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Messier Marathon
| Title |
Messier Marathon |
| Explanation |
Gripped by an astronomical spring fever [ http://www.zzotto.com/rfc/CFTrip.htm ], it's once again time for many amateur stargazers to embark on a Messier Marathon [ http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/marathon/marathon.html ]! The Vernal Equinox [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960922.html ] occurs March 20, marking the first day of Spring for the Northern Hemisphere. It also marks a favorable celestial situation [ http://www.reflector.org/MESSIER.HTM ] for potentially viewing all the objects in 18th century French astronomer Charles Messier's catalog [ http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/history/biograph.html ] in one glorious dusk to dawn [ http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/marathon/hall.html ] observing run. This year [ http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/marathon/mm2000.html ] a bright full moon will interfere with dark skies near the actual equinox, so good nights near new moon for weekend marathoners are March 11/12 and April 1/2. (As an added bonus all the planets [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000310.html ] in the solar system can be viewed on these dates.) Astronomer Paul Gitto has created this masterful Messier Marathon [ http://www.cometman.com/messier.html ] grid with 11 rows and 10 columns of Messier catalog objects [ http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/history/m-cat.html ]. In numerical order, the grid begins with M1, the Crab Nebula, [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960626.html ] at upper left and [ http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m102.html ] ends with M110 [ http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m110.html ], a small elliptical galaxy in Andromeda (lower right). Gitto's images were made with a digital camera and a 10-inch diameter reflecting telescope. |
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Moon Occults Saturn
| Title |
Moon Occults Saturn |
| Explanation |
On September 18, 1997, many stargazers in the U. S. [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000708.html ] were able to watch a lovely early morning lunar occultation [ http://www.skypub.com/sights/occultations/occultations.shtml ] as a bright Moon [ http://jrscience.wcp.muohio.edu/lab/MoonLab.html ] passed in front of Saturn. Using a 1.2 meter reflector [ http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/cfa/oir/FLWO/FLWO/48/48.html ], astronomer Kris Stanek had an excellent view of this [ http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/~kstanek/Saturn/ ] dream-like event from the Whipple Observatory [ http://linmax.sao.arizona.edu/help/FLWO/whipple.html ] atop Arizona's Mount Hopkins [ http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/flwo/visitcenter.html ]. This animated gif image was constructed by Wes Colley from 4 frames taken by Stanek at 35 second intervals as the ringed planet emerged from behind the Moon's [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970916.html ] dark limb. While lunar occultations [ http://www.skypub.com/sights/occultations/lunar/ 0101lunarocc.html ] of fairly bright stars and planets are not extremely rare events, their exact timing [ http://www.lunar-occultations.com/iota/iotandx.htm ] depends critically on the observer's location. For observers in western North America [ http://www.lunar-occultations.com/iota/0910sat.htm ], the Moon will next occult Saturn on Monday morning, September 10 [ http://www.lunar-occultations.com/iota/0910sat.htm ]. |
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A Hale-Bopp Triple Crown
| Title |
A Hale-Bopp Triple Crown |
| Explanation |
It was truly a busy sky. In one of the more spectacular photos yet submitted to Astronomy Picture of the Day [ http://www.phy.mtu.edu/apod/ ], Don Cooke of Lyme, New Hampshire [ http://www.state.nh.us/soiccnh/lyme.htm ] caught the Sun [ http://www.seds.org/nineplanets/nineplanets/sol.html ], Moon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/lib/moon.html ], Earth [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970130.html ], night sky [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970403.html ], Pleiades star cluster [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960903.html ], and Comet Hale-Bopp [ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/comet/ ] all in one frame. The first leg of this "triple crown" exposure was of the Sun [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960518.html ], taken at 6:55 pm on April 10th 1997. Through a dark filter, the Sun [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/lib/sun.html ] appears as the bright dot on the lower right of the image. A second filtered exposure was then taken after the Sun had set, one hour and 40 minutes later - this time featuring the Moon [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/photo_gallery/photogallery-moon.html ]. The Moon appears as a crescent superimposed on an odd-shaped dark circle protruding into the left of the image. This shadow is actually a silhouette of a driveway reflector mounted on an aluminum rod used to block out the bright moon - so as to allow a third exposure, this time unfiltered, of the background night sky. And what a beautiful sky it is. Highlights include Comet Hale-Bopp [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970610.html ], on the right, and the Pleiades star cluster [ http://www.seds.org/billa/twn/m45x.html ], near the center. But what, you may wonder, is that bright light near the center of the picture? Don't worry if you can't guess: it's a porch light from a house across the river! |
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Moon Occults Saturn
| Title |
Moon Occults Saturn |
| Explanation |
Many stargazers in the U. S. [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970830.html ] were able to watch a lovely lunar occultation [ http://www.skypub.com/whatsup/lunocc97.html ] early last Thursday morning as a bright Moon passed in front of Saturn [ http://www.skypub.com/whatsup/9709satu.html ]. Using a 1.2 meter reflector [ http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/cfa/oir/FLWO/FLWO/48/48.html ], astronomer Kris Stanek [ http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/~kstanek/index.html ] had an excellent view of this [ http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/~kstanek/Saturn/ ] dream-like event from the Whipple Observatory [ http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/cfa/oir/FLWO/FLWO/whipple.html ] atop Arizona's Mount Hopkins [ http://egret.sao.arizona.edu/mt.html ]. This animated gif image was constructed by Wes Colley [ http://www.astro.princeton.edu/~wes/research/ ] from 4 frames taken by Stanek at 35 second intervals as the ringed planet emerged from behind the Moon's [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970916.html ] dark limb. While lunar occultations of fairly bright stars [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970728.html ] and planets are not extremely rare events, their exact timing [ http://www.sky.net/~robinson/iotandx.htm ] depends critically on the observer's location. |
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Radio, The Big Ear, And The
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| Title |
Radio, The Big Ear, And The Wow! Signal |
| Explanation |
Since the early days of radio and television [ http://www.databahn.net/library/inet/history/ ] we have been freely broadcasting signals into space. For some time now, we have been listening too [ http://www.nrao.edu/intro/ham.connection.html ]. Ohio State University's radio telescope, affectionately known as "The Big Ear" [ http://www.bigear.org/ ], was one of the first and largest listeners. Designed by John Kraus [ http://www.bigear.org/kraus.htm ], OSU's Big Ear (about the size of three football fields) consisted of an immense metal ground plane with two fence-like reflectors (one fixed and one tiltable) and relied on the Earth's rotation [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980912.html ] to help scan the sky. This photo, taken by former Big Ear student volunteer Rick Scott, looks out across the ground plane toward the fixed reflector with the "receiver horns" in the foreground. This May, the final pieces [ http://www.bigear.org/flatdown.htm ] of the Big Ear were torn down, but its explorations of the radio universe [ http://www.bigear.org/past.htm ] will be long remembered. Starting in 1965, the Big Ear was used in an ambitious premier survey of the radio sky [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap971214.html ], ultimately finding over 20,000 celestial radio sources [ http://www.nrao.edu/intro/ ]. Changing its focus in the 1970s, it became the first telescope to continuously listen [ http://www.seti-inst.edu/game/ ] for signals from extraterrestrial civilizations. [ http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/ ] For an exciting moment [ http://www.seti-inst.edu/phoenix/contact.html ] during August 1977 a very strong and unanticipated signal, dubbed the Wow! Signal [ http://www.bigear.org/wowmenu.htm ], was detected by the Big Ear. But alas, heard only once [ http://www.bigear.org/wow20th.htm ], the cause of the signal could not be determined. |
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Kitt Peak National Observato
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| Title |
Kitt Peak National Observatory |
| Explanation |
At the top of Kitt Peak Mountain near Tucson [ http://www.ci.tucson.az.us/ ], Arizona [ http://www.state.az.us/ ] lies one of the world's great collections of telescopes. As pictured [ http://www.noao.edu/image_gallery/html/im0411.html ], in the dome at the far left lies the 3.5-meter WIYN Telescope [ http://www.noao.edu/kpno/40th/wiyn.html ], famous recently for tracking distant supernovae. The next major dome to the right houses a 36-inch telescope [ http://www.noao.edu/kpno/40th/small_tel.html ] now used mostly for imaging. Farther to the right beside a thin tower is a 2.1-meter Telescope [ http://www.noao.edu/kpno/40th/2.1m.html ] used currently for imaging and spectroscopy. The unusual triangular building houses the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope [ http://www.noao.edu/kpno/40th/mcpierce.html ]. In front of it lies the Vacuum Tower Telescope [ http://www.noao.edu/image_gallery/html/im0216.html ] while in back are the Burrell-Schmidt Telescope [ http://www.noao.edu/image_gallery/html/im0341.html ] and the SARA 0.9-meter automated telescope. At the far right lies one of the world's largest telescopes: the 4-meter Mayall Reflector [ http://www.noao.edu/kpno/40th/4m.html ]. Kitt Peak recently celebrated its 40th year [ http://www.noao.edu/kpno/40th/ ] during which it helped establish the existence of dark matter [ http://www.sciam.com/specialissues/0398cosmos/0398rubin.html ] and the first gravitational lens [ http://vela.astro.ulg.ac.be/themes/extragal/gravlens/bibdat/engl/index.html ]. Kitt Peak National Observatory [ http://www.noao.edu/kpno/ ] is part of the United States' National Optical Astronomical Observatories [ http://www.noao.edu/noao.html ] and is operated under agreement with the National Science Foundation [ http://www.nsf.gov/ ]. |
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Galaxy And Gamma-ray Burst
| Title |
Galaxy And Gamma-ray Burst |
| Explanation |
Gamma-ray bursts rule [ http://www.sciam.com/0797issue/0797fishman.html ] the high-energy sky and Saturday another brief, intense flash of gamma-rays [ http://astro.caltech.edu/~jsb/GRB/grb990123.html ] from the cosmos triggered space-based detectors. The orbiting Compton Observatory's BATSE instrument [ http://www.batse.msfc.nasa.gov/ ] quickly relayed the burst's approximate location to fast-slewing, ground-based cameras primed to search for an elusive optical flash. The result -- the GCN coordinated [ http://lheawww.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/gamcosray/legr/bacodine/ gcn_main.html ] ROTSE-I telephoto array [ http://www.umich.edu/~rotse/ ] recorded a breakthrough detection only 22 seconds [ http://laastro.lanl.gov/rotse/grb990123/grb_990123_rotse_data.html ] after the burst trigger. Larger telescopes too captured the burster's optical counterpart and at right is an image identifying the candidate from the 60 inch Palomar reflector [ http://phobos.caltech.edu/observatories/palomar/ public/images/p60.html ]. At left is a prior sky survey image of the region which astonishingly shows a discernible smudge near the same position, likely the burster's host galaxy. The galaxy and bright burst suggest that this is the closest yet localized gamma-ray burst! Still, believed to be the most powerful explosions [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980507.html ] in the Universe, the source of the incredible energy of gamma-ray bursts remains a mystery. |
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Messier Marathon
| Title |
Messier Marathon |
| Explanation |
Gripped by an astronomical spring fever [ http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/marathon/marathon.html ], this week many amateur stargazers embark on a Messier Marathon [ http://www.reflector.org/MESSIER.HTM ]. The Vernal Equinox [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960922.html ] occurs Saturday, March 20, marking the first day of Spring for the Northern Hemisphere. It also marks a favorable celestial situation for potentially viewing all the objects in 18th century French astronomer Charles Messier's catalog [ http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/history/biograph.html ] in one glorious dusk to dawn [ http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/marathon/results.html ] observing run. This year, interference from bright moonlight will be minimal as the the moon is near its dark or new phase. Astronomer Paul Gitto has created this masterful Messier Marathon [ http://www.cometman.com/messier.html ] grid with 11 rows and 10 columns of Messier catalog objects [ http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/history/m-cat.html ]. In numerical order, the grid begins with M1, the Crab Nebula, [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960626.html ] at upper left and ends with M110 [ http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m110.html ], a small elliptical galaxy in Andromeda (lower right). Gitto's images were made with a digital camera and a 10-inch diameter reflecting telescope. |
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Gordel van Venus
| Title |
Gordel van Venus |
| Explanation |
Scroll right and enjoy this [ http://www.saao.ac.za/~wpk/OOG/album/ belt_of_venus.html ] 180 degree panorama across the South African Astronomical Observatory's [ http://www.saao.ac.za/home/ ] hilltop Sutherland [ http://www.saao.ac.za/observing/visitor-notes/ sutherland/ ] observing station. Featured are SAAO telescope [ http://www.saao.ac.za/facilities/telescopes/ ] domes and buildings, along with the dark, wedge-shaped shadow of planet Earth stretching into the distance, bounded above by the delicately colored antitwilight arch. Visible along the antisunward horizon at sunset [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap030822.html ], (or sunrise [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060204.html ]) the pinkish antitwilight arch [ http://amsglossary.allenpress.com/glossary/ search?id=antitwilight-arch1 ] is also known as the Belt of Venus. In order, the significant structures from left to right house, the giant SALT 11-meter [ http://www.salt.ac.za/ ] instrument, the internet telescope MONET [ http://monet.uni-goettingen.de/cgi-bin/WebObjects/ MonetPortal ], the 1.9 meter Radcliffe, the 1.0 meter Elizabeth, a 0.75 meter reflector, a 0.5 meter reflector, a garage, YSTAR, BiSON, ACT, IRSF [ http://www.saao.ac.za/~isg/irsf.html ] (open), and a storage building. (Note to SAAO fans: in this east-facing view the planet-hunter SuperWASP [ http://www.superwasp.org/ ] south is hidden behind the IRSF.) |
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