COSMIC STRINGS ALERT: May Showers bring...um...Lots of Meteors? We Hope So!

That's right, dear readers...we've got a new meteor shower on our hands.  And we're hoping it's going to be a good one.

If you're already a meteor shower buff, you're familiar with the classics...the Perseids in August...the Geminids in December...sometimes the Leonids in November can put on one heck of a show.  But May is not usually a great time for meteors.

Hold on to your hat...we're hoping the May Camelopardalids will change all that.

If you're not a meteor shower buff, maybe you'd like a bit of an introduction.  Allow me!

Most of us have seen, or heard of, a shooting star.  Shooting stars have nothing to do with actual stars.  A shooting star is really a piece of rock entering the Earth's atmosphere from the vacuum of space.  When it does, the air of the Earth rubs against the rock.  As you might imagine, the rock heats up...and so does the air.  The streak of light across the sky that we call a meteor or a shooting star is actually glowing, superheated air left behind as the rock whips by.  If any part of the rock makes it to the ground, we call it a meteorite.  Such rocks are amazing finds and tell us a great deal about our solar system.

A bright meteor streaks across the sky over Texas.  This particular rock exploded, causing what is called a bolide - a very bright explosive flash.  Image courtesy the Astronomy Picture of the Day.

You can see a meteor on any clear night...if you're looking in the right place at the right time.  About 10 tons of material hits the Earth's atmosphere every day...but most of those rocks are the size of grains of sand.  They are destroyed on their way in without producing a meteor.  The ones we see are bigger...usually at least the size of a pea or larger.  They can come from anywhere, moving in any direction.  We call these sporadic meteors, because they can come from anywhere, anytime.

A meteor shower on the other hand, is a regular, predictable bunch of meteors that all seem to come from the same part of the sky.  This part of the sky is called the radiant of the shower...and the name of the meteor shower comes from the name of the constellation where the radiant is located.  So the August Perseids seems to come from the constellation Perseus...the November Leonids seem to come from the constellation Leo...you get the idea.  All these meteors seem to come from the same place and happen at the same time because the Earth is actually moving through a whole bunch of material left behind by the passage of a comet.

A composite image of the Geminid meteor shower showing numerous meteors coming from the same area of the sky.  These meteors did not actually all happen at the same time - this is a digital composite of many photographs taken on the same night.  Image courtesy of the Astronomy Picture of the Day.

Comets have long tails produced when the heat of the Sun warms up the ice a comet is made of and turns it to gas.  Comets can be pretty dusty, dirty objects...so when the ice gets turned to gas, all the dust and rock trapped in the ice is also released and left behind along the orbit of the comet.  If the Earth passes through this cloud of crud left behind...bam, you get a meteor shower as all those bits slam into the Earth's atmosphere.

Comet McNaught.  Note the big, messy tail.  All of that may be future meteor material.  Image courtesy NASA.

The comet debris that's causing all the fuss this May is a comet named 209P/LINEAR.  It's not a bright comet, and you can't see it tonight.  It orbits the Sun once about every 5 years, so it's shed lots of material over time.  Scientists think we're about to pass through a particularly dense patch of 209P/LINEAR material...TONIGHT!

That's right...tonight!  Overnight tonight, we might just have a spectacular new meteor shower.  Or...we might have a total dud.  The only way to know is to be outside tonight watching the sky.  There's a small chance this new shower might even be a meteor storm - when so many meteors streak across the sky at once that you can see multiple meteors every second!  By comparison, a really good meteor shower produces a few tens of meteors per hour.  So this could be the event of a lifetime!

Here's what to do to check out the May Camelopardalids:

• Go to bed early.  The best time to be outside for the meteors will be 1 - 3 AM early Saturday morning (on the East Coast of the U.S.) so you'll want to be ready to be awake in the middle of the night.
• Find the darkest sky you can.  If nothing else, make sure your house lights are all off, and ask your neighbors to turn off any outside lights they have.  The darker your sky, the more meteors you will see.
• Put the Big Dipper to your back.  The meteors will be coming from the constellation Camelopardalis the Giraffe, a very faint constellation in the Northern sky.  They will get brighter as they move away from the Giraffe, so putting North to your back will likely give you a better chance to see some meteors.
• Don't bother with a telescope or binoculars.  Meteors are easiest to see with the unaided eye!
• Dress as if it is 10-20 degrees cooler than it actually is.  You'll get cold really fast just standing still looking up.
• If you plan to watch a long time, bring a lawn chair out with you.  Especially something that reclines, so you can look up without straining your neck or back.

Best of luck with your meteor viewing! If you see any good views, please let me know in the comments!
Here's hoping for a massive meteor storm!
Either way...
Carpe noctem!
Kelly

Holy Planets, Batman!

Quick, my young ward, run outside and view the planets!

No seriously!  Get outside, soon!  There are three planets currently gracing the early evening skies, and you do not want to miss this.

I've been waiting to post this because we've had a serious stretch of rainy weather here in Virginia, and it seemed cruel to write a post telling everybody about the amazing stuff they can't go outside and look at.  But this past weekend was brilliant, and hopefully some nice weather is here for a little while.  So let's talk planets.

Jupiter has been shining bright in our evening sky for some months now.  It's a dramatic, white star-like object high on the western side of the sky in the early evening.  You can't miss it.  It's the brightest thing out there, assuming the Moon is nowhere around.  Grab a pair of binoculars or a small telescope for a real treat - a quick zoom-in will reveal the colorful cloud stripes on the planet and as many as 5 moons orbiting the giant world.

Jupiter and its four largest moons as seen through a small telescope.

Looking more south-southwesterly, you still have time to catch the orangey glow of Mars before it fades away into the distance.  Mars made a close approach to us in April, and is now getting further and further away from us with each passing day.  A good-sized telescope will reveal a mottled surface and possibly a bit of a polar cap on our tiny next door neighbor.  Mars is only half the size of the Earth, so seeing any detail on the planet is difficult.  With Mars being a bit closer now than it normally is to us, here's your best shot at seeing some Martian surface detail for a while...the next close approach will be in about two years.

Mars as seen in a larger telescope during its close approach in April 2014.

Finally, lower in the southwest you will find the golden glow of Saturn.  Here's the big payoff for your binoculars or telescope - those oh-so-spectacular rings.  If you are using binoculars, you'll need to hold them very steady - a tripod will be your best bet.  Remember, you're looking at something about a billion miles away.  But oh, that view is so worth it!

Saturn as seen through a larger telescope.

Don't have a telescope or binoculars?  Not sure exactly where to look?  No worries.  Come on out to the Virginia Living Museum on Saturday May 10 and we'll do the leg work for you.  Our telescopes will be set up (weather permitting) and all you'll have to do is bend your eye to the eyepiece and stare.  Trust me, you'll be glad you came!  For more details on our monthly star party and laser light nights, please visit our website at www.thevlm.org.  And if you can't make the star party, get out there and look up anyway.  No matter which way you face, the universe has a lot to offer!  Enjoy!

Until next time...
Carpe noctem!
Kelly

This is NOT an April Fool's joke!

Really!  I promise!  This is a real post, and not a joke!

I wanted to let you all know about a really cool event coming up in a couple weeks...and I'm giving you that much time to prepare, because, well...you might need it.

It's been a long, long time since we had a really awesome lunar eclipse event here at the museum.  I love our "Total Luna-See" parties...we have a great time, see the Moon turn an amazing color, and generally it's pretty much a party atmosphere all night long!

Sadly, we won't be doing that for the upcoming lunar eclipse.  Why?  Because the darn thing happens at 3AM!  On a Tuesday morning!

How we get lunar eclipses - the Earth must pass directly between the Sun and the Moon.  Image by Fred Espenak.  Courtesy NASA.

Yep, that's right, on April 15th - the all-glorious Tax Day here in the U.S. - at the ungodly hour of about 2AM on the East Coast - the Full Moon will quietly begin sliding into the shadow of the Earth.  Like most shadows, the Earth's shadow is not completely devoid of light - the atmosphere of the Earth scatters from red light from the sunrises and sunsets happening around the world at the time into the shadow, turning the Moon a beautiful reddish color.  How reddish really depends on the state of the atmosphere.  If the air is relatively clean and clear, the Moon will indeed appear an almost blackish-red.  If there's a lot of dust or other pollutants in the air, a coppery or even orangey-red Moon could result.

The Moon during a lunar eclipse.  The center image is the moment of total eclipse, showing the Moon an intense red color.  The two side images are from a time when the Moon was not yet totally in the darkest part of the Earth's shadow.  Images by Fred Espenak.  Courtesy NASA.

One thing's for sure, if you want to see what color the Moon turns this time around...you'll need to be a very dedicated astronomy buff.  The eclipse will peak at around 3AM  By around 5AM, the event will be coming to an end.  So it means spending a long night outside...on a weekday.  Before work.  Or school.  Or whatever else an average Tuesday on which your tax forms are due might bring you.

*sigh*

Soooo...maybe this won't be the best lunar eclipse to get outside to try to see.  That's okay...we've got three more chances coming up over the next year and a half.

The April 15th eclipse is the first of a tetrad - a group of four successive total lunar eclipses.  Amazingly, all four will be at least somewhat visible in the United States!  The next one in this series will be on October 8, 2014...and for the East Coast, will occur as the Moon is setting.

Well, phooey.

Maybe we'll have better luck in 2015. 

Again, I say - this is NOT an April Fool's joke!  But if you'd like one, check this out.

Until next time...
Carpe noctem!
Kelly

Follow the KISS Principle

I so need to do that in my everyday life.

Well, it's yet again been a month since I could sit down and write a post.  Things have just been flat out crazy here!  Between wacky weather swings (including more snow days than I could shake a stick at), tons of special events (we've seen Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts, tons of the general public, teachers, and lots of school kids), and the production of two shows just finished today (come see the public show - The Art of Hubble - beginning this Saturday in the planetarium!)...well...let's just say I've run myself ragged.  In fact, I'm so ragged, I've got a major back spasm going on...so yesterday was spent at the doctor.  Hopefully, I'll be getting back to what passes for normal for me soon.

But, in the spirit of the KISS Principle (Keep It Simple, Stupid) I thought I'd just write a nice little post about what's going on up in the sky these days.

The big news right now is still Jupiter.  The king of the solar system is dominating the early evening skies, shining brightly in the constellation Gemini the Twins.  Look for a brilliant white star-like object high in the south in the early evening.  Trust me, you won't be able to miss it. 

Jupiter - King of the Solar System - and its four largest moons.  From left to right they are Io, Ganymede, Europa and Callisto.  Image courtesy Wikipedia.

In the southeast, you'll see the Moon, on its way to being full in a few days.  It will be the only thing in the sky brighter than Jupiter.  The two will be separated by a fair bit, but will still be close enough to be a beautiful sight together in the evening sky.  The Moon will move further and further to the left of Jupiter as the days go by...so get outside and see them soon.

A lunar calendar, in case you wanted to know the phase of the Moon every day this month.  Available online for printing from http://www.calendar-printable.com/march/mar-2014-calendar.html

The stars of winter haven't given up yet...even though Spring is just around the corner (although you couldn't tell that from the temperature around here today!).   Orion still shines brightly in the south-southwest, just below and to the right of Jupiter.  You'll easily be able to see the three stars of Orion's famous belt, even in fairly bright skies.  Two stars above and two stars below the belt frame out this famous night sky hunter.

The constellation Orion as seen by a camera.  You won't see the intense colors of the stars, but you might notice slight tinges of color. Note the fuzzy pink bit below the belt - that's the famous Orion Nebula Complex.  Image from scienceblogs.

Looking ahead, Mars is going to be more and more prominent in the coming month or so.  It's approaching opposition, meaning it will be exactly opposite the Sun for us.  It's also approaching Earth - meaning that Mars will be at its brightest in the month of April.  Right now, the Red Planet rises late, and isn't well visible until after 1am.  Next month will see it rising at sunset, and hopefully clearing the cluttered horizons around here by about 10pm.  We'll be celebrating Mars next month at our monthly star party on April 12th - make plans to join us!

Now that the major show production push is out of the way, I'm hoping that things will settle down a bit and I can get back to more regular postings.  Tomorrow, by the way, is Pi day (3.14!) so enjoy some circle foods!  And today...well...there's a special shout-out I need to send to a friend.

This is your birthday message, on my blog
This is your birthday message, on my blog
Today is your birthday, so I'm writing you to say
Happy happy birthday to you, on my blog!

Happy birthday, John!  Hope it's a great one.

See you again...hopefully in two weeks!
Until then,
Carpe noctem!
Kelly

I am very sorry, sir, I am behind my time...

It's only once a year, sir, it shall not be repeated.  I was making rather merry yesterday, sir.

Bob Cratchit from Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol starring George C. Scott.  One of my favorite versions of the classic Christmas tale. 

Happy New Year!  Like Bob Cratchit, I am behind my time (by a day) and was making rather merry yesterday.  And in the process of welcoming 2014, I discovered something amazing.

For many years I have extolled the virtues of getting away from people to enjoy the sky.  Well, more specifically, people's lights.  The city is a terrible place to do astronomy...few stars can be seen, and finding a spot with open sky can prove challenging to say the least.  So I often recommend that folks go somewhere else to see the stars.  Areas with little population (Casper Mountain in Wyoming has astounding skies!), the desert southwest of the United States (my Dad, who loved to hike the Grand Canyon, bought a tent with a special skylight in it for stargazing...he said the sky from down in the canyon was the most incredible thing he'd ever seen), out on the water far away from shore (but not on most cruise ships, which are lit up like bonfires), and other such far away destinations have been my suggestion to people looking to see more of the sky than they usually do.

Or, you could drive about an hour west of Richmond.  No, really!

We generally spend New Year's Eve in a cabin at Bear Creek Lake State Park.  It's wonderful to get away from it all (there's no cell service or internet out there either!) and just enjoy some time with family and friends.  Most years, the sky has been cloudy...especially if I go through the trouble of packing my telescope.  This year, I said the heck with it, and left it home.

On New Year's Eve night we went out to build a fire and make s'mores (always a hit with the kids).  My friend suddenly said "Hey, look at the Milky Way!"

I looked up and almost fell over.

The sky was cold and clear and the air unmoving.  It was deep black, and spangled everywhere with stars so bright they seemed to leap out of the sky at me.  Jupiter shone like a beacon...for a moment, I was disoriented...I thought it was Venus, it seemed so bright to me!  As my eyes adjusted, I could see more and more faint stars playing in the background of the sky...and indeed, the lovely swath of the Milky Way, arcing high above us.  I wasted no time bemoaning my lack of a telescope - I simply took my daughter aside and we looked for constellations.  We spotted a couple of satellites and caught a few meteors in the bargain.  It was breathtaking, delightful, dizzying, and altogether awesome.

So here's my recommendation to you for a new year's resolution - make a reservation and stay at a State or National Park near you sometime this year.  You probably won't have to even travel very far!  Many parks offer traditional camping (bring your own tent) or cabins for rent (very reasonably priced, and come with all the comforts of home like heat, AC, and indoor plumbing!).  Some even have yurts (I hear they can be tons of fun!).  You can make reservations online at Reserve America.  It's great way to get some time away, bond with family and friends, explore your local area, and rediscover the sky.  Trust me, you'll love it.

One of the cabins at Bear Creek Lake State Park in Virginia.  Yes, it's as awesome as it looks.  Image by Tracey Shaffer courtesy Reserve America.

Here's hoping that 2014 is truly a stellar year for us all.
See you in two weeks, and until then...
Carpe Noctem!
Kelly

Comet ISON Post-Mortem

*sigh*

No, it's not the holiday blues...it's the lack of a comet.

Sadly, it looks like Comet ISON did not fare too well in its first ever (and probably last ever!) trip around the Sun.  The comet was brightening dramatically as it approached the Sun, but then even before perihelion (it's point of closest approach to the Sun) the comet suddenly dropped in brightness...not usually a good sign.  It often heralds a breakup of the object.

Thanksgiving Day saw ISON directly behind the Sun from our view at perihelion...and then, it came back!  But sadly it was much, much dimmer than when it rounded the Sun, and then it proceeded to continue to dim rapidly.  Whatever is left of Comet ISON will not be bright enough to put on any kind of display in our skies this December.

A movie of Comet ISON plunging toward the Sun and then emerging, much diminished, on the other side.  Courtesy NASA and the SOHO Spacecraft.

Ah well.  It was exciting to hope for...but it wasn't meant to be.

We've got holiday fun to cheer us up though - Star of Wonder: Mystery of the Christmas Star and Laser Holidays are back in the planetarium for the rest of this year.  And of course, the December Star Party (December 14) will feature not only those two shows, but also a free concert by the United States Salvation Army Brass Band.  And hopefully the skies will be crisp and clear so we can enjoy the natural celestial show as well.

Still, a nice bright naked-eye comet would have been a wonderful early Christmas present.  Maybe if we're lucky, the Geminid meteor shower will consent to give us a few good meteors on December 14th, despite the nearly Full Moon.  Come join us and find out!

More from the world of astronomy in two weeks...until then...
Carpe Noctem!
Kelly

C'mon, Get Happy!

And if you're not humming a Partridge Family song right now...well...you're younger than I am.

Fall has finally arrived, and I am indeed happy.  I know the official start of Fall was over a month ago, but the weather hasn't really caught up with the fact here until today.  It is brisk and sunny outside, and now the season for good observing can truly get underway.

Apparently the Sun is happy about it as well, since it seems to have decided to put on a show celebrating the change of weather patterns.  Check it out:

The Sun on October 24, 2013.  Courtesy Spaceweather.com.

Every 11 years, the Sun enters a period of maximum activity.  2013 is supposed to be a Solar Max year, but things on the Sun haven't exactly been popping.  In fact, this is one of the weaker solar maximums we've seen in recent history.  But some scientists are forecasting a tick up in activity as we approach the new year, and they may be right.  Those lovely dark areas you see on the face of the Sun are sunspots, and the more spots there are, the more active the solar surface is.  Sunspots are caused when the magnetic field of the Sun breaks through the surface and allows heat to be funneled away, cooling a small region of the surface.  "Cooling" is relative, by the way - the surface of a sunspot is still a toasty 7,000-8,000 degrees Fahrenheit.  But that is substantially cooler than the average 10,000 degrees of the bright solar surface! Oh, and when I say a "small region" of the surface...keep in mind, all those spots you can see on the Sun are bigger than the Earth in diameter.

Here we're seeing the Sun in white light, or the kind of light we normally see.  If we look in a different wavelength...say, ultraviolet...the sunspot regions show amazing amounts of activity.

Bright sunspot region AR1877 snaps off a solar flare.  Photo by the Solar Dynamics Observatory.  Courtesy Spaceweather.com.

The inset image is a single frame from a movie taken by SDO of a solar flare that exploded out from one of the sunspot regions.  The Sun is an incredibly active body, and it is quite amazing to observe.  To safeguard your eyesight, however, always take proper precautions before viewing the Sun:

To safely view the Sun, use:

• an ENDCAP solar filter on a telescope
• Arc welder's glass #14
• Solar Eclipse glasses

NEVER use the following:

• Eyepiece solar filters (they can overheat and break)
• Shades of arc welder's glass other than #14 (not enough protection!)
• Regular or prescription sunglasses (even if they block UV, that is not enough protection!)
• Exposed film
• Viewing the Sun low to the horizon when it appears red (this is NEVER safe!)

As long as your eyes are properly protected, viewing the Sun can be a fabulous experience.  Depending on what kind of filter you use, you may be able to see sunspots, prominences, flares or other types of activity on the Sun's surface.  And these things may change or move right before your very eyes!  Our Sun is an active, exciting star, and it's worth taking a look at.

And right now, the Sun is giving us a whole lotta lovin'.  Enjoy!
Until next time...
Carpe Diem!  :D (and Noctem too!)
Kelly

COSMIC STRINGS ALERT: Nova Delphini 2013

Woohoo!  We got us a nova!

A nova is a small, usually white dwarf star which brightens significantly because a companion star dumps material onto it.  When this new material becomes hot and dense enough - WHAM!  Nuclear fusion suddenly begins again, making the once-dead little star come to life and produce a whole heck of a lot of energy all at once.  A white dwarf can go nova repeatedly - as often as the supply of fuel is replenished to sufficient levels by its companion.

Nova Delphini 2013.  Image courtesy Wikipedia.

That appears to have a happened to a star in the constellation Delphinus the Dolphin.  The once-invisible star has brightened dramatically over the last few days - and it is now at just about the limit of vision for the average skies in our area.  If the sky around where you are is relatively dark and uncluttered at night, you should be able to pick out a faint "new" star in Delphinus.

"New" is in fact the Latin translation of nova.  Early astronomers thought that what they were seeing was a new star bursting into life.  Today we know this is not the case, but the name persists.  And in one sense, it is a "new" star, since normally this little white dwarf cannot be seen with the human eye at all.

This uptick in brightness may only last for a few days, and fortunately for us, the nova is well-placed in our evening skies for viewing.  Don't miss your chance to see this beautiful object!  Once the sky is nice and dark, head outside to check out the area near the Summer Triangle for the nova.  The chart below will help you locate it.  Bring out a pair of binoculars or a telescope to help you, as even at this new brightness, the nova may be just on the edge of your vision.

A guide to finding Nova Delphini 2013.  Image from Universe Today, created in Stellarium.

Best of luck!  If you see it, leave me a message in the comments!
Carpe noctem!
Kelly

It's a bird...it's a plane...it's a COMET!

Greetings astronomy fans!

Well, it's here!  The first of the two comets touted to put on great shows in our skies this year.  Comet PanSTARRS has arrived!

Yep.  It's here. 

Okay, sorry if I sound a little bummed.  But I'd give my right arm to be in the southern hemisphere.  They've had extraordinary views of Comet PanSTARRS for quite some while now...and Comet Lemmon too!  And Comet McNaught last year!  It's been a veritable comet bonanza for our friends down under...and dang it, I am jealous!

But all is not lost here in the great white North.  I tried to see Comet PanSTARRS last night, but lingering clouds and light pollution made it impossible (I did see a fantastically young crescent Moon, however - youngest I've ever seen!).  But it should get easier tonight, as the comet is inching itself away from the Sun day after day.  That's going to both help (further from the Sun means it will be in a darker sky and easier to see) and hurt (further from the Sun means the comet itself will be a dimmer object) - but over the next couple of days we'll have our best chance to see this little interloper.  So how do we do that?  Here are some tips!

• Find a location with as little light pollution as possible.  Get away from as many city lights as you can.
• This same location also needs to have as flat a western horizon as possible.  The more sky you can see to the west, the better.
• Start looking to the west just after sunset.  Focus your attention to the left of the brightest sunset glow.
• Look for a very slender crescent Moon.  It will be up and to the left of the sunset.
• Once you see the Moon, look between the Moon and the sunset glow for the comet!

A finder chart for Comet PanSTARRS.  Courtesy space.com.

Trust me, it will not be easy to see.  Binoculars may come in handy, but use them carefully and ONLY after the Sun has completely dipped below the horizon.  Seeing a comet is not worth losing an eye for.

A camera will help a lot, if you are confident enough to try it and have one of those "old-fashioned" cameras you can force to leave the shutter open for more than a tenth of a second.  Witness the power of the two-second exposure:

Comet PanSTARRS from Louisiana on March 12.  Image by Mike B. Courtesy Cloudy Skies Telescope Reviews.

So, sadly, Comet PanSTARRS is fainter than we hoped it would be by now.  Comets are tricky beasts - chunks of ice and rock left over from the early days of the solar system's formation.  When they dive close to the Sun like this one has, the ices warm and turn directly to gas, creating an often intricate and beautiful tail of materials stretching for millions of miles.  But the brightness of a comet is determined by the amount of ice as compared to rock (ice is shiny and bright and rock is dull and dim), so there's never really a good way to know if a comet is going to be bright or not...until it arrives.  Also, this appears to be Comet PanSTARRS first (and possibly only) trip close to the Sun, so the intense heating may have driven all the ices off, leaving not much left for us to see now that the comet has rounded the Sun.

I wish you all the best of luck in your efforts to see Comet PanSTARRS...and never fear, there's still Comet ISON to come later this year.  It's being touted as the "Comet of the Century" - but of course, we'll just have to wait and see.

Until next time,
Carpe noctem!
Kelly

Resolved

Happy New Year everyone!

I hope your 2013 has gotten off to a great start.  For many of you, that may mean making some New Year's Resolutions.  I've never been much for them myself...I often find my enthusiasm for them wanes rapidly after the New Year's celebrations are over.  But if you find yourself in need of some resolutions this year...I humbly present to you these recommendations.

New Year's Resolution #1: Resolve to be more in touch with the universe around you.
Back in the day, humans were very in touch with the universe.  It was our clock, our calendar, a source of wonder and the home of the gods.  Today, many of us go through our lives without ever taking the time to look up.  Make it a mission to spend some time under the stars this year.  We can help!  Every second Saturday of the month, the museum hosts a Star Party.  The first one in 2013 is on January 12 - we'll look forward to seeing you!  Star Parties are FREE and everyone is welcome.

New Year's Resolution #2: Resolve to see some shooting stars.
Virtually every year there's a really good meteor shower to see...and 2013 is no exception.  This year, the Perseids are on tap to put on an excellent show, and that's great news for all you folks who hate having to be outside in the freezing cold weather to do your stargazing!  The Perseids peak on August 12th, so you'll be able to spend a balmy evening in your shorts and t-shirt watching "stars" fall from the sky!  On that night, the Moon will be just past first quarter and will set early, so you can drag out a lawn chair and stare upwards for the rest of the night with nothing to dim your view of the heavens (just get away from any city lights near you).  Some models are predicting a bump up in rates for the Perseids this year, so this one could be pretty neat.  Remember - no telescope or binoculars are needed; the more sky you can see, the better.  Put your back to the constellation Perseus and enjoy the show.

A bright Perseid meteor streaks across the sky.  Image by Stefano DeRosa

New Year's Resolution #3: Resolve to use that telescope in the closet to see something cool.
So many of us have a telescope sitting somewhere gathering dust.  Well, this year, you need to get it out and have it set up and ready to go on Friday, October 11, no later than 11:30pm.  Point it at Jupiter as early as you can, and watch.  Slowly but surely, the shadows of not one, not two, but THREE of the largest Jovian moons will make their way across the giant planet.  A triple eclipse for Jupiter...a triple shadow transit for those of us here on Earth.  It should be a lovely sight in a good sized telescope.

A rare triple shadow transit on Jupiter on March 28, 2004.  Image by Sid Leach.

New Year's Resolution #4: Resolve to watch a rocket take off.
If you can get to Cape Canaveral on November 18th, you'll have the opportunity to do it in person!  If not, tune in NASA TV and watch the launch of MAVEN: the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN mission.  MAVEN will study the Martian atmosphere to see how the loss of materials to space has affected Mars over its long history.  Launches are always cool to watch, and this one should be no different.

An artist's conception of the MAVEN spacecraft orbiting Mars.  Courtesy NASA.

New Year's Resolution #5: Resolve to see the comet of the century...maybe...
There's already a buzz in the astronomical community about Comet ISON - it could be the most amazing comet North America has seen since Hale-Bopp...or it could fizzle.  Currently located beyond Jupiter, this newly-discovered comet is making its way toward a close encounter with the Sun.  If it holds together, it could put on an incredible show during the last two months of 2013.  Early predictions indicate that Comet ISON could reach negative magnitudes (bright like Jupiter or Venus), or even outshine the Moon (2nd brightest object in the sky!) and have a gorgeous tail visible to the unaided eye for weeks or even months.  Other early predictions say it could completely collapse under the pressure of the Sun's light and heat and be a total washout.  The only way to find out will be to watch the skies.

The orbital path of Comet ISON.  Courtesy NASA.

So there you have it - five astronomical things to resolve to do in 2013.  Whatever you choose to do, may 2013 be a year full of joy for all of us.

Carpe noctem!
Kelly

It's The End of the World As We Know It...

...and I feel fine!

Actually, I seem to have caught the delightful virus that's been making the rounds here in southeast Virginia.  On week 2 of the darn thing and I am ready to be done with it.  But back to the matter at hand...

Holy cow!  The world is coming to an end this Friday!  The Mayan Long Count calendar says so!

The Seven-Day Forecast for this week.  Found on Facebook by my friend Jim Drummond.

Actually, it doesn't say anything of the kind.  It's a calendar.  All calendars end...that's how the calendar companies stay in business.  In all seriousness, when the calendar we use today, the Gregorian calendar, comes to the end of a cycle, no one worries that the world will end too...they just go buy a new calendar.  The Mayan Long Count calendar is no different - a new long count cycle will begin on Saturday, and life will go on.

Doomsday predictions and fears have been a common theme in humanity's long history.   It is not, by any means, a modern thing.  In fact, the first known "prediction" for the end of the world dates back to 2800 BC!  An Assyrian clay tablet dating to those times was found with the inscription "Our earth is degenerate in these latter days. There are signs that the world is speedily coming to an end. Bribery and corruption are common."  Just in case you thought that bribery and corruption were something invented in the modern era as well...clearly, we've always been good at those things.  Perceived degeneration of morals has long been seen as an indication of the coming end of the world.

There's a long tradition of apocalyptic destruction coming from space as well.  One of the earliest space-related predictions for the end of the world was made in the 1180s, when John of Toledo circulated a letter stating that the coming planetary alignment in Libra on September 23, 1186 would signal the end of the world, and only a very few people would survive.

Comets have long been seen as harbingers of doom.  One of the first comets to be directly associated with the coming end of the world was seen in 1532.  The prediction was made by a Viennese bishop, Frederick Nausea (!), after he heard numerous reports of bizarre occurrences, including bloody crosses being seen in the sky alongside the comet.  One wonders if this is the origin of our use of the word nausea today.

"Astronomical Chart of the path of the Comet of 1532", artist unknown.  From the Gedden Museum.

Sometimes the astronomical predictions get really exciting.  Tomasso Campanella, a Dominican monk, predicted that the Sun would collide with the Earth in 1603.  You'd think we'd have seen that one coming.

Obviously, none of these doomsday predictions came true.  But the long history of man's fascination with the end of the world is, in itself, quite fascinating!  Not being a psychologist, I can't really say why we are so fascinated with the concept of the end of the world.  But I wonder if it doesn't indicate a desire on our part to be involved in something greater than ourselves.  Even if that something gets a little scary at times.

So all in all, Friday should boil down to little more than Mayan New Year.  And you know what New Year's means...it's time for a party!  We're having an End of the World Party at the Virginia Living Museum, and everyone is invited!  We'll be scanning the skies with our telescopes, searching for any killer asteroids (weather and disasters permitting), plus we'll have some fun activities and games going on in the Wason Education Center.  Activities and observing are FREE!  Plus, we'll be having some fun in the cafe, and you can grab a last meal, snack, or even some beer or wine.  In the planetarium, we'll have shows throughout the evening, including Star of Wonder: Mystery of the Christmas Star (6pm), Laser Holidays (7pm), 2012: The End of the World? NOT! (8 & 10pm) and Lasers at the End of the World (9 & 11pm).  Shows are $6 each, or two for $10.  Make it an End of the World Combo: any 2 shows and a $5 cafe gift certificate for $12!  Members always pay half price!  Stick around until midnight and help us end the world with a bang...or ring in Mayan New Year...whichever comes first.

As this will be my last entry of 2012, let me take a moment to wish all of you a wonderful holiday season, a Merry Christmas, and a joyous and blessing-filled 2013.

Carpe noctem!
See you in 2013,
Kelly

Something's Coming...

Come on in, don't be shy, meet a guy, pull up a chair!

Okay, you know it's been a tough day when I break into show tunes.

Seriously, good things are happening around here at the Virginia Living Museum.  It's getting kind of exciting.

First of all, we're getting pretty close to being done with flood recovery!  We hope to have the lower level of the museum reopened very soon.  So watch the museum's webpage for an official announcement on that score, hopefully before the end of the year.  It's been a long, slow recovery process, and we're very excited to get the museum fully opened again.  I hear tell there will even be some new exhibits coming downstairs, which is also pretty exciting!

Naturally, this is an exciting time of year in general, with the holidays in full swing.  I have an 8-year-old daughter at home and that makes Christmas extra-special, I can tell you.  Our annual trip to Christmas Town is coming up this weekend (can't wait!), plus all the decorating and visiting and baking and whatnot the season brings.  The Virginia Living Museum is all decorated up for the season, too.  In the planetarium lobby the tree has a lovely silver and blue theme this year which I think suits us well.  And of course, holiday programming continues in the theater until the end of the year, so don't miss out on that!

Jupiter and its largest moon, Ganymede.  Courtesy STScI.

Most exciting in my book is that this Saturday is our monthly star party and Laser Light Night!  It's a special one, too.  Jupiter is just past its opposition, so the giant planet is close to the Earth and looking fabulous even in a small telescope.  Rising close to sunset and remaining visible all night, we're hoping for the clouds to part and show us a fabulous view!  Ten times larger than the Earth, Jupiter shows an amazing amount of detail with only a small amount of magnification.  Probably the most wonderful thing about viewing Jupiter is that you usually get to see a few of its moons as well - most notably the four Galilean satellites.  These four largest moons of Jupiter were first spotted by Galileo Galilei (hence the name Galilean satellites) in the early 1600s.  He called them "the Medicean stars" since at the time of his discovery of them, his bills were being paid by the prominent Medici family (Galileo was no fool!).  Later, all of the moons of Jupiter we renamed for various lovers of Zeus/Jupiter.  Today, the four largest moons of Jupiter are known as Ganymede, Callisto, Europa and Io.  It's a fair bet we'll get a glimpse of all four of them this weekend, so be sure to join us.  Remember, observing is always FREE!

An artist's conception of an eruption on Jupiter's volcanic moon, Io.  A new panoramic wallpaper will be installed in the lobby of the Abbitt Planetarium this January based on this poster.  Courtesy NASA Langley.

 
 In addition, we'll be celebrating the hard work of the many good people who helped raise funds for the museum's flood relief campaign during Walktober!  This dedicated group of walkers raised over $8000 and counting!  And you can help by purchasing a Walktober Flood Relief T-shirt for only $5 this Saturday during the Star Party.  To thank our walkers, we've got extra shows on the docket, and everyone is welcome.  Check out the schedule online.  Shows in the theater, whether planetarium or lasers, are $6 each, or 2 for $10.  Members always receive half off.

Many other things are coming down the pike for the remainder of the year, so I'd better get back to work!

See you in two weeks! And until then...
Carpe noctem!
Kelly

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Hooray!  The election is over!

Okay, sorry, I couldn't help myself.  Whether your favored candidate won or lost, I think we can all agree it's been a long and rough election season.  I confess I am happy to be done with political ads, phone calls, and mail.  The holidays are just around the corner, and that is indeed my favorite time of year.

But before we get into the holiday season, we've got something fun coming up this Saturday!  Yes, it is once again time for our monthly Star Party and Laser Light Night here at the Virginia Living Museum.  While the flood damage has stopped us from using our lower level, the observatory is in great shape, and the planetarium is running just fine.  So we hope you'll be able to join us for some great sky watching and planetarium and laser shows this weekend!  Here's a quick preview of what we'll be looking at in the night sky (weather permitting, of course!).

Actually, I can pretty much sum it up in one word - Jupiter.  The largest planet of the solar system has once again returned to the evening skies and we cannot be more excited!  Mars (technically) remains low in the southwestern sky after sunset, but let's face it...it's nothing to write home about.  Even on the flattest western horizon you'll have difficulty finding our little neighbor planet.  It's not very bright, it's a dull orangey color, and at only half the size of Earth it's not particularly big, even in a telescope.  On the other hand, Jupiter is the second brightest of the planets (behind only Venus, now dominating the early morning skies), at ten times bigger than Earth it shines like a brilliant white star and shows amazing amounts of detail in a telescope, and rises in the early evening to then spend the rest of the night crossing the sky.  You can bet we'll have a telescope or two trained on Jupiter throughout the star party.  Join us to see how many Jovian moons we can spot, whether the Great Red Spot is facing towards us, and how many dark cloud bands can be seen on the face of the mighty planet. 

Jupiter, largest planet of the solar system.  Courtesy NASA

We often spend time hopping around various deep sky objects as well...galaxies, globular clusters, open star clusters and nebulae are frequent sights in our eyepieces.  There's also a chance you might see something impressive without even needing a telescope.  The North Taurid meteor shower will peak in the wee hours of Monday November 12...but it's not unthinkable that we might see a few early shooting stars on Saturday November 10.  The Taurids occasionally produce some brilliant fireballs, so if we do see a meteor, it's likely to be a doozy. 

A Taurid Fireball from 2005 photographed in Japan.  Courtesy NASA.  Photograph by Hiroyuki Iida

In the planetarium we'll be featuring the night sky and lots of great music.  At 7:30pm, I'll take you on tour of the evening sky with Virginia Skies.  Once you've seen the stars in the planetarium, step outside and check out the real thing!  Bring the kids for our 8:30pm laser show: iPop.  It's a great mix of some of today's hottest pop stars...including some of those super-popular teens from the Disney Channel and Nickelodeon.  Hoping for some music more to an adult's taste?  No problem - stick around until 10pm for the psychedelic sounds of Laser Doors...and keep the trip rolling on with Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon at 11:30pm.  It all kicks off at sunset with FREE observing of the night sky...shows are $6 person, or any two for $10.  Members always get their tickets half price.

Okay, in the interests of full disclosure...there's another reason why I'm so excited for the star party this month...it's happening on my birthday, which I share with two wonderful people...a dear friend of mine (Happy Birthday, John David!) and Martin Luther, architect of the Reformation.  I suppose I could nail my doctoral thesis to my church door...nah, it wouldn't make much sense...plus the doors are made of glass anyway...

Until next time...
Carpe noctem!
Kelly

So What's on Your Mind?

I came to the shocking realization the other day that I've been writing this blog for over a year now.  It certainly hasn't seemed that long to me.

One of the things I was hoping would happen as I began this blog hasn't really materialized yet.  I'd really love to be fielding your questions...talking about the topics that interest you, my readers, the most.  Anyone is welcome to leave a comment on any post - even if your question has nothing to do with the post!  I'll be more than happy to answer your question...and I might even make it the topic for the next blog post.  So please - ask away!

In the hopes of inspiring some new questions, let me share with you the answers to the questions I get asked most frequently.

Who invented the telescope? -OR- Galileo invented the telescope, right?

Actually, Galileo Galilei did many amazing things that advanced our understanding of the solar system we live in, but inventing the telescope was not one of them.  He was the first person to use a telescope for astronomical purposes, turning his simple instrument on the Moon, the Sun, Jupiter, Venus and even Saturn.  But credit for inventing the telescope is generally given to Hans Lippershey, a Dutch lensmaker. 

Hans Lippershey.  Courtesy Wikipedia.

What was that bright thing I saw last night/morning in the east/south/west?

About 99% of the time, the answer to this question is one of the 5 naked-eye visible planets: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter or Saturn.  Most often, it's Jupiter or Venus, as they are the brightest of these five, with Venus being the brightest object in the sky after the Sun and the Moon.  The planets are generally brighter than the stars near them, and they won't twinkle the way the stars do, making them stand out against the background stars.  These days, Mars is extremely low in the southwest in the early evening.  In the early morning skies, you'll find Jupiter high in the south and Venus mid-way up in the east around sunrise. 

On rare occasions, the answer to this question is Sirius, the brightest star in the nighttime sky.  You'll find Sirius in the winter sky, easily located by following Orion's famous belt to the left.  Sirius will twinkle quite a bit, and it is impressively bright.

Sirius by the Hubble Space Telescope.  The small white dot in the lower left of the image is a tiny white dwarf companion to the main star.  Courtesy NASA.

Where can I buy a quality telescope?

Some camera shops still carry high quality telescopes, but my personal favorite place to purchase observing equipment is online from Orion Telescopes.  They carry an excellent "house" brand, plus the usual players like Meade and Celestron.  Their customer service is excellent, and their prices are quite reasonable.  One word of caution - be wary of purchasing anything manufactured by Meade.  This once-excellent company was bought out several years ago and now offers little or no customer service, and has become increasing difficult to deal with.  Stick with Celestron or Orion's own stuff. 

Where to NOT buy a telescope (especially with the holiday season just around the corner) is any big box store of any kind.  Most "Christmastime" telescopes are cheap, fall apart quickly, and use inferior optical elements.  A good rule of thumb - if the telescope costs less than $150, you are probably going to be disappointed.

When is the best time to see shooting stars in the sky?

Shooting stars are actually meteors - chunks of rock from space coming in to the Earth's atmosphere at high speed.  When they make contact with the Earth's air, the friction generated by the rocks passage causes the air it passes through to glow - making the streak of light we call a shooting star.  While random bits of rock can plunge Earthward at any time, Earth does regularly pass through rocky debris left behind by the regular orbiting of comets.  Such times are called meteor showers, and they are the best times to go out and look for shooting stars. 

The best meteor showers of the year and the rough dates they peak on are:

The Quadrantids  January 4
The Perseids       August 12
The Orionids       October 21
The Leonids        November 17
The Geminids      December 14

I say rough dates because the exact peak date and time changes every year.  In general, the best time to be outside to look for meteors is around 2AM as the combination of the forward motion of the Earth in its orbit and the rotation of the Earth carrying us in the same direction make it more likely that meteors will be visible.  Astronomy is not a hobby for those who like to go to bed early. 

My birthday was yesterday.  Why couldn't I find my sign in the night sky?

Your "sign" is the constellation in which the Sun was located on your birthday.  During the course of the year, the Sun appears in the sky against the background of the zodiac stars, which are part of 12 (13 if you count Ophiuchus, which the ancients really didn't) different constellations.  Today's astrological signs are generally determined by the way the sky looked 6000 years ago, when astrology was getting its start.  In 6000 years, the sky has shifted a fair bit, mostly because very few motions of the solar system actually occur in even numbers of hours or days or months or years.  So what the newspaper says is your "sign" is actually probably not where the Sun really was on the day you were born. 

For example, I was born on November 10.  According to classic astrology, my sun sign is Scorpius the Scorpion.  However, on the actually date I was born...the Sun was located in the constellation Libra the Scales.  6000 years makes a measurable difference in such things.

However, none of that has to do with why you can't find your sun sign constellation in the sky on your birthday.  You can't find it at night, because it isn't there!  By definition your sun sign is in the daytime sky on the day you were born - because it's near where the Sun is on that day.  So if you want to see your sun sign in the sky...wait for 6 months after your birthday.

So what astronomical question have you been longing to ask?  I await your comments eagerly.

Until then,
Carpe noctem!
Kelly

Keep Looking Up

Greetings all!

I know, I know, I'm a day late again.  Once again, the internets refused to let me in to my blog if I'm not at work.  I'm not sure what's broken, but I think I'm going to stop trying to fix it.

Things are still a little shaken up here at the museum as we work on recovering from the flood, but overall, we're trying to get everything settled down into something resembling a routine.  So I thought I'd go back to a routine here as well and just talk about what's visible in the sky right now.  Sometimes doing the "normal" things helps the most when things are decidedly not normal.

We're getting ready to make the transition into fall, with longer nights and cooler temperatures, thank goodness.  It's a pleasure to be outside in the evenings now...you might even find you need a light jacket if you plan to stay outside for any length of time.  What a wonderful thing!

It will still be a couple of months before the brilliant stars of winter begin to grace the evening skies, but until then you can enjoy the last hurrah of summer - The Summer Triangle.  Three bright stars form a brilliant triangle that sits high overhead just after sunset and descends towards the west as the evening passes on.  To the East, you'll find the familiar Great Square of Pegasus - four stars in an almost perfect square dominate the eastern sky and mark the location of the legendary winged horse.  Two simple bright shapes that are pretty tough to miss.

The Summer Triangle and its surrounds.  Courtesy the University of Illinois.  Note that the Milky Way passes directly through the center of the triangle.

Looking westward at sunset might allow you a final quick glimpse of the planets Mars and Saturn, both sinking rapidly towards the Sun.  By the end of the month, both planets will be lost to our view.  Mars will still be in the news regularly however, as Curiosity really gets rolling on its mission to explore the Red Planet.  Sadly, with Mars and Saturn so low, and both relatively dim, you might miss them if you have anything other than a totally clear flat western horizon...hard to come by on the east coast of the United States.

However, don't get too downcast just yet.  If you can stand an early morning wake up call, you can see a pair of beautifully brilliant planets in the early morning sky.  Head outside around 5am and look to the east to see Venus and Jupiter dominate the pre-dawn sky.  Jupiter stands high in the east (almost to the south) with Venus lower but still plenty high enough to be seen quite easily.  These two are the brightest of the planets visible to the unaided eye, and make a stunning pair.  Well worth the effort of rising before the Sun to enjoy them.

Venus, The Moon and Jupiter in the early morning sky.  Photograph by Alan Dyer.  The Moon is the brightest object in the field, with Venus slightly up and to the left.  Jupiter stands up towards the top of the image to the right of the Moon and Venus.

Ah.  Just talking about the beautiful skies of fall helps me feel a bit better.  There's plenty of work still to be done, but taking the time to enjoy the simple things in life really does renew your spirit.

See you in two weeks...and until then...
Carpe noctem!
Kelly

I'm starting to feel a little like Han Solo here...

You know...every time he desperately needs to get away in the Falcon, the darn hyperdrive fails.

Well, as I was anticipating writing a long, lustrous update this week...circumstances conspired against me again.  There's been major flooding here in our part of the world...including right here at the Virginia Living Museum.  We took a very serious flash flood last weekend, with water flooding the lower level of both of our museum buildings.

Water pours over the tops of our floodgates and through the doors to the lower level of the museum.  Approximately a foot of water entered overall in the main museum building.  The Wason Education Center took on about 3 feet of water.

Fortunately, the planetarium was spared any major damage.  Unfortunately, little else was.  We've reopened the museum to the general public, but the lower level exhibits remain closed.  To offset this, admission has been reduced by $5 and the planetarium is included in your general admission ticket (that saves you another $4!).  So if you've ever wanted to stop by and check out a show...now's a great time.  Plus your admission fee and any donation you can make will help us rebuild the lower level of the museum.  Estimates of the total damage are still being made, but believe you me, there's been a lot of damage.  Another great way to support us is to come on out to our Star Party & Laser Light Night on September 8th!  The planetarium and observatory are still in great shape, so we'll be open and hopefully enjoying some clear skies and some great music.

Also uppermost in my mind as I hastily update is the painful loss of Neil Armstrong this past Saturday.  Armstrong was the first man to set foot on the Moon, and his death at age 82 has made me realize that soon there will be very few people left who remember seeing the Apollo Moon landings, and even fewer who actually participated in them.  In fact, of the 12 men who walked on the Moon, only 8 are still alive today (besides Neil Armstrong, James Irwin died in 1991, Alan Shepard died in 1998 and Pete Conrad died in 1999).  As this generation passes, and the American space program shrinks into obscurity,  we run a greater and greater risk of forgetting how to accomplish these amazing achievements...or even disbelieving that we ever did.  Already polls show that some 6% - 20% of Americans do not believe we ever landed on the Moon.

Neil Armstrong 1930 - 2012.  Courtesy Wikipedia.

Such numbers are a slap in the face to the 12 brave men who actually did indeed walk on the lunar surface.  I hope we'll be able to get ourselves back into the space race in the not too distant future.  I hope that our first tentative steps out into the solar system won't turn out to be our last.

And finally, Godspeed, Neil Armstrong.

I'll try again in two weeks.  You hear that, ship?  Hold together!
Carpe noctem!