Messier Objects - M43

I am concurrently working on several certificates for the observing programs of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.  One of the more prestigious ones is the Messier Certificate with details at the below link.

https://www.rasc.ca/messier-objects

There are a total of 110 objects on the list to observe and record.  On January 29, 2017 I took the opportunity to closely observe M43 and split it away from the adjacent Orion Nebula.  M43 is in the New General Catalogue as entry NGC1982.  M43 is also known as De Mairan's nebula and it is separated from the main Orion Nebula by a lane of dust.  It is named after its discoverer Jean-Jacques Dortous de Mairan in 1731.  De Mairan was notable for his study of chronobiology, a field of study devoted to analyzing the periodic functions of living organisms.  His work may have inspired further study into the circadian rhythm.

At the center of De Mairan's nebula is a massive blue star that will likely go supernova in a few million years.  It is located a mere 8' North of M42 with an apparent magnitude of 9.0.  My observation record for M43 is located below.

M43 Observation Record

I hope to have a better view of this nebula when I visit the observatory and use an OIII filter to get some better contrast.  An OIII filter is a narrow band filter that allows 496nm and 501nm ionized oxygen emission light through.  These wavelengths are emitted by a variety of different nebulae throughout the night sky.  Light pollution is definitely a factor in resolving nebulae and a dark site is typically required to get the best results out of the observation.  Since M43 is quite dim it requires a tracking telescope to properly photograph.  The uppermost nebula in the image below is the De Mairan Nebula.

M42/M43

Explore the Universe - Orion

I had the opportunity to map Orion with binoculars and my naked eye.  I managed to split M42 and M43 using a UHC filter to improve the contrast on the Orion Nebula and recorded my M43 observation.  I also found M41 in Canis Major again and recorded my observation.

Orion was first depicted in carvings nearly 35,000 years ago in a cave in the western part of Germany.  The first civilizations in Babylonia depict Orion as the Shepherd to the gods.  The Old Testament mentioned Orion several times calling it the Hebrew word for hope.  Greek Mythology contans the most well known references to Orion.  As mentioned in The Iliad, Orion was a great hunter and his dog was Sirius, (Alpha Canis Majoris) the brightest star in Canis Major also known as 'The Dog Star'.  It is interesting to note that Sirius rises in the sky a mere hour after Orion.  The Odyssey sees Orion hunting the underworld with a big club which can be seen in the constellation.  The most famous myth recalls Orion (Son of Poseidon and a daughter of King Minos) walking on the water (due to his paternal heritage) to an island and attacking the ruler's daughter.  He was struck blind for his foolishness and went on a journey for a cure.  Eventually he was cured but had vengeance in his heart.  He made his way to Crete with a visceral anger and threatened to destroy all the beasts on Earth.  He was divinely struck down by a scorpion and memorialized in the sky by Zeus.  Zeus also placed the scorpion in the sky in what is the well-known zodiacal constellation of Scorpius.

Orion (Artist Interpretation)

Orion is a great constellation for newcomers to astronomy.  It contains many bright stars and a naked eye deep sky object.  The shape is familiar to even the most casual sky watcher.  The only real drawback is that it is a winter constellation, making its appearance high in the sky during cold weather.  However, Calgary chinooks can provide the perfect amount of warmth to spend some time under the great hunter.  The mapping I completed is shown in the image below.

Orion Observation Record

The Alpha star of Orion is a red supergiant whose colour can be seen easily with the naked eye.  The star is so large that its diameter would extend beyond the orbit of Mars if placed at the center of our solar system.

If the weather looks to be cloudy and cool observing time will be limited or non-existent.  The time can be used for indoor astronomy.  This includes record keeping, observation planning and charting future astronomical events.  Hopefully you have the chance to look up and view the great constellation of Orion and watch out for his dog too!

Explore the Universe - M42 Orion Nebula

The Explore the Universe certificate requires the observation of twelve of twenty-four of the brightest deep-sky objects.  One of the easiest to find is M42, the Orion Nebula.  This nebula is located just below the belt of Orion and is visible to the naked eye, even with moderate light pollution.  It is part of the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex that includes the Horsehead Nebula, Flame Nebula, M78 and M43.  M43(De Mairan's Nebula) is separated by M42 by a lane of dust, so you get two for the price of one in a telescope.  A map of the location of M42/M43 is shown below.

Star Map of M42/M43

During the middle of January 2017 I had the opportunity to take a closer look at the Orion Nebula.  The Orion Nebula is an emission nebula with its luminescence provided by very young hot stars heating the surrounding ionized gas.  Below is an unprocessed image I took from the backyard.

M42/M43

In order to complete the requirements for the certificate an observation record is required.  This record lists the equipment used, the weather, location and any comments relevant to the observation.  A copy of my observation record is shown below.

M42 Orion Nebula Observation Record

If you have a pair of binoculars and a dark site, M42 is absolutely stunning.  We borrowed a pair of image stabilized binoculars and the view was perfect.  Image stabilized binoculars are able to hold the sky still even if your arms shake while viewing the target object.  I hope to take some more time to view M42 and especially try to separate M43 into another observation record.   I hope you have the opportunity to turn your gaze to the nebula on a dark autumn/winter evening.

NOVA Summary: January 2017

Each month the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada offers a New Observers to Visual Astronomy class at the Wilson Coulee Observatory.  This is one of the many benefits of becoming a member.  You may even come and check it out if you are not a member if you come as a guest of a member.  For further information about this great program please check out the webpage listed below.

http://calgary.rasc.ca/nova.htm

I was grateful to have the opportunity to utilize the dark sky site to observe the Orion Nebula (M42), Crab Nebula (M1) and a beautiful open cluster in Canis Major first documented by Aristotle in 320BC (M41).

This month we learned about observing deep-sky objects and an introduction to eyepieces for your telescope.  We learned the 5 basic characteristics of eyepieces and how that information can be leveraged to form a complete eyepiece set.

Focal Length - The focal length is generally defined as the length required for light to converge to a certain point called the focal point.  The shorter the focal length of an eyepiece for a telescope, the higher the magnification and the lower the field of view.  When asked what power your telescope is, it all depends on the eyepiece you are using.

Field of View - Every eyepiece has an apparent field of view associated with it.  The field of view depends on the optical design of the eyepiece.  Eyepieces range in apparent field of view from 35° to some that are 100°.  The true field of view that you see through the telescope is the apparent field of view divided by the magnification provided by that eyepiece.  The magnification is calculated by dividing the focal length of the telescope by the focal length of the eyepiece.  Most of my eyepieces are of the Plossl deisgn with a 50° apparent field of view.  I have a couple eye pieces that are 82° and they are amazing.  The apparent field of view is an important factor based on what you are looking for in your visual astronomy.  Typically the higher field of view the more expensive the eyepiece.  The TeleVue Ethos line with 100° apparent field of view could run you up $1000 each eyepiece.  A luxury item indeed.

Barrel Diameter - Eyepieces come in two different diameters, 1.25" and 2".  The wide angle eyepieces are typically of the 2" variety.  Most modern telescopes come with a converter that allows you to use both 1.25" and 2" eyepieces.

Eye Relief - The eye relief of an eyepiece is simply the distance the eye must be from the eyepiece in order to view the whole field.  This typically depends on the design of the eyepiece, so be sure to check the eye relief before making a final purchase.  The common Plossl design's eye relief typically gets smaller as the focal length is reduced.  This would force you to pretty much put your eye on the eyepiece at high powers.  If you intend to wear glasses while you conduct your observing sessions it would be wise to choose designs of a minimum 15mm eye relief.

Coatings - Most modern eyepieces are very well coated at every air-glass surface.  This improves the transmission of the light.  The purpose of a telescope is to collect as much light as possible.  A poorly constructed eyepiece with poor transmission will lose some of this light and defeat the purpose of a great telescope.

Some images of eyepieces are shown below.

TeleVue Ethos (100° AFOV, 21mm Focal Length, 15mm Eye Relief, 2" Diameter)

TeleVue Nagler (82° AFOV, 31mm Focal Length, 19mm Eye Relief, 2" Diameter)

TeleVue Panoptic (68° AFOV, 35mm Focal Length, 24mm Eye Relief, 2" Diameter)

TeleVue Plossl (50° AFOV, 32mm Focal Length, 22mm Eye Relief, 1.25" Diameter)

Celestron Luminos (82° AFOV, 23mm Focal Length, 20mm Eye Relief, 2" Diameter)

My current set includes:

5mm Celestron X-Cel
7mm Celestron Luminos
10mm Celestron Plossl
23mm Celestron Luminos
25mm Celestron Plossl
2x Celestron Barlow

This set provides me with a good range of magnification.  However, I am lacking in wide true field of view provided by higher apparent field of view (82°) and focal lengths (30-40mm).

It is very cloudy at the moment and may continue into the evening for the Rothney Astrophysical Observatory's Open House.  However, it will still be happening and the lecture on the Antikythera Mechanism is worth attending.

2017 Week 5: (January 29-February 4)

The weather for this week is considered to be average for this time of year with the temperature hovering around the freezing mark.  There may be some light flurries on Monday and Tuesday, but otherwise, the skies are forecast to be clear, so if you can brave the cool weather there may be good observing opportunities.

Date	Event
Jan 30	Neptune 0.2°S of Moon
Jan 31	Venus 4°N of Moon
Jan 31	Mars 2°N of Moon
Feb 2	Ceres 23'S of Moon
Feb 3	First Quarter

This week the Moon has some close encounters with some Solar System objects.  A new entry this week is Ceres, a dwarf planet residing in our asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.  Ceres will be 23 minutes South of the Moon at 19:00 on February 2, 2017.  Ceres will be magnitude 8.9 at this time and thus only likely observable through a telescope.  The good news is that it should fit nicely into the same field of view of a 25mm eyepiece on most telescopes.  An image borrowed from Wikipedia of Ceres is shown below.

Ceres 

Ceres is about a third of the diameter of Pluto and is the only dwarf planet within the orbit of Neptune.  It comprises approximately one-third of the entire mass of the asteroid belt.  I hope to have the opportunity to view Ceres on Thursday evening, even if it will be just a spot of light.

The following night the Moon will be at its First Quarter, making it a great evening to view some of the central topography cut through by the terminator.

Today marks the start of a new lunar cycle with a New Moon occurring at 17:07.  Happy New Year to all those who are celebrating the coming year of the rooster!

**Breaking News** I have just been made aware that there are currently moderate auroras in the NNE sky at time of writing (23:33 January 26, 2017).  The following two evenings are observatory evenings and hopefully the Northern Lights will put on a show.  I would recommend checking out the open house at the Rothney Astrophysical Observatory Saturday night at 8pm.  We went in May and there was a level 5 aurora that was just majestic.

Hopefully there will be clear skies so you can take in the naked eye sights of the Moon/(Mars and Venus) conjunction on the 31st.

What is the Caldwell Catalogue?

I first became aware of the Caldwell Catalogue a few months ago.  It is not as popular as the Messier Objects or the NGC but I feel it should be.  Charles Messier was a comet hunter and he disliked the fact that some objects in the sky were easily confused with comets.  He generated his list to help avoid the confusion.  For all intents and purposes, the Messier Catalogue order is based chronologically on the discovery date and can all be viewed from the latitude of his observatory -- Paris, France.

The Caldwell Catalogue was created in 1995 by the famous British astronomer Patrick Moore as a companion to the Messier Catalogue.  I personally love the Caldwell Catalogue as it contains, in my opinion, the most beautiful sights you can see through a backyard telescope.  The image below is borrowed from Wikipedia and shows off the amazing objects.

Caldwell Catalogue

The catalogue is ordered by increasing declination with 1 being the northernmost and 109 being the southernmost.  Unfortunately for northern observers we would have to travel south to see some of the objects of southerly declination.  Caldwell 109 is located less than 10° from the South Celestial Pole.

I have seen some of these sights through my telescope and had the opportunity to take a picture of one.  You've seen this image just yesterday as it was the keynote image for the NGC catalogue.  The blinking nebula is Caldwell 15 approximately 30° from the North Celestial Pole in the constellation Cygnus.

Caldwell 15

I hope you have the opportunity to join some public astronomy nights this year to see one of these incredible objects!

What are NGC objects?

In several previous blogs I mentioned NGC objects.  An NGC object is a deep-sky object found in the New General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars.  With a few exceptions, all Messier objects are contained within the NGC.  The NGC is a more exhaustive list of deep-sky objects containing 7,840 entries.

Typically, NGC objects are more difficult to find compared to the 110 Messier objects.  The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada offers a certificate program specifically geared towards NGC observing.  It is known as the Finest NGC Objects certification.  A link to the details is provided below.

https://www.rasc.ca/finest-ngc-objects

There are also deep-sky certificate programs named Deep-Sky Gems and a Deep-Sky Challenge.  Only 7 people in Canada have received a Deep-Sky Challenge certificate over the last 15 years.  Links to these programs are given below.

https://www.rasc.ca/deep-sky-gems

https://www.rasc.ca/deep-sky-challenge

I have only found two NGC objects (outside the Messier Objects) with manual guidance of my 8" Reflector.  During the New Moon of November 2016 at the Wilson Coulee Observatory I managed to find NGC 869 and NGC 884, famously known as the 'Double Cluster'.  An image of my observation is provided below.

NGC 869

Using a polar aligned driven mount I had the fortune of observing NGC 6826, also a Caldwell Object (more on this in another post).  It is sometimes referred to as the blinking planetary nebula.  An image is provided below.

NGC 6826

The observing certificates can only be earned by manually driving your mount to locate these objects.  Punching in celestial coordinates to a handheld device connected to your mount immediately disqualifies a participant.  However, driven mounts are good for imaging without the fuss of locating the object.

Explore the Universe - Sunspots

This will be the first blog entry on our home star -- The Sun.  The Explore the Universe certificate only has one item related to the Sun -- Sunspots!  Observing the Sun should be done with extreme care, an untrained observer may permanently damage their eyes.  There are several ways to observe the sun with the most common methods listed below:

1. Projection of the Sun through a pinhole in a piece of cardboard onto a screen.
2. Full aperture filter for the telescope.
3. Special certified glasses designed for safely viewing the Sun.
4. Hydrogen Alpha Telescope (thousands of dollars for small aperture).

An eyepiece filter for a telescope should never be used as the magnified radiation from the sun may crack the filter causing irreparable eye damage. 

To project the sun you simply need two pieces of thin cardboard, the kind on the back of notepads.  Make a tiny hole in one of the pieces and hold it up so the sunlight goes through the hole.  Take the other piece of cardboard and hold it behind the first piece so that it acts like a screen.  By changing the distance between the two pieces you can project the sun into focus and see sunspots or a solar eclipse. 

Some people project the sun through their optical equipment such as binoculars or a small telescope onto a screen.  I honestly do not like the idea of concentrated solar radiation bouncing around inside expensive equipment, so I do not use that method.

I have a full aperture filter for my telescope that I use to view the sun.  The sun can be magnified and the sunspots scattered across the surface can be observed in detail.  Lately, however, the sun has been very quiet and has had very few or no visible sunspots.  Below is an image I took with a cell phone at the eyepiece of the telescope.

Sun with Sunspots

Explore the Universe - Capricornus

The Explore the Universe Certificate requires the analysis and identification of 24 different constellations.  During the first part of October I spent some time finding my way around Capricornus.  This is another zodiacal constellation as it is found near the ecliptic.  The constellation boundaries have one Messier object, M30, a beautiful globular cluster located just a little East of Zeta Capricorni.  A lot of people may know this constellation as Capricorn, but that is just the astrological name of the object and not the official astronomical name.  Below is the map I made of the constellation with a pair of binoculars.

Capricornus Observation Record

Mythologically, Capricornus represents a goat with the tail of a fish.  This association seems to have originated with the Sumerians and Babylonians in the 21st century BC.  There are many myths associated with this goat-fish.  My favourite myth is the Greek deity Pan, who was a faun, saving the Olympian gods during their battle with Typhon.  At some point during the battle Pan dove into the Nile and his hindquarters turned into those of a fish, allowing him extra mobility in the water.  Zeus, impressed with Pan's bravery, made him a god and he took his place among the stars.

An image of the goat-fish overlaid with the constellation is shown below.

Capricornus (Artist Interpretation)

Capricornus is the second faintest constellation in the sky after Cancer.  It is not an incredibly impressive sight with the naked eye.  The Alpha and Beta stars are both double stars that you can split with a pair of binoculars.  There are several NGC objects scattered around the boundaries of the constellation if you have a decent telescope to view.

The sky this evening is overcast so there is no hope to do any observing.  I am hoping they clear up for the NOVA meeting and RAO open house at the end of the week.  I will make an observing plan to map Orion and Gemini while they are in a good position during the cold winter months.

January Q&A

Last night was the annual banquet for the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada - Calgary Centre.  It was a remarkable evening and a lot of great entries in the astroimaging contest.  The winner was a beautiful panoramic shot of the Milky Way from the Southern Hemisphere; I had not seen anything quite like it before.  If you would like more information about joining the society please go to the following link:

https://www.rasc.ca/

Something we would like to do on the page is a Q&A.  If you have any questions about the sky or astronomy please send a message to the facebook page or send an email to simonjastronomy@gmail.com.  When the questions come in I will personally answer them by video and post them on the page.  We may even have guest experts contribute so you can have the best answer possible!  The author of the question will remain anonymous so don't be embarrassed if there is something on your mind.

There will be an open house at the Rothney Astrophysical Observatory(RAO) out in Priddis on January 28, 2017.  This is a great event for the public.  I've heard there will be no less than 14 telescopes set up for public viewing.  Please come and make an evening of it.  The cost is $20 per vehicle so load up the vans!  The event starts at 8pm, please see the map below and follow signs for directions.

Map to RAO (200, 198070 Hwy 22)

The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada - Calgary Centre offers a free class to new observers at the Wilson Coulee Observatory(WCO).  This month's class will be held on January 27, 2017 at 7:30pm.  The main topic of discussion this month will be eyepieces and their various designs.  A presentation will also be given on deep-sky objects that you will be able to see in Winter.  After the meeting there will be time to observe the sky from the dark sight and check off items on the Winter observing list.  If you are ever interested in attending these monthly classes please let me know.

The weather has been quite depressing today with snow falling on and off throughout the afternoon.  The skies are overcast and there will likely be no opportunity for observing.  However, if you are looking up during the week in the mid-evening, Gemini will be visible.  The constellation map is provided below.  Look for the twins Castor and Pollux north of the famous shape of Orion.

Gemini Constellation Map

Constellation Profile - Aquarius

One of my favourite constellations is Aquarius.  If I believed in astrology it would have special meaning to me as my zodiac symbol.  The zodiac is a region of the celestial sphere approximately 15-20° wide where the Sun transits the sky on what is known as the ecliptic.  This region is further divided longitudinally by 30° creating 12 areas of the sky where the sun will occupy throughout the year.  The constellation the Sun is located on your birthday becomes your zodiac sign.  The constellations in this region are referred to as the zodiacal constellations.  Some consider Ophiuchus to be the thirteenth sign of the zodiac since it encroaches on this region of space.

Aquarius is known as the water carrier.  I sometimes say we Aquarians carry lazy Pisces and Cancer around in our bucket.  It was one of Ptolemy's constellations early in the 1st millennium.  It has strong associations with Pagan mythology being known as the bringer of the Babylonian floods and the famous annual flooding of the Nile to mark the beginning of Spring.

The first time I viewed Neptune I used Aquarius as my guide.  Neptune has occupied this constellation for several years now and is sitting less than 2° from Lambda Aquarii.

A link to my observations of Neptune's Orbital Motion is provided below.

http://simonjastronomy.blogspot.com/2017/01/explore-universe-orbital-motion.html

Late in the Summer of 2016 I spent some time mapping the constellation using binoculars and referring to a sky chart.  This is a very useful exercise as it allows you to find your way around the sky and makes manual visual astronomy much easier.  Below an image is provided of my mapping exercise.

Aquarius Observation Record

An artistic impression of the constellation is shown below.

Aquarius (Artist Interpretation)

The great part about constellations is you can draw the asterism in whatever way you like.  As stated previously in this blog, a constellation is a defined region of the celestial sphere with specific borders.  The stars inside those borders form an asterism by essentially connecting the stars with lines.  This is why you may see several images of the same constellation with different lines connecting the stars.  A link to the constellation definition is provided below.

http://simonjastronomy.blogspot.com/2017/01/what-are-constellations.html

Aquarius has a few Messier Objects contained within its borders.  M2 and M72 are both beautiful globular clusters while M73 is an asterism of 4 stars that are not physically connected.  Along with Messier 40 this is one of the odder entries to the Messier Catalogue.

There are a few meteor showers that emanate from Aquarius, the most famous being the Delta and Eta Aquariids.

Whenever it is late in Summer, be sure to check out this constellation!

2017 Week 4: (January 22-28)

The weather for the fourth week of the year is looking mainly sunny with above average temperatures.  However, there is nothing spectacular happening in the sky.  The Moon will be within 4° of Saturn and Mercury as a waning crescent on its way to becoming a New Moon on Friday.  The only benefit of a New Moon is there will be less light pollution to aim for some deep-sky objects in a telescope or binoculars.

Date	Event
Jan 24	Saturn 4°S of Moon
Jan 25	Mercury 4°S of Moon
Jan 27	New Moon
Jan 27	New Observers to Visual Astronomy (NOVA) Meeting (19:30-21:30) @ WCO
Jan 28	Rothney Astrophysical Observatory Open House (20:00-23:00)

I would like to spend a little time discussing the RASC General Meeting from last night.  The lecture provided on the Antikythera Mechanism was absolutely amazing.  If you have the opportunity please attend the open house at the Rothney Astrophysical Observatory on January 28 where the lecture will be presented again.  Below is a video outlining the mechanism:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpLcnAIpVRA

Antikythera Mechanism (Artist Interpretation)

On Friday, January 27 at 19:30 there will be a New Observers to Visual Astronomy class at the Wilson Coulee Observatory in De Winton.  Many people will have their telescopes out and an instructor will allow us to look through the C-14 at some deep-sky objects.  This class is offered every month, if you are interested please contact me for more details.

I hope you have the opportunity this week to look up and take in the sight of Orion and Canis Major along with Venus and Mars lighting up the southwestern skies.

Moon Watch: Last Quarter January 2017

This morning at 09:14 the moon was at its Last Quarter phase.  This is the phase I rarely see in a dark sky since it rises close to 01:00 and becomes accessibly observable in the mid-morning hours.  Much like the First Quarter Phase, half the moon is illuminated and the terminator seems to go right through the middle of the observable lunar surface.  This allows for great viewing of the craters, terraces, mountains and valleys nearby.

One of my favourite areas of the Moon to look is the Apennine Mountains (Montes Apennius).  This mountain range contains the highest mountain on the Moon (although not its highest point).  Mons Huygens is approximately 5.5km high and is circled below in an image I took late last summer.  The eastern section of the Mare Imbrium (Sea of Rains) is also shown in the image.  Mare Imbrium is the seventh largest crater in the Solar System.  The mountains surrounding it were formed several billion years ago by uplifting caused by the impact of a proto-planet that was more than 250km wide.  The relatively smooth surface of lunar maria (Lunar Seas) formed from the lava flows that filled them more than a billion years ago.

Montes Apennius

Tonight Jupiter and the bright star Spica will be at their closest conjunction, separated by 4°, well within the same binocular field of view.

Another event happening tonight is the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada - Calgary Centre General Meeting.  This is a free event (with free parking) open to the public with lectures dedicated to astronomy.  They are always very interesting and informative.  They are held at 7:30pm on the third Thursday of every month at the Kerby Centre in downtown Calgary.  Tonight we will be treated to a keynote lecture on The Antikythera Mechanism, a Greek astronomical calculator of around 100 BC, and its place in the history of technology.

What is a Globular Cluster?

Throughout the previous blog posts I have mentioned the term globular cluster in reference to some of the Messier objects.  A globular cluster is a gravitationally bound group of stars that may contain millions of individual stars up to tens or a hundred light years across.  Since the cluster is bound by gravity it has a unique spherical shape that makes it a beautiful sight through a telescope.  Globular clusters tend to reside in the Milky Way's galactic halo.  The galactic halo is essentially the spherical component of a galaxy outside the plane of the spiral arms.  An image borrowed from Durham University shows this halo region with the globular clusters.

Globular Clusters in the Galactic Halo (Milky Way)

Omega Centauri is known to be our galaxy's largest globular cluster.  It was first discovered by Ptolemy around 150AD.  It has a radius of 150 light years and contains around 10 million stars.  It may have been the core of a dwarf galaxy torn apart by our own Milky Way's gravity.  At one time it was theorized that an intermediate mass black hole resided at the center of the cluster.  Unfortunately it is too far south on the celestial sphere to be visible to residents of Calgary.

One of my favourite globular clusters visible from Calgary is shown below in an image I recently took.  Messier 2 is a globular cluster located in my astrological zodiac constellation of Aquarius.  It was beautiful, you could make out individual stars in the sphere of more than 150,000 stars.

Messier 2 (M2)

Another great globular cluster is the Hercules Cluster.  Also known as Messier 13, it shines brilliantly in the constellation of Hercules.  Below is an image from our backyard.

Messier 13 - Hercules Cluster

Explore the Universe - Theta Tauri

The weather warmed up and it allowed me the opportunity to do some observing.  I spent the time taking a few pictures of Messier 42 - Orion Nebula and sketching the view of the double star Theta Tauri.  The two components of Theta Tauri are separated in space by approximately 4 light years making them an optical double.  This pair of stars is particularly interesting.  One of them is orange and the other is white.  At the telescope they are separated by approximately 5.62'; easily split with binoculars or a telescope.  Both of the stars have a spectroscopic binary.  A spectroscopic binary is basically a companion star that is too close to visually observe with normal techniques.

The light emitted from objects that are travelling very quickly towards us or away from us are either blue shifted or red shifted.  For example, if a red star is moving towards Earth very quickly, its light will seem to be closer to the blue side of the light spectrum.  This is known as the Doppler Effect for light.  It is similar to the idea of the Doppler Effect for sound, waves are lengthened or shortened depending on the relative velocity between the emitter and the observer.  A companion star that is very close to its partner typically orbits very quickly.  The spectrum of a binary system can be analysed.  When one of the stars is in its orbit moving away from Earth it will red shift and when it is in its orbit towards the Earth it will blue shift.  These spectrum shifts can be detected and it can be determined that there is indeed another star in the system.

Another interesting aspect of the Theta Tauri optical double is that is located in the Hyades open star cluster.  An open cluster is a group of stars that were formed from the same cloud of gas and thus are approximately same age.  A typical open cluster contains a few thousand stars and make for a great sight as observed from Earth.  The Hyades cluster is the closest open cluster to Earth at approximately 153 light years away.

Theta Tauri Observation Record

I was able to take an image of Theta Tauri and it is displayed below:

Theta Tauri (Pair on Left)

My first attempt to take a picture of Theta Tauri had a satellite fly through to disturb the image.  See below:

Theta Tauri with a Satellite

Tonight the asteroid Vesta reaches opposition.  This means it is on the opposite side of the Sun relative to the Earth.  It will be magnitude 6.2, barely visible under perfect skies in the country.  I will try to look for it later tonight if the clouds stay away.  I tried a few nights ago but became frustrated with the cold and the fact Vesta is more than 4 degrees away from a naked eye star.  If you are looking for Vesta, please see the sky chart at the following link:

http://simonjastronomy.blogspot.ca/2017/01/2017-week-3-january-9-21.html

Enjoy the warm weather and I hope you have the opportunity to look up!

Free Astronomy Mobile Apps #1

Mobile smart devices have become commonplace in today's society.  Many applications are available on these devices to make life more convenient and fun.  I would like to spend some time to discuss seven of my favourite free astronomy applications that I use on a frequent basis.  I use an android device so I know these apps are available at the Google store.  I'm assuming most will be available for iOS as well.

1. Sky Map (Sky Map Devs) - This application is a handheld planetarium you can use to hold your phone up to the sky and identify the objects that you can see.  A convenient search tool allows you to find your favourite stars, planets and deep-sky objects.


2. Moon Phase Calendar Zodiac (BHMEDIA) - This is the application I use frequently to determine the exact phase of the Moon and the Sun/Moon Rise/Set times.  The application conveniently displays your current GPS coordinates.  There are fancier apps out there but this one is simple with no problems.


3. Moons of Jupiter (qSoftDotApk) - This is a great application for determining the current orientation of Jupiter's Moons.  It allows you to invert the view to match the type of telescope you are using.  It maps out the Moons for any date and shows when they eclipse Jupiter.  This is a must have app for anyone interested in viewing Jupiter.


4. Moons of Saturn (qSoftDotApk) - This application works the same way as the previous one except it is for Saturn.  It also shows you the tilt of the rings at the given time.  


5. Astro Panel (Astronomy) (Shibby Developments) - I really like this application a lot.  It provides an up to date forecast of the cloud cover, seeing, transparency, humidity, wind and temperature.  This information is displayed graphically for your current coordinates for the next 48 hours.  If you are wondering if you should make the trek out to your favourite dark site, this will help you make your decision.


6. Heavens-Above (Heavens-Above) - This is a must have application if you are a serious observer or someone who looks at the sky when they take their dog for a walk.  A live sky chart is provided along with nightly satellite flyovers, International Space Station passes, and my favourite -- Iridium Flares.  You can even set it to notify you to go outside to see a station pass or an iridium flare.


7. PolarisView (David J Watkins (WatWare)) - If you have a goto telescope this will help you quickly achieve polar alignment.  If you have a polar scope for your telescope you have to point it directly at the North Celestial Pole.  The North Star (Polaris) is not exactly on the pole, it is slightly offset.  This app shows you the offset and allows you to correctly position your telescope.

Astronomy Applications

What are Messier Objects?

In the late 18th century a French astronomer named Charles Messier compiled a list of 'fuzzy' objects as he was searching for comets.  There are 110 objects in the Messier catalogue.  I have mentioned them throughout my preceding posts as Messier 57 or M57 for example.  They consist of galaxies, open clusters, globular clusters, and assorted nebulae.  They are an amateur astronomer's dream as they have unique shapes and colours beyond the typical spot of light produced by a given star.  Since most of these objects were found during Messier's research in France, they are all visible from our northern latitudes.  Below is a picture I took of an open star cluster known as Messier 11 (M11) or the Wild Duck Cluster.

Messier 11

Many astronomical organizations have Messier marathons where a team of amateur astronomers get together and see if they can manually find all of the objects on the list.  This usually occurs at the end of March and I will send out an event invitation if you would like to join for part of it.  Messier objects are among some of my favourite things to see through a telescope.  Below is a picture I took of Messier 57 (M57) or the Ring Nebula.

Messier 57

The thrill of searching the heavens and finding one of these objects is quite amazing.  You are scanning the sky with your telescope and all of a sudden a giant cluster of stars appears in your view.  It is much more exciting when you manually slew the telescope to one of these objects instead of punching a code into a handheld device to have the scope move to the object automatically.  A lot of these objects are visible through binoculars on a clear night.  Some objects, most notably M45 and M32, are visible to the naked eye in dark skies.  Below is a picture I took of Messier 27 (M27) or the Dumbbell Nebula.

Messier 27

What are Constellations?

The term constellation is one that is often misunderstood.  Many people think it is a recognizable pattern in the sky consisting of bright stars.  Although that is an approximate definition of a constellation, the actual answer to the question is a bit more complicated.  A constellation is a set boundary on the celestial sphere defined by the International Astronomical Union.  As shown below in the official "Sky and Telescope" map of Lyra, the boundaries extend to the area highlighted in white.  The pattern of the Lyre forms only part of the constellation.  As shown in the image below, when astronomers refer to Messier 56 (M56) or Messier 57 (M57) they will say they are found in the constellation Lyra.

Lyra

Another interesting thing to note is that calling the Big Dipper a constellation is incorrect.  The Big Dipper is merely a shape in a larger constellation known as Ursa Major.  When shapes are found within constellations or across the boundaries of several constellations they are called asterisms.  There are many examples of asterisms: The Big Dipper, The Little Dipper, The Summer Triangle, Belt of Orion, The Coathanger, Kemble's Cascade, etc.

Most of the bright stars in a constellation can be viewed with the naked eye, however, the dimmer stars can mostly be seen through a set of binoculars.  Deep-sky objects such as a the Messier Objects will require a telescope.  The image below shows my attempt to map Lyra with my naked eye(black dots) and binoculars(orange dots).  The Greek letters attached to each star are based on the Bayer System presented earlier in the week at:

http://simonjastronomy.blogspot.ca/2017/01/explore-universe-alpha-capricorni.html

Lyra Mapping

I have recently updated how I do constellation mapping as shown with Taurus below.

Taurus Constellation Map

All of these stars were observed with the naked eye or binoculars.  The distances between the stars are to scale as well the size of the dot represents the apparent magnitude.  This is a really good exercise for learning the constellations and how to get around them with optical aid.

2017 Week 3: (January 15-21)

The third week of January this year has a few naked eye sights that may be of interest to the casual observer.  The weather seems to be getting warmer and possibly with few clouds.  Venus is getting brighter each night and makes for a great sight.  I was able to see Venus before the Sun went below the horizon this evening.  The table of upcoming events is shown below.

Date	Event
Jan 17	Vesta Opposition
Jan 18	Jupiter 3°S of Moon
Jan 19	Mercury at Greatest Elongation West (24°)
Jan 19	Last Quarter
Jan 20	Jupiter 4°N of Spica
Jan 21	Moon at Apogee

The first event this week will be the asteroid Vesta at opposition.  When an object is at opposition it means it is on the opposite side of the sky as the sun.  This is the point in its orbit where it is typically the brightest and the largest as seen from Earth.  It will be magnitude 6.2 which is easily achievable in the smallest of binoculars.  Castor and Pollux, the Alpha and Beta stars of Gemini, point directly to it on January 17, 2017 with the sky chart for 21:30 is provided below.

Location of Vesta at 21:30 January 17, 2017

Vesta is the second largest object in the asteroid belt comprising nearly 10% of the belt's total mass.  It is covered in craters similar to our Moon and troughs far deeper than the Grand Canyon.  If the weather is good I will try to find Vesta in my telescope and take some pictures but it will look like a tiny dot of light.  The image below is from the spacecraft Dawn that orbited the asteroid from 2011-2012.

Vesta

There will be two minor conjunctions between celestial objects this week.  Jupiter will be in the same binocular field as the Moon on January 18, 2017 and in the same field as Spica on January 20, 2017.  The Moon will also be at Last Quarter on Thursday, making it a very good target for a telescope if you can stay up late.

The most interesting event will be Mercury at its Greatest Elongation West.  This means it is at the furthest point from the sun in its current orbital cycle.  It is one of the best times to view the planet in the early morning before the sun rises.  If I can find a vantage point to view the eastern sky I may give Mercury a shot but it will be cold and early.  I have still yet to find a good observation point for the eastern sky near my home without looking like a creep in the middle of a park at 4am in the morning.

Explore the Universe - Epsilon Lyrae

The constellation Lyra has become one of my favourite constellations in the sky.  It is packed with some amazing sights that are easy to see for the beginner.  The alpha star, Vega, is the fifth brightest star in the sky and typically the first one you see in a given evening.  It forms a great triangle at your zenith (directly overhead) during the summer with Altair and Deneb, two other really bright stars.  This asterism is known as the 'Summer Triangle'.  Delta Lyrae is a binary star consisting of a blue and yellow star easily contrasted with one another.  The famous Ring Nebula situates itself halfway between Beta and Gamma Lyrae and makes itself a very easy target to find in a telescope.  Beta and Gamma Lyrae also act as a pointer to the globular cluster known as Messier 56 another great telescopic target.  However, one of my favourite targets in Lyra is Epislon Lyrae, the famous double double.

Map to Epsilon Lyrae

Epsilon Lyrae is one of the most exciting multiple star systems that can be viewed from Earth.  When viewed through binoculars or a small telescope the pair is easily split.  However, when viewed carefully with a larger telescope, each of the stars in the pairs are shown to be pairs as well.  This is why the multiple star system is known as the double-double.

Epsilon Lyrae Observation Record

Epsilon 1 Lyrae and Epsilon 2 Lyraes are separated by about 0.16 light years with an orbital period of several hundred thousand years.  When viewed from Earth they have an angular separation of 3.6'.  The pair of stars forming Epislon 1 Lyrae and Epsilon 2 Lyrae are approximately 120 times the distance between the Sun and the Earth apart.  The angular separation visible from Earth is approximately 2.5" which is very close to the resolving limit of most backyard telescopes with good seeing.  If you see the double double on a given night it means the atmospheric disturbance is quite low and you will have a great night of stargazing.

Explore the Universe - Beta Capricorni

The weather has warmed up and the sky is beautiful.  However, it is still too cold to setup my telescope in the snow without an observation plan.

Observation plans are important if you would like to accomplish anything more than checking out a few interesting sights in the sky.  I usually come up with a list of 2 or 3 objects that I would like to study in a given evening and a plan on how to find them.  Binoculars are a key tool as they have a relatively large field of view and allow you to understand the position of some bright background stars in your area of interest.

Early tomorrow morning at 04:34 the moon will be full.  I watched the moon rise from my office at work and noticed it was not quite full as some of the southwestern craters seemed to have terminator shadows on them.

Today's Explore the Universe entry is an observation I made 15 minutes after Alpha Caprcorni.  This time I observed Beta Capricorni, an actual multiple star system (not just an optical double).  The two visually observable stars are separated in space by a mere third of a light year.  This is about 21,000 times the distance from our Sun to the Earth.  It takes about a million years for these stars to orbit their common center of mass.

Beta Capricorni Observation Record

This morning I looked out the window around 05:30 and saw the clear sky.  Jupiter was very bright in my line of sight directly South.  It was close to Alpha Virginis (Spica) which is also a bright object.  At the southern horizon I saw the constellation Scorpio seemingly looking higher in the sky than when I observed it during the late summer evenings.  Antares, the beautiful red alpha star of Scorpio, was obvious even through a now breath fogged window.  To the East of Antares was a familiar sight from the summer -- Saturn had made itself visible once again.  I tried to see if I could get a glimpse of Mercury but the window had fogged up beyond all hope of even seeing the street lamp a few houses down.  The elusive inner planet won't fool me this year.  The best day to see Mercury in the evening sky will be April 1 as it will reach its greatest elongation east at 19° away from the Sun.  I am not a morning person so observing western elongations of Mercury will likely wreck me.

I am still holding out hope for an evening of observing this weekend but the windchill forecast is still quite frightening.  However, I will still try to come up with an observation plan for a quick 20 minute session to grab 1 or 2 objects or even just visually map out a constellation with binoculars.

Explore the Universe - Orbital Motion

The Explore the Universe certification requires many different observations of constellations, the moon, the solar system, deep-sky objects and double stars.  Under the solar system category it is required to plot the orbital motion of a planet against the background star field.  I plotted the orbital motion of Neptune from July 30, 2016 - September 24, 2016.

Neptune Orbital Motion

I remember the first time I found Neptune.  I spent about 15 minutes analyzing star charts to determine the best way to find the dim planet.  Neptune was in Aquarius very close to Lambda Aquarii which made the task much easier.

Orbital Motion Observation Record

The 'Y' shape formed by Zeta, Eta, Pi and Gamma Aquarii was easily visible in the sky.  I used binoculars to find Kappa Aqaurii below the 'Y' shape and it pointed me down to Lambda Aqaurii.  Using the star field I saw through the binoculars I repeated the same procedure with a wide field telescope configuration.  When I had Lambda Aquarii in the eyepiece I looked nearby for several minutes.  I found a non-twinkling blue-green ball among the faint background stars.  I immediately sketched the view and came back 3 weeks later (due to cloudy summer weather).  The blue-green ball had moved against the background stars.  Over the course of the next two months I continued to follow Neptune and drew its motion.  This is shown in the diagram above with Lambda Aquarii marked and Neptune shown in a straight line.  I have added a photograph I took of Neptune with my cell phone through the telescope.  The quality is very bad, but it is very exciting that this object is nearly 5 billion kilometers away.

Neptune

Explore the Universe - Alpha Capricorni

The weather has not been conducive to any meaningful astronomical observations from the backyard.  Therefore, the blog will continue with updates of observations made during the Fall of 2016.  Alpha Capricorni was observed on the first evening of October in 2016.  It is an optical double separated by 6.6'.

A note should be made about how the Bayer naming convention works for stars.  Basically, the brightest star in a constellation is given the name of the first letter of the Greek alphabet -- Alpha.  The second brightest star is the second letter of the Greek alphabet -- Beta.  This pattern continues down to Omega.  Then it continues using Latin letters. After the Greek letter, the genitive form of the constellation then follows.

For example the brightest star in the following constellations are named:

Taurus: Alpha Tauri (Aldebaran)
Ursa Minor: Alpha Ursae Minoris (Polaris, The North Star)

The genitive case in Latin is the possessive case familiar to English.  Alpha Orionis would be translated to English as Alpha of Orion.

There are a few confusing rules to the Bayer System.  The brightest star in Gemini is Beta Geminorum (Pollux) and the second brightest star is Alpha Geminorum (Castor).  When Johann Bayer developed the system in 1603 he noted some stars in the same constellation were of similar magnitude and labelled the first to rise as the Alpha.  This is the case with Gemini and Orion and many others.  It is wise to consult a star atlas to find the correct names of the stars you see in the sky.

Also if the stars happen to be an optical double, binary or a multiple star system, numbers are inserted between the Greek Letter and the genitive form of the constellation name.  A good example of this is shown in the Alpha Capricorni log below:

Alpha Capricorni Observation Record

A final note on the angular separation measurement I have been using. ° is the number of degrees, ' is the number of minutes (60' in 1°) and " is the number of seconds (60" in 1').  For example, depending on where Jupiter is in its orbit it can be between 30" and 51" across or you could say 0.5' to 0.85' across.

The weather is looking good for next week and hopefully we can all enjoy a relatively warm evening to soak in the light of the full moon.