SOUTHERN ASTRONOMER THE
NEWSLETTER OF WORTHING ASTRONOMERS & WORTHING SKYWATCHERS
Fighting Light Pollution: Star Counting In Orion CPRE Project for February
The Southern Astronomer No.65 – February 2014
This issue From The Editor Skinny Moon Orion Star Count Stargazing Live John Dobson Globe At Night For Sale & Letters Messier & Messier A
Observing Notes M82: Stop Press Jupiter Report Form
page 2 page 3 page 3 page 4 page 6 page 6 page 7 page 8 page 10 page 14 back page
Astronomy Meetings Worthing Astronomers (WA) occasionally meet at the Worthing Society of Model Engineers, Field Place, Durrington, Worthing BN13 1NP. Details of meetings, as and when, are further on in the newsletter: £2 admission Adur AS (AAS) meet at Southwick Christian Community Church, 1-5 Roman Crescent, Southwick BN42 4TY.Admission: £5 for guests, £3 for members. Foredown Tower Astronomers (FTA) at Emmaus Charity Premises, on the corner of Manor Road and Drove Road, Portslade Old Village, BN41 2PA. Admission £3 for guests. Worthing Astronomical Society (WAS) meet at Emmanuel URC, St.Michaels Road, Worthing BN11 4SD. Admission: £4 for guests. AAS, FTA, and WA venues have off road parking facilities and grounds adjacent for setting up telescopes when conditions allow.
FROM THE EDITOR What's Up Hello. I don't often do this but there is quite a bit to write about this month. First, the cover picture of Orion in a light polluted sky. This month sees the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) producing their 'Orion Star Count' programme. Light pollution is a problem that most astronomers suffer from. Last month we mentioned the similar Globe At Night (GAN) project. The CPRE is a little bit different. The short article is on page 3. While knocking out a star count for the CPRE you can also be doing one for GAN as well, though they want the four corner stars of Orion in their count which the CPRE do not – more details about the GAN project on page 6. Their programme this month runs from February 19 -28. Light pollution is a problem. It is emphasised by the enhanced satellite picture at the bottom of this page. We are also looking forward to National Astronomy Week that commences at the start of next month but, as they say, more about that in the March issue at the end of February. Web site Our website has done us proud over the last 5 years or so with one or two design changes (always healthy to have a freshen up) but, looking at it over the Christmas and New Year holidays and when comparing it with other groups in the UK, the site I thought looked bit 'tired' as it is designed and managed using a very basic WYSIWYG HTML editor. Maybe it is a time for a freshen up! I do not have time to learn (between doing this newsletter, my own observing and work)Wordpress, CSS scripting etc. for website design and use – is there anyone amongst our numerous members who would like to take on the rôle of website manager. Do you perhaps have a flair for design and and can see a way to improve a visitors experience to our web site?
All the above meetings above begin at 19.30hrs. WA members will always be made welcome at these groups. More information 01903 521205 or 07801 692244. Fuller details of what our colleagues in neighbouring societies are doing at their monthly meetings is on the page 2 Quick View Diary. Worthing Astronomers is a free to join society with a membership of over 300 persons all interested in the same hobby of Astronomy.
Apart from the initial design there will just be the occasional update with members images and observing events – much as it is now. There is no need to worry about hosting issues – we are hosted with the kind help and generosity of the Open Skies Association – nor any worries about the biennial Nominet fees. If you would like to take it on or have ideas, designs or even suggestions please drop us a line at editor@worthingastronomers.org.uk sending visual ideas will also help. NOT SO LIGHT FANTASTIC The deep reds in the picture on the left highlight the worse excesses of light pollution. This is followed by yellow, then light blue, then dark – the best possible skies.
With the aid of this newsletter, regular star parties, workshops and public observing events we hope to encourage and share our interests in observing the sky with the public and our colleagues both in our own group and with neighbouring societies.
Image: CPRE
Our own 'red' locality can be seen on the south-coast. There are oasis of darkness around us. We need to protect and try and expand them. Brian, Acting Editor
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The Southern Astronomer No.65 – February 2014
SGL 2014: SKINNY MOON OBSERVING EVENING AND MERCURY WATCH February 1 During the early evening of February 1 the young crescent Moon will be in the western sky just after sunset. The Moon will be about 22 hours old. If you have a good western horizon at home just look after sunset for the very young Moon. As a bonus, about 7.5° below it will be Mercury. Find Mercury first and use it to find the Moon. Not all of us are lucky enough to have a good western horizon of course so we propose meeting up to Honeysuckle Lane car park (for details check your Membership Pack), for about 1700UT to 1730UT as it gets dusk. The last time we went Skinny Moon observing we caught a very young Moon at 19 hours and that was on April 25, 2009 and was first observed by the eagle-eyed Richard Adams. In the picture left, the faint out line of the crescent can be just made out, just over half way up on the left side. Though the thin Moon this month will not be as young, it will still be a challenging target to make out. This location gives us a good westerly view – on a clear evening the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth can be just made out in the distance. Binoculars or low power eyepieces on telescopes will be ideal and, of course, bring a camera to try and capture the event.
Detail from photograph of 2009 April 25. Brian Halls
The above will of course be dependent on prevailing weather conditions at the time.
QUICK VIEW ASTRO EVENTS DIARY
February All times shown are Universal Time (UT equals UK civil time in winter (GMT)) 1 – Sunrise 0739h : Sunset 1654h Skinny Moon Observing Honeysuckle Lane (18h) 3 - Uranus 2.6°S of Moon (21h) AAS: Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer 6 - Moon: First Quarter (19h) Moon rise at 1025UT 7 & 8 – European Astrofest 2014 7 - WA: Planet Observing Workshop 12 - Moon at Apogee (05h) Venus at greatest brilliance (11h) 14 - Full Moon (23h) Moon rise at 1711UT 15 – Mercury at inferior conjunction (20h) 17 - WAS: 20 Easy Objects in the Sky 19 - GAN February Star Count starts 20 - FTA: Why The Solar System Looks The Way It Does by Bob Turner 22 – Moon: Last Quarter (17h) Moon rise at 0054UT: set 1012UT 23 - Neptune at Conjunction (18h) 26 - CPRE Star Count 2014 commences Venus 0.3°S of Moon (5h) 27 - Moon at Perigee (18h) 28 - Sunrise 0650h : Sunset 1742h GAN February Star Count ends.
More, page 11
COUNTING STARS IN ORION Campaign to Protect Rural England Project 2014 From February 26 to March 8 – encompassing National Astronomy Week – the public (and that includes amateur astronomers) are invited to take part in the CPRE Star Count.
YOUNG CRESCENT MOON HUNTING For most of us, hunting out and finding a really young Moon is a piece of fun and gives anyone who has not observed this phenomena a rare chance to see it.
We are asked to count the number of stars which can be seen within the Orion constellation and then enter the information onto an electronic form on the CPRE website. The main area of The young Moon is important to many cultures however. The Chinese, Islamic, the constellation is bounded by four bright stars, Betelgeuse, Bellatrix, Saiph and Rigel. The star count should not include these four corner stars – only those within the rectangular boundary of the constellation – but do include the stars across the middle known as Orion's Belt.
Jewish and Hindu cultures use traditional lunar calendar systems (running alongside the western Gregorian calendar) to mark out holy days. Therefore for some, the observing of a new
crescent Moon is extremely important; an Count the stars you can see with your unaided eye (not telescope or binoculars) and report example is for Muslims during the month of your star count on line at www.cpre.org.uk/starcount (this website might not be active until nearer the end of the month). Observations should be be made on a clear (i.e not a hazy/misty Ramadan. evening.) Do it as many nights as you like.
The information obtained from these counts helps draw a map of where light pollution excesses and improvements are occurring. More about Globe At Night Star Count on page 6.
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The Chinese New Year is on January 31, 2014 when the Moon is new.
The Southern Astronomer No.65 – February 2014 STARGAZING LIVE 2014 January 10 and 11
We mention stars or other objects being so many degrees away from each other. But what actually is that in simple terms?
We met the public at Splash Point over two evenings and the events turned out very successful; it might not be an exaggeration to say that this was the best event we have ever had – the Saturday evening we saw more people than could be remembered - and we have held some really good public events in the past. We welcome all the many new members who joined as a result of their visit to us.
The adult human hand is a very good tool that approximates angular measures.
REPORT Steve Bassett
USEFUL MEASURES WHEN STARGAZING
We were keeping a close eye on the weather from about a week before the event dates. As we got closer it became apparent that Saturday was going to be the better of the two evenings. The forecast for Friday was overcast with light cloud but some of us decided to head down to Splash Point on the off chance and it's a good thing we did.
The index finger at arms length is about 1°– 1½°. Believe it or not your finger will cover two full moons side by side!
I arrived just after 19:00 to light cloud with the moon still visible. Phil Trott and Andy Lee were already there with members of the public and scopes trained on the moon. The numbers soon began to grow and we had several more members with 'scopes arrive, the skies did start to improve a little also. We had some nice gaps open up giving us clear views of the moon and Jupiter and even Orion put in an appearance briefly. The public were not disappointed despite the moon having a milky appearance and it was noted that people were calling relatives and friends telling them to come down and have a look in between the “Wow’s” and “That's incredible”; we made sure we informed everyone to pop back on the Saturday as the forecast was for clear sky all night. In all I think we had about 8 scopes out and probably around 100 people turn up. Excitement for Saturdays event had been building all day and there was a lot of activity on the groups event page. I arrived at around 18:30 to set up early thinking I'd have a bit of time to get going but the promenade was already very busy with half a dozen scopes set up and small queue's starting to form at each, obviously members had taken advantage of the conditions and why not!
A clenched fist at arms length is about 10°
We were treated to some of the best skies we have seen at Splash Point and it was non stop from 18:30 right through until about 22:30. The main points of interest were the Moon and Jupiter with the occasional look at a washed out Orion nebula. The queues were the largest I have seen there and we estimate to have seen between 500 and 600 people with a staggering 25* 'scopes of all different types and sizes set up around the sea wall. It was without a doubt our best public event to date and a real pleasure to see. The level of interest from the public including young children was astounding and some had quite a good understanding of the solar system which was great to see. The crowds slowly dwindled and the last of us called it a night at around midnight after enjoying some of the views ourselves with ice forming on our kit boxes, but after an event like that, I couldn't feel the cold at all!!
As ever a massive thanks to all who gave up there time to help over the two nights either by manning a telescope or handing out the 600 stargazing live calendars that we managed Out stretched little finger to out stretched thumb to get through. Thanks also to our friends from Astronomy 4 Everyone for travelling from in at arms length is about 20° and around the Surrey area to be with us. The angular diameter of a Full Moon is approximately half a degree – 30' (thirty seconds (of arc))
Just be careful who is around when you start using hand, fist and finger gestures.
I can't wait till the next one!! (Friday February 1. See page three)
A selection of photographs from the evenings are on the next page. Thank you to everyone who was there, helped, supported and/or who bought telescopes along to share views of the sky and those who have submitted the many images from the night – alas, too many to publish all at once, though they will find there way into print as we progress. *Della Griffiths and myself lost count after counting 30 plus telescopes on display- editor.
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The Southern Astronomer No.65 – February 2014
Above: Away from the main throng further along the prom, Cliff Carter captures members of the public enjoying their glimpses of the Moon.
Above: Andy Li (left) has an impressed young visitor look through his telescope.
Above: A panoramic view by Cliff Carter of just a few of the many visitors who attended on the Saturday night.
Above: Mike Williams captures the crowds as they queue to look through the many telescopes on display.
Above: Denise Pritchard captures Andy Lee (left, pictures edge) showing visitors views of the planet Jupiter.
Light pollution is the bane of astronomers and the lights of the promenade can appear to be off putting yet they did little to distract from everyone's enjoyment.
Further photographs submitted can be found on the WA website. A big thank you to all who sent in their photographs of a very special evening.
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The Southern Astronomer No.65 – February 2014 WHAT WAY UP? PART 1
JOHN DOBSON Many will familiar with the term Dobsonian mount – a frictionless, non-mechanical means (and cheap) method of mounting a Newtonian reflector tube. The system was named after John Dobson whose death was announced while this issue of the Southern Astronomer was being put together. The fuller story can be found here at the Wikipedia website http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dobson_(a mateur_astronomer) Many of our long term astronomy readers will remember John Dobson coming to Chichester and speaking to those at the special meeting about his life and work and the story behind the Dobsonian mount.
Above: the Moon as it appears, the 'right way up'. Below: the Moon in a 'classical' inverted astronomical telescope.
The Dobsonian mount for Newtonian telescope tubes created an economic method of mounting large telescopes which also gave them portability which a larger and more traditional mount would not.
John Dobson, Chichester, 2002.
Pic: Brian Halls
The system, which was never patented is now used by many telescope makers.
GLOBE AT NIGHT February Below: a right way up but mirrored Moon due to use of star diagonal and a correcting lens.
The constellation of Orion remains the GAN target for the month. On a clear night and about an hour after sunset, go out and and look for Orion (almost due south) and count the number of stars you can see within the confines of the four bright stars (including these stars).
http://www.globeatnight/.org
Go to the GAN website (details in the January issue or use the link with the graphic, right) and log your count.
WORKSHOP EVENING February 7 We will be holding the first Workshop evening of 2014 on the date above at the usual location (see Astronomy Meetings information on page 2).
When observing objects, making drawings or imaging, especially planets and the Moon the 'easterly' and 'westerly' directions are referred to as the 'preceding' and 'following' accordingly.
At the request of a number of members, the subject will be planetary observing; the best Regardless of how you observe a natural planets to look out for; what you can see; how to record your observations, and how to image body in the sky it will always drift through them. John Bush will be explaining the imaging side of planetary observation. Despite space probes having visited all the major planets of the solar system, amateur astronomers get a lot of enjoyment looking at the changing planetary vistas both for the sheer pleasure of looking at other worlds in our solar system and they can also, believe it or not, assist planetary scientists who are studying these worlds, so the amateur can still play a small role in actual planetary astronomy science today.
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the eyepiece towards the west (it precedes the body under observation)- due to our planets rotation.
The Southern Astronomer No.65 – February 2014 Letters Hi Brian, I thought I would drop you a line which you may wish to paraphrase in the newsletter. I attended last Saturdays Splash Point gathering and brought my scope which has only had a couple of outings so far - a Celestron NexStar 6 SE. I was amazed at just how many people turned up. I saw queues of over 20 people for views through scopes and there were lots of queues at the same time, I know I had up to about a dozen at one time and must have personally let 50 people of all ages look through the scope over the 2 hours I was set up. Like many I focussed on Jupiter all evening with the chap next to me being on the moon. What struck me was that if you have a scope people assume you are an expert! The pleasure people got from looking through my scope was so great and really appreciated that it really made me glad that I had made the effort and I suppose there can be no better justification for the event than that. Regards Les Crane From John Slinn: What a great evening and what a response from the public! I certainly enjoyed myself and it made a real change to be out observing with an eyepiece rather than my usual imaging. Towards the end of the evening when it got quieter I put my webcam into my Skylight scope and captured some images of the Moon and a blurry one of Jupiter (planetary imaging is not really my fortè!). Unfortunately I can't make the Honeysuckle event on the 1st of Feb as I'll be in Norway hoping to photograph the amazing northern lights that was wowing everyone on Stargazing live earlier this week.
FOR SALE Meade ETX80AT-BB 80mm GOTO refractor telescope (Backpack observatory edition). One previous very happy owner who received it as his introduction to astronomy on Christmas day 2012. Would be ideal as a first scope for any budding astronomer who is interested in views of the Moon, Jupiter, Saturn and wide-field views of brighter deep-sky objects such as the Andromeda galaxy, Pleiades, double cluster, Orion nebula etc. The technical specifications: 80mm aperture; 400mm focal length making it (f5). GoTo Alt-Az mounted instrument that includes a Meade Autostar handset and is powered either by 6 AA batteries or via a power-pack (Free custom power supply lead included).
The original aligning compass, dew shield and lens caps are supplied as is the original packaging box. The manual will be supplied as an electronic pdf file.)
It has a built in x2 flip Barlow lens; erecting prism that allows the scope to be used for The telescope is extremely portable and fits daytime terrestrial observation; 10mm and into a small backpack (supplied) for easy 25mm Meade Plossl eyepieces for low and transportation to dark sky sites. high power views. (The flip Barlow lens had come a little loose with use but I have rectified this with an elastic friction band so it no longer slips. I have also installed a 3rd party large focus knob which allows finer focussing than allowed by the original instrument).
The tripod is also extremely light and folds compact making the whole package an ideal grab and go instrument for taking on holiday. I will accept offers around £140. Andy from Ferring. Telephone 07881 935321.
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I'll certainly try to make any other dates you do in future. Anyways, thanks to Brian and Steve for organising a blinding evening last night. What a great venue for public events! Best regards John Editor Note: The above are just two of the many emails received with your views of the Stargazing Live event. We meet on February 1 (see previous) and wish John all the best with the Northern Lights.
Above: One of the images taken on Saturday evening by John Slinn while Stargazing On The Prom. The published picture does not do justice to the original. John is better known for his deep sky and solar images. North towards top.
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Above: John Slinn's long focus refractor used for the lunar image on the left. The telescope is an AR101 f15. Long focus telescopes make ideal planetary and lunar 'scopes.
The Southern Astronomer No.65 – February 2014 LUNAR OBSERVING (South East Quadrant) MESSIER AND MESSIER A The Moon remains reasonably well placed in the evening sky during February. On the evening of February 3 it will be nearly a four day old crescent Moon in the south-west as twilight falls. With a low power eyepiece the circular Mare Crisium (Sea of Crises) is easily recognisable. Assuming you are looking at the Moon with an ordinary inverting eyepiece (south up and your west to the left of the field of view). Moving south of Crisium you come to another dark mare plain - the Mare Fecunditatis - the Sea of Fertility. There is nothing fertile about this dry plain. As devoid of water as the hottest desert on Earth, the Mare is the site of a massive asteroid impact believed to have occurred early in the Moons' history referred to by lunar scientists as the Pre-Nectarian geological period - or about 3.9 to 4.5 billion years ago. To us observing the Moon from Earth it looks elliptical rather than circular due to the effects of foreshortening. On the Fecunditatis plain there appears to be no craters of any size to be of interest yet rack up the magnification and two small craters can be seen with what looks like a bright tail of material giving the feature a cometary like look. These are Messier and Messier A - Messier is the more eastern of the craters. A close up view shows that neither crater is circular in the traditional sense of the term crater. Messier is actually oblong shaped like an almond along its east-west axis. There are two dark streaks crossing the long axis of the crater which are visible as well. Messier A on the other hand looks circular at first glance yet it is not circular either but is slightly elongated along its north-south axis. A small telescope with good seeing may give the impression that A is actually a double crater but a larger instrument shows there is a bulge of material on the western rim that give this 'ear like'1 impression. It is theorised that Messier was formed by an impact of a body coming in at a very low angle, and that Messier A could have formed following a rebound by the impacting body. The low angle of impact may also explain the asymmetrical ray system. At lunar sunrise Messier A appears to be the larger while Messier 'enlarges' after three days. Messier A appears the larger object at lunar sunset. These are optical illusions bought about changes in albedo in the mare material around and in the craters. It was believed by the US astronomer W H Pickering that these albedo changes were due to the comings and going of hoar-frost (he was observing in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries) when such claims were considered possible! The Apollo and the lunar orbiter mapping projects have sent back beautiful images of Messier and A; Pickerings hoar-frost theory evoporated like frost in the sunlight long before people got to the Moon but it shows once more the marvels our Moon has for the regular lunar observer. On some older lunar charts Messier A is often described as W H Pickering (Fauth, Der Mond, 1936; Wilkins/Moore The Moon, 1953) With a low sun angle (when the Moon is 3 to 4 days past new) Messier and Messier A are interesting objects to observe as sunlight and shadow play with each other across the lunar surface. As the lunar 'day' progresses the Messier twins disappear under intense sunlight to return once more to view after full Moon before disappearing into the long lunar night. Why not give Messier and Messier A a go. Can you see their distinctive shapes. Which one appears the larger? Enjoy. Ref 1. Goodacre, The Moon, 1910
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The circle marks the location of Messier and Messier A WHAT WAY UP? PART 2 When is West actually the east and East actually west? Answer: when you observe the Moon! The preceding limb (edge) of the Moon is on the right of the picture above. From our point of view, standing on Earth it is towards the west. Old lunar maps mark west in this direction (towards the circular Sea of Crises). This is an Earth-centred view of the sky and some people did not like this idea. In 1961 the International Astronomical Union (IAU) decided to adopt what is called the 'astronautical' view. If an observer was standing on the lunar surface the Sun should be rising in their east. So Moon maps produced after that date have the Moon the right way up (as in our graphic above) and lunar East towards terrestrial west. There was a lot of opposition to this as centuries of nomenclature were being overturned – as Patrick Moore noted on a number of occasions, the Mare Orientalis (the Eastern Sea) was now on the western portion of the Moon! In the Southern Astronomer we follow the IAU convention except for the north-south orientation – generally we will show the Moon upside down as this is how we tend to see it with conventional refractors and Newtonian reflectors. Any deviation from this is noted (as in the excellent John Slinn lunar image on page 7). Users of SCT telescopes or refractors equipped with star-diagonals will have a mirror image of the body they are looking at. Remember the Preceding and Following guidelines mentioned on page 6 and you will understand the orientation of what you are looking at.
The Southern Astronomer No.65 – February 2014
Left: A general view of the Mare Fecunditatis. The craters, Messier an Messier A can be seen to the right of centre of the basaltic lava plain – the two rays to the west of the crater give the impression of a comet. All the images are 'traditional' views of the Moon -inverted – South at the top with terrestrial West (lunar East) to the left. All images by Brian Halls/Cokeham Observatory Image below: 15cm Refractor; DMK21 mono camera two x2 barlow lenses. Processed using Registax.
Right: A larger magnification shows the crater shapes and the surrounding area much better. Below: A section of lunar map from the nineteenth century by Edmund Neison showing approximately the same area as image on right
Right: An Apollo 11 picture of Messier and Messier A. Note the 'ear-lobe' west of A Picture credit: NASA
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The Southern Astronomer No.65 – February 2014
OBSERVING NOTES February All times are expressed as Universal (UT) and can be considred as the same as GMT.
The year began with large sunspot group AR1944 coming into view on January 2; Brian States and other members saw it as naked-eye a couple of days later and it dominated the face of the Sun for the couple of weeks it was on view, all the while remaining at naked eye visibility. The group changed little during its journey across the Sun, as the sequence in the side bar shows. All solar pictures this page by Brian Halls. The image below shows the leading dark spot (right) with penumbral (dark grey) material on the darker umbra. To give the picture some scale, the central dark spot in the picture; the umbra is about the same size as the Earth.
Active Region 1944 on January 10; 15cm refractor DMK mono camera, barlow & Baader solar filter.
It has been a long time since we have seen a sunspot group of that magnitude on the face of the Sun yet, as has been noted previously in these reports, we should actually be seeing a large number of these as the Sun is approaching its sunspot maximum – an event that occurs on average every 11 years. December Report Brian States observed the Sun on 19 days during the month.
The Sun however has been unusually quiet – sunspot minimum about 4 years ago seemed to be a long and depressed one. Certainly, we have not seen the sort of activity one would expect. It has been suggested we may be seeing the Sun going into a sort of hibernation –
If we add up all the sunspot numbers counted on something that last occurred about 200 years ago and has since been named The each day and divide the number of days observed Dalton Minimum after the meteorologist who studied it. This was a 35 year period of we get a daily average figure – the R sunspot 'quiet Sun' – though some solar astronomers are wildly speculating that we may be number (R stands for relative). Combine all the reports received by those observing the average R for December was: R 84.35
approaching a second Maunder Minimum an event that occurred during the mid-1600's when all sunspot activity more or less died out for 50 or so years. What will happen in the near future? To coin a well known phrase, we just don't know, but it is this which makes the Sun such an interesting object to observe.
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The Southern Astronomer No.65 – February 2014 Observing Notes cont.
A very young thin crescent Moon is in a good position to be observed on February 1 at dusk when the Moon is just about 22 hours old. If you have not seen Mercury before in the evening sky now may be a good time and of course there is also the chance to see a very thin crescent Moon (see page 2 and picture side bar). There are a number of occultations of bright stars by the Moon this month. On February 8 at 1950UT a 5.99m star belonging to the NGC 1647 star cluster is occulted by the Moon. The Moon is 69% illuminated and if the seeing is clear a good pair of binoculars or a small telescope will show it. On January 10 another reasonably bright star (7.47m) will be occulted at 1911UT.
The visibility of the Moon and Planets mid-month
Planets: Mercury rises and sets close to the Sun - at the start of the month it sets a little after (see side bar) but by mid-month Mercury lays in the sky sunwards (inferior conjunction) as seen from Earth and is thus out of view. It rises a little before sunrise by the end of February. Venus reached its own inferior conjunction on January 11 and now rises just before dawn low in the south east. If you get a chance to see it do so, it is a 25% crescent and shines at a bright -4.9m Even a small 'scope or binoculars will show the phase.
Skinny Moon:February 1 after sunset Graphic: Stellarium
If you glimpse it while dark try and track the planet as the sky brightens and the glare of the planet will be less. Mars rises late evening in Virgo. It is bright at -0.1m and the angular diameter of the planet is just over 10" of arc. This is small but every night it is growing little by little. Moderate to large instruments will be needed to see any features on the planet. Jupiter passed opposition at the start of last month and this beautiful planet dominates the evening sky at -2.4m and 41"arc. Again a good pair of binoculars will show the four bright satellites and small telescope will show the dark horizontal belts - large planet sized storms in the atmosphere of the planet. The satellites of Jupiter rotate around the planet rapidly - from Earth they appear to be almost changing their positions night to night. As a result of this they will appear to cross the face of the planet - transit - or be eclipsed by the planet itself. Sometimes the shadows of the satellites can be seen on the face of the planet. There are some interesting events between Jupiter and its four brighter satellites (called mutual phenomena) that can be seen this month. A list of just a few of these events are given below: 2/2/14 19:43 UT, Europa begins transit of Jupiter. 21:04 UT, Europa's shadow begins to cross Jupiter. 22:24 UT, Europa ends transit of Jupiter. 23:46 UT, Europa's shadow leaves Jupiter's disk. 9/2/14 22:03 UT, Europa begins transit of Jupiter. 23:40 UT, Europa's shadow begins to cross Jupiter.
14/2/14 20:11 UT, Io's shadow begins to cross Jupiter. 21:32 UT, Io ends transit of Jupiter. 22:27 UT, Io's shadow leaves Jupiter's disk. 14/2/14 20:11 UT, Io's shadow begins to cross Jupiter. 21:32 UT, Io ends transit of Jupiter. 22:27 UT, Io's shadow leaves Jupiter's disk.
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Transit Times of the Great Red Spot (GRS) of Jupiter 1: 8:57, 18:53; 2: 4:48, 14:44; 3: 0:40, 10:35, 20:31; 4: 6:26, 16:22; 5: 2:18, 12:13, 22:09; 6: 8:05, 18:00; 7: 3:56, 13:52, 23:47; 8: 9:43, 19:39; 9: 5:34, 15:30; 10: 1:26, 11:21, 21:17; 11: 7:13, 17:08; 12: 3:04, 13:00, 22:55; 13: 8:51, 18:47; 14: 4:42, 14:38; 15: 0:34, 10:29, 20:25; 16: 6:21, 16:16; 17: 2:12, 12:08, 22:03; 18: 7:59, 17:55; 19: 3:50, 13:46, 23:42; 20: 9:37, 19:33; 21: 5:29, 15:25; 22: 1:20, 11:16, 21:12; 23: 7:07, 17:03; 24: 2:59, 12:54, 22:50; 25: 8:46, 18:42; 26: 4:37, 14:33; 27: 0:29, 10:24, 20:20; 28: 6:16, 16:11 Reproduced courtesy of Sky Publishing
The GRS will be well placed for observing 50 minutes or so either side of the times given.
The Southern Astronomer No.65 – February 2014 Observing Notes cont. 21/2/14 21:06 UT, Io begins transit of Jupiter. 22:06 UT, Io's shadow begins to cross Jupiter. 23:21 UT, Io ends transit of Jupiter.
JUPITER OBSERVING FORM On the back page of this newsletter, is a Jupiter observing blank if you wish to draw the planet while at the eyepiece of the telescope. Save this PDF file and print off when you need it. It is not necessary to fill in the Intensity and Colour Estimates – it is an area that some amateurs get involved in but you can have a go if you so wish. Drawing a planet is not part of some artistic competition. Look through the eyepiece and draw what you can see. You will be surprised how quickly you will get a rendition that looks like the eyepiece view. This sort of project can also help get the eye used to looking for objects – like deep sky objects for example. A separate PDF of the Jupiter observing form is available. Just drop a line to: editor@worthingastronomers.org.uk
27/2/14 18:11 UT, Europa's shadow begins to cross Jupiter. 18:41 UT, Europa ends transit of Jupiter. 20:53 UT, Europa's shadow leaves Jupiter's disk.
There are many more of these events each month – too many to be reproduced here. A full list is available in PDF format for anyone who would like a copy. Contact: editor@worthingastronomers.org.uk
Later in the year as the Earth passes through the plane of Jupiter's satellite orbits they will be seen to apparently interact with each other - details nearer the time. Saturn rises in the constellation of Libra just after 0100UT and is a bright object low in the south in the pre-dawn morning sky at 0.5m. Its angular diameter is 17" arc and the rings are angled towards us by 23°. Deep Sky: The constellation of Gemini (opposite page) is high and due south mid-evening. It contains an extra bright star over the next month or two - Jupiter. Setting this additional object aside, two bright stars, Castor and Pollux highlight this constellation. Castor is a blueish coloured star, while Pollux is yellow. Castor is a multiple star system. With a clear and steady night and a good magnification two companions to Castor can be seen, but a moderate telescope will be needed to see all three. A small instrument under the good conditions described will split Castor and the brighter companion. What we are seeing is just the tip of an iceberg; the Castor system comprises six stars most of which are too faint for small 'scopes. If you can imagine Castor and Pollux to be the heads of two matchstick men you will get a good idea of the representation of the constellation. If you follow the Castor stick-man westward down to his 'left' foot via the stars Mu and Eta, there are a number of deep sky objects visible: M35, NGC 2158, IC 2157 and, NGC 2129. All are open clusters.
Above: M35 open cluster. It is the brightest Above: Directly southwest of M35 is NGC of the clusters in the 'foot' area of Castor and 2158. looks exactly like its name. Though not as bright as M35, this cluster at It is 5.3m and can be seen in a pair of 8.6m will still be visible in binoculars. A higher binoculars or a small telescope. magnification than shown will show it impressively. Impressive loose conglomeration of stars with blues, yellow and oranges colours. Described as a compact open cluster.
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The Southern Astronomer No.65 – February 2014
Graphics: Stellarium
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The Southern Astronomer No.65 – February 2014 Observing Notes cont.
NGC 2129 is another open galactic cluster which is visible at about 6.7mso making it a good sight for binoculars, though a small telescope may give a better view of the stars within – two of which seem to dominate the cluster and may be a binary double. IC 2157 is another open cluster (this area of Gemini is awash with them), which is visible in a small telescope (70mm) or binoculars (50mm). As with all the objects in Gemini the larger the instrument the more detail can be seen. Next Month: Gemini Part 2 Meteors: There are no major meteor showers visible during February. The next major display will be in April when the Lyrids will appear. More about that in the forthcoming April issue. Comets: C/2013R1 Lovejoy is around though in February it will be in the eastern pre-dawn sky. Mid-month it will be in the south-east and lays about 20° above Venus – guestimate 20° by using your hands; see side bar page 4. The prediction is for the comet to be about 12m (but, it may be as bright as 8m). Unless you are using very large binoculars it is almost certainly only going to be visible as a fuzzy patch with telescopes in the region of 100mm and above; beware as 4.6m NGC 6633 open cluster is not far away as is IC4756 or 'Grafs Cluster' as it is known another open cluster of about 6.6m. Under good seeing conditions it is reported as being seen as a faint glow. A nice chance perhaps for some one to image the area in the pre-dawn sky.
Comet Brewington February 15
STOP PRESS Comet Lovejoy February 15 Graphics this page: Stellarium
If getting up early on what may possible be a cold morning may not be your thing (shame on you), why not have ago at the equally faint 154 P/Brewington. Mid month it will be due west in the evening (see picture, side bar). It lays above and to the right of the 3.4m star Mothallah (αTriangulum).
As this issue was being finalised a supernova in edge on galaxy M82 was discovered. M82 lays about 10° above the star Dubhe in Ursa Major. At the moment it is about 11m
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The Southern Astronomer No.65 – February 2014
The sky from Sussex at around 20.30UT on February 15 Contributions – written articles (preferably word processed), photographs or letters to the editor for the March issue should be in by February 17 and sent to the editor at the contact address: editor@worthingastronomers.org.uk. Detailed occultation predictions in PDF format may be had by contacting the same address. (Please include exact latitude, longitude and approx height above sea level – these can be found using a service like Google Earth, for example.) If you no longer wish to subscribe to the group and receive newsletters and other information, please send an email (to the address above) with Unsubscribe in the subject line; we do not want our stuff to end up like spam littering your inbox. Volunteers are always welcome: if you want to find out more, call 01903 521205 or drop us a line at the e-mail address above. If you like the newsletter or its content please feel free to pass it on to anyone you know who might be interested. Content is subject to copyright to the group and/or the individuals whose images or articles are used.
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WORTHING ASTRONOMERS JUPITER OBSERVING FORM
Drawing 1: UT:_________Seeing:_______
Drawing 2: UT:_________Seeing:_______
CM 1:___________CM 2: ____________
CM 1:___________CM 2: ____________
Date:________________________________
Seeing:_______________________________
UT (Start)_____________UT (Finish)_______ Filters:________________________________ Telescope:____________________________ Location:______________________________ Magnification:__________________________ Observer:_____________________________
INTENSITY AND COLOUR ESTIMATES Time (UT__________________Seeing____________CM1........................ CM2........................ Intensity
Colour
Intensity
Colour
Intensity
SPR
GRS
NEB
SSTZ
SEB(S)
NTropZ
SSTB
SEBZ
NTB
STZ
SEB(N)
NTZ
STB
EZ(S)
NNTB
StropZ
EB
NNTZ
SEB
EZ(N)
NPR
Notes: [Intensity scale runs from 0 (brightest) to 10 (black sky).]
Colour