The Southern Astronomer No.100 – January 2017
SOUTHERN ASTRONOMER THE
MONTHLY MAGAZINE OF WORTHING ASTRONOMERS & WORTHING SKYWATCHERS
The Southern Astronomer No.100 – January 2017
WORTHING ASTRONOMERS No fees, no Committee; just enjoying the night sky together.
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ormed in 2008 by a group of regular and practical observers, Worthing Astronomers is a free to join society now with a membership of over 450 persons, who have a common interest in Astronomy and its associated subjects – no internal politics, no fees, no committees, just astronomy!
The Southern Astronomer This Issue Preview 2017 Astronomy This Month Monthly Sky Map
Our aim is simple – to bring astronomy to the public in general and to help and assist our membership in observing the night sky.
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Cover Pictures & Comment
With the aid of this newsletter, website, social media, regular star parties, workshops and public observing events we hope to encourage and share our interests in observing the sky with the public, our colleagues in our own group and with those of neighbouring astronomical societies.
With the start of a new year we look forward to seeing what events in the night sky we can see. Though there is nothing on a par with the Mercury transit of May 2016 – front cover pictures by member John Bush who went to northern England to see it – there are plenty of things to look at and just a brief list is given on page 3.
We try and meet at least once a month (when weather conditions allow) to do some observing but at the moment we do hold, every two months, a Workshop evening when we get a chance to meet up, exchange ideas and tips and help each other to make the most of observing the sky above us. Occasionally a guest speaker will talk about an aspect of practical, hands on astronomical observing.
Apologies for the truncated edition of this newsletter. Pressure of other commitments earlier in the month and catching a rather nasty viral eye-infection over the holiday period when this newsletter would be normally put together and finalised caused a back log which could not make the publishing deadline.
These Workshop evenings are held on the first Friday of every other month (February, April, June, August, October and, December) at Goring Methodist Church Hall, Bury Drive (off of Aldsworth Avenue), Worthing, BN12 4XB. The admission charge of £3 helps pay for the room and free refreshments and goes towards supporting our membership. Doors open at 7.00 pm with the meeting starting at 7.30.
Clear Skies for 2017.
We can be found at: worthingastronomers.org.uk Contact addresses: Acting joint coordinators - info@worthingastronomers.org.uk – general society details, Janet Halls or Brian Halls treasurer@worthingastronomers.org.uk – donations contact Janet Halls acting-treasurer.
There are several astronomical groups in the coastal area of Sussex - several WA members are also members of the Adur Astronomical Society, who meet every first Monday of the month for a lecture regarding an astronomical subject. Details for the AAS can be found at Adur Astronomical Society.
outreach@worthingastronomers.org.uk – events contact Steve Bassett, Mike Williams website@worthingastronomers.org.uk – contact for website Perry Wilkins
CONTRIBUTIONS AND UNSUBSCRIBING Contributions – written articles (word processed in .txt, .doc or .odt format), photographs, letters, advertising copy to the editor for the January issue should be in by December 15 and sent to the editor at the contact address: editor@worthingastronomers.org.uk
editor@worthingastronomers.org.uk – newsletter content detail Brian Halls
If you no longer wish to subscribe to the group and cancel newsletters and other information, please send an email to: info@worthingastronomers.org.uk 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 distribute it 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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The Southern Astronomer No.100 – January 2017
PREVIEW 2017
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WHAT WE HOPE TO SEE IN THE SKY NEXT YEAR
he cover pictures by member John Bush of the Mercury transit of May last year are an example of astronomical events which astronomers, during the dark, cloudy grey period of winter have to look forward too during the new coming year. The planet Jupiter will come to dominate the evening skies during late winter and early spring and the less bright but just as magnificent Saturn during spring and early summer.
considered a favourable shower. The Moon and the star Aldebaran make their last meeting of 2017 during the early hours of New Years Eve at 01.13UT.
Sadly, there are no transits of Mercury for us to look forward to but there are other events occurring in the night skies during 2017.
Enke’s Comet (2P/Enke) makes an appearance in March and should make an interesting binocular or small telescope object during the latter part of January and into February. There are no other bright comets forecast, however one can never predict the sudden appearance of bright comet (though the chances are few and far between due to the way modern telescopes used by comethunters scan and map the sky) or indeed a faint comet that will suddenly and with a out warning flare up into a bright object, like Comet Holmes did 10 years or so ago in such a spectacular fashion.
The above listings is not a definitive list of objects that can be seen in the skies above our heads during the coming year but hopefully it will whet our appetites for the coming year.
January. The Ursid Meteors peak on January 3 and is considered a favourable event. Venus reaches its greatest elongation on the 12th – when the planet will be shining quite bright in the western sky after sunset. It will also show a distinctive ‘half’ phase when seen through the eyepiece of a even a small telescope. Mercury the inner most planet reaches its greatest western elongation on the 19th when it is best seen from our northern latitudes in the eastern sky prior to sunrise.
Novae and supernovae are just as difficult to predict. Some variable stars are quite predictable. Take the star ο-Ceti, or Mira which is its February. The Moon and the star Aldebaran come close to each popular name, which pulsates with a regularity that is predictable. In other on the the mid-evening of the 5th 21.56UT. Though the Moon February it will be 3.4m and by September it will have faded to 9.3m. does not occult Aldebaran on this occasion, the two meet several Mira has given its name to a whole class of long period variables times over the coming year. There will be a penumbral eclipse of the called Mira Stars. Moon on the 11th. The Moon enters the outer shadow of the Earth late on the evening of the 10th. Mid eclipse occurs at 00.45UT. The BAA have elected the Mira-type star T Cassiopeiæ as the Though penumbral eclipses of the Moon are not as dark or as variable star of the year. It has a range 6.9m to 13m and has a period colourful as full umbral eclipses it will be interesting to see how dark of 444.83 days. Though the magnitude ranges given above are the face of the Full Moon becomes – if at all! based upon the averages, brightening and dimming outside of these ranges are not unknown with this star. April. Mercury is at its greatest eastern elongation on the 1st and it will be visible in the western sky after sunset. The planet Jupiter It has an unusual light curve when all the magnitude measurements comes to opposition on the 7th – it will be in the southern sky at are bought together. It is believed that there is more than one about 32° above the horizon so a good view might be expected. pulsation mode associated with this star, hence its nomination as a The Virginid Meteors is another favourable event on the 11th and star to watch in 2017. It is circumpolar and, theoretically at least, it 12th. This shower has a long drawn out period and these meteors can be observed from night to night throughout the year. can be seen in March as well. Another well known and active stream, The Lyrid Meteors will peak on the 22nd and 23rd of the month. The Moon occults the star Aldebaran at about 18.11UT. June. Saturn comes to opposition on June 15. Light evenings and a low altitude for the planet conspire to make the planet less easy to access but, as usual, the rings are well worth looking at. The Moon again occults the star Aldebaran at 15.18UT. The sky will be bright and likely unobservable, even if clear. July. On the 25th, the planet Mercury is occulted by the Moon at 07.33UT. August. The annual Perseid Meteor shower peaks on the night of August 12/13. Usually a spectacular shower to look at (and capture on film) this year, light from the last quarter Moon may interfere. Aldebaran is occulted by the Moon in the early morning sky on 16th. November. During the early hours of the 6th the Moon occults the star Aldebaran at 02.39UT. On the 13th, in the pre-dawn sky, planets Jupiter and Venus come to conjunction with a visual gap of 0.3°between them at 08h UT. The two planets will be close for a day or two either side so if cloud interferes on the day, there is still a chance to see it. A conjunction of an inferior planet (Venus) and superior planet (Jupiter) is an illusion of perspective as seen from Earth (see diagram next column.)
The relative positions of the inferior planets, Earth (E) and superior planets Mars and Jupiter on the morning of November 13. One can see how Venus (V) and Jupiter can appear (thanks to the illusion of perspective) look close up to each other.
December. The star Regulus is occulted by the Moon at 22.13 on the 8th. The Geminid Meteors peak on the night of 13/14th. It is
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The Southern Astronomer No.100 – January 2017 JANUARY LUNAR PHASES
ASTRONOMY
THIS MONTH
January 2017
All times are expressed as Universal Time (UTC – Co-ordinated Universal Time) and can be considered the same as GMT (Winter Time) Information given, unless otherwise stated is for the 15th of the month at 21.30h. Lunar and other phenomena in the Quick View Diary are shown to the nearest hour. Cold clear nights will give good seeing if the jet stream shifts allowing cold air from the north to sweep across the country. Frost may even occur and it is not unknown to scrape it off of ones telescope tube during an observing session! Yet, if you are well wrapped against the cold, observing under these conditions can be a pleasure. Winter is truly with us.
QUICK VIEW DIARY d 1 2 3
h 6 Mars 0.0N of Neptune 7 Venus 1.8S of Moon 3 Neptune 0.4S of Moon 6 Mars 0.2S of Moon 15 Quadrantid Meteors peak 4 9 Earth at perihelion 5 19 FIRST QUARTER 6 4 Uranus 3.1N of Moon 7 6 Pluto at conjunction 8 14 Mercury stationary 9 14 Aldebaran 0.4S of Moon 10 5 Moon at perigee 11 9 Moon furthest North (18.9) 12 11 FULL MOON 11 Venus greatest elong E(47)
d h 12 21 Venus 0.4N of Neptune 15 4 Regulus 0.8N of Moon 19 7 Jupiter 2.5S of Moon 13 Mercury greatest elong W(24) 22 LAST QUARTER 22 0 Moon at apogee 24 10 Saturn 3.6S of Moon 25 12 Moon furthest South (-18.9) 26 0 Mercury 3.7S of Moon 9 Pluto 2.7S of Moon 28 0 NEW MOON 29 19 Mercury 1.2S of Pluto 30 11 Neptune 0.2S of Moon 31 17 Venus 3.9N of Moon
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The Southern Astronomer No.100 – January 2017
The planets mid-month (comparative angular diameters) – timed at 21.30UT
Planets mid month
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The Southern Astronomer No.100 – January 2017
January Night Sky around 21.30 mid-month
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