginning to cast a shadow off to one side shortly after opposition on January 8th at 7:30 PM EST. (Created by the author using Starry Night).
It’s interesting to note that Jupiter and its moons cast a shadow nearly straight back from our line of sight around opposition. You can see this change as the planet heads towards quadrature on April 1st, 2014 and Jupiter and its moons cast shadows off to one side. We’re also in the midst of a plane crossing, as the orbits of the Jovian moons appear edge-on to our line of sight in 2014 headed into early 2015. The outermost Jovian moon Callisto began a series of transits in 2013 and will continue to do so through 2014.
This is a great time to begin following all of the Jovian action, as we head into another exciting year of astronomy!
Each of the four panels is a combination of two separate exposures made by the Hubble Space Telescope as it tracked Comet ISON's position. Had the comet been in any of these frames, it would have appeared as a small fuzzy glow or stellar point(s) in the center. The stars are trailed because the camera tracked the comet. Credit: NASA/ESA
On December 18, the Hubble Space Telescope slewed to Comet ISON’s expected position and found nothing down to the incredibly faint magnitude of 25. According to astronomer Hal Weaver, who planned the ISON search, that limit implies any remaining fragments would have to be smaller than about 500 feet (160 meters) in diameter.
Composite photo of one of two Comet ISON locations photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope. No trace of the comet is visible. Credit: NASA/ESA
Nothing is visible in any of the images in the photo panel except trailed stars and galaxies, reflections and the occasional zap of a cosmic ray. After ISON was torn asunder by the sun, there existed the possibility that comet’s remains would follow a slightly different orbit. To make sure he was covered, Weaver photographed two separate comet positions, stacking several exposures together.
Comet ISON photographed at a second location. Again, nothing detected. Credit: NASA/ESA
“The images have been combined so that features not at the same place in the various images are suppressed. Any comet fragments would show up more clearly in this composite, though stars still show up as faint streaks”, writes Zolt Lavay, author of the ISONblog at the Hubble site.
Again, nothing shows up in these either. While no one can say that ISON has completely disappeared, we now know that at the very least it’s broken into pieces too small for even Hubble to see. What was once a beautiful sight in binoculars has expanded into a vast cloud of gas and dust thinner than Ebenezer Scrooge’s gruel.
For those of us who remain forever fascinated by astronomy, nothing could spark our imaginations more than a cosmic curiosity. In this case, the unusual object is a star cataloged as AM Canum Venaticorum (AM CVn) located in the constellation of Canes Venatici. What makes this dual star system of interest? Try the fact that the pair revolve completely around each other in a brief 18 minutes. What’s more, they are the stuff of which Einstein dreamed… creators of ripples in space-time known as gravitational waves.
Like other astronomical anomalies, AM CVn became the forerunner of a new class of stellar objects. It is a white dwarf, a sun-like star which has exhausted its fuel and collapsed to around the size of Earth. Yet it also has a white dwarf companion – a very compact orb which is delivering matter to its neighbor. AM Canum Venaticorum is not alone, however. There are similar systems where the stellar pairs complete their rotations in about an hour and even as rapidly as five minutes! Can you imagine the crackling amount of energy a system like this produces?!
Even though we have been aware of systems like AM CVn for almost five decades, no one is quite sure how they originate. Now, through the use of X-ray and optical observations, astronomers are taking a look at newly evolved double stars systems which one day might become a dueling duo dwarf. Heading their list are two binary systems, J0751 and J1741. These candidates were observed in the X-ray part of the electromagnetic spectrum by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and ESA’s XMM-Newton telescope. In addition, observations at optical wavelengths were made using the McDonald Observatory’s 2.1-meter telescope in Texas, and the Mt. John Observatory 1.0-meter telescope in New Zealand.
“The artist’s illustration depicts what these systems are like now and what may happen to them in the future. The top panel shows the current state of the binary that contains one white dwarf (on the right) with about one-fifth the mass of the Sun and another much heavier and more compact white dwarf about five or more times as massive (unlike Sun-like stars, heavier white dwarfs are smaller).” says the Chandra X-ray Observatory news release.
What’s happening here? As the pair of white dwarf stars whip around each other, they are releasing gravitational waves which constrict the orbit. In time, the heavier, diminutive dwarf will begin stripping material from its lighter, larger companion (as seen in the middle panel). This material consumption will continue for perhaps a 100 million years, or until the collected matter reaches a critical mass and releases a thermonuclear explosion.
Another scenario is the thermonuclear explosion could annihilate the larger white dwarf completely in what astronomers call a Type Ia supernova. An event like this is well-known and gives a measurement in standard candles for cosmic distance. However, chances are better the explosion will happen on the surface of the star – an event known as .Ia supernovae. While .Ia supernovae events have been recorded in other galaxies, J0751 and J1741 are the first binary stars which have the potential to erupt in .Ia supernovae.
“The optical observations were critical in identifying the two white dwarfs in these systems and ascertaining their masses. The X-ray observations were needed to rule out the possibility that J0751 and J1741 contained neutron stars.” says the Chandra team. “A neutron star – which would disqualify it from being a possible parent to an AM CVn system – would give off strong X-ray emission due to its magnetic field and rapid rotation. Neither Chandra nor XMM-Newton detected any X-rays from these systems.”
Are AM CVn systems riding the gravitational wave? While astronomers haven’t been able to detect them yet, these new observations are highly important because equipment to verify their presences is currently being developed. It won’t be long until we can see the wave and have a whole new way of looking at the Universe!
Star trails above the European Space Observatory's Paranal Observatory in Chile, showing three of the four auxiliary telescopes of the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI). Credit: ESO/B. Tafreshi
There are so many colorful streaks in that image above that you’d be forgiven for thinking somebody is shooting lasers around the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Chile. Actually, though, this demonstrates a common technique for astronomy photo-taking where you do a time lapse to watch the stars moving as the Earth makes its daily rotation.
The image of auxiliary telescopes of Very Large Telescope Interferometer is not only pretty, but does have some scientific interest as well, ESO said.
“This technique … enhances the natural colours of the stars, which gives an indication of their temperature, ranging from about 1000 degrees Celsius [1,832 Fahrenheit] for the reddest stars to a few tens of thousands of degrees Celsius [or Fahrenheit] for the hottest, which appear blue. The sky in this remote and high location in Chile is extremely clear and there is no light pollution, offering us this amazing light show,” stated the European Southern Observatory.
According to ESO, these supplementary telescopes working together allow astronomers to “see details up to 25 times finer than with the individual telescopes.” You can read more about the VLTI at this ESO link, which includes some interesting facts — such as why the interferometers are named Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun.
Is this really how the Solar System works? (Rendering by DjSadhu)
The short answer? No. Not in the way that a popular animated gif insinuates, at least.
If you’re even a casual space fan you may have seen a viral gif animation showing our solar system traveling through space, the motions of the planets tracing corkscrew “vortex” paths around a line-driving Sun. While it’s definitely intriguing to watch (in that mesmerizingly-repetitive gif fashion) and rendered with a talented flair for design, there are two fundamental problems with it. One: it’s not entirely correct, scientifically, and two: its creator’s intention is to illustrate a decidedly un-scientific point of view about the Solar System and the Universe as a whole.
For the long answer, I now offer up the stage to astrophysicist Rhys Taylor, who recently posted an in-depth article describing why the planets do yet move… just not like that.
There’s this annoying space GIF roaming the internet causing trouble. Perhaps you’ve seen it. No ? Well, here it is.
Solar system “vortex” gif (by DjSadhu)
What it purports to show is the motion of the Solar System through space. But the accuracy of this has been utterly derided as an affront to scientific dignity. Which is a shame, because the video version is really quite nicely done, with good camera movement and a catchy soundtrack. The principle antagonist is notorious “Bad Astronomer” Phil Plait, who wrote a convincing and virulent attack on the video. I decided to investigate for myself.
Like many people, I was at first glance really quite impressed with the video, and didn’t have any major objections to it. Obviously the orbits and size of the planets are not to scale (and I think their orbital speeds have be altered too), but that’s just to make them visible. Fair enough. But then I read Phil Plait’s analysis, and it seems that things are much, much worse than that. Says Plait :
“Sadhu shows the Sun leading the planets, ahead of them as it goes around the galaxy… This is not just misleading, it’s completely wrong.”
He clarifies :
“Sometimes the planets really are ahead of the Sun as we orbit in the Milky Way, and sometimes trail behind it (depending on where they are in their orbit around the Sun).” [my italics]
The orbits of the major planets of the solar system all lie in a narrow plane (like being in economy class! hahaha… sorry), which is tilted at about 60 degrees to the disc of stars that forms the Milky Way. Like this:
We’ll return to the tilt in a moment. But first, if the Sun was really leading the planets, then the thing is completely ludicrous (and this is quite a major part of Plait’s argument). Yet I’m not so sure the viral gif does show the Sun leading the planets. Having read through the author’s website, I can’t find any evidence that he suggests this. In fact, some of other videos on his website clearly show that this isn’t the case:
It seems to me that the appearance of the Sun leading the planets in the gif is just the result of a projection effect – i.e. that things can look different from different angles. On the other hand, Plait read the source material for Sadhu’s model, so maybe there’s something in there that’s more explicit. I’ve glanced at it, but couldn’t find anything stating this precisely. Actually I couldn’t find a whole lot that was even vaguely coherent, but we’ll return to this later. For now, just keep in mind that Sadhu is using an alternative model, even though that may not always be evident.
What the gif definitely does not show is the fact that the orbits of the planets are tilted at about 60 degrees to the direction of the Sun’s motion. Says Plait :
“In the helical model, he shows the planets as orbiting around the Sun perpendicular to the motion of the Sun around the galaxy; “face-on”, if you like.This is wrong. Because the orbits of the planets are tipped by 60°, not 90°, they can sometimes be ahead and sometimes behind the Sun. That right there, and all by itself, shows this helical depiction is incorrect.”
There can be no mistaking that Sadhu’s video shows the orbits with the wrong tilt. But is that so critical? Well actually no, not really. Fact is that if you include the tilt, you still see the planets making a “spiral” pattern (technically it’s a helix) as they move through space. The overall appearance just isn’t that massively different compared to a 90-degree tilt.
Solar system model by Rhys Taylor (Click to play)
So what’s the big deal? What does the author claim in this internet sensation that’s so outrageous? Well, not much. That particular video/gif are actually fairly inoffensive, to my mind. The most basic notion that the planets trace helical paths through space is perfectly correct. What honestly surprises me is that this is so incredibly popular on the internet. If you weren’t aware that the Sun orbits the center of the galaxy — which, since the planets orbit it, necessitates that they trace out helical paths — then the education system has seriously failed. But do not despair! This can be remedied very, very easily.
But we’re not done yet. There’s a sting in the tail, and it’s a big one. The gif doesn’t show it, but the video version ends with the worrying remarks that:
“Rotational motion and vortex motion are completely different things.”*
“Life spirals.” [Picture of leaves]
“Life is vortex, not just rotation.” [Picture of developing ferns, then a flower, the Milky Way, the DNA double helix, etc.]
“The Solar System is part of life. Think about this while racing through space.”
*Yes, they are. Plait notes: “They’re different in more than just name; they’re actually very different physical motions with different properties—you can get helical motion without the particles in it interacting, like in the solar system, but in a vortex the particles interact through drag and friction.” Basically, claiming that the Solar System is a vortex is simply wrong. Sadhu appears not to have checked the word “vortex” in a dictionary.
I could forgive even these rather hippyish sentiments, if they were no more than that. Alas, they’re symptomatic of a much larger problem. Plait’s merciless attack is full of sound and fury, but it’s also signifying something. Reading more of the author’s website, it turns out he is actively promoting quackery. It’s on a par with the excellent Space Mirror Mystery* (the idea that everything further away than about 150 million km is just a reflection in a giant mirror), but less funny.
*I was delighted to find that this website is back online. Seriously, read it. It’s epic.
From Sadhu’s website:
“In this diagram it seems the Solar System travel to the left. When the Earth is also traveling[sic] to the left (for half a year) it must go faster than the Sun. Then in the second half of the year, it travels in a ‘relative opposite direction’ so it must go slower than the Sun. Then, after completing one orbit, it must increase speed to overtake the Sun in half a year. And this would go for all the planets. Just like any point you draw on a frisbee will not have a constant speed, neither will any planet.”
Apparently he thinks this is a problem. Worryingly, it suggests that he didn’t show the 60-degree orbital tilt not for mere simplicity, but because he doesn’t believe it’s possible. Which — if true — is utter madness, pure and simple. There’s absolutely no reason the planetary speeds have to be constant as they move around the galaxy — the massive gravitational pull of the Sun is keeping them firmly in its orbit, regardless of how those orbits are inclined.
“Secondly, most planets are visible throughout the entire year. In a ‘flat’ model, every single planet would hide behind the Sun at least once a year. They don’t. Now the heliocentric model isn’t entirely flat, but mostly.”
Fine. The heliocentric model isn’t flat, which perfectly explains why planets aren’t eclipsed by the Sun once per year. What need to state this ? Is he really saying that this is a problem in a heliocentric model…? SERIOUSLY?
“Fact of the matter is that if the helical model is correct and our Solar System is a traveling[sic] vortex, it will change how we feel about our journey. For me personally the heliocentric model feels like a useless marry[sic]-go-round: after one year we are back to square one. The helical model feels much more like progress, growth, a journey through space in which we never ever come back to our starting point. We are NOT in a big marry[sic]-go-round. We are on a journey.”
Planets trace a helical path in space because our Solar System is orbiting the center of the galaxy. Big bloody deal. It’s that simple. You don’t need a wacky alternative model of the Solar System for this – it’s happening anyway! As for going on a journey though – well no, not really. Every other star is also orbiting the center of the galaxy, so no, we’re not actually getting anywhere relative to other star systems.
Then there are some pointless ravings about the Mayan calendar.
He also links the following video. Skip to about 2 minutes in:
This has the bizarre quote that :
“The planets do not come back on to their [own] path[s]. They don’t. If they did, we most likely would have the same set of information over and over and over… like a broken record. And we’d probably get bored. It would be like Groundhog Year.”
Then he links a video claiming that the Fibonacci sequence is the fingerprint of God.
None of which changes the fact that his first video/gif has only minor inaccuracies, but at this point I can’t help feeling that this was more by luck than judgement.
Then there’s his second video. This one is more objectively just plain wrong. He shows the Sun tracing out a corkscrew pattern as it orbits the galaxy, which makes no sense. The Sun simply goes around the center of the galaxy (and up and down a little bit) — nothing else. It’s not orbiting anything else at the same time. For it to trace a helix is just nonsense. He seems to have an almost unique case of helix madness.
What of the source material — the alternative model Sadhu uses? Garbage. Utter garbage. I find it difficult to read more than a sentence or two, because it’s verging on incomprehensible. As in almost at the level of TimeCube.
“Three types of time may be recognized: – An absolute time that is universal and has neither a known starting point nor an end point; not even limited to a measurable parameter. – For living organisms there is a time for birth and a moment for death. The interval is the life span. This time may be measured with parameters like seconds, minutes, days and so on. Mechanical devices may measure fractions and to some extant reliable. In every case some kind of energy source or gear system is involved. -–When one is engaged with some work involvement in another activity may be impossible or result to be unnatural. In such cases personal values decide what course to take up and say “no time” to the other work, however important that may be. This time is highly subjective.”
Later: “The constellations at the background are sufficient evidence to deny the heliocentric orbits for planets. The Sun at 500 light seconds distance, when visible within a cone of 30° maintaining a background of one constellation, say for example Aries, (Hamel at 68ly) the SOLSTICES and EQUINOXES through Zodiac Earth maintains in the opposite constellation at midnight, namely Libra. After six months to maintain heliocentric orbit, the mid day of today should become midnight and the midnight should become midday. This has not taken place!“
Well of course it hasn’t — it’s complete gibberish ! Plait may well be right that somewhere in this mess is a model wherein the Sun leads the planets, but I don’t have the time or sheer mental fortitude to read the whole thing. I will note, though, that there’s a paragraph where the author rubbishes the conventional explanation for the ozone hole — and God help us all if that goes viral. That, not petty disputes about whether the orbits of planets are tilted by 60 or 90 degrees, is why such quackery deserves to be shot down without mercy.
“My feeling is that if your take-home message was only that the Solar System moves through space, and the planets trace out pretty spirally paths, then all is well and no harm done. But if it’s leading you to question the heliocentric model, then we’re all buggered.”
–Rhys Taylor, astrophysicist
In conclusion then, the first video and gif of the Solar System as a “vortex” are not really all that bad. Unfortunately, the inaccuracies are not due to some minor over-simplifications, but are symptoms of a some very deep-seated misunderstandings. My feeling is that if your take-home message was only that the Solar System moves through space, and the planets trace out pretty spirally paths, then all is well and no harm done. But if it’s leading you to question the heliocentric model, then we’re all buggered.
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Thanks to Rhys Taylor for the guest post of his entertaining and informative article — at the very least, you got to watch “The Galaxy Song” again! Read more from Rhys (and check out some really nice infographics too) on his blog here.
