2021 Week 12: (March 21-March 27)

This week in the sky we will have the Moon at its first quarter phase which will showcase some amazing lunar features on the terminator. As the week progresses the Moon will progress to its full phase by Sunday. I have had the opportunity to get outside and see Mars in the northern parts of Taurus and about 7° away from a similar looking Aldebaran, the angry red eye of the bull. Venus will reach superior conjunction, far from the Earth, on March 26 and will progress towards our evening skies in the following months.

It is a good time to get outside and view some of the winter Messier objects before they drop below the horizon at sunset. Orion still rules the southwestern sky but not for long. The Orion nebula is still a very attractive sight in any set of binoculars or a telescope. If you want to catch M79, the globular cluster in the south edge of Lepus you're going to watch to do it soon. The same would apply to objects in Canis Major and Puppis.

Orion Nebula (Image Credit: George Cavanaugh: https://www.imagingstarlight.ca/)

With the winter of 2021 making its hasty retreat the spring constellations are starting to appear. The Beehive Cluster in Cancer was a beautiful sight in my telescope this past weekend. I forgot how bright it was! Just aim your telescope or binoculars to the northwest of Delta Cancri, a magnitude 3.94 star barely visible in urban light pollution. Following the crab is Leo the lion with its bright stars showcased in the southeast sky. I've tried several times to capture the galaxies found within but have had no luck. I will need to get out to a darker site to pull these faint objects in. This brings me to Virgo, the constellation following the lion. Virgo and neighbouring Coma Berenices contain the Virgo Cluster which has 16 Messier members. I have yet to spend time with my telescope in this area but hope to in April.

If you are looking to get involved in a hobby that you can safely do in your backyard during a pandemic please consider astronomy. It is a great pastime that will awaken a sense of wonder each and every night. If you'd like to join a society of amateur and professional astronomers who are waiting to help you check out the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada: https://www.rasc.ca/join

Keep looking up at the night sky!

2021 Week 11: (March 14-March 20)

The weather is warming up and the spring constellations are starting to creep into the late evening sky. I had the opportunity to see Leo crawl in from the southeast toward the south last night. I hope to be able to get outside of the city's light pollution to catch some of the great galaxies the lion sits on.

Leo

This upcoming Saturday, on the 20th, will be the Spring Equinox and the Sun's disk will be, once again, above the northern hemisphere. The days will be longer than the nights so astronomers will have to stay up later each night to enjoy the same dark skies as they had during the winter. On the equinox true night, where the Sun is more than 18° below the horizon will begin at about 9:45pm and last until 5:45am. This is true for Calgary and our friends who hang around the 51° line of latitude.

As the Sun goes down on the evening of March 16 take the opportunity to put it in binoculars. You may see Uranus within the same binocular field just above the crescent lunar neighbour. Three nights later you will see our Moon pair up with Mars within the same binocular field. Poor Mars though has dimmed to magnitude 1.2 and is a measly 5.8 arcseconds in diameter. This pales in comparison to the last opposition in October when it was more than 20 arcseconds in diameter and shined brighter than magnitude -2.5.

This Thursday do not miss this free online presentation on uncovering the origin of highest-energy cosmic rays. Everyone can sign up! Use the link below and we hope to see you there!

Uncovering the Origin of Highest-Energy Cosmic Rays

Also, if you have any youth members who are interested in learning more about astronomy, the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada hosts classes in partnership with the Calgary Public Library. This classes are an hour long and take place every Saturday morning. If you'd like to search out some of the upcoming classes use the link below.

https://calgarylibrary.ca/events-and-programs/programs?query=rasc

2021 Week 10: (March 7-March 13)

This week those who follow Daylight Savings Time will have to set their clocks forward an hour and we all lose an hour of sleep. As for the sky, Neptune will be in conjunction with the Sun and won't be visible in the morning sky until sometime in April. Our furthest planet still sits in Aquarius where it will be until 2023 when it moves into Pisces. Neptune takes 165 years to orbit our Sun and spends, on average, more than ten years in each Zodiac constellation.

Daylight Savings Time Begins

The Moon will reach its new phase very early Saturday morning. This will be a good chance to get out to a dark site to check out the sky without the Moon's brightness polluting the night. The nights are getting warmer as we approach the spring equinox the following week.

I am hoping to crack open my sky maps to create a path of least resistance for the Virgo galaxy cluster. There are many Messier objects found within that I have yet to observe. I am aiming for working on this region throughout April and May.

There is an amazing free online event taking place next week. Dr. David Kieda from the University of Utah will be giving a talk on "Uncovering the Origin of Highest-Energy Cosmic Rays". Dr. Kieda's work is with a ground based gamma-ray observatory and he will be sharing the research that has been done with this instrument. If you would like to sign up for this event please use the following link.

Uncovering the Origin of Highest-Energy Cosmic Rays

If you are interested in getting more involved in astronomy you can join the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada at the link below. You will be joining a society of professional and amateur astronomers who can help you observe the wonders of the night sky above!

https://www.rasc.ca/join

Never forget to keep looking up at the night sky!

2021 Week 9: (February 28-March 6)

This week the zodiacal light will be visible in the dusk twilight skies. This is sometimes referred to as a vertical twilight as it appears as a vertical column of light emanating from the horizon. This is caused by the Sun's light as it scattered by interplanetary dust along the ecliptic. The ecliptic is steep to the western horizon at this time of year for those at northern latitudes. You can see this phenomenon for yourself if you can find some very dark skies and watch the twilight skies after the Sun sets.

Zodiacal Light (Image Credit: Dalton Wilson)

The large asteroid known as Vesta will be at opposition on Thursday and will shine at magnitude 6.1. It is easily placed in the eastern region of the lion asterism of Leo. It will be just over a degree away from Theta Leonis and they can both fit in an average telescope field of view.

Vesta (Thursday, March 4, 2021)

The Moon will be at its last quarter phase on Friday evening well away from dark skies until it rises around 2am! The nest day Mercury will be at its greatest elongation west and make its best morning apparition for Southern Hemisphere observers. Saturn and Jupiter are still hanging close to the eastern horizon just before sunrise. The ecliptic is quite shallow during morning twilight at this time of year so it may be difficult to see. However, if you catch Jupiter on the morning of Friday March 5 you should be able to see Mercury less than a degree away. Use binoculars and look for the pairing. Just don't use your binoculars too close to sunrise as you do not want to risk harming your eyes.

2021 Week 8: (February 21-February 27)

The extremely cold weather has lifted from most of Canada which means we can get outside and look at the night sky in greater comfort. The Moon will be full on Saturday February 27 and will be sitting underneath the tail of Leo. Following Leo into the sky is Virgo with its many galaxies. I'm hoping to turn my telescope on this region of space to locate some of these as I check off my Messier list.

Full Moon

The large gas giants of our Solar System are still going to be quite hidden in the morning twilight as the angle of the ecliptic is quite shallow at dawn. Mercury, Venus and Neptune are all hanging out in this area too so if you want to look for planets you'll have to settle for Mars and Uranus. These two planets will be spending some time in Aries at the beginning of the week until Mars crosses over to Taurus on Tuesday. By the end of the week Mars will be in the same binocular field as the Pleiades Star Cluster. They'll be together for the better part of the week after making it a wonderful sight for observers and imagers.

The constellation Orion will be heading off into the western horizon after midnight marking another beautiful winter with this great collection of stars. If you want to catch the Messier objects in this area, including those in Lepus, Canis Major, and Puppis be sure to get on it right away.

Astronomy has been getting more popular as the pandemic drags on. People are interested in participating in hobbies that are universal but, at the same time, can be done from the backyard. CBC News recently discussed this phenomenon on their Alberta news on February 20, 2021. The last 3 minutes of the clip linked below discuss it.

https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1864177219959

CBC Alberta News

I hope you have the opportunity to get out under the night sky to check out the wonders of space. If you're looking for something to do during these pandemic months look no further than right above your head!

2021 Week 7: (February 14-February 20)

There is hope that Western Canada will come out of its polar vortex to allow astronomers outside without the freezing cold weather! The winter sky is quite beautiful!

One of my favourite winter constellations is Gemini. Its asterism represents two brothers from Greek and Roman mythology together in the sky holding hands. It is thought that H.A. Rey, author of Curious George, was the first to connect their hands in artistic impressions.

Gemini

You can find this wonderful region of space nearly right above your head in the mid-late evening (8pm-9pm local time). If you can locate Orion, just look a bit above his head and to the east. The twin stars should be unmissable! 

Gemini Map

Although one Messier object can be found within the borders of Gemini, it is a great one. Messier 35 is an open cluster that really pops into any binocular or telescope field of view. It sits just above the foot of Castor (the northern-most twin).

Another interesting thing about Gemini is that its brightest star, Pollux, forms part of the great Winter Hexagon asterism. Along with other bright star vertices, Capella, Aldebaran, Rigel, Sirius, and Procyon, a large hexagon fills the cold winter sky. This is in contrast to the Summer Triangle that reminds us of warmer times.

Winter Hexagon

Look for Gemini and see if you can connect the bright stars to form the Winter Hexagon. If you are feeling very ambitious, throw a pair of binoculars to your eyes and see if you can catch Messier 35 at the foot of Castor.

So, what else do we have going on in the sky this week?

Jupiter and Saturn are still kind of hanging out with our big light polluting, yet life giving star, the Sun. These large planets will start to emerge in the morning sky later in the month.

Uranus will be fairly close to the Moon during the night of February 17. Observers in the Eastern Hemisphere will be able to see them closer together in the sky. However, by the time the Sun sets, most of North America will be able to see our 7th planet less than 5° from the Moon. Find the Moon in your binoculars or telescope and scan west to see if you can find this lonely grey dot in the sky!

The very next night the Moon will be friends with Mars and they will be less than 4° apart in the night sky soon after sunset. You should still be to easily see Mars with the unaided eye at magnitude 0.8. It will be just as bright as the bright red eye of Taurus the Bull, Aldebaran.  

The next evening, on February 19, the Moon will be at its first quarter phase. This is an excellent time to crack out your low focal length eyepieces and see some great craters up close and personal!

How about astronomy events in the news?

Wow!

We have had two Mars missions enter orbit into our red neighbour. A mission from the United Arab Emirates called 'Hope' was inserted into orbit on Feburary 9, 2021. This is a first for the country and the first Arab mission to Mars. The future is amazing!

Mars (Image Credit: UAESA/MBRSC/LASP/EMM-EXI)

The very next day the Chinese mission, Tianwen-1 arrived and inserted itself into orbit.

Mars (Image Credit: China National Space Administration)

If this isn't enough, NASA is hoping to reach Mars and land on its surface this upcoming Thursday with its Perseverance Rover and Ingenuity helicopter.

The future of space exploration is extremely optimistic! Scientific discovery from a diverse array of countries and organizations will only serve to enhance our understanding of the Universe. The world is in this together!

If this isn't enough to get excited about we will be having a guest speaker giving a talk on the chemistry on planetary atmospheres. The first ever astrochemist to graduate from Chicago State University, Ashley Walker, will join us for a free, online lecture on February 18, 7:30pm MST. This event is open to EVERYONE. If you would like to sign up for this event please follow the link below. We hope to see you there!

https://www.meetup.com/The-Calgary-Astronomy-Meetup-Group/events/275832274/

How are you going to spend time with the night sky this week? I encourage you to brave the cold and take in the clear, crisp night sky!

2021 Week 6: (February 7-February 13)

This week most of Western Canada has been thrust into a deep freeze that is set to last for a couple weeks.  Once the snow goes away the cold Winter skies offer some of the clearest views of the heavens.  Mars still sits high in the sky, although a fraction of its brightness from last Summer.  It sits about as bright as the big red star of Orion, Betelgeuse.  Mars is currently in the constellation of Aries and, day by day, it makes its way to northern Taurus.  It will meet up with the Pleiades Star Cluster during the first week of March; be sure to dust off your binoculars!

On February 8, Mercury will be at inferior conjunction whereby it will be between the Earth and the Sun.  The next time us Northern Hemisphere residents will get a good chance to see it will be the middle of May when it sits above the western horizon after sunset.  As for the other unaided eye planets they are all sitting around our Sun and are too difficult to see.

The Moon will be at its new phase on February 11 and the Chinese New Year will begin the next day.  Happy New Year!  It will be the year of the Ox.

Happy New Year! (Image Credit: Shutterhshock)

Astrochemist Ashley Walker will be talking about planetary atmospheres and will highlight that of Saturn's moon Titan!  If you haven't already signed up for this free online event you must get on it!   This event will take place on February 18 at 7:30pm MST!  I hope to see you there!

https://www.meetup.com/The-Calgary-Astronomy-Meetup-Group/events/275832274/