AMATEUR ASTRONOMY:
TRIPLE PLAY IN THE MORNING SKY:


Assuming you get up before the Sun does, which isn't hard this time of year, there is an interesting sight in the eastern sky. Given good conditions the three planets Mercury, Venus and Saturn will be visible at the same time. Here's the story from that great site Space.com.
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Planet Triple Feature:
Venus, Saturn and Mercury Visible at Dawn This Week
By Geoff Gaherty
Early risers this week will be treated to a spectacular display of planets and bright stars as Venus, Mercury and Saturn take center stage in the predawn sky.

Half an hour before sunrise, three of the brightest planets will stretch across the eastern sky, further enhanced by the presence of two first magnitude stars, blue-white Spica and deep red Antares.

The sky map above shows how Mercury, Venus and Saturn will appear before sunrise in the eastern and southeastern sky.

The first object to attract your attention will be the planet Venus, outshining everything in the sky except the sun and moon. In a small telescope, Venus will appear as a tiny half moon as it approaches its greatest apparent distance from the sun on Saturday, Jan. 8.

Second in brightness will be the elusive planet Mercury, well below and to the left of Venus, close to the horizon. Do not confuse it with the red giant star Antares, almost directly below Venus.

You may need binoculars to spot Mercury in the bright dawn sky. This is not a favorable apparition of Mercury because of the shallow angle that the ecliptic (the path of the sun through the sky) makes with the horizon. Mercury also appears in a telescope as a tiny half moon, with the greatest elongation being on Sunday, Jan. 9.

Finally, above and to the right of Venus rides the planet Saturn, and, just below it, the brightest star in the constellation Virgo: Spica. In a telescope magnifying more than 25 times you should be able to see Saturn's famous rings, although magnification of around 200 times is needed to see the details.

Whenever you view Saturn in a telescope, be on the lookout for its retinue of moons. Even the smallest telescope will show its largest moon Titan, and larger telescopes will show half a dozen more.

AMATEUR ASTRONOMY:

A GREAT CONJUNCTION-NOV 30 TO DECEMBER 1:

Here's a little break from the usual political subject matter on this blog. Tonight and tomorrow there will be a "grand conjunction" of the Moon, Venus and Jupiter in the southwest sky. If you have been watching in that direction for the past few evenings, as Molly has, you will have seen Venus (lower and brighter) and Jupiter (higher and dimmer) gradually getting closer and closer together. The last time I was able to spot the pair, at about 5:00 on Friday the two planets were about 6 to seven degrees apart. Tonight Venus will overtake Jupiter and appear slightly below and to the east of Jupiter. A very thin crescent Moon will be seen closer to the horizon in the west. Tonight the two planets will be about 2 degrees away from each other, but you will be unable to see them from here in Winnipeg. It seems we almost always have overcast conditions for the best celestial events. The Environment Canada weather site predicts further cloud cover through tomorrow and the day after. A better site for those interested is the Clear Dark Sky site. they predict a period of relatively clearness tomorrow from 3 to 7 pm. This may be a chance to catch the events as the Moon climbs to the west of the planetary pair and Venus likewise moves further from Jupiter. This will actually be the best time to view the event as the three objects will be within a four degree triangle. After December 1 the Moon will be quite obviously to the east of the planets, and Venus will also be further from Jupiter in the same direction. Catch it if you can. The Clear Dark Sky site will give you viewing conditions for your locality if you live in North America.

The photo above, by the way, is from a prairie amateur astronomy site that I recently discovered, the Black Holes and Astro Stuff blog. I recommend it highly. The photo shows the Venus/Jupiter pair, along with the track of the International Space Station that was prominent in the southwest sky the last few days. I'm sure that, weather conditions permitting, that the BHAAS blog will be in the running for the Sky News photo contest this year. Would that I had such photo talent. By the way, here's another item from that blog, a picture of the area where the recent 'Prairie Meteor' was sighted. Pieces of the meteor have apparently been found near Lloydminster, Saskatchewan, but more on that later. See the BHAAS blog on our "Scientific Links' section, with many kudos to a great blogger.

AMATEUR ASTRONOMY:

TRIPLE CONJUNCTION THIS EVENING:

Yesterday the planet Mercury reached its greatest elongation , 27 degrees,(its highest above the horizon), but today it is still quite visible in the evening twilight. During the past week Mercury has formed a triangle in the evening sky with the planets Venus and Mars, and tonight Venus and mars make their closest approach, being only 18 arc-minutes from each other. Venus, shining at a magnitude of -3.9, will be the brightest of the trio, Mercury will have a magnitude of -0.2 and Mars, the dimmest of the pair, will shine at about 1.7. The diagram to the left shows how the planets will be on a line of sight this evening.

Mars will be located just slightly left of and below Venus, and Mercury will be below the air and to the left. The bright star Spica will also be visible further to the left. You will need binoculars or a moderate power telescope to view the trio because of the closeness of Mars and Venus and because of the interference of twilight. People living further south than Canada will have a better chance of viewing as the planets will appear higher above the horizon to them. Conditions are likely to be overcast here in Winnipeg, but people elsewhere may have better luck.

Good viewing.

AMATEUR ASTRONOMY:

UPCOMING CONJUNCTION OCTOBER 7TH:

Look east between 5:00 am and 7:00 am this coming Sunday, October 7th to see an impressive sight. The waning crescent Moon will sit just below and a tiny bit to the right of the planet Saturn. A little bit further to the right and a bit towards the zenith the planet Venus will also be within a regular 7 degrees binocular field, along with the star Regulus in the constellation Leo. All these bright objects will come together at this time for a spectacular show. Venus, now the "morning star", reached it greatest magnitude on September 23rd, but it is still very bright in the morning sky. On October 14th and 15th Venus and Saturn will make their closest approach, being within 3 degrees of each other just slightly below Regulus.

A FIVE PLANET PARADE:

Through this early part of June the five visible planets will be observable.

VENUS:

Even though Venus reaches its greatest elongation (distance from the sun) this Saturday the planet is already rising less and less in the evening sky each night. The planet is presently located at the crossover from Gemini to Cancer and shines with a bright magnitude 0f -4.4. Venus is the second brightest object in the night sky after the Moon. The planet is presently at a waning half phase and as it enters its waning crescent phase in early July the apparent size of the disc will double from is apparent size as of May 1st. As the crescent of Venus gets thinner and thinner by late July, early August, it will have grown from an apparent size of 16 arc seconds on May 1st to 50 arc seconds.

The end of this month will see a brilliant conjunction on the evening of June 30th when Venus and Saturn pass within 2/3rds of a degree of each other. This will be the closest planetary conjunction of the year and will be best viewed due west between 10pm and 11pm that evening. The two planets will be close enough to be both visible in the eyepiece of a moderate power telescope.

MERCURY:

Though it is presently sinking towards the horizon Mercury is still visible in the western twilight until mid-June. it passed its greatest elongation on June 1st when it shone with a magnitude of +0.4. It now is about +1.2 in magnitude. From 10pm to 11pm for the next few days Mercury can be seen very low in the northwestern sky, to the right and below Venus.

SATURN

As said above Saturn will pass in conjunction with Venus on the evening of June 30th. Saturn is in the constellations Leo , to the east of the position of Venus. Saturn is presently setting before midnight, and it will set earlier and earlier as the month goes on. even though the rings present a good view because of a 17 degree tilt the features of the planet will be less and less visible as the month goes on because the closeness of the horizon will blur the detail. Presently Saturn shines at magnitude +0.5.

JUPITER:

The planet Jupiter is now much brighter than Saturn at magnitude -2.6. This planet reached opposition on June 5th when it began to rise just as the sun set. You will find it in the southeastern to southern sky throughout the nights in the constellation Ophiuchus. This constellation lays on and just above the ecliptic between the constellations of Libra to the west and Sagittarius to the east. Jupiter is usually the second brightest planet after Venus. Its distance from Earth is compensated by the fact that its surface area is 130 times that of Venus. Jupiter will never rise too high in the sky this month(20 degrees elevation at max, and that makes telescopic viewing difficult. Early next Saturday morning here in western North America two of Jupiter's Galilean moons will cast their shadows on the planet's face at the same time. Depending on location this will occur anywhere from 2:17 to 3:03 am this Saturday. This will be a good time for telescopic observation of this planet.

MARS:

This month the planet Mars can be observed at +0.8 magnitude in the constellation Pisces. This means that it lays low in the east in the hours just before sunrise. Mars is presently just to the east of the waning crescent Moon in the hours before dawn, but by June 11th it will have passed to the west, rising earlier and higher throughout the summer.

CONJUNCTION TONIGHT:

VENUS AND THE MOON:

The night sky will hold a particularly spectacular sight tonight as a close conjunction between the waxing crescent Moon and the planet Venus will occur in the sky across most of North America. The two bodies will be at about a degree of separation, and the Moon will appear to the right of Venus. The "dark" of the Moon will also be visible due to the phenomenon known as "Earthshine", and the entire lunar globe will be visible as a blueish grey globe. Events such as these often bring a flurry of UFO reports to local authorities and astronomers. The point of closest approach will occur at 9:55 pm here in Winnipeg (sunset is at 9:12 pm) with bodies well up in the sky at 26 degrees. The event will occur later in the East, but the Moon and Venus will be much closer to the horizon there. As you move further to the West the Moon and Venus will be higher in the sky, but the point of closest approach will occur before sunset. In Edmonton, for instance the Sun will set at 9:33 pm while the closest approach will be at 8:41 pm. The conjunction, however, will still be visible and well worth viewing. Where the event occurs at the proper time one can see the two bodies approach each other and then draw apart.

The conjunction of the Moon and Venus occurs on the flags of many Islamic nations such as Turkey, Pakistan, Malaysia, Algeria, Mauritania and Tunisia. The poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge used it as an "ominous portent" in 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner'.

At the present time Venus, when viewed through binoculars appears as a gibbous disc. At the beginning of June it will have evolved into a "half-moon" phase, and in July it will present as a crescent.

LAST CHANCE FOR THE WINTER HUNTER:

THE STARS OF ORION:

Last night Molly observed a beautiful sight. In the early evening the waxing crescent Moon and Venus were present together in the southwest sky, with a separation of less than 5 degrees. Venus has been gradually brightening this month, from a magnitude of -4.02 at the beginning of April. It will continue to brighten to -4.11 by the end of April. Venus shines brightest when it is in a crescent phase. Yesterday the globe of the Moon was plainly outlined, even it dark portions. The star Aldebaran in the constellation Taurus was shining a rusty red to their left, and the Pleiades were visible to the lower right of the Moon. Capella was a bright star higher in the sky to the right (north). Tonight Venus will appear beneath the crescent Moon (yesterday it was to the right/south), but the sky conditions here in Winnipeg are such that Molly will probably not be able to view this event. As a side note Saturn (see previous posts on this blog) was plainly visible almost due south just down from the "hook" of the constellation Leo.

Anyways, at the time of viewing Orion was low in the southwest. Soon it will no longer be visible as spring springs more fully. This is the last chance to observe the stars of Orion the Hunter before he departs until the fall. Please refer to the graphic above for what follows: a mini-tour of the sights of Orion. Orion is a constellation visible in both the northern and southern hemispheres (though the appearance differs). In Australia the "belt" of Orion is often referred to as "the saucepan". Orion's belt is also called "the three kings" in some places. In Sumeria this constellation was referred to as "The Shepherd of Anu". In ancient Egypt this constellation was associated with Osiris, the god of the underworld. The Greek mythology of Orion the Hunter, however, is that which has penetrated most deeply into popular western culture. Orion figures in works of literature from 'Paradise Lost' , Tennyson, Tolkien and numerous other books, comics, musical works to Star Trek and Stargate,Atlantis. Orion has also figured in native American and Australian aborigine mythology. In Norse mythology Orion's belt was known as 'Frigg's distaff'. The Bible mentions Orion 3 times (Job 9:9, Job 38:31, Amos 5:8). The Greek myths generally revolve around the goddess Artemis falling in love with the hunter Orion. She was apparently so entranced that she forgot her duty of illuminating the night sky (Artemis was a Moon goddess). Her twin brother Apollo supposedly saw Orion swimming in the sea and dared his sister to hit what seemed to be only a spot on the horizon with her bow. Artemis, being more accurate than the US military, "hit the spot". When she found what she had done she placed his body in the sky. This apparently explains why the "face in the Moon" looks sad. A variant ending to the myth is that Apollo summoned a giant scorpion (the constellation Scorpio) which stung Orion to death. The result was that Scorpio and Orion could never appear together in the sky. Scorpio is a summer constellation.

Look to the illustration above. The two most prominent stars are Rigel at the lower right and Betelgeuse at the upper left.Betelgeuse is a red giant (the colour is apparent to the naked eye as a yellow orange) with an diameter probably larger than the orbit of Mars. It is an irregular pulsar that varies from 0.3 to 0.6 in magnitude. It is somewhat dimmer than Rigel, a large blue white star. Rigel at 0.1 magnitude is one of the brightest stars in the sky. Rigel has three stellar companions invisible to the naked eye. The star Bellatrix is the apparent "left shoulder" or Orion in the diagram (to the right of the viewer actually). The star Saiph is at the lower left of the rectangle that describes the main part of Orion. The "head" of Orion is Meissa, just above a line drawn from Bellatrix to Betelgeuse. The three stars of Orion's belt are named (from right to left) Mintaka, Alnilam and Alnitak. Just below this is the "sword of Orion". The "tip" os Orion's sword is the star Hatsya. In this are one may see a faint blurry area that is the famous Orion Nebula (M 42). this overlaps with a multiple star system called the Trapezium. The famous Horsehead Nebula is just below the leftmost star, Alnitak, in Orion's belt.

Orion can be used as a celestial landmark to find many other stars and constellations. Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky can be found by drawing a line to the left from the belt of Orion. Aldebaron, the "eye of Taurus", can be found by drawing a line rightward through the shoulders. A diagonal line from Rigel through Betelgeuse leads you to Castor and Pollux in the constellation Gemini. A line drawn leftward through the shoulders leads you to Procyon , another bright star in Canis Minor. Sirius is in Canis Major.

Molly

VENUS AND THE MOON:

Last Monday, February 19th, I observed an interesting astonomical sight. It was about 6pm, and the setting cresent of the Moon was about 15 to 20 degrees above the horizon. Underneath it, seperated by about 5 degrees, was the planet Venus. The pair presented an amazing sight in the evening sky. Presently the Moon is far seperated from Venus. Nothing that I had read alerted me to the sight of last Monday. The questions I have are 1)what phase was Venus in on Monday (it looked like a waxing gibbous to my binoculars) and 2)when will Venus no longer be visible from the Central Time zone and what will its phases be like until then. In other words I'm having some trouble looking this up. Comments are invited.

Molly

FROM THE WAVES ONCE MORE: THE RETURN OF VENUS:
Since passing its superior conjunction (when the planet appeared to go behind the Sun) on Oct. 27th Venus has gradually begun to creep away from the Sun, and it is now once more visible as the evening star. The planet has been visible at sunset since the beginning of December, but at that time only the best observers could spot it slightly above the western horizon a mere half hour after sunset. Tomorrow the planet will set about 20 degrees (about the width of two fists) south of west 50 minutes after sunset. As December goes on Venus will rise higher in the evening sky. By Christmas Day it will set a full hour after the Sun and be visible at a magnitude of -3.8 (magnitude is measured by an inverse scale; the lower the number or the higher the negative number the brighter the object). By New Years it will set more than 70 minutes after the Sun and will be prominent on the western horizon.
By the time April, 2007 arrives Venus will linger in the evening sky a full 3 1/2 hours after sunset. By the third week of May Venus will set as late as 11:45 PM daylight time (12:45 daylight savings time). Venus will reach its greatest elongation (the furthest distance from the Sun, 45 degrees) on June 8th. By July 12th, even as it recedes in the evening sky, it will have reached its greatest magnitude- -4.3, about twice as bright as it is now(magnitude is a logarithmic scale).
If you focus on Venus from now until August you will see the planet go through its phases, similar to that of the Moon. It is presently full. By early June it will be a "half-Venus", and by July it will be a crescent. If you are observing with a telescope or good binoculars you will notice that the apparent size of the disc will grow as it approaches "inferior conjunction" on August 18th, when it sinks once more below the night horizon. It will, however, return again by month's end to become the morning star.
2007 will be a great year for observing Venus.
Molly Notes: The graphic at the top of this page is from the collection of 'Postcards From Venus', a competition where artists were asked to visualize what the surface of earth's twin looked like.