Christmas Sunset

Sometimes the naked eye astronomy experiences are easily as spectacular as catching a Messier object or finding that elusive comet. Last evening was one of those special times. Late in the afternoon, we were driving south on I95 headed to family Christmas celebration in Washington, D.C. The sky was already dramatic with crazy wind blown clouds and an intense sun set against an intensely blue sky. A perfect winter afternoon. As Lauren commented, "our nearest star is really intense," she donned her sunglasses and asked me to take a few photos while she drove.

I began to pay close attention to the sky as the sun slowly started to set. The sun seemed unusually large and a deep yellow-orange like glowing hot iron. The clouded were back lit and the sky began to transition from blue to yellows and oranges. Then the show really began once the sun slipped below the horizon. As Lauren said, "Our nearest star is really showing off tonight!" The clouds first took on a salmon pink hue. Then magenta, and then a spectacular mix of true violet and magenta, unlike anything I remember seeing before. After nearly an hour of slowly transitioning colors, the sky was a dark orange and the clouds a steely blue.

Then, high to the southwest, we spotted the setting crescent moon. A bright white sliver where the sky transitioned from orange, to yellow, to blue. Looking through the rear view mirror, Lauren noticed the terminator beginning to rise, raising the veil of night from east to west, subtly, ever so slowly. Quite beautiful, with its own colors and often missed by sunset observers.

As if this weren't enough already, Venus appeared as a bright beacon in the field of orange sky, so bright I had to observe closely to be sure it wasn't the lights from an airplane flying directly toward us. No, steady position and intensely bright, it's Venus. The terminator slowly crept over us, defining an arc of light below the growing dark of night.

More than an hour had passed and now the sky was finally dark. Other stars were becoming visible, even with the bright headlights of oncoming traffic and street lights to the sides. Our final treat was a flyover of the International Space Station. Anticipating the flyover, my son and I started scanning the sky to the northwest for the rising spot of light. As usual, he was the first to catch sight of it, exclaiming, "there it is!" As the station rose high over our right shoulders, I quietly wished the crew of 6 a Merry Christmas, Buon Natale, and с рождеством.

 

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Orion EFT1 T-6 Days

In six days, NASA will launch the a test flight of the next manned space vehicle from Kennedy Space Center. Orion will make two orbits, reaching speeds of over 20,000 mph and test all the systems of launch and reentry. The test flight will be carried live on NASATV starting at 4:30 a.m. EST.

 

 

Don't miss history in the making!

#ImOnBoard

 

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Make Way for the Wintermaker - Sky & Telescope

Make Way for the Wintermaker - Sky & Telescope

AR2192

With a diameter of about 80,000 miles, nearly the size of Jupiter, sunspot AR2192 is the largest observed in this current 11 year solar cycle. Another way to think about it, it's about 14 times the Earth's diameter.

After a week of clouds and rain, I finally got a chance to observe AR2192 with my own eyes this morning. It is the most complex and largest sunspot I've ever seen. I will be observing throughout the day as my angle between the trees and passing clouds allows.

AR2192 has thrown several X-class flares, the latest this morning that likely caused interruption of radio signals in Africa.

For more on AR2192:

Jupiter Sized Sunspot (Sky & Telescope)
Freakish Sunspot Wows Astronomers (NPR)
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Largest Sunspot in 20 Years (Washington Post)

PLEASE OBSERVE THE SUN SAFELY - only look at the sun using a proper solar filter, looking directly at the sun without a proper filter will result in permanent damage to your eyes and your equipment. I use an AstroZapp Baader Film filter on my telescopes. The small investment allows me to make use of the telescopes during the day as well as at night. Targeting the sun takes practice as you will have to do it indirectly. Cap or remove your spotting scopes and use the shadow of the telescope to aim by minimizing the shadow. I've also made a sun spotter for the C8 from a couple of cardboard disks and a short length of wood. This attaches to the main tube of the scope with Velcro. The disks are several cm in diameter with a hole punched top center. The rear disk has paper glued over the hole. By aligning the spot of light on the back hole, I am able to get the telescope aimed at the sun quite easily. There are also commercial products like this.

Go out and (safely) observe our nearest star!

Around the World in 92 Minutes

Last night, I had the great pleasure of meeting Astronaut Chris Hadfield at the American Museum of Natural History. Hadfield gave a book talk on his latest work, "You Are Here: Around the World in 92 Minutes." Hadfield is an expert communicator and gave us all a personal and emotional account of his life on orbit.

He began saying, "I want to show you some pictures from this trip I took last year." In his understated way, like we were about to look at some photos from his Ontario cabin. A three time veteran, with 2 shuttle missions and a six month post and command on the International Space Station, he has a great orbital perspective.

He shared the story of his first mission aboard Atlantis. Showing a launch video, I was immediately reminded of how much I miss the ripping a hole in the sky crackle of the ATK Solid Rocket Boosters. Nothing I've ever heard sounds quite like them. Hadfield commented, "When those big white rockets light you're going somewhere." He gave everyone a few words of advice for our own first launches, "You know, if you ever get the chance, you really should do it." The prelaunch meal - "The chefs will prepare anything you want. I recommend you eat something creamy and colorful. Use ketchup. You're going to see it again. Go for technicolor!" When asked of the mothballing of the shuttle fleet, he responded, "They're very primitive...128k of processing power... 30 years old... Do you drive a 30 year old car?" He added, "We shouldn't have such a gap in vehicles, but that's what we do."

The Orbital Perspective, as Ron Garan dubed it, comes through with every astronaut I've met. Hadfield spoke of the diversity and beauty of the Earth. Taking tens of thousands of photos on his ISS mission, he tweeted an image daily. He said he scanned through those he took that day, looking for one that caught his eye. "What was it emotionally that drew me to that photo?" "STEM pays the bills. When we really want to communicate, we use art." Through his new book he definitely uses the art of that "Shining Ball of Blue, home to everyone that anybody ever knew." to speak volumes.

Hadfield is a great advocate for exploration. He described it as a basic human trait. "We've been sending probes out there for thousands of years." From the early humans taking the first steps out of the Rift Valley to other planets and beyond our Solar System. [Space Exploration] is just the next step. It's an extension of what we do as humans." Where should we be going? Hadfield got a great response from the audience when he said, "The obvious next step is to go back to the moon. Live there for a few generations, learn as much as we can.?"

Hadfield also spoke of changes he's observed on the planet, like the loss of the Aral Sea, drained for cotton production. "I'm not a rabid environmentalist, I've just been around the world...about twenty-six hundred times." when asked about climate change.

 

Hadfield concluded the evening with a medley of ISS and Space Oddity and a book signing, graciously greeting and signing for more than an hour after his presentation. Of the book, Hadfield said the photos belong to you. The profits of book sales go to the Michael J Fox Foundation. The audience responded with an appreciative round of applause. Hadfield remarked, "I didn't expect applause for that, it's just the right thing to do."

If you don't know Hadfield, look for his collection of YouTube videos, get his books, follow him on social media. He brings a distinctly human perspective to living and working in space. You will instantly understand why he is so popular and you too will be a fan of the mustachioed man from Canada.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Our Nearest Star 100514

It's a bright sunny autumn day. A perfect day to turn the telescope (with proper filter) sunward to see what the sunspot activity is. Sunspot 2178 (left) and 2181 (right) were particularly interesting today. 2181 could produce an M-class flare. From SpaceWeather.com, "Sunspot AR2181 has a 'beta-gamma' magnetic field that harbors energy for M-class flares." Here is a close up of that area. Photos were taken with Canon 60D mounted to a Celestron C8 with 2x Barlow.

Inconstant Moon

Columbia University's Astronomy Department Public Outreach hosts an astronomy lecture and observing evening every couple of weeks. Last night, Summer Ash gave a wonderful lecture on the Moon. She began with asking the question "What is a month?" A seemingly simple question with a rather complex answer actually, summed up in two words: it depends. Sidereal, synodic, tropical, anomolistic, and draconic - each measuring a different aspect of the periodic nature of our satellite.

Summer Ash & Camilla Corona

The Moon is one of my favorite objects for telescope and binocular observation. As Summer's title says, it is fascinating because it is inconstant. Every time one looks at the moon, it is different. Different phases, different angles, even different portions of the surface are visible due to the combined effects of eccentricity, inclination and liberation. The result, over the course of a month, one can observe more than 50% of the lunar surface.

So go out this evening and start your first lunar month! The moon is a thin waxing crescent setting at 7:30 pm.

Also check out these lunar resources:

• Moon Globe app 
• The New Moon: Water, Exploration, and Future Habitation by Columbia Astronomy Professor Arlin Crotts 
• The Moon by Seymour Simon 
• My NASA Moon YouTube Playlist 

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Sunset Time Lapse

Wind swept cirrus clouds set ablaze by the sunset. Experimenting with time lapse on the GoPro camera.

NWMSTEM

Who should we be following, liking, plus-ing… listening to in STEM and STEM Ed? I’ve read the articles and followed the social media fall out around the Kardashian Index and find myself moved to explore a different metric. 

Like many have already stated, I am disappointed but not surprised at how white and male the lists are. The latest “Top 50” list from Scientific American has many favorites of mine among the 50, yet features only 6 that are not white males. I teach many children who are non-white and half of my students are not male. My own children are female and/or non-white. I want to ensure that the voices they hear, that I am sharing with them, are more diverse than my own (a card-carrying white male). Granted, #1 on the SciAm list, Neil deGrasse Tyson once said of role models, “I didn’t have to have a black astrophysicist as a role model to become one.” Look who his mentor was and the exposure his mother ensured he got. We don’t all have Ms Tyson or Carl Sagan in our lives. Sometimes hearing a voice from a face that looks like our own is what we need. Sometimes that face just helps us know we aren’t alone in our pursuit. What is more to the point, we all benefit from a wider variety of voices. Different ideas, points of view, backgrounds all contribute to the body of knowledge.

Let's give STEM a more diverse face.

I ask for your help in creating a more diverse list of people who use social media as a STEM and STEM Ed communications platform. Please use the NWMSTEM form I’ve created to nominate yourself or someone whom you feel we should be listening to. And please share this with your followers so that we may cast a wide net.

What's Up For September

http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/downloads/whatsup20140901-640.m4v

A video guide from Jane Houston Jones (NASA/JPL) to celestial highlights for the month of September. I'll do my best to observe and share as many as possible here.

• Antares, the Moon, Mars and Saturn "dance" among Scorpius & Libra in the evening
• The Moon and Jupiter rise together pre dawn
• The Zodiacal light appears pre dawn with Jupiter leading the way

The Pleiades

Brigantine Beach Skyscape

The Pleiades has always been one of my favorite "constellations." I think it's partly the different mythologies of the "seven sisters" found in different cultures. The Neil deGrasse Tyson Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey series did a wonderful job of presenting several of these stories in Episode 8: Sisters of the Sun.

Last night, the seeing conditions were outstanding! Not a cloud anywhere and cool dry air. With no moon, the Pleiades was clearly visible with the naked eye and fit perfectly in the field-of-view of the Celestron 12x70 Cometron binoculars. With the dark sky, there were so many stars in the cluster that it was actually difficult to spot the "seven" of it's name.

How many stars do you see?

Dancing Planetary Bodies

Over the past couple of weeks, Jupiter and Venus have been dancing a predawn duet. They moved into their closest positions on the morning of August 18th, at that point less than 1/2° apart - less than the apparent width of the Moon. This morning, the Moon got into the dance as the conjunction draws to a close.

Despite an unfavorable weather forecast, I decided to chance it anyway and see if maybe I would at least get a peek at the conjunction through a break in the clouds. At 4:00 am, there was only a break that gave view to Orion's belt and dagger, with about an hour to go, I decided to try my hand at imaging Orion. I captured more than a dozen, 1 second exposures to "stack" back at the beach house. I'm reasonably satisfied with the results as one of my first attempts at trying this technique.

Orion's Daggar
Photoshop stack of 15 one-second exposures from Canon 60D, f/5.6 400mm.

This was a camera and binoculars morning as the winds were too strong and would just shake the telescope around. As it was, even the binoculars were disturbed by the wind when they were mounted on the tripod.

Wind, chill, and clouds were tempting me to go back inside when I noticed a sliver of light behind a thin cloud. As that cloud passed, it revealed the Crescent Moon. A couple minutes later I found Venus and then finally Jupiter completed the trio. With the clouds shifted and allowing a view of the conjunction, they actually added to the drama.

As the sun rose, the planets faded from view and a new bank of clouds moved in front of the Moon. But what a dramatic curtain for this week's conjunction!

Wallops Visit With Camilla

I am really excited to announce that i’ve been invited to Wallops Space Flight Center to participate in NASA Airborne Science Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel (HS3) media day September 11, 2014. I will also have a special guest traveling with me, none other than that plucky Commander - Camilla Corona! Camilla and I will tour the HS3 Mission facilities at Wallops and visit the aircraft, scientists, engineers, pilots, control rooms, hangers and runways September 11 through 14, 2014.




HS3 is in its last year of a 5 year mission to study how Atlantic Basin hurricanes form and intensify. They have already collected some incredible data and learned many new things about these storms. I can’t wait to take part in this year’s mission. Science flights begin September 3rd, and with any luck, a science flight will take place while I am at Wallops. 


Please send me your questions about hurricanes, the HS3 Mission, NASA Airborne or Wallops Space Flight Center and Camilla and I will do our best to find you the answers. And if you are at Wallops Sept 11-14, come meet us and get your photo with our beloved Commander!

Learn more about Wallops, NASA Airborne, and HS3 by following these links:

HS3 Mission
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hurricanes/missions/hs3/overview/index.html#.U_eM1IBdVSk
https://espo.nasa.gov/missions/hs3/

HS3 Media Day
http://www.nasa.gov/press/2014/august/media-day-at-wallops-for-nasa-hurricane-airborne-mission/#.U_fC7YBdVSk

Airborne Science
https://airbornescience.nasa.gov/

Wallops Space Flight Center
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/wallops/home/#.U_fCxYBdVSk

Jupiter-Venus Conjunction Peak

The past several predawn mornings have been absolutely stunning times for observation of the stars and planets. The seeing conditions have been exceptional, giving many in the northern latitudes an opportunity to see something quite extraordinary: Jupiter and Venus passing within 1° of each other as they rise ahead of the sun. Today, 18 Aug, was the "big day" when the conjunction was at it's closest.

***

I had gathered by gear the night before and loaded everything onto the beach wagon. Debating which telescope to take, I opted to leave the trusty C8 behind and take the new 90GT. It turned out to be the perfect choice. I also brought the Cometron 12x70 binoculars and my camera with the 400mm lens. The alarm went of shortly before 4:00 am and I walked to the beach, wagon of gear in tow.

Orion and Moon 18 Aug 2014

Still completely dark, the Moon shone bright overhead, now a waning crescent. Orion was directly below the moon equally striking. I set about capturing some images of Orion and the Moon while I waited for Venus and Jupiter to rise. A fox hunting in the dunes kept me company.

Next, setting up the telescope. With a few minutes to spare, I took some time to enjoy Orion's Nebula with the telescope and binoculars. Periodically, I glanced to my left and followed a line down from Pollux and Castor to the northeast horizon where the planetary duo would make their first appearance. The binoculars were perfect for Orion, with the dagger just fitting within the field of view. I slewed up to the Pleiades for a brief look and then turned my attention to the final preparations for the conjunction. I chose the 9.4 mm eyepiece, to isolate only Jupiter and Venus in the view. With them so close, they just fit. The camera was mounted to the tripod and prepared to capture those first images.

There were a few thin clouds low to the horizon that gave incredible texture to the sky as the red hues began to overtake the predawn indigo. As the dancers took the stage, I found myself so excited to be seeing this event. It isn't often that I find myself in a prime location with excellent seeing conditions for astronomical events. This one couldn't have been more perfect! As Jupiter rose a fist width above the horizon, its four moons; Ganymeade, Io, Calisto and Europa came clearly into view as did the banded stripes of the gas giant's surface. Venus' thick atmosphere continued to reflect the sunlight like a distant headlamp. In the telescope, Venus is a curious swirling disk of light. With the camera, I was even able to capture the Beehive Cluster (M44) gathered slightly to the north, like the company observing the lead dancers.

Lauren joined me and I was able to share my observations with her and she took her own hand at the binoculars, telescope and camera to make her own observations and images. As I was joined by a partner, the fox too was joined by a second. As the planets faded in the rising sun, we began to pack everything back up. Just as the last piece of equipment was placed in the wagon, Lauren noticed the intense orange-red disk of her favorite star rising above the horizon. "Quick, grab the camera!" It was a special morning.

Sunrise Over Atlantic, Brigantine Beach, NJ
photo by Lauren Tucker

Jupiter-Venus Conjunction Aug2014

 

Lauren and I took the kids to the beach this morning to observe the Jupiter-Venus conjunction. Gemini and Orion were vibrant and the Last Quarter Moon was high overhead. We even saw three Perseid meteors, including a big earth-grazer! With a calm surf, Venus rise, Jupiter rise, and Sunrise were a perfect start to our first day at the beach this year. For once, we had the ideal weather and location for an astronomical event!

Jupiter and Venus are now only about 1° apart, easy to block with your outstretched thumb and with the binoculars or a 40mm eyepiece on the 90mm telescope, able to see both planets and some Jupiter's moons simultaneously.

 

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Venus & Jupiter Conjuction

August 13 - 19th, 2014 will bring the morning planets Venus and Jupiter to within a few tenths of a degree of each other in the predawn hour. I made my first observations this morning with the planets about a fist's width apart.

via SkySafari iOS app

My original target was the Perseids, having had dense clouds and rain the previous two nights. I was able to see one streak overhead about 4:00 am, but the sky was too light with the bright waning gibbous moon high to the south and casting shadows on the ground. I decided to bring out the telescope and searched around for other targets. Working from my driveway, I was limited to patches of sky between the trees. North of zennith a large patch of sky revealed a particularly bright Cassiopea and Perseus.

non est ad astra mollis e terris via

While the sky is too bright to see the Milky Way, the higher density of stars was more than apparent as I roamed around these two constellations with the telescope. Landing on the bright center star of Cassiopea, Navi, I thought of one of my boyhood heros. Navi is a renamed star. This star was used by Virgil Ivan "Gus" Grissom as a navigational star and renamed with the anagram of his name.

Scanning to the East, I noticed the variable double Capella. And then, right at the top of the tree line a light that at first fooled me for a distant streetlight, I realized I was seeing Venus rising. I slued the telescope toward Venus and observed the bright fuzzy disk as it rose higher in the sky. The sky transitioned from a deep blue to pale pink-orange, but remained dark enough for Jupiter to rise to be seen. While the sky was now too bright to make out any surface features, I could see Io and Europa clearly.

 The coming mornings should bring even more impressive views of this planetary pairing, and if I'm lucky enough to get some darker skies, just maybe the Beehive Cluster will come into view.

By August 23rd, Venus and Jupiter will be 5° apart and swapped places with Jupiter now higher. On the 23rd, they will be joined by a razor-thin waning crescent Moon to their right. - See more at: http://www.skyandtelescope.com/press-releases/venus-jupiter-2014-press-release/#sthash.pM6sO9eI.dpuf

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Camp Faux Real

The summer proceeds with pleasant, clear nights. With low humidity and temps down into the 60s, we have had some excellent seeing conditions. My family has been backyard camping the past couple of weeks at what my boys coined "Camp Faux Real".



The whole family has been spending the evenings at our "campsite" and using our Celestron telescopes and binoculars to stargaze after dark. The waxing moon, as it has grown from crescent to full has been a favorite target. We’ve all marveled at the incredible texture visible when the moon is not as illuminated and the brightness as it passes first quarter. Once it approaches gibbous, the light from the moon causes the telescope’s eyepiece to glow like a lightbulb! We’ve been using ND, polarizer and orange and yellow filters to cut the glare and increase contrast.



Another favorite target has been Alberio, the "Eye of Cygnus.” While this dim star to the SE of Vega is not very impressive by eye, with even low power magnification, it “splits” into an amber and a sapphire star! An easy target to find and really beautiful. Our biggest success, however was pairing the C8 with 9.4mm EP +2x Barlow to split-split the Double-Double in Lyra! That warranted a round of high-fives!

 

During the day, we’ve attached our Baader solar filters to the front of the scopes and have been observing sunspots. i’ve also been prototyping a sun finder to more easily (and safely) align the telescope. The results have been good so far, and I’m ready to graduate to more substantial materials for the next prototype now that “proof-of-principle” has been achieved.

  

We will be heading to one of southern New Jersey’s barrier islands for a couple weeks and are looking forward to darker skies. The scopes and binocs are of course coming too and I will update RooftopAstronomy.blogspot.com and @mwilkinson3 with our observations. Here’s wishing for good seeing!

ASU Mars Day 3.1 Reflections

#MarsOnEarth landed at the Barringer Meteorite Crater!

The Martians have landed!

A group photo with the largest piece of the meteorite that was recovered. This piece of iron is about 1% of the full size meterorite that created the impact crater.

Meteorite Crater, just off the "Mother Road" (Route 66) between Flagstaff and Winslow has been a site that has piqued human curiosity. There was long debate as to its origin, which was not settled until the early 1900's. Hard to believe that it could be seen as anything but a meteorite impact through today's lens, but it was. The mine shaft in the center are a testament to that belief, but the mistaken impression that a large iron meteorite would be found underneath the crater. The belief was at that time the meteorite would bury itself, not explode and scatter on impact. It is amazing to think this is, as meteor craters go, a small crater. If it were on the moon, it would be too small to notice by eye or even a small telescope. Copernicus, for example is more than 90 times the size of Barringer! Despite the scale, o human terms, it is huge. The entire NFL could simultaneously play every Sunday game with 2 million spectators gathered around the rim! We are small!

One of the most amazing features of the crater was the inversion if the rock strata at the edge of the rim. The impact of the meteorite literally peeled back the strata and folded them on top of surface. So instead of the red sandstone being capped by the limestone, the sandstone is on top of the limestone. Gives one a sense of the power expended upon impact!

 

 

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