Steve’s Virtual Planet

Jupiter’s Back

This past couple of months have granted some great views of Jupiter. We’ve had better seeing than normal the preceding two months in the Atlanta area. I had two exceptional views of the GRS through the Fernbank 36 inch on December 1st and 8th.

When I drew a bead on Jupiter early that first night, I couldn’t believe the seeing had improved that much from the week before. I kept looking, looking, and sure enough, it was crisp, more detailed than most nights. In the suburbs already! Early on, the GRS was coming around the east and it was already looking distinct, if not fully visible. By 9:00, it was going to be right on the meridian. And boy was it ever there! Not very bold in color but a very distinct football shaped outline. The boundary of the oval was very crisp.

We had a fairly big crowd at the observatory that night, well over 120 people. I felt like a kid at Christmas announcing to the visitors, many of them students, that this was a treat! And the seeing just kept up. I couldn’t believe we had such a sustained steady sky that evening. That kind of view registers almost permanently and you just don’t forget it for a while. What a nice memory!

In any case, there are still plenty of days left to catch Jupiter this apparition. And you get some extra dark hours when daylight savings time kicks in on March 11. Jupiter will rise back up 15 degrees at the same time the next evening and give you a double bonus with Venus right next to it! Our largest planetary neighbor will hang around through most of March.

Have fun with Jupiter and good luck hunting the GRS!!

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Spring 2012 Class - Astronomy in the Suburbs

I am very pleased to announce that I have gotten the approval to teach an astronomy class again at Emory Center for Lifelong Learning this coming March. This is a four week, two hour each Tuesday evening session under the title “Astronomy in the Suburbs - An Introduction to Stargazing”.

The class ran this past October for the first time and I am very pleased with how it went the first time. My students also thought it was a very informative class. Class material was largely from my own experiences doing sidewalk astronomy and public viewings at Fernbank Science Center. But, I also poured in quite a few tips I’ve developed from my own private viewing and star parties with the Atlanta Astronomy Club.

I will be adding information to this site over the next two months related to the course. If you are interested in attending or know someone that may want to take such a class, visit Emory Center for Lifelong Learning. There is a charge for this class from Emory and I cannot provide any discounts. But I think it still good value as these classes go and you’ll be well prepared by the end!

Here’s the link to the class information and handy sign up button. If you wish to write me directly with questions about the class, send me an email.

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Winter targets sans planets

These last few weeks have seen the gradual westward track of Jupiter. In the evening hours, Venus has been working it’s way easterly. They are always fun to explore. But the evening are much longer now, so, why not work on finding nice objects to look at once the planets have been thoroughly checked out. Hmmm, what to do!?!?

Well, check the Messier list first. A few choices there. And maybe a planetary nebula or two. Check. Galaxies? not much right now. How ’bout stars with color. Yep. Several of those to enjoy. Of course, there’s always the standby - double stars! You never run out of them. So, here goes.

First, the Messier objects - M79, the only globular up right now; M81, one of the few galaxies you can catch in suburban skies; M36, M37, M38 in Auriga, good wide angle objects for binoculars or low power scopes; M45, The Pleiades and the Hyades too, great wide open clusters that look good even in 7 power binoculars; And don’t forget M42, The Orion Nebula.

There’s Caldwell 59 (or NGC3242), The Ghost of Jupiter, a nice planetary in Hydra, about 30 degress south of Regulus. For colorful objects, there Hind’s Crimson Star, a very red carbon variable star about 8 degrees below Rigel; there’s also Betelgeuse, obviously orange at just about any magnification.

Finally for doubles, there’s Castor, Rigel, Mintaka, Alcor/Mizar, Algieba. Since winter time brings longer nights, you might as well hop around and visit some of these charmers. Whether they are old favorites or your catching up for the first time, they are all easy enough to catch even with a small scope and in suburban skies.

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Winter Colors

This time of year is always a little bit of a challenge when it comes to listing good targets for public observation sessions. The last of the globular clusters have moved off, the galaxy scene is sparse and if the moon isn’t up all you can hope for is a nice big fat planet. Aside from the planets, what does one do to tickle the imagination of the public?

One way I have found is to use color as a theme. It’s a tricky topic since our eyes don’t perceive color very well in the first place. But then again, this is always a good opportunity for teaching a little physiology. I use my standard short explanation of how our eyes work to explain how to better enjoy the view through the telescope, regardless of the color we perceive.

Major stars like Aldebaran in Taurus and Betelgeuse in Orion are a good start. Most people see a bit of orange in both of these big stars. Rigel is in the immediate area in lower Orion, so it can serve as the quintessential “bright white” star (not to mention a bonus companion that makes it a double!). Then, by merely tilting the telescope down about 5 degrees into Lepus and navigating slightly west, we get to Hind’s Crimson Star. See my recent post on this lovely red carbon star.

The Orion Nebula is another possibility even if you don’t have a large aperture ’scope. I usually have my laptop running a program like Stellarium so I can show an image in color to augment the actual view through the telescope. Through the 36 inch cassegrain, I sometimes pick up a little color and some of the yonger visitors also do. In any case, I usually promote the idea of investigating this wonderful nebula online, since it’s probably the most photographed object in space. But this helps get the point across that even with the limitations of our eye biology, we have great resources for images to pick up where our eyes leave off.

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Happy New Year 2012

Hello again and welcome to Steve’s Virtual Planet for another year. Time for me to get these long overdue articles out on the bloggosphere. I got so darn busy last year with work and other commitments I had to put this site on hold for a while. Anyhow, I’ve accumulated lots of ideas so I’ll be attempting to catch up a bit over the winter months.

Lots of news to come about another great year at Fernbank and my new role as instructor at Emory Center for Lifelong Learning. The Fall 2010 class went very well and the Spring class is starting in late March. More on that in the coming week or so.

But sky watching is what it’s about. I already have some upcoming articles on winter time objects so those will be online real soon. Keep your eyes open for more astro stuff.

Clear skies all!

Steve

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Hind’s Crimson Star

Really colorful stars are popular during outreach events. They typically get some good reactions due to their uncommon nature. Some are well know but others are also worth checking out and adding to your repertoire.

In the Winter time, one good telescopic target is Hind’s Crimson Star. Otherwise know as R Leporis, it is a Mira type variable star in the constellation Lepus, the Hare. It’s claim to fame is it’s gorgeous red color, hence it’s nick name. It’s one of several so-called carbon stars, which all have this characteristic deep color. It’s color comes from an effect whereby the star’s light is filtered by carbon in the star’s atmosphere, and its more pronounced when the star is at it’s dimmest.

It’s close to the border with Eridanus and almost exactly at 5 hours RA. It can be found by referencing stars close by in Orion. Draw a line from Mintaka, the right most star in Orion’s belt, through Rigel, and go almost the same distance. The magnitude varies (it’s a variable!) from 5.5 down to 11.7, so you may want to further investigate it 427 day period before you go off hunting. My Fernbank colleagues and I were so impressed by it’s color, we gave this beauty our own nickname - Heinz Ketchup Star!

For more details and some tips on getting the best from colorful target, check out the Wikipedia page the links at the bottom.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hind%27s_Crimson_Star

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Dobsonian project alive again

Well, I have finally worked my way through other priorities and I now have some time for astro projects. I am reviving the 12.5 inch Dobsonian telescope build project for the AAC Charlie Elliot Chapter. Here’s the project link - Charlie Elliot Chapter 12.5″ Dobsonian Project

I have received the parts to make the alt az bearings and the pivot for the base. Next step will be to begin the fitting of the mirror box assembly. Most of the wood pieces had been cut some time ago but I needed time and some space to lay everything out again. The mirror box is sort of taped together so I can do some trimming and shimming to make the pieces fit together.

I am pleased to be moving forward again. Once the mirror box is setup. I’ll be adding the aluminum sections. All of this is geared toward having the OTA ready to perform the balancing. That then leads to the construction of the altitude bearing pieces and the sides for the base.

Anyhow, one step at a time. It’s best to enjoy the journey. There will be another update when I get far enough to take some pictures of finished assemblies. … some time this decade, I am sure!!!

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First glimpse of Saturn for 2011

I just happened to be up in the wee hours of the morning last Sunday after a long night at work making computers happy. It was 2:30 AM by the time I got out to the parking lot and it was really nice and clear. (oh yes, the computers were happy too). But this work was planned so I knew by the time I finished, Saturn should be up high enough to clear the trees. Such a pretty night was forecast, I made sure I would take a peek as soon as I got outside.

In my hazy state of mind, I thought “The big bright thing towards the west had to be Sirius” and it was really quite bright too. But I couldn’t find Betelguese in the thin veil of clouds. Anyhow, that gave me a rough orientation so I spun on my heal back about 90 degrees to head over to the eastern hemisphere and there was .. yes, I think that was it! Saturn! Back in town like a savy traveler you only see now and then. Ahhh, yes. It’s back. A little off white perhaps, a little yellow-ish maybe. Strange that I didn’t catch Spica but I may have just stopped at the first thing that looked like a planet!

In any case, I am now making plans to revisit my glorious friend over the coming months. I am sure I’ll be making notes in the early spring about planning my suburban driveway viewing. And of course, I’ll be anxious to get views of the ringed planet through Fernbank’s 36 inch Cassegrain. The more glass, the better! The rings are up past a 10 degree tilt so it will certainly look a bit more ring-ish this apparition. Already have the Saturn observing guide handy for some more preparation. Can’t wait!!

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Busy Times!

Happy New Year! Started a new job a few weeks ago. That and the fairly busy Holiday season kept me away from the eyepiece more than planned. But, it’s a new year and the skies are much better than last January (so far).

There will be new blog entries coming forth so check back over the next week!

Clear skies all!

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Another great year at Fernbank Observatory!

The Winter Solstice has arrived and I can now celebrate another great year of volunteering at Fernbank Science Center Observatory. Wouldn’t you know that the last two nights were clouded out last week but overall we’ve had a good run with weather overall for 2010. AND … I finished up the year with over 350 hours logged!! I have had a great time working with Dr. Angela Sarazine, April Whitt and Dr. Ed Albin up in the “dome”.

Even though most of that time in 2010 was spent upstairs as observing assistant, I also helped out in the planetarium. When I could, I helped with mounting slides, wrestling with projectors and learning more about the Zeiss Mark V. Then, in the fall, I got to do my first Saturday morning Sky Tour .. Live!! with a real audience even! With great coaching as usual from Angela, I did a pretty good job of showing the autumn sky using the Zeiss and a laser pointer. I am quite proud of of how well it went and I hope to do it again sometime.

Well, the upcoming Christmas break is upon us, so I’ll look forward to another great year and hopefully decent (or better) weather. See ya up in the “dome” in 2011!!

Clear Skies All!

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