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ALDEBARAN and Taurus of Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
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September Sky
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September Sky |
| Explanation |
Star clusters, planets, and a red giant posed for this portrait of the night [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000708.html ] sky from rural Jasper County, Iowa, USA. Astrophotographer [ http://geocities.com/stanzman_2001/ ] Stan Richard recorded the four minute time exposure looking east around midnight on September 3rd at Ashton-Wildwood Park. To avoid star trails [ http://pages.prodigy.net/pam.orman/JoeTrails.html ], his camera was mounted on a barndoor-style [ http://casa.colorado.edu/~rachford/widefield/ barndoor.html ] tracker to compensate for the Earth's rotation [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000715.html ]. Can you identify his celestial subjects? (Click on the image for a labeled version.) The Pleiades [ http://www.pantheon.org/mythica/articles/p/ pleiades.html ] and Hyades [ http://www.pantheon.org/mythica/articles/h/hyades.html ], the closest open or galactic star clusters [ http://www.seds.org/messier/open.html ] to the Sun, should be recognizable to beginning stargazers [ http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ]. Of course gas giant Jupiter [ http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov/jupiter/jupiter.html ] rules as the brightest object in the picture and the largest planet in the Solar System, but second largest planet Saturn [ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/cassini/Kids/stories/ ] is also visible nearby. For sheer size cool red giant star Aldebaran [ http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/aldebaran.html ] is more impressive though, spanning about forty times the diameter of the Sun. Sixty light-years away and yellowish in this picture, Aldebaran is known as Alpha Tauri, the brightest star in Taurus [ http://aibn47.astro.uni-bonn.de/~gallery/constellations/ taurus/ ], the Bull. |
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Moonless Perseid Sky
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Moonless Perseid Sky |
| Explanation |
Last weekend, dark, moonless night skies brought many sightings of Perseid meteors [ http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2007/ 11jul_greatperseids.htm ] to skygazers all over [ http://spaceweather.com/meteors/gallery_12aug07.htm ] planet Earth. Early Sunday morning astronomer John Chumack's camera captured this Perseid [ http://meteorshowersonline.com/perseids.html ] meteor streak with a flare near the end of its track over Yellow Springs, Ohio. The single, four minute long exposure looks toward the constellation of Taurus and the eastern horizon. The meteor streak points back to the annual meteor [ http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/?meteor_streams ] shower's radiant [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070812.html ] in Perseus off the upper left corner of the picture. Of course [ http://spaceweather.com/meteors/perseids/images2007/ skymap_north.gif ], the view includes the well-known Pleiades [ http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/pleiades-p.html ] Star cluster (near top center) with a bright yellowish planet Mars below it. Also seen with a yellowish tint but not quite as bright as Mars, the giant star Aldebaran [ http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/aldebaran.html ] anchors the V-shaped Hyades [ http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/hyades-p.html ] star cluster left of center, above the trees. |
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Saturn and Vesta in Taurus
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Saturn and Vesta in Taurus |
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Last November, while skygazing [ http://pages.prodigy.net/pam.orman/ JoeGallery.html ] toward the constellation Taurus [ http://hou.lbl.gov/~vhoette/Explorations/StarHop/ ], astrophotographer Joe Orman arranged this time exposure to include the lovely Hyades and Pleiades star clusters in the field of his telephoto lens. A distance of 400 light-years [ http://school.discovery.com/ schooladventures/universe/itsawesome/lightyears/ ] for the close-knit Pleiades [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010506.html ] and 150 light-years for the V-shaped [ http://www.aspsky.org/mercury/mercury/9803/hyades.html ] Hyades [ http://astro.estec.esa.nl/Hipparcos/hyades.html ] puts these clusters in the general galactic neighborhood [ http://www.anzwers.org/free/universe/ 250lys.html ] of the Sun. Punctuating the Hyades' appearance, bright yellow Aldebaran [ http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/aldebaran.html ], 60 light-years away, is not actually a member of the cluster, but it is Taurus' brightest star. Above Aldebaran a yellower, even brighter Saturn [ http://space.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/wspace?tbody=6& vbody=3&month=11&day=17¢ury=20&decade=0&year=1&hour=00& minute=0&rfov=30&fovmul=-1&bfov=30 ] is is seen about 1.2 light-hours [ http://casswww.ucsd.edu/public/tutorial/Intro.html ] from our fair planet. Last and least massive [ http://aa.usno.navy.mil/hilton/asteroid_masses.htm ], one of the faint specks below Aldebaran is main-belt asteroid [ http://www.seds.org/nineplanets/nineplanets/ asteroids.html ] Vesta, a mere 13 light-minutes [ http://www.unmuseum.org/speed.htm ] away. Still cruising through Taurus, Vesta [ http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/PR/95/20.html ] is steadily approaching a close alignment or conjunction [ http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/astronomy/ Conjunction.html ] with Saturn on March 19. Need a program [ http://pages.prodigy.net/pam.orman/ JoeAlmanac2002.html ] to follow the players? Click on the image for a labeled version. |
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Planets in the West
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Planets in the West |
| Explanation |
Have you seen any bright planets lately? Chances are if you've been outside under clear skies [ http://currentsky.com/ ] just after sunset, then you have. Now shining in the west as bright "stars [ http://nfo.edu/astro/planets.htm ]" in the night sky, are all five planets of the solar system known to [ http://www.nasm.si.edu/ceps/etp/discovery/ etpdiscovery.html ] ancient astronomers - Mercury, Venus, Mars [ http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/ funzone.html ], Saturn, and Jupiter [ http://www.seds.org/nineplanets/nineplanets/ jupiter.html ]. Recorded from Holt, Michigan, USA about 40 minutes after sunset on April 14th, this digital image [ http://www.pa.msu.edu/people/frenchj/const/index2.html ] captures three of them, Venus, Mars, and Saturn [ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/solar_system/planets/ saturn_index.html ], along with a young crescent Moon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000728.html ]. Also indicated are the Pleiades [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010506.html ] star cluster and bright red giant star Aldebaran [ http://www.earthsky.com/Features/ Skywatching/pronounce.html ] in Taurus. Mercury [ http://www.psrd.hawaii.edu/Jan97/ MercuryUnveiled.html ], setting, is lost in the trees and glow along the horizon, while Jupiter is off the top of this view. The coming weeks [ http://www.darkhorizons.org/planets.htm ] will see photo opportunities galore as all five planets gradually move closer together, posing after sunset with the Moon and stars in the western sky [ http://www.skyviewcafe.com/skyview.shtml ]. Venus [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020330.html ], Mars, and Saturn will form the closest trio, drawing within a 5 degree circle (about the apparent size of your fist with arm extended) above Aldebaran by May 3rd. |
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