2018 Week 9: (February 25-March 3)

We are nearing the end of February and will be a sixth of the way done with 2018.  This year has gone fast.  The weather has been quite poor for astronomy but hopefully we will be in for a good Spring!  There are a few things to catch in the sky this upcoming week as described in the chart below.

Date	Event
February 28	Regulus 0.9°S of Moon
March 1	Atlas V Launch of GOES-S
March 1	Full Moon

During the last hour of the month the bright star in Leo -- Regulus will be in close conjunction with the nearly Full Moon.  A map of this conjunction is shown below.  If you stick the Moon in a less than 1° field of view on your telescope you should be able to see both through your eyepiece.  Leo will be high in the southeast sky by 11:00pm MST.

Regulus/Moon Conjunction

If you would like more information about Leo follow the link below to my previous mapping of the constellation.

http://simonjastronomy.blogspot.com/2017/03/explore-universe-leo.html

The Moon will be Full in the sky the next evening.  During this cycle the Full Moon has moved far enough from perigee and will no longer be supermooning.

During the afternoon of March 1, 2018 the GOES-S weather satellite is due to launch on an Atlas V rocket.  The launch window is between 3:02-5:02pm.  If you have yet to catch a launch this year this one should be fun.

Atlas V

You can catch the launch live from the following webpage.

https://spaceflightnow.com/

There are a few more launches heading up into space this month including a crewed Soyuz heading to the International Space Station on March 21, one day after the Spring equinox.  It is amazing, Spring is almost here.

The weather this week is looking close to seasonal with temperatures straddling the freezing mark.  Hopefully this will give the deck a chance to dry off and allow a decent spot to put the telescope.  Spring is one of my favourite observing seasons as the Sun still goes down early and the weather is not as cold.  The Winter constellations will still be kicking around in the west and we will also be able to see some old favourites rise in the east.  Virgo and Libra will start to come into play around midnight.  This will be great as Jupiter is currently sitting in the scales!  I look forward to having planets in the sky once again.

2018 Week 8: (February 18-February 24)

It looks like it may be another snowy week here in Calgary with seasonal temperatures.  That is not too much of a problem because there isn't really anything exciting happening in the sky.  The chart below highlights this week.

Date	Event
February 21	Falcon 9 Launch
February 23	First Quarter
February 23	Aldebaran 0.2°S of Moon

The Moon will be at first quarter this upcoming Friday.  This is always a good chance to see excellent features on the Moon at a reasonable time in the evening.  Aldebaran in Taurus will be a mere 0.7°S of the Moon.  This conjunction will be good for people in the Eastern Hemisphere, but we will be able to find both objects within the same binocular field as the Sun sets.

First Quarter Moon

I've mentioned before that the First Quarter is my favourite phase of the Moon.  I've managed to take some great pictures of some craters at or near this phase.  Links to these are shown below.

http://simonjastronomy.blogspot.com/2017/05/explore-universe-tycho.html

http://simonjastronomy.blogspot.com/2017/05/explore-universe-clavius.html

http://simonjastronomy.blogspot.com/2017/05/explore-universe-plato.html

http://simonjastronomy.blogspot.com/2017/05/explore-universe-ptolemaeus.html

If you plan on staying in the house most of the week to avoid the weather you can catch the launch of a Falcon 9 rocket.  Although not as exciting as the Falcon Heavy it is still fun to watch.  It is currently planned to launch at 7:17am Calgary time on Wednesday, February 21.  As always, you can catch all space launches at the following webpage:

https://spaceflightnow.com/

Falcon 9 Launch

If the Moon is covered by clouds, just sit back and watch the Falcon 9 takeoff with the Paz satellite from Madrid, Spain.

Stay warm and hope for better skies!

2018 Week 7: (February 11-February 17)

We are in the middle of February and the weather is still quite cold.  We had a tremendous amount of snow throughout the week and there is nowhere to put my telescope!  The Moon will be starting a new lunar cycle and Mercury will be in superior conjunction with the Sun.  The chart below highlights the events of this week.

Date	Event
February 11	Saturn 2°S of Moon
February 15	New Moon
February 15	Partial Solar Eclipse
February 17	Mercury in superior conjunction

Although Mercury will be in superior conjunction with the Sun on the 17th it will start to appear in the evening sky by the end of February.  Throughout March, Mercury will be very well placed for evening observers in the Northern Hemisphere.  It was at this time last year I could see our smallest planet for several weeks with just my eye.

There will be a partial solar eclipse on the 15th of February.  This is not something to get excited about as it will only be visible in Antarctica and the southern third of South America.  For less than an hour the Moon will barely take a bite out (maximum 8%) of the Sun from Santiago, Chile.

A thin waning crescent Moon will appear very close to Saturn on Sunday morning.  The map below shows the southeastern sky a few minutes after 7am local time.  If you look carefully through binoculars you might see the Moon graze the naked eye star 21 Sgr.  The Moon and Saturn will both be in the same binocular field.  If the weather is good have a look!

Saturn/Moon Conjunction, February 11, 2018

The weather throughout the week is supposed to be close to seasonal.  The weather warms up, then dips, then warms up again.  Hopefully it will be enough to help clear the snow from my observation deck!  There is chance of some more snow but certainly nothing like we had during the previous week.

I would suggest looking for some of the Winter constellations before they are engulfed in the later setting Sun in the Spring.  Orion, Taurus and Gemini are all well worth looking at with the eye and through optical equipment.

I am looking forward to getting through the cold Winter months for some great Spring observing.  I have some new equipment to try out and don't want to freeze.  Also, stay tuned for another McKenzie Lake Star Night where there will be crafts and great observing in the sky!

2018 Week 6: (February 4-February 10)

Week six of the year and the flu is running through the family.  Hopefully everyone will be better by the end of the week.  The Moon is moving away from being full into its last quarter phase which means there will be some planetary conjunctions.  The table below highlights these events.

Date	Event
February 6	Falcon Heavy Launch
February 7	Last Quarter
February 7	Jupiter 4°S of Moon
February 8	Mars 4°S of Moon
February 9	Vesta 0.9°N of Moon

The weather is anticipated to be very poor until at least the end of the week.  It should clear up and be much better by my birthday!  However, there is something we can watch from any computer.  The Falcon Heavy is scheduled to launch on February 6!  This massive rocket will be the most powerful since the legendary Saturn V that launched people during the Apollo Missions.  It will be twice as powerful as any rocket currently being launched.  My favourite webpage to watch launches is linked below.  The launch window is set between 11:30am - 2:30pm Calgary time.

www.spaceflightnow.com

There are typically several launches per week that you can watch live.  The Falcon Heavy has been delayed since Q3 2015, so excitement is starting to run high.  I will post links on our Facebook Page to remind you to tune into this great event.

Falcon Heavy on Launch Pad

If you would like to watch the static fire check out the video below.

As for the the local sky Jupiter and Mars have moved more than 15° apart and each will be in the same binocular field as the Moon on the 7th and 8th.  The next day the Moon will be very close to the second largest object in the asteroid belt -- Vesta.  This would be a good chance to try to find it in a telescope or binoculars.

It was unfortunate that the weather was cloudy during the total lunar eclipse last week.  We're going to have to wait until the third week of January in 2019 for our next chance from Calgary.  Stay warm and stay tuned for more great astronomy events around Calgary!

McKenzie Lake Star Night - January 2018

We hosted the special Moon Edition of the McKenzie Lake Star Night and had a great time.  Many people turned out with their kids to view our spectacular celestial neighbour!

We spent a few minutes discussing what was shining down on us in the sky.  We covered the typical Winter constellations of Taurus, Orion and Gemini.  We also spent a few minutes talking about the Orion Nebula which is beautiful at this time of year.

We then moved onto the main topic of the Moon.  The first thing we covered was the different phases of the Moon and when they occur.  We discussed the major basins and maria that cover the near side of the Moon.  Next we talked about some of my favourite craters, including: Gassendi, Aristoteles, Ptolemaeus, Plato, Tycho and Clavius.

After the discussion on our Moon we moved to some extraterrestrial moons throughout our solar system.  There are some amazing moons out there that may be a good place to look for life!

After the presentation split into two groups with several people coming outside to view our Moon through the telescopes that were setup.  Another group stayed inside the warm building with hot chocolate and made their own moon!

Making a Moon

The weather was cool but the sky was very clear.  The Bay of Rainbows was beautiful and had some great definition as the terminator cut right through the middle of it.  The image below was an eyepiece projection of the view we had last night.

Waxing Gibbous Moon, January 26, 2018 (Image Credit: Philip Tracey)

A few of the children were able to point out Tycho sitting prominently in the southern hemisphere.  Plato and the mountains to the south of it were spectacular as always.

The moons that were being made inside were amazing!

Moons

Later in the evening we noticed Gamma Tauri nearly occulted by the Moon as it was only a few arcminutes away.  The Orion Nebula was visible but not nearly as beautiful as it could be with the urban and lunar light pollution throughout the evening.  We looked at the Pleiades with a wide field telescope and could see all the significant stars of this great open cluster!

It was a fun night for all who came and we look forward to having another community event in February or March!

2018 Week 5: (January 28-February 3)

We are completing the first month of 2018 and there will be an amazing event in the sky.  There will be a total lunar eclipse visible throughout most of North America and Asia.  The chart below highlights the activities in the sky for next week.

Date	Event
January 31	Ceres at Opposition
January 31	Total Lunar Eclipse
January 31	Full Moon
February 1	Regulus 1°S of Moon
February 2	Zodiacal Light visible in evening twilight for next two weeks

The dwarf planet (same classification as Pluto) Ceres will be at opposition on Wednesday.  Asteroid hunters may wish to see if they can find it through binoculars or a telescope.  It will be in the same binocular field as Kappa Leonis but about 9 times dimmer.

If you are going to hunt for this dwarf planet check out the map below for just after midnight, the morning of January 31, 2018.  A binocular field of view below is circled.  In the southern sky use the two stars at the head of Leo to point you toward Ceres.  Under good weather conditions, this should be fairly easy to find in binoculars.

Ceres Opposition Map

Before we discuss the main event next week I just want to cover a few other minor things.  On February 1, Regulus (Alpha Leonis) will be 1°S of the Moon and will look great in a telescope.  Last Friday we caught Gamma Tauri in the same telescopic field and it looked as though the Moon would eat the star!

The zodiacal light may be visible to observers in dark sites throughout the next two weeks.  Look for a dim cone of light in the direction of the sunset after most of the twilight has cleared.  For more information, click on the zodiacal light link at the beginning of this paragraph.

Zodiacal Light

The event many people have been looking forward to is the total lunar eclipse.  We have not had one visible from Calgary since 2015, so this is exciting.  The weather is looking absolutely atrocious so we are going to need a bit of luck to have clear skies or a sucker hole in the clouds.  As discussed in a previous blog, linked below:

http://simonjastronomy.blogspot.com/2018/01/total-lunar-eclipse.html

it will be a 'Super Blue Blood Moon' and will appear as a dark red colour. 

Total Lunar Eclipse (Image Credit: NASA)

Get out your zoom lenses or hook up a camera to your telescope.  If you don't have equipment, just enjoy it with your naked eye.  The progress times are listed below.  You'll be most interested in the partial and total phases as the penumbral eclipse is difficult to delineate from a regular Moon.  Between 4:48am and 8:11am on the morning of Wednesday, January 31 you should have a good view.

3:51am - Penumbral Eclipse Starts
4:48am - Partial Eclipse Starts
5:51am - Total Eclipse Starts
7:07am - Total Eclipse Ends
8:11am - Partial Eclipse Ends
8:18am - Moon sets

The map of the entire eclipse is provided below.

Map of Lunar Eclipse, January 31, 2018 (Image Credit: Timeanddate.com)

As I mentioned above, the weather is looking quite poor next week.  There will be on and off flurries and cold temperatures.  Dress warmly if you are going to enjoy the sky this week!

Total Lunar Eclipse

A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth is between the Sun and the Moon.  The alignment of the three celestial bodies needs to be close to perfect.

The dark part of the Earth's shadow (Umbra) will full encompass a Full Moon for a total lunar eclipse.  Penumbral eclipses occur when the Moon is only within the penumbra of the Earth's shadow.

Umbra and Penumbra (Image Credit: NASA)

When you see a total lunar eclipse you will notice that the Moon will appear red.  The reason for this is the blue part of the electromagnetic spectrum (visible light) is readily scattered by the Earth's atmosphere.  This leaves the red light to refract onto the Moon.  This is the same reason why a sunrise or sunset will appear to be shades of red and why the sky is blue during the day. 

Here is an easy experiment that you can try at home:

Put some water into a transparent drinking glass.  Next put a very small amount of milk into the same glass just so it is slightly cloudy.  Finally, shine a white flashlight up through the bottom of the glass.  The region of the water/milk mixture further away from the light will appear 'redder' while the region closer to the light will appear 'bluer'.

Total lunar eclipses are certainly not as exciting a total solar eclipse with the latter being considered one of the most amazing celestial visuals.  A total lunar eclipse may last more than an hour and be visible across entire continents.  Whereas a total solar eclipse lasts mere minutes in a relatively small zone of totality.

What will you expect to see during a total lunar eclipse?

1. Penumbral Eclipse - The Moon may appear slightly shaded during the first part of the total eclipse.
2. Partial Eclipse - The umbra of the Earth's shadow will be seen on the Moon and it will start to look like a bite of the Moon has been taken out.  The Moon will slowly start getting more red.
3. Total Eclipse - The Moon will be completely in the umbra and will appear very red.
4. Partial Eclipse - The eclipse will start to cycle out with the umbral bite getting smaller and smaller.
5. Penumbral Eclipse - The Moon will progressively get lighter as the eclipse comes to a close.

When the Moon is completely covered by the Earth's umbra it should look something like the image below.

Total Lunar Eclipse (Image Credit: NASA)

There are two more total lunar eclipses visible from Calgary this decade (2010s).  January 31, 2018 and January 20/21, 2019.

The eclipse on January 31, 2018 is quite interesting as it will occur during the second full Moon of the month.  Due to a publication error in the 1940s when there is a second full Moon in a month it has become colloquially known as a 'Blue Moon'.  The original traditional definition of a 'Blue Moon' is the third full Moon in a season that has four full Moons.

Depending on if you accept the colloquial definition this total eclipse will be a Blue Moon total eclipse.  A lot of memes on social media indicate this is the first time in 150 years.  This is not entirely true.  The last one was late in 1982, just not in the timezone of the Americas.  It is true that the last Blue Moon total eclipse in the American time zone was in 1866, just after the Civil War ended.

Another thing that makes the 2018 eclipse interesting is that the Moon will be close to perigee.  This makes it a Super Moon.

The red colour of the Moon cause people to call it a Blood Moon.

The details for the January 31, 2018 eclipse are below:

3:51am - Penumbral Eclipse Starts
4:48am - Partial Eclipse Starts
5:51am - Total Eclipse Starts
7:07am - Total Eclipse Ends
8:11am - Partial Eclipse Ends
8:18am - Moon sets

The eclipse in 2019 will not be a Blue Moon but will be a Super Moon.  In fact, people are referring to it as a 'Super Blood Wolf Moon'.  The 'Wolf' part coming from the Farmer's Almanac which named Full Moons based on learnings from Native American Tribes in the Great Lakes region.  It is important to note that most tribes have different names for the Moons.

These names are merely constructs to add to the hype of a relatively common event.  You will see them used quite a lot in the media.  Astronomers are content to merely call them Total Lunar Eclipses.  However, I like to use them on occasion to get more people out of their homes to astronomers with telescopes!  The more photons from astronomical events hitting eyes the better!

The details for the January 20/21, 2019 eclipse are below:

7:36pm - Penumbral Eclipse Starts
8:33pm - Partial Eclipse Starts
9:41pm - Total Eclipse Starts
10:43pm - Total Eclipse Ends
11:50pm - Partial Eclipse Ends
12:48am - Penumbral Eclipse Ends

I hope to hear your stories about the eclipses!

As always, for up to date information, like our Facebook Page below:

https://www.facebook.com/simonjastronomy/