Although he now lives in Clinton County, amateur astronomer Michael Rector has fond memories of spending time at Great Sacandaga and West Canada Lake where the skies are dark and the Milky Way is bright.
Michael writes about astronomy on his own blog Adirondack Astronomy and is interested in getting together with other star-gazers around the region. If you are interested in getting together for an occasional star party feel free to contact him at adirondackastronomer@gmail.com.
TThe Lake George Land Conservancy (LGLC) is sponsoring its second International Observe the Moon Night, October 8, 2011, hosted by Up Yonda Farm in Bolton Landing, from 6 – 8 pm. LGLC is currently the only event sponsor in the Adirondack Park.
International Observe the Moon Night (InOMN) 2011 is the second annual public outreach event dedicated to engaging the lunar science and education community, amateur astronomers, space enthusiasts, and the general public in annual lunar observation campaigns that share the excitement of lunar science and exploration. Observe the Moon Night in Bolton will include lunar scientist Rosemary Millham, Ph.D. and provide an opportunity to observe the Moon through telescopes, simulate your own lunar impacts, and more.
Dr. Millham is currently the science coordinator for the secondary science education program and assistant professor at SUNY New Paltz, and works part-time for NASA GSFC in science writing and curriculum development.
Participants should meet at Up Yonda Farm Environmental Education Center, 5239 Lake Shore Drive (Rt. 9N), for an indoor lunar presentation and explanation of the project, from 6-7:00 pm. The group will then go outdoors to view the moon. Dr. Millham will lead the group in lunar observations and conduct activities from 7:30-8:00. Participants are then invited to return indoors for light refreshments.
Participants may wish to bring a camera and their own binoculars or a telescope, should wear sturdy shoes and dress for cool evening temperatures.
This is a free event and for all ages. Registration is not required but is appreciated. Please call 644-9673 or email shoffman@lglc.org to sign up.
This month I am changing the format of this a bit to include more than just some deep sky objects that you can make out faintly with your naked eye. This time and from now on I will try to include the Moon, planets, and some constellations.
Here are some naked eye objects for the month of September. All of these objects, although small, should be visible without the help of binoculars or a telescope, so long as you have clear dark skies.
Light pollution is a killer for seeing these objects with your naked eye. To find out how dark your location is, use the Google Map Overlay of light pollution. If you are in a blue, gray or black area then you should have dark enough skies. You may still be able to see some of these objects in a green location. If you aren’t in a dark sky location you may still be able to see these objects with a pair of binoculars or telescope. You can find help locating the night sky objects listed below by using one of the free sky charts at Skymaps.com (scroll down to Northern Hemisphere Edition and click on the PDF for September 2011). The map shows what is in the sky in September at 9 pm for early September; 8 pm for late September.
If you are not familiar with what you see in the night sky, this is a great opportunity to step outside, look up, and begin learning the constellations. The sky is beautiful and filled with many treasures just waiting for you to discover them. Once you have looked for these objects go through the list again if you have a pair of binoculars handy, the views get better!
The Moon The Moon will be full on September 12th in the East from sunset and setting in the West around sunrise. On the night of the 15th and the 16th Jupiter will be roughly 7° below the moon. On the 16th find the moon in the East around 11pm and Jupiter will be 7° to the right. The 23rd Mars will be about 5° up and to the left of the Moon in the early morning before sunrise.
Mercury Mercury will be visible early in the morning, about 45 minutes before sunrise until the 18th of September, slowly getting closer to the horizon.
Mars For the month of September Mars is still a morning planet not rising in the East until 3am just below the constellation Gemini.
Jupiter Jupiter is rising earlier in the evening around 10:30pm. If you happen to have a pair of binoculars handy this is a great object to point them at. Even a typical pair of binoculars 10×50 should show you four of Jupiters moons; Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. You can actually watch them orbit around Jupiter if you watch them all month long.
Lyra the Harp, Cygnus the Swan and Aquila the Eagle Directly overhead after sunset, around 7:30pm. These three constellations contain 3 of the brightest stars in the summer sky which form what is called The Summer Triangle. The star Vega in Lyra, Deneb in Cygnus and Altair in Aquila. If you are in a really dark area you should be able to see the Milky Way passing through the constellations Cygnus and Aquila. Again, if you have a pair of binoculars and want to be wowed (even from a light polluted spot) look towards the Milky Way and look at all the stars that pop out at you.
Delphinus If you have spotted The Summer Triangle, look to the left (East) of the star Altair to find a small kite shaped constellation called Delphinus, the Dolphin.
Andromeda Although it may be easier to view later in the night around midnight or later – The Andromeda Galaxy cataloged as M31 is visible to the naked eye in the northeast. The Andromeda Galaxy is the closest galaxy to the Milky Way lying about 2.5 million light-years away. If in a dark enough location the light produced by this galaxy is roughly the diameter of 5 moons in our sky.
Perseus The Double Cluster, cataloged as NGC 869 and NGC 884 is a beautiful cluster that shows quite a group of stars with the naked eye. M34, which you may need to wait until around 11pm for it to be high enough to see is nearly a moon-diameter wide and is a fairly easy to see open cluster.
Sagittarius M8 is an open star cluster and nebula complex, also known as the Lagoon Nebula . Visible to the naked eye as a small hazy patch. Bright enough that it is visible even in suburbia. It may look small with the naked eye, but it is actually quite large nearly two moon diameters across. I’m not sure if any of the other objects are visible to the naked eye, although Sagittarius is a beautiful sight as it lays in the Milky Way.
Aquila The Great Rift is a non-luminous dust cloud that can be seen splitting the Milky Way in two separate streams. It stretches from Aquila to the constellation Cygnus although it is more prominent in the constellation Aquila.
Hercules Messier Object 13 (known as M13) is a globular cluster. It will have a small hazy glow to it. Hercules is getting lower in the sky so M13 may be difficult to spot through the haze of the atmosphere.
Cygnus North America Nebula (NGC7000) – The unaided eye sees only a wedge-shaped star-cloud which may be quite dim, or not visible at all. In dark skies it should pop out a bit. Located near the star Deneb. M39 an open cluster patch of stars northeast of the star Deneb. The Northern Coalsack spans across the sky between the stars Deneb, Sadir, and Gienah in the northeastern portion of Cygnus. If you don’t know which stars of Sadir and Gienah just find Deneb with the map and look to the east northeast.
Ursa Major Mizar and Alcor is a double star in the handle of the Big Dipper. Was once used as a test of good eyesight before glasses. Mizar resolves into a beautiful blue-white and greenish white binary (double star system). They are labeled on the map I linked to above.
Photo: The Summer Triangle in a Wikipedia photo showing the constellations and stars that make up the Summer Triangle.
Michael Rector is an amateur astronomer with his own blog, Adirondack Astronomy.
Here are some naked eye objects for the month of August. All of these objects, although small, should be visible without the help of binoculars or a telescope, so long as you have clear dark skies.
Light pollution is a killer for seeing these objects with your naked eye. To find out how dark your location is, use the Google Map Overlay of light pollution. If you are in a blue, gray or black area then you should have dark enough skies. You may still be able to see some of these objects in a green location. If you aren’t in a dark sky location you may still be able to see these objects with a pair of binoculars or telescope.
You can find help locating the night sky objects listed below by using one of the free sky charts at Skymaps.com (scroll down to Northern Hemisphere Edition and click on the PDF for August 2011). The map shows what is in the sky in August at 9 pm for early August; 8 pm for late August.
If you are not familiar with what you see in the night sky, this is a great opportunity to step outside, look up, and begin learning the constellations. The sky is beautiful and filled with many treasures just waiting for you to discover them. Once you have looked for these objects go through the list again if you have a pair of binoculars handy, the views get better!
A few new items added to the list to view this month, along with some of the previously mentioned ones from July.
Perseid Meteor Shower
This is definitely the highlight this month every year. The full moon may interfere with your view of some of the dimmer meteors but the brighter meteors should still be visible with the moon light this year. The peak of the Perseid’s is on August 12, and 13th, between midnight and an hour before sunrise, and I mean the morning hours after midnight – not that night. The meteors will be radiating out of the constellation Perseus (marked on the map link provided above), although you should be able to see them looking anywhere in the sky except towards the moon.
Jupiter
Jupiter starts to rise in the east at 11:45pm early in the month of August, and around 11pm later in the month. It will be the brightest object in the sky, other than the moon. NASA has just launched the spacecraft Juno which is making it’s way to the gas giant. It will take Juno 5 years to reach Jupiter.
Uranus
You will need to be in a very dark location, a gray or black location on the light pollution map posted above. Uranus will be in the constellation Pisces, rising at 10pm and 9pm later in the month. May be a very hard target to spot if light pollution is present, and if it is too low on the horizon when looking.
Andromeda
Although it may be easier to view later in the night around midnight or later – The Andromeda Galaxy cataloged as M31 is visible to the naked eye in the northeast. The Andromeda Galaxy is the closest galaxy to the Milky Way lying about 2.5 million light-years away. If in a dark enough location the light produced by this galaxy is roughly the diameter of 5 moons in our sky.
Perseus
The Double Cluster, cataloged as NGC 869 and NGC 884 is a beautiful cluster that shows quite a group of stars with the naked eye. M34, which you may need to wait until around 11pm for it to be high enough to see is nearly a moon-diameter wide and is a fairly easy to see open cluster.
Scorpius
Messier Object 7 (M7) is an open star cluster near the stinger of Scorpius is a small, hazy patch known since antiquity. Visible enough that the Greek astronomer Ptolemy cataloged it. M6 an open star cluster is nearby to the north of M7 and is a little smaller and fainter. M6 is also known as the Butterfly Cluster.
Sagittarius
M8 is an open star cluster and nebula complex, also known as the Lagoon Nebula . Visible to the naked eye as a small hazy patch. Bright enough that it is visible even in suburbia. It may look small with the naked eye, but it is actually quite large nearly two moon diameters across. I’m not sure if any of the other objects are visible to the naked eye, although Sagittarius is a beautiful sight as it lays in the Milky Way.
Aquila
The Great Rift is a non-luminous dust cloud that can be seen splitting the Milky Way in two separate streams. It stretches from Aquila to the constellation Cygnus although it is more prominent in the constellation Aquila.
Hercules
Messier Object 13 (known as M13) is a globular cluster. It will have a small hazy glow to it.
Cygnus
North America Nebula (NGC7000) – The unaided eye sees only a wedge-shaped star-cloud which may be quite dim, or not visible at all. In dark skies it should pop out a bit. Located near the star Deneb. M39 an open cluster patch of stars northeast of the star Deneb. The Northern Coalsack spans across the sky between the stars Deneb, Sadir, and Gienah in the northeastern portion of Cygnus. If you don’t know which stars of Sadir and Gienah just find Deneb with the map and look to the east northeast.
Ursa Major
Mizar and Alcor is a double star in the handle of the Big Dipper. Was once used as a test of good eyesight before glasses. Mizar resolves into a beautiful blue-white and greenish white binary (double star system). They are labeled on the map I linked to above.
Photo: Picture of the planet Jupiter from NASA’s Solar System Exploration. Bottom, the radiant of the Perseid Meteor shower from a screenshot of astronomy freeware Stellarium.
Michael Rector is an amateur astronomer with his own blog, Adirondack Astronomy.
On Monday, August 1, David H. Levy and the Adirondack Public Observatory will present “Comets, Meteors and More” at the Flammer Theater at the Wild Center in Tupper Lake, NY. There will also be a celestial observing event in the parking lot after the presentation, weather permitting. David H. Levy will also be doing a book signing after the presentation.
David Levy is an astronomer and science writer who is most famous for his co-discovery of the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 in 1993, which collided with the planet Jupiter in 1994. Levy began his telescopic comet search, called CN3, on December 17, 1965. David has tied for third place for his number of comets found by an individual at 22 comet discoveries. Levy is probably best known as a comet discoverer who appears on television and radio programs devoted to astronomy. He is an Emmy winner, reveived the award in 1998 as a part of a writing team for the Discovery Channel documentary “Three Minutes to Impact,” and his work has been featured in 35 publications. Lecture is from 7-8pm and a book signing at 8-8:30pm. I’m looking forward to going and hope other interested in astronomy can make their way to the Wild Center for the event.
This event comes at the perfect time for the Delta Aquarids Meteor shower which peaks on July 28 and 29, although you should still see some meteors into early August. This meteor shower produces around 20 meteors per hour and can be found radiating near the constellation Aquarius. Best time to look for this shower is after midnight to the east. The moon will be a small crescent moon so it shouldn’t cause too many problems due to it’s light.
Here are some naked eye objects for the month of July. All of these objects, although small, should be visible without the help of binoculars or a telescope, so long as you have clear dark skies.
Light pollution is a killer for seeing these objects with your naked eye. To find out how dark your location is, use the Google Map Overlay of light pollution. If you are in a blue, gray or black area then you should have dark enough skies. You may still be able to see some of these objects in a green location. If you aren’t in a dark sky location you may still be able to see these objects with a pair of binoculars or telescope. You can find help locating the night sky objects listed below by using one of the free sky charts at Skymaps.com (scroll down to Northern Hemisphere Edition and click on the PDF for July 2011). The map shows what is in the sky in July at 10 pm (for early July; 10 pm for late July).
If you are not familiar with what you see in the night sky, this is a great opportunity to step outside, look up, and begin learning the constellations. The sky is beautiful and filled with many treasures just waiting for you to discover them. Once you have looked for these objects go through the list again if you have a pair of binoculars handy, the views get better!
A few new items added to the list to view this month, along with some of the previously mentioned ones from June.
Capricornus The Asteroid Vesta is visible to the naked eye in the constellation of Capricornus. The Dawn Space Craft is on it’s way to Vesta as I type this, and should start it’s orbit around Vesta on July 16, 2011 for one year. You may not see Vesta moving across the sky, but if you track it all month long you will notice it’s change of position in the sky.
Andromeda Although it may be easier to view later in the night around midnight or later – The Andromeda Galaxy cataloged as M31 is visible to the naked eye in the northeast. The Andromeda Galaxy is the closest galaxy to the Milky Way lying about 2.5 million light-years away. If in a dark enough location the light produced by this galaxy is roughly the diameter of 5 moons in our sky.
Perseus The Double Cluster, cataloged as NGC 869 and NGC 884 is a beautiful cluster that shows quite a group of stars with the naked eye. M34, which you may need to wait until around 11pm for it to be high enough to see is nearly a moon-diameter wide and is a fairly easy to see open cluster.
Scorpius Messier Object 7 (M7) is an open star cluster near the stinger of Scorpius is a small, hazy patch known since antiquity. Visible enough that the Greek astronomer Ptolemy cataloged it. M6 an open star cluster is nearby to the north of M7 and is a little smaller and fainter. M6 is also known as the Butterfly Cluster.
Sagittarius M8 is an open star cluster and nebula complex, also known as the Lagoon Nebula . Visible to the naked eye as a small hazy patch. Bright enough that it is visible even in suburbia. It may look small with the naked eye, but it is actually quite large nearly two moon diameters across. I’m not sure if any of the other objects are visible to the naked eye, although Sagittarius is a beautiful sight as it lays in the Milky Way.
Aquila The Great Rift is a non-luminous dust cloud that can be seen splitting the Milky Way in two separate streams. It stretches from Aquila to the constellation Cygnus although it is more prominent in the constellation Aquila.
Hercules Messier Object 13 (known as M13) is a globular cluster. It will have a small hazy glow to it.
Cygnus North America Nebula (NGC7000) – The unaided eye sees only a wedge-shaped star-cloud which may be quite dim, or not visible at all. In dark skies it should pop out a bit. Located near the star Deneb. M39 an open cluster patch of stars northeast of the star Deneb. The Northern Coalsack spans across the sky between the stars Deneb, Sadir, and Gienah in the northeastern portion of Cygnus. If you don’t know which stars of Sadir and Gienah just find Deneb with the map and look to the east northeast.
Ursa Major Mizar and Alcor is a double star in the handle of the Big Dipper. Was once used as a test of good eyesight before glasses. Mizar resolves into a beautiful blue-white and greenish white binary (double star system). They are labeled on the map I linked to above.
Photo: Andromeda Galaxy in a Wikipedia photo taken with an H-Alpha filter which helps filter out artificial light and skyglow; Below, Screen capture from the astronomy freeware Stellarium showing where Vesta is located in Capricornus on July 9.
Michael Rector is an amateur astronomer with his own blog, Adirondack Astronomy.
At this time of year the orbital dust from the comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke, which orbits our sun once about every six years, is the cause of the Bootid meteor shower. In 1998 and 2004 this shower had outbursts that produced up to 50-100 meteors per hour at its peak, but the surrounding years produced very few meteors.
Over the years Pons-Winnecke’s orbit has been disturbed by Jupiter and has moved the comet and the meteor stream into a slightly different orbit which has resulted in the June Boötids being hardly noticeable in recent years. One advantage we’ll have this year is the moon will be a small waning crescent, which is good for spotting some of the dimmest meteors. Meteor showers are always a great show as long as clouds and the Moon, cooperate. They also don’t require any type of optics to get the full satisfaction. It’s actually recommended that you don’t try to view them with binoculars or a telescope because of the randomness. They radiate from a certain area in the night sky, but that doesn’t mean that they will all be visible in that one specific area, so it’s best to use your naked eye and scan the entire area of the sky.
Where to Look? The Boötid meteor shower is in the constellation Boötes (hence the name), The Herdsman, which is quite an easy constellation to find in the night sky because of the brilliant orange star Arcturus marks the base. To find Arcturus, find the Big Dipper and follow the curve of the handle to the orange star which is the forth-brightest of all nighttime stars. If you get your skymap for the June sky it should help you find your way to Boötes which passes nearly overhead in the late evenings.
When Is The Meteor Shower? The peak for the Boötids this year is the 27th and the 28th, but observers have reported seeing members of the shower starting several days earlier, and lasting into the beginning of July.
The History The Boötids was first noticed by astronomers soon after sunset on June 28, 1916 in England. William Frederick Denning, an experienced observer, noted that a meteor shower was in progress when he stepped outside at 10:25pm. Denning described the meteors radiating from between Boötes and Draco as “moderately slow, white with yellowish trains, and paths rather short in the majority of cases. Several of the meteors burst or acquired a great intensification of light near the termination of their flights, and gave flashes like distant lightning.”
On the night of the June 29th Denning was unable to observe due to clouds, and on the 30th when he was able to get out for only about an hour he saw only one meteor. Denning started to wonder if its sudden appearance might be attributed to a comet. After searching through lists of cometary orbits, Denning concluded that the periodic comet Pons-Winnecke was most likely the cause.
Following 1916, two notable though weaker appearances of the meteor shower occurred during the next two perihelion dates of Pons-Winnecke. In 1921 Kaname Nakamura from Kyoto, Japan, saw 153 meteors in 35 minutes. During the period between June 26 to July 11, Nakamura was able to plot 9 points of radiant which slowly made their way southeast each night.
Recent activity indicates that the showers have weakened considerably since the 1920s. In 1968 Edward F. Turco had said that observations had revealed recent rates of only 3 to 5 meteors per hour, “with meteors being on the fairly dim side.” In 1981 David Swann from Dallas Texas wrote that on six occasions during 1964 to 1971 he only observed 1 to 2 meteors per hour. Swann noted that he had “never noticed any trains, even though I have seen several bright shower members.”
The June Boötids is not the only astronomical feature William Frederick Denning is noted for, he studied meteors and novas and he won the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1898. Many craters on the far side of the moon were named after Denning as was a crater on Mars.
Photo: William Denning celebrated in Punch magazine in 1892, after his discovery of a small faint comet; below, screen capture from the astronomy freeware Stellarium showing where the radiant for the June Boötids is located.
Michael Rector is an amateur astronomer with his own blog, Adirondack Astronomy.
Here are some naked eye objects for the month of June. All of these objects, although small, should be visible without the help of binoculars or a telescope, so long as you have clear dark skies.
Light pollution is a killer for seeing these objects with your naked eye. To find out how dark your location is, use the Google Map Overlay of light pollution. If you are in a blue, gray or black area then you should have dark enough skies. You may still be able to see some of these objects in a green location. If you aren’t in a dark sky location you may still be able to see these objects with a pair of binoculars or telescope. You can find help locating the night sky objects listed below by using one of the free sky charts at Skymaps.com [pdf – if you get an error, hit reload]. The map shows what is in the sky in June at 11 pm (for early June; 10 pm for late June).
If you are not familiar with what you see in the night sky, this is a great opportunity to step outside, look up, and begin learning the constellations. The sky is beautiful and filled with many treasures just waiting for you to discover them. Once you have looked for these objects go through the list again if you have a pair of binoculars handy, the views get better!
Scorpius Messier Object 7 (M7) is an open star cluster near the stinger of Scorpius is a small, hazy patch known since antiquity. Visible enough that the Greek astronomer Ptolemy cataloged it. M6 an open star cluster is nearby to the north of M7 and is a little smaller and fainter. M6 is also known as the Butterfly Cluster.
Sagittarius M8 is an open star cluster and nebula complex, also known as the Lagoon Nebula. Visible to the naked eye as a small hazy patch. Bright enough that it is visible even in suburbia. It may look small with the naked eye, but it is actually quite large nearly two moon diameters across. Not sure if any of the other objects are visible to the naked eye, although Sagittarius is a beautiful sight as it lays in the Milky Way.
Aquila The Great Rift is a non-luminous dust cloud that can be seen splitting the Milky Way in two separate streams. It stretches from Aquila to the constellation Cygnus although it is more prominent in the constellation Aquila.
Hercules Messier Object 13 (known as M13) is a globular cluster. It will have a small hazy glow to it.
Virgo Saturn is in Virgo, it will be the orange “star” you see directly next to the star Porrima. They are very close at the moment and if you are looking in Virgo you can’t miss it’s orange glow. Don’t get Saturn confused with the star Arcturus in the constellation Boötes (pronounced boh-‘oh-tees).
Cygnus North America Nebula (NGC7000) – The unaided eye sees only a wedge-shaped star-cloud which may be quite dim, or not visible at all. In dark skies it should pop out a bit. Located near the star Deneb. M39 an open cluster patch of stars northeast of the star Deneb. The Northern Coalsack spans across the sky between the stars Deneb, Sadir, and Gienah in the northeastern portion of Cygnus. If you don’t know which stars of Sadir and Gienah just find Deneb with the map and look to the east northeast.
Ursa Major Mizar and Alcor is a double star in the handle of the Big Dipper. Was once used as a test of good eyesight before glasses. Mizar resolves into a beautiful blue-white and greenish white binary (double star system). They are labeled on the map I linked to above.
Photo: The North America Nebula in a Wikipedia photo that reveals how its appearance can change dramatically using different combinations of visible and infrared observations by telescope.
Michael Rector is an amateur astronomer with his own blog, Adirondack Astronomy.
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TThe Lake George Land Conservancy (LGLC) is sponsoring its second International Observe the Moon Night, October 8, 2011, hosted by Up Yonda Farm in Bolton Landing, from 6 – 8 pm. LGLC is currently the only event sponsor in the Adirondack Park.
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