Messier Objects - M66

There is one item from my observatory trip that I have not yet logged.  Unfortunately, the weather has been dismal for astronomy and I have no further records to post after this.  I really would like the sky to clear this week to get a good look at some craters during first quarter.

Messier 66 is the brightest object in the Leo Triplet.  It is a galaxy that is located approximately 36 million light years away.  It was discovered back in 1780 by Charles Messier during his relentless search for comets.  Messier 65 and 66 were discovered on the same evening since they fit within the same field of view in most eyepieces.  It is interesting to note that back in 1773 a comet passed between the two galaxies and Messier did not see them due to the overriding brightness from the comet.  The asymmetry of the spiral arms was a result of a previous gravitational interaction with the other member of the triplet: NGC 3628.

I first located this galaxy at the same time as M65.  I aimed my red dot finder at a location between Theta and Iota Leonis and moved my telescope around until I saw two fuzzy patches of light.  There was a checkmark shaped asterism in the center of the field of view that I used to identify the two galaxies.  The long end of the checkmark pointed directly to M66.  It seemed rounder and brighter than its partner M65.  It was such a beautiful sight seeing two full galaxies in the same field of view.  The record below logs my observation.

M66 Observation Record

Again, as with the poor weather I was unable to setup for a good photograph.  The wind looks ferocious and the sky cloudy this evening.  We are forecast to have our first >20°C day this week and hopefully the sky will be clear.  It is getting more difficult to image the sky at a reasonable time of evening since the Sun now sets at 9pm.  The image below is a picture of Messier 66 with the credit given in the caption.

Messier 66 (Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Kennicutt (University of Arizona) and the SINGS Team)

For those of you who live in southeast Calgary come to the astronomy event at Ralph Klein Park this Saturday.  There will be some great lectures and many telescopes setup.  Enjoy the urban wetland park before the bugs come out!  For more details see the link below:

https://www.facebook.com/events/414835662224816/

2017 Week 18: (April 30-May 6)

The beginning of May is upon us even though the weather may tell a different story.  The sky has been overcast for nearly a week now and there has been no opportunity to observe anything.  The forecast next week is calling for mainly sunny skies with small chances of a shower.  If this holds it could be the best observing weather we've had this year.  There are a few things to take note of in the sky.

Date	Event
Apr 30	Venus greatest illuminated extent
May 2	Mercury stationary
May 2	First Quarter
May 4	Regulus 0.5°N of Moon
May 6	Eta-Aquariid meteor peak

Venus will be at its brightest point in the morning sky on Sunday.  It will be magnitude -4.5 with a waxing crescent phase.  This may seem counter intuitive that Venus is brighter as a 35% crescent than when it is full.  However, when Venus is full it is also further away from us and it appears much smaller thus appearing dimmer.  Venus is at its largest when it is at its new phase during its inferior conjunction with the Sun.  I took the image below back on February 11 when Venus was at 38% in the evening sky.

Venus, February 11, 2017

The Moon will be in the early stages of its cycle and reach first quarter on May 2.  This is typically the best time to view the Moon with binoculars or a telescope.  If the weather forecast is correct I am hoping to finish the impact crater section of the Explore the Universe certification.

If you are lucky you can catch an annual May meteor shower known as the Eta Aquariids.  The peak of the shower is on the morning of May 6.  If you look toward the ESE around 5:30am before the Sun has risen you may catch the shower.  It peaks around 60 meteors per hour but it has been known to be difficult for us northern observers to see it.

There will be some great opportunities to participate in astronomy events around Calgary.  The RAO is having its open house this Saturday at 8pm!  See below for details!

https://www.facebook.com/events/275898642862690/

Explore the Universe - Aurorae

During times of minimum solar activity in the solar cycle coronal holes are chiefly responsible for geomagnetic storms on Earth.  A coronal hole is a region in the Sun's corona that is cooler and magnetic field lines stretch out away.  The magnetic field lines reach into space and it causes hot gases to escape.  The region typically looks darker because the particle density is much lower.

The solar wind is enhanced at these regions.  When a coronal hole is on the face of the Sun pointing directly at Earth there is an increased chance of geomagnetic disturbances.  These disturbances can typically be seen as an aurora.  For more information about a coronal hole please see the following link.

https://www.spaceweatherlive.com/en/help/what-is-a-coronal-hole

Coronal Hole #82, April 21, 2017 (www.spaceweatherlive.com)

An enhanced solar wind may cause the aurora to be seen at lower latitudes.  In April of 2017 reports were coming in from the US border (49°N) that the aurora could be seen.  We were at the observatory that night and had quite a show that lasted for about 10 minutes starting around 22:55.

In the optional observations in the Solar System section of the Explore the Universe certificate, the aurora is listed.

**As a side note the dictionary refers to the singular as Aurora Borealis and I've seen the plural as Auroras, Aurorae Borealis, Aurorae Borealises and Aurorae Boreales.

I'm not sure why the first three plurals are used except perhaps people nowadays have forgotten the Latin etymology.  Declining the first declension noun Aurora and the third declension adjective Borealis will give Aurorae Boreales.  I will use that as the plural until I find reasoning otherwise.**

April 2017 we first saw a green haze in the distance toward the North.  A few minutes later there were multi-coloured pillars extending vertically in the sky.  At one point a large streak of light extended to a point just above the southern horizon.  The lights were so bright it was interfering with observations through the telescopes; I do not think anyone minded the interruption though.  I quickly used my camera to take 5 second exposures at ISO 1600, F/4.5 with a 15 mm focal length.  These are shown below.

Streak above the observatory

Streaks and pillars of multiple colours (Constellation: Auriga)

Streak extending across the sky

If you would like to observe the aurora there are some good websites to check out that predict its occurrence.

First there is my February blog post on the subject:

http://simonjastronomy.blogspot.com/2017/02/what-is-aurora.html

My favourite site for aurora predictions is Aurorasaurus:

http://www.aurorasaurus.org/

For more extensive solar data SpaceWeatherLive is really good too:

https://www.spaceweatherlive.com/

Finally I really like SolarHam for daily images of sunspots and coronal holes:

http://www.solarham.net/

I hope you have the opportunity to witness this remarkable phenomenon.  Keep your eye on the live maps to see if it will be in your area!

Messier Objects - M53

On April 4, 2017 after I had observed 17 Comae Berenices I wanted to try to find the binary system of 32 & 33 Comae Berenices.  This binary system is located a little over 4° away from Alpha Comae Berenices, the second brightest star in the constellation.  I used Delta and Epsilon Virginis as a pointer to Alpha Comae Berenices because the lacklustre transparency was hindering my naked eye visibility to find the 4.32 magnitude star.  My eyes were able to adapt and I could see the star if I knew exactly where to look.  I placed my red dot finder on the star and looked through the eyepiece.  I immediately saw M53 in the edge of my eyepiece and its diameter went across about 15% of my field of view.  My observation record for this Messier object is shown below.

M53 Observation Record

Unfortunately I did not bring binoculars to the observatory that evening as it would have been fun to try to resolve this globular.  Also, a set of binoculars would have helped me locate 32 & 33 Comae Berenices.  I never did find the binary system as it was starting to get cold and the aurora was too exciting to watch.  I hope to image this globular cluster in the months to come.  Provided below is an image from the Hubble Space Telescope which I will replace with my own image when I am able to obtain one.

Messier 53 (Image: ESA/Hubble & NASA)

Messier 53 was the first globular cluster I have observed in 2017.  Several months ago I posted a blog entry about what a globular cluster is which you can find below.

http://simonjastronomy.blogspot.com/2017/01/what-is-globular-cluster.html

This globular cluster contains about a half million stars and is located approximately 60,000 light years away from us.  It was discovered in 1775 by Johann Bode, only to be rediscovered two years later by Charles Messier.  Most historical references to this cluster reference its proximity to the optical double of Alpha Comae Berenices.

What is Steve?

Steve has gone viral around the world this week and its scientific origins come right from Calgary!

I was first introduced to Steve on February 16, 2017.  A presentation was given at the General Meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Calgary Centre by Chris Ratzlaff about aurora chasing.  He is a member of The Alberta Aurora Chasers.  This group is active throughout southern Alberta as citizens with a keen interest in viewing and imaging the aurora.  Many times they kept seeing this pillar of light appear in their photographs of the aurora.  They deemed it to be a proton arc until they solicited the advice of a space physicist at the University of Calgary.  At a meeting at the local pub that we used to frequent as colleagues at the Department of Physics and Astronomy the topic of of this unusual phenomenon was discussed.  It was determined it was not a proton arc but more investigation was required.  The Alberta Aurora Chasers named the phenomenon 'Steve', a homage to the movie 'Over the Hedge'.  Professor Eric Donovan, my former thermodynamics and electrodynamics teacher was at the meeting and chose to investigate further.  A video below shows his take on this meeting and how citizen scientists helped to make breakthroughs.  Eric's talk begins 1 hour, 8 minutes and 30 seconds into the meeting.  He is a great teacher, colleague and an experienced space physicist.

http://www.esa.int/spaceinvideos/Videos/2017/03/Opening_of_Swarm_and_CryoSat_Science_Meetings

Steve has recently been in the news all across the globe this week.  It has gone viral.  Some are calling it Sudden Thermal Emission from Velocity Enhancement (S.T.E.V.E.).  Below are some articles relating to the discovery and the identification.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/25/science/aurora-borealis-steve.html?_r=0

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39686055

https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/meet-aurora-chaser-who-named-atmospheric-phenomenon-steve

The image below shows a pillar of purple light emanating from the horizon.  This is currently known as Steve.

A stream of hot, fast-moving gas, nicknamed Steve, glowing over Porteau Cove Provincial Park in British Columbia, Canada, in May 2016. Credit(Image Credit: Vanexus Photography)

The following link has a video of the phenomenon with some great information.

http://www.space.com/36583-new-aurora-feature-named-steve-investigated.html

If you are ever out aurora chasing keep your eye out for this phenomenon that was popularized and investigated right here in Calgary.

Messier Objects - M65

Last Friday I had the opportunity to go to the observatory to attempt a few galaxies.  I found two in the constellation Leo.  Leo is famous for what is called the Leo Triplet.  The Leo Triplet consists of three galaxies located in a circle less than 45' in diameter.  The triplet is quite easy to find as it sits halfway between two naked eye stars -- Theta and Iota Leonis.

A pair of galaxies appeared in my eyepiece as faint patches of light spread out over several arcminutes.  There was a small noticeable asterism of stars in the centre of the view that looked like a checkmark.  I used those stars as a guide to identifying the two galaxies.  The long end of the checkmark pointed directly to M66.  Also, if you were to draw an imaginary line perpendicular to the shorter edge of the checkmark it would intersect M65.  My record of the observation is shown below.  I do not yet have an image for it as I am waiting for a clear night to attempt a long exposure photograph of the region.

M65 Observation Record

Messier 65 is a spiral galaxy located approximately 35 million light years away from us.  An interesting fact is one of the stars in the galaxy went supernova in 2013.  It was bright enough to be imaged by amateur astronomers.

I hope to have an opportunity to photograph some galaxies this year.  I will need to setup and learn how to use the autoguider.  The telescope will also need to be very accurately polar aligned.  In order to get a good image several different types of exposures are required.  Along with the raw image I will need raw dark frames, bias frames and flat frames.  I hope to use this blog to keep a journal of all the steps I take to get a good picture that I can refer back to.

Until I have my own picture see an image below with the associated image credit.

Messier 65 (Image credit: ESO/INAF-VST/OmegaCAM. Ack: OmegaCen/Astro-WISE/Kapteyn Institute)

With 10cm of snow on the way this evening and a cold rainy Spring in the forecast, there may not be ample opportunity for observing.  Hopefully the weather improves for the open house at the Rothney Astrophysical Observatory this Saturday!

Explore the Universe - 17 Comae Berenices

A double star that has eluded me for awhile is 17 Comae Berenices.  This pair of stars does not even have a Bayer classification with a Greek letter, however it does have a Flamsteed number of 17.  The pair of stars are located in the Coma Star Cluster.  I highlighted this pair from the photograph I took last week of the entire cluster.  The link below will take you to my blog post.

http://simonjastronomy.blogspot.com/2017/04/explore-universe-coma-star-cluster.html

I utilized the dark skies at the observatory to better enable a successful observation.  I used Beta and Delta Leonis as a guide to find Gamma Comae Berenices.  If you take Beta and Delta Leonis and draw an imaginary perpendicular line away from Beta Leonis it will lead straight to Gamma Comae Berenices.  If you have your telescope on Gamma Comae Berenices it is just the matter of lowering the view into the Coma Star Cluster to find the pair 17 Comae Berenices.

I observed a pair of blue stars separated by no more than a few arcminutes.  I took a quick sketch of the view into my log book.  Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my chair to the observatory so, for the first time, I had to try sketching while standing.  This experience taught me to remember a chair.  I then further translated my sketch into a powerpoint slide shown below.

17 Comae Berenices Observation Record

The seeing was not judged to be good Friday night just by looking at Jupiter being distorted significantly by the atmosphere.  However, for wide double stars this is not too much of a problem.  If I were trying to split the component stars of Epislon Lyrae it would likely have caused trouble.

There are not really any special stories about this double star unfortunately.  A galaxy lies just to the East, NGC 4494 and the more famous Needle Galaxy NGC 4565 lies a mere 1° further.  At some point when I get the hang of autoguiding I may come back to this area of the sky.

I have added a few events to the Facebook page if you are interested in public viewing.  Check them out below and attend if you have the time, they are well worth it!

https://www.facebook.com/events/275898642862690/

https://www.facebook.com/events/414835662224816/

NOVA Summary: April 2017

Last evening at the observatory was amazing.  The sky had cleared by 3pm and we knew we were in for some relatively decent skies.  We arrived around 8pm and setup our telescope.  The lesson for the month was on selecting a good star atlas based on your viewing preferences.  We also learned about various software that can be used to map the sky and even control your telescope.  A list of atlases that are easy to obtain are shown below.  They are ordered by how deep they go in magnitude with the deepest shown last.  I have Nightwatch, the Pocket Sky Atlas and Uranometria (excellent birthday present).  Nightwatch is great for beginners and children as it essentially encompasses what you can see with your naked eye.  The Pocket Sky Atlas is perfect for intermediate observers looking for deep sky objects and double stars.  Those two both have constellation lines drawn to enable a more beginner friendly study of the sky.  Uranometria is my go to reference if I am looking for something deep in the sky as it is incredibly detailed.  Since it is such a large topic, I will write another blog entry on free software you can use to map the sky at a later date.

Nightwatch

Cambridge Star Atlas

Pocket Sky Atlas

Uranometria 2000.0

Setting up for a night of astronomy

We went outside around 9:15pm and started looking at some easy targets.  It had become more cloudy so most of us just observed Jupiter for awhile.  Ganymede was just finishing its transit across the face of the large planet and we could still see its shadow.  It was not too long until the clouds dispersed and we had the whole sky to select targets.  I quickly found 17 Comae Berenices, a double star that had been eluding me under urban light pollution.

I then turned my attention to finding some galaxies in Leo and Virgo.  I was able to find the Leo Triplet quite easily between Theta and Iota Leonis.  I immediately noticed the two brighter members M65 and M66.  Messier 66 was seen at the end of a 'checkmark' pattern of stars in its vicinity.  Messier 65 could be seen if you drew and imaginary perpendicular line to the line connecting the small edge of the checkmark pattern.  I was too excited at the prospect of finding a couple galaxies that I did not take the time to find the third, fainter galaxy NGC 3628.  When the sky becomes clear and the weather improves I hope to take some images of this beautiful sight.

I also took some time looking at galaxies in Virgo.  They were quite easy to see but difficult to identify.  There are many forming what is known as the Virgo Cluster.  I had several galaxies in my eyepiece at once but no idea which ones I was looking at.  I will study a map of the region and plot out a course to hop between galaxies in order to identify them next time.

Also, as I was looking for another double star in Coma Berenices I saw my first globular cluster of 2017 -- Messier 53.  It looked like a tight ball of stars sitting right next to Alpha Comae Berenices.

At 10:55pm the aurora came in very strong.  We saw green lights dancing across the sky all across the North.  At times, the aurora stretched all the way to the southern horizon forming what seemed like a 180° arc from North to South.  This is a sight I will not soon forget.  Some images of the aurora are shown below.

Aurora over the Wilson Coulee Observatory

Green and Blue Aurora over the Wilson Coulee Observatory

If anyone would like to join me at one of these NOVA meetings please do not hesitate to contact me.  Next month will be the last meeting until September and if the sky is clear the Virgo cluster will be the prime target for most people!

2017 Week 17: (April 23-29)

The following week does not have anything too exciting in the sky.  Venus, now in the morning sky, will be close to the Moon on Sunday morning.  You will be able to see it in the same binocular field with most average sized binoculars.   The chart below shows the few events occurring throughout next week.

Date	Event
Apr 23	Venus 5°N of Moon
Apr 26	New Moon
Apr 28	Aldebaran 0.5°S of Moon

The Moon starts a new lunar cycle on Wednesday and by the end of the week you will be able to see a beautiful thin crescent on the western horizon.  This begins a new round of trying to pick out impact craters as the terminator slowly makes its way across the face of the Moon.  Also by Friday, Aldebaran will be nearly occulted by the Moon as the two objects will almost seem to converge.  If you live in eastern Canada you will actually be able to see the occultation!

Jupiter is probably the best thing in the sky this month as it lights up the southern sky in the constellation Virgo.  I'm hoping for a clear sky on an evening the Great Red Spot is facing the Earth to snap a picture!

The peak of the Lyrid meteor shower occurs on the Saturday preceding this week and you may be able to catch a few for a few days after.  Look straight above your head around 4:30 in the morning toward the constellation Lyra for a chance to glimpse some meteors.

Last night I gave a quick preview presentation on the Explore the Universe certificate at the general RASC meeting for Calgary Centre.  If you would like to view the powerpoint presentation please click the image below.

Explore the Universe Preview

Tonight will be an evening at the observatory and if the sky remains clear I would like to spend my time learning more about Virgo and the Virgo Cluster of galaxies.

Explore the Universe - Jupiter

A portion of the Explore the Universe certification that I have not really discussed yet is on the Solar System.  All of the planets (except Earth) are on the list to observe.  The easiest are certainly Venus, Jupiter and Saturn.  Mercury and Mars are particularly easy as well depending on the time of year.

Jupiter has many mythological connections being that he is the Roman king of the gods in their pantheon.  I will not go into any mythological details since it would comprise a multi-year blog specifically dedicated to Jupiter alone.  Suffice it to say Jupiter to the Romans is essentially Zeus to the Greeks.  His wife was named Juno and she was always spying on her husband because of his infidelities.  This is why the probe sent to the planet Jupiter had the name Juno.

Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system.  It is a gas giant comprised mainly of Hydrogen and Helium.  It is only a thousandth the mass of the Sun but more that two times the mass of all the other planets combined.  Jupiter takes nearly 12 years to orbit the sun but only 9 hours to rotate on its axis.  This means that a solar day on Jupiter is only 9 hours long.  This means that Jupiter has more than 10,000 days in one of its own years.  Could you image a year with 10,000 days!?

There is so much that can be said about our largest planet but I want to keep this entry brief.  If you would like to see some pictures from the Juno space probe please see the NASA link below.

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/juno/images/index.html

I have observed Jupiter through a telescope many times.  It went away throughout the Winter as it moved into conjunction with the Sun but it is now back for Spring.  I made my official observation on April 3, 2017, 4 days before opposition.  Even though I had seen it many times it still makes for a spectacular sight.  The four Galilean moons shine very brightly.  I decided to try and capture an image of Jupiter using a high frame rate video camera.  These cameras are useful since they can capture several hundreds frames per second.  The frames with poor atmospheric distortions are removed and the remaining 'good' frames are stacked into a decent image.  The image below is my first attempt at capturing Jupiter.  Unfortunately the red spot was on the other side at the time.

Jupiter

Stay tuned to our Weekly Updates to know where you can see the planets in all their glory!

Enjoy the sky when it is free from clouds, and try to find our planetary neighbours!

Explore the Universe - Coma Star Cluster

When I was comet searching for 45P down at the observatory this past February 2017 my telescope kept running over a loose collection of relatively bright stars.  This turned out to be what is known as the Coma Star Cluster.  It finds itself on a catalogue known as the Melotte Catalogue of Star Clusters.

In the early 20th century a British astronomer named John Franklin-Adams started to photographically chart the skies.  Based on his work, a photographic atlas of the night sky was published in 1914 shortly after his death.  Another British astronomer named Philbert Jacques Melotte analysed the Franklin-Adams plates and took note of the star clusters.  He subsequently published a catalogue of 245 objects which has become known as the Melotte Catalogue of Star Clusters.

You can find it between Boötes and Leo in the diminutive constellation of Coma Berenices.  The map to this location is shown below.

Map to Coma Star Cluster

The Coma Star Cluster is not on the Messier list nor is it a part of the New General Catalogue but it is object 111 in the Melotte Catalogue.  It is located in the lesser known constellation of Coma Berenices which sits just North of Virgo near the tail star of Leo (Denebola).

Coma Star Cluster

The cluster itself is about 5°-7.5° in size and will only fit in a set of small binoculars with a wide field of view.  My moderate sized binoculars only fit approximately half of the cluster at one time.  There is a double star sitting in the middle of the cluster that is represented on the Explore the Universe certification.  It is quite an insignificant pair of stars without a Bayer number.  It is merely known as 17 Comae Berenices and is circled below.  I hope to frame it in a telescope eyepiece the next time there is a clear night.

Well, the weather continues to be frightful for astronomy this month.  It seems as though there are only 1 or 2 good observing nights each month!  I look forward to some clear skies the next few weeks so I can check off some items for the certification!

Explore the Universe - Hyades

A lot of people are familiar with the Pleiades star cluster and overlook the Hyades cluster nearby.  It is nearly 6° in size and comprises a large portion of the head of Taurus.  If you look toward the eye of Taurus, Aldebaran, you will see a bunch of stars around it.  This is the Hyades.  Although Aldebaran seems to be a part of the Hyades it is actually not associated with it gravitationally.  Aldebaran is coincidentally in the same line of sight to the large open cluster.  The age and motion of the Hyades is actually related to M44 -- The Beehive Cluster which likely indicates a common origin.

Mythologically, the brightest stars of the Hyades are known as half-sisters to the Pleiades being the daughters of Atlas.  Their brother Hyas was killed in a hunting accident which caused them great grief.  They were placed in the sky to share their grief with humanity as their placement in the sky would indicate April rain showers.

Hyades

In order to properly see the Hyades in one field of view you will need to use a small pair of binoculars.  Another way of viewing them is to use a somewhat wide angle lens on a camera and photographing the cluster.  Although it may not be as great a visual treat than the Pleiades it still holds a special wonder.

Hyades Observation Record

The next time you are out in the Winter sky, see if you can point out the Hyades right above!

2017 Week 16: (April 16-22)

There will be a few conjunctions throughout the week and Mercury will be sitting right in front of the sun on its way to be in the morning sky.  The big event for the week will be the peak of the Lyrid Meteor Shower on Saturday, April 22.

Date	Event
Apr 16	Saturn 3°S of Moon
Apr 19	Last Quarter
Apr 20	Mercury at inferior conjunction
Apr 22	Lyrid meteor peak
Apr 22	Neptune 0.2°N of Moon
Apr 22	Venus 5°N of Moon

On April 20 Mercury will be at inferior conjunction.  This means it will be have the same right ascension as the Sun.  Mercury will then be able to be seen in the morning sky as it progresses towards its greatest elongation West on May 17.

The Moon will be sitting at Last Quarter on the 19th for those who wake up before the Sun.  I am missing a waning gibbous Moon picture and hope to grab one in the next few days if the weather permits.  I am still a little miffed that the Full Moon was covered by clouds several nights ago.

Last Quarter Moon, March 20, 2017

The Lyrids make their annual return and your best bet to witness them will be the predawn morning of April 22.  Around 5am look pretty much right about your head.  On average 10-15 meteors per hour will seem to come from a location directly overhead.

Jupiter is in a great location for viewing.  It rises a little before 7:30 in the evening and will be visible throughout the night.  Just look for a bright object slowly transiting the sky across the South.  If you have the opportunity take a look at it through binoculars to see if you can see the 4 Galilean Moons circling the big planet.  In May there will be 7 opportunities to see a double shadow transit of a couple of the Moons across the face of Jupiter.  I hope to host an event during one of these that coincides with a Great Red Spot transit.  All that is required is the weather to cooperate!

Saturn is still a late night/early morning planet as it rises around 1:45am.  Soon, however, it will rise at a decent hour for viewing and imaging.  Our friends Uranus and Neptune will pull their way into the normal evening sky in a few months!  My search for Triton, Neptune's largest Moon, will continue!

There will be an astronomy event taking place on April 20 at 7:30pm at the Kerby Centre Gymnasium.  The monthly meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Calgary Centre will take place.  There will be a presentation on using the stars during the Cold War years.  After the presentation I will have a brief opportunity to discuss the observing I have done over the last year!  See the Facebook Page for more details!

Explore the Universe - Lunar Basins/Maria

The Moon is always an interesting object to look at in the night sky.  It goes through different phases and gives you a different perspective each day.  If you look at the Moon with your naked eye you will notice dark patches scattered across the face of it.  These are known as 'maria', the Latin word for 'seas'.

The maria likely formed several billion years ago when the Solar System was still in its turbulent formative years.  Large meteors impacted the surface of the Moon, potentially causing it to crack open in isolated areas.  This allowed hot magma to bubble up from below filling these impact zones with volcanic basalt that tends to be much darker.  For a video of the Moon's evolution please see the link below.

Evolution of the Moon

The image below shows a picture I took of the moon on May 10, 2017.  The prominent maria required for the Explore the Universe certification are labelled below.  Two of the impact basins highlighted are not called maria.  Oceanus Procellarum is so large it is referred to as an ocean.  It also may be the largest impact crater in the Solar System.  Sinus Iridum -- The Bay of Rainbows, is an offshoot of the larger Mare Imbrium.

Lunar Basins/Maria Observation Record

With a few exceptions the maria on the Moon are poetically named after states of weather.  The list below translates the above maria names into English for your reference.

Basin	Translation
Mare Crisium	Sea of Crises
Mare Fecunditatis	Sea of Fertility
Mare Tranquilitatis	Sea of Tranquility
Mare Nectatis	Sea of Nectar
Mare Frigoris	Sea of Cold
Mare Serenitatis	Sea of Serenity
Mare Imbrium	Sea of Showers
Sinus Iridum	Bay of Rainbows
Mare Vaporum	Sea of Vapors
Oceanus Procellarum	Ocean of Storms
Mare Nubium	Sea of Clouds
Mare Humorum	Sea of Moisture

At some point I will discuss each individual basin in separate blog posts.  There is a more formal observing program specifically for the Moon that I intend to work on after the Explore the Universe certification.

Explore the Universe - M44

There is a fairly bright Messier object located in the constellation of Cancer.  Messier 44 is located approximately halfway between Delta and Gamma Cancri.  Epislon Cancri actually forms part of M44.  Some people may have heard the more common name of M44 as the Beehive Cluster.

The Beehive Cluster essentially forms the heart of the crab asterism formed by the stars in Cancer.  The Romans called the open cluster Praesepe which means 'manger'.  It was thought that Delta and Gamma Cancri were two donkeys eating out of a manger (M44).  What is remarkable about the object is that it outshines most of the stars in its own constellation.  On occasion I have seen M44 prior to any other stars in Cancer.

Observing the cluster with a telescope can sometimes be challenging.  The cluster has an angular diameter of about 95' which is larger than the field of view of a medium-high power telescope with a basic eyepiece set.  Up until recently the widest field of view I could achieve in a telescope was 62.5'.  I recently added a wide field eyepiece to my collection which allows a field of view of 132'.  If you have a telescope with a shorter focal length it is much easier to achieve a wider field of view with a larger array of eyepieces.  This makes the cluster a prime object for binocular astronomy since the average set of binoculars gives you a field of view around 5° or 300'.  This will allow most wide field sky objects to be seen all at once.  However, there are a few exceptions.  Objects like the Coma Star Cluster pose some difficulty and require small wide field binoculars to fully view.

To find M44 I started at the triplet of bright stars forming the head of Hydra.  I moved my telescope upwards and found M67 and made a record.  I then continued upward and found the two donkeys feeding at the manger.  It did not fit into my 25mm plossl eyepiece so I switched to my 41mm Panoptic.  The view was amazing.  I could see hundreds of stars.

The observation record is shown below.

M44 Observation Record

I tried to image the cluster but had little success as the field of view produced by my telescope could only catch a partial view.  Until I learn how to stitch images together or use a shorter focal length scope I won't have a great image.  I may try to image the cluster with just a bare zoom lens on the camera.  The Moon has an angular diameter of about 30' so I have some optimism about the outcome with a 95' cluster.  The image below is approximately the central region of the cluster.

M44

Explore the Universe - Mu Boötis

A multiple star system I observed on April 6, 2017 was Mu Boötis.  It is actually a triple star system with the two bright stars separated by 108" and μ₂ Boötis separated from its component star by a mere 2.2".  The seeing was not good enough for me to resolve the two members stars of μ₂ Boötis but I hope to have the chance again.  The separation is comparable to the separation of the famous double double in Lyra so I know it is achievable from the backyard.

Unfortunately I do not know how to make double stars more exciting to read about, but I can try.  The star system's original name is Alkalurops but that designation has since been switched to only μ₁ Boötis.  Kalurops is the Greek word for 'herdsman's crook' and the Al is just the Arabic prefix meaning 'the'.  This makes sense since Boötes is the constellation representing the herdsman.  His left hand is holding a leash and his right hand the crook.

Since it is a relatively dim star it was more difficult to find with the telescope.  I placed my red dot finder about a third of the way between Delta and Beta Boötis and moved the telescope slightly northeast about the same distance.  After a few false starts I matched Mu Boötis to the surrounding background stars in my star atlas.  The record below outlines what I observed.

Mu Boötis Observation Record

Alkalurops is also a two-handed conjurer's weapon in Final Fantasy XIV that looks similar to a herdman's crook.  As I said I am trying to make multiple star systems seem more interesting, I didn't say I'd do it successfully.

Explore the Universe - Zeta Ursae Majoris/80 Ursae Majoris

Last Thursday the sky cleared later in the evening and I had the opportunity to check out some double stars after 11pm.  One of the most famous multiple star systems is Mizar (Zeta Ursae Majoris) and Alcor (80 Ursae Majoris).  These two naked eye stars form the second 'star' in the handle of the Big Dipper.  With decent eyesight you can resolve the separation between the stars with just your eyes.  The next time you look at the Big Dipper look at the second star and see if you can see two.

The names of Mizar and Alcor derive from Arabic with Mizar meaning wrapping or covering and Alcor meaning the neglected one.

There is a Latin saying "Vidit Alcor, at non lunam plenam" which is translated as he saw Alcor, but not the Full Moon.  This is someone who frets over minuscule details but misses the big picture.

Through a telescope Mizar will appear as two visual stars separated by approximately 15".  There has been recent research (2009) that indicates these stars form a sextuple star system with each visual star having a spectroscopic binary.  When I first learned about these stars as a child they were always referred to as an optical double: not gravitationally linked but coincidentally in a common line of sight.  The observing record of this system is shown below.

Zeta Ursae Majoris / 80 Ursae Majoris Observation Record

Tomorrow evening the Moon will be full.  This is the best opportunity to see the ejecta lines from ancient impacts that created the craters.  Any pair of binoculars will show these violent scars across the surface of the Moon.  Stay tuned for more events this month with another open house at the Rothney Astrophysical Observatory!

Explore the Universe - Boötes

Boötes is a constellation in the northern celestial hemisphere that contains some very bright stars.  The alpha star in the constellation is called Arcturus and it is the fourth brightest star in the sky.  Boötes is pronounced 'Boe-Oh-Teez' and represents the herdsman.

There are many myths associated with Boötes.  It is variously known as a herdsman, plowman, ox-driver or hunter.  Due to its proximity next to Ursa Major a lot of the history behind the constellation is related to its more famous neighbour.  Ursa Major was once known as a cart or wain that was considered to be driven by Boötes.  Also, the Big Dipper is still called the plow in many places around the world with Boötes being the chief plowman of the sky.

Recalling the myth associated with Canis Minor we have a grape farmer named Icarius.  He made an extremely strong wine that made people seem like they were poisoned after they drank it.  The shepherds killed Icarius to avenge their fellowmen.  Zeus honored the humble farmer by placing him in the sky.

The constellation has a history told by historic North American tribes.  The native people of central Alaska called it Taluyaq which means 'fish trap'.

Boötes Observation Record

When I first started out in astronomy I always liked this constellation.  Arcturus was the first star I would typically see after the sun went down.  This triggered me to setup the telescope to learn more about the sky.  Also, with so many bright stars the constellation tends to be light pollution friendly and picked out by casual urban stargazers.  Boötes does not contain any Messier objects but it does contain a variety of meteor showers.  The most famous shower is the Quadrantids.  These occur during the first few days of the calendar year and at their peak can have more than 100 per hour radiating from Kappa Boötes.

2017 Week 15: (April 9-15)

It is Week 15 in 2017 and there are some great things to see in the sky!  Jupiter just recently reached opposition on April 7, 2017 and will not again until May of 2018.  Take the time to see Jupiter in our southern sky throughout the month of April.  It will be very close to practically Full Moon this upcoming Monday!  The chart below highlights the astronomical events for the week.

Date	Event
Apr 9	Mercury stationary
Apr 10	Jupiter 2°S of Moon
Apr 11	Full Moon
Apr 12	Venus stationary
Apr 14	Uranus in conjunction with Sun

Also if you have not had the opportunity to witness Mercury your time is running out.  It will be at inferior conjunction with the Sun on April 20.  It is currently racing toward the twilight, you may only have a couple more days to see it set shortly after the Sun on the western horizon.

The Moon will be full just after midnight on April 11 so hope for no clouds to see it.  If you suffer from insomnia perhaps wish for clouds to block out the extra overnight light.  I am hoping to image the Full Moon this cycle as the previous months it has been quite cloudy at that time.  The Full Moon offers the best chance to see all the maria and ejecta lines scattered throughout our nearest celestial neighbour.  Look especially near the bottom of the Moon for the famous crater Tycho.  The ejecta lines from this crater seem to spread across the entire face of the Moon.

With Jupiter being near opposition I am  hoping to take some pictures and catch the Great Red Spot when it faces us the evening of April 9 and 11.  The image below is my first real attempt at imaging the Solar System's largest planet, unfortunately the Great Red Spot was on the far side.  Jupiter rotates about once every 10 hours, meaning days on the planet are only that long.  I find it amazing that an object so large rotates that quickly.

Jupiter

The week after this there will be an annual meteor shower known as the Lyrids, stay tuned for more information!

Messier Objects - M67

Monday evening was an exceptionally clear night and I was able to do a lot of personal observing.  There were two deep sky objects in Cancer that I wanted to check off my list before the constellation sunk into the twilight.  I also personally dislike the constellation due to its fairly dim stars and wanted to be finished with it.  Messier 67 was the first deep sky object I found.

Messier 67 is an open cluster that sits less than 2° West of Alpha Cancri.  Unfortunately Alpha Cancri was not readily visible to the naked eye due to the urban light pollution we are familiar with in Calgary.  I started with the naked eye stars ζ, ε and δ Hydrae that form the head of Hydra.  Alpha Cancri and M67 are located just over 5° North of these stars.  I used the red dot finder to center ε Hydrae in the 25mm telescope eyepiece and slowly moved my view North.  Almost immediately an open cluster of stars appeared.  I checked the surrounding area and determined I had indeed found M67.  It was a beautiful open cluster that must have contained a few hundred stars.  I measured the size of it to be approximately 25' which is slightly smaller than the accepted value of 30'.  After I found the cluster I took the opportunity to take an image which is shown below.

Messier 67

I was glad this cluster was easy to find as it is the dimmer of the two Messier objects in Cancer.  The Beehive Cluster (Messier 44) is much brighter and even outshines most of the stars in the constellation.  An observing record of M67 is provided below.

M67 Observation Record

The sky looks somewhat clear this evening and I hope to take the opportunity to find a few double stars that are on the Explore the Universe List.  Jupiter will be at its biggest and brightest tomorrow so be sure to look toward the southeast to see it light up the sky.  Hopefully the sporadic showers in the forecast don't cloud the sky over next week!

Explore the Universe - Ursa Major

I like searching out constellations as it can be done with a simple pair of binoculars.  As with all constellation maps I limited my search to the Bayer classified stars.  However, in the case of Ursa Major I included 23 UMa to keep the familiar pattern of a large bear.

Ursa Major is probably one of the most well known constellations in the entire sky.  It is the third largest constellation and contains familiar asterisms.  The Big Dipper is almost universally known throughout the world.  Seven bright stars form the pattern of a ladle or plow with the two end stars pointing to the North Star, Polaris.  Another lesser known asterism is the Three Leaps of the Gazelle.  There are three pairs of bright stars throughout the bottom portion of the constellation that form the two feet and paw of the bear.  In the Arab world these pairs represent a gazelle leaping from spot to spot.  See if you can see this the next time you are out and want to point out something other than the Big Dipper.

The bear has been associated with Ursa Major since the Paleolithic age through oral tradition.  There is an interesting Roman myth associated with Ursa Major.  Jupiter transgresses his vows to his wife Juno with a young woman named Callisto.  His wife Juno discovers this affair and their love child Arcas.  In her wrath she transforms Callisto into a giant bear.  While out hunting, her son Arcas, unaware of her new identity, tries to shoot her with an arrow.  Jupiter protects her by turning Arcas into a bear and placing them in the sky as Ursa Major and Ursa Minor.

The bear myth runs throughout Native American Iroquois tradition.  They believe the first three stars in the 'handle' of the Big Dipper are hunters out to catch the big bear.  The first star (hunter) carries a bow in order to take down the bear.  The second star (hunter) carries a giant pot (represented as the optical double star Alcor) to cook the bear.  The third star (hunter) carries the firewood in order to cook their meal.

It is also believed that verse 9:9 and 38:32 of Job in the Old Testament refers to Ursa Major.  In the original Hebrew, the word is 'Ayish which means a wain, wagon or cart.  The Big Dipper has also been referred to as Charles' Wain and was translated as 'Arcturus' in the Bible.

The observation mapping is shown below.

Ursa Major Observation Record

If you are outside in the evening look for the Big Dipper.  Also, take the time to look for the entire image of the bear and you'll be surprised how large it actually is!

Explore the Universe - Aristoteles

During the time around the Moon's first quarter there are amazing craters to see!  During the Spring of 2017 I was able to grab a few photographs of a great looking crater known as Aristoteles.

First Quarter

Observing the Moon is quite fun, you can see many different things without too much optical aid.  I decided to look in the northern region at about 17°E to the crater Aristoteles.  The terminator had passed through the crater a few days before but it still looked decent.

Aristoteles

I noticed two prominent mountains near the center of the crater with a few smaller scattered mountains.  The walls were evidently terraced around the full circumference.  I noticed that Aristoteles interrupts the smaller crater Mitchell on its western side.  Mitchell, about a third of the size, is partially filled by the ejecta from the impact that created the younger Aristoteles.

Aristoteles Wide Field

The region around Aristoteles was interesting.  Eudoxus is a prominent crater just to the South and the complex Bürg was found just to the East with a very obvious mountain in the middle.  Vallis Alpes "Alpine Valley" was noticeable just to the West running from Mare Imbrium "Sea of Rains" towards Mare Frigoris "Sea of Cold".

Aristoteles is 87 km in diameter and is located in Mare Frigoris.  Mare Frigoris is a large lunar sea that stretches along the northern reaches of the Moon.

To photograph the crater I used a high frame rate video camera to capture a couple thousand frames.  I then stacked 20% of the best frames in a stacking program and processed the final image.

I hope you have a chance to look at the Moon at first quarter through binoculars or a telescope sometime soon!

Explore the Universe - Sunspots

Yesterday afternoon I had the opportunity to take a look at some large regions of sunspots.  We are heading toward a solar minimum in the current cycle so sunspots won't be as frequent.  This also means that flares will occur less often and be less intense.  The aurora won't extend to southern areas as much and will mainly be observable nearer the polar regions.

Sunspots are areas on the Sun of lower temperature caused by an increase in magnetic field concentration.  They appear as darker regions when viewed through a telescope with a proper filter.  Some sunspots can grow so large they can be viewed with the naked eye using proper eye protection.

An observation for the solar system category in the Explore the Universe certification is sunspots.  I used an external webpage to determine the current view of the Sun before taking out the telescope.  Spaceweatherlive.com is a great resource for all things solar.  Below is a link to the sunspot regions currently present on the Sun.

https://www.spaceweatherlive.com/en/solar-activity/sunspot-regions

After determining the size and number of spots I took the time to photograph the Sun through the telescope with a proper filter.

Sunspots

Unfortunately it was slightly cloudy at the time but the sunspots still stood out.  A complete record of my observation is shown below with an image of what was expected.

Sunspot Observation Record

Last night I was also able to have the opportunity to volunteer at the Fish Creek Star Night.  More than 600 members of the public attended to take in presentations, guided walks, environmental education and sights in the sky.

Fish Creek Star Night

The first hour and a half was dedicated to observing the Moon since it was too light to see anything else.  When the Sun started to set I moved my telescope onto the Orion Nebula.  A lot of people loved this sight.  It really is beautiful.  When the nebula fell below the roof of the building I immediately switched to the familiar M35 open cluster at the foot of Gemini.

By the time a few hundred people had a chance to witness the cluster I moved over to Mizar and Alcor.  These stars are an optical double forming the second star in the handle of the Big Dipper.  Through a telescope you can see that Mizar itself has a visible companion separated by 14 arcseconds.  Research done in 2009 indicates Mizar and Alcor could be gravitationally tethered to each other.

The last sight of the evening was Jupiter which was just rising in the southeast.  All four Galilean moons were visible and it marked the first time many had seen the planet through a telescope.

This week should be fairly clear for some good sights.  The first quarter moon will be up in the sky tomorrow and I hope to get an image to add to my Moon Phase observations.  Also, comet 41P will be next to Alpha Draconis this evening and about 2° away tomorrow evening.