Jupiter's celestial path...and up close!

Event Date: January 15th

Time: 8:45.21 PM

Brief

      After the challenge of seeing dim Mars low towards the horizon last night, Jupiter is the next planet I will talk about, being much higher in the sky than Mars while visible all evening long.  Transiting at the time above, I am including the meridian and celestial path.  Being about 6 weeks past opposition, these are some of the best weeks to see Jupiter high in the sky during early enough hours--particularly for most kids of various young ages who have to be in bed at proper times--to stay up and view.  On some evenings, look for the great storm [red spot], while on other nights, lower magnification (if viewing with a telescope) to enjoy deeper contrast between the bands of clouds: belts for the darker ones, zones for the lighter ones; crystallizing ammonia makes up the clouds.

   The two images below show the celestial paths zoomed out and in, with further explanation of the markers to follow:

click on images to enlarge: courtesy of Starry Night Pro Plus, version 6.4.3, by Simulation Curriculum Corp

Detailed

   Jupiter has had an interesting journey against the stars over the last four months.  After beginning retrograde in October, opposition in early December, and ending retrograde later this season, it has "flirted" with the Hyades star cluster.  The nearby Pleiades has received a little more attention as well, and it will be within binocular view of the planet by the time the next stationary [positioning] of Jupiter comes up.  Even now, wide-field binoculars can fit the two together, depending how much of the Pleiades you really want to fit.  As for Aldebaran, the red-giant star near the Hyades, it is also getting some notice, being the brightest star of Taurus.

   As for the increment marker separation changes, mentioned at the end of the brief, we see that the markers get very close at the time of the first stationary, become further apart at the time of opposition, and now closer again as Jupiter becomes further from opposition, on its way to trine (120º of elongation) with the Sun.  This angle value doesn't have to be remembered exactly, yet if you do and can keep track of Jupiter's position in the sky with the Sun, it is worthwhile.  After all, it is about at that elongation with the Sun--whether it be west or east--that outer planets have their stationary "spots", sandwiching retrograde motion.

Mars' paths, since mid-November

Event Date: January 14th

Time: 6:00 PM

Brief

   Yesterday, I showed Mars still north of the Sun, and as mentioned, I will revisit its plots today, covering the last two months: both celestial and local.  The former is shown below followed by the latter.  

   When I last showed the celestial, the increment markers were gradually spreading out, as the planet has moved faster in prograde motion each month.  For the local, showing the position of Mars each day at the exact same time, we saw the improving geometry of the Sun lead to a "trough" for its horizon-sinking path.  As the Sun has started to set a little later each evening for the last 5 weeks and especially at a faster rate now, we are starting to see Mars local path move "up" slightly...yet only for so long.  Take a look, as I have hidden the horizon for both.  While the celestial is a full zoom-out, the local is a 2x zoom-in.

click on images to enlarge: courtesy of Starry Night Pro Plus, version 6.4.3, by Simulation Curriculum Corp.

Detailed

   Interesting?  As a reminder, the celestial path is the planet's movement against the stars-- either west to east for prograde, or the other direction for retrograde.  At the time of opposition, Mars was moving near its fastest in retrograde, and reached stationary a few weeks later.  As a result of this movement, or lack-thereof at one moment for stationary, it has only been recent months that we have seen Mars start to play "tag" with the Sun; that game ends in a couple of months, and Mars will not be easily visible again to the eye until the 2nd half of the year.  The planet's next opposition is during the first half of next year.  As for the local path, it is an interesting one, as the geometry of the western sky will continue to improve until early March.  Until then, try to spot the planet, even though binoculars will liekly be required to see it as more than just a small dot!

Mars low, near crescent Moon

Event Date: January 13th

Time: 6:00 PM

Brief

   Believe it or not, Mars is still an evening target in the sky, over 10 months since its March opposition.  Last month, I stayed busy with Mars by plotting its celestial and local paths, which I still plan to do tomorrow.  For today, however, let's show the planet near the waxing, crescent Moon, which each day this week gets significantly further north of the Sun; I will display it at first quarter 5 entries from now.  While only a small sliver yesterday, our satellite was visible for a short while in evening twilight, for if your sky was clear.  As for this evening, it is much more visible, now at 7% illuminated, and not setting until 2 hours, 42 minutes after the Sun as seen from latitude 38º-- about the average length of a major league baseball game.  

   The first image shows both with no celestial guidelines and orbits, while the second includes those, to further remind the reader that Mars and the Moon are more north of our Sun.

click on images to enlarge: courtesy of Starry Night Pro Plus, version 6.4.3, by Simulation Curriculum Corp.

Detailed

  Sometimes we can not still easily see Mars this long afterwards.  However, the geometry of the west-southwestern evening sky is nearing its best over the next 40-50 days, depending on the exact altitude of what we look for after Sunset.  In Mars' case, it is +1.2 in magnitude, which is slightly "brighter" than it was back in the fall.  One reason for that, is because the planet has slowly approached perihelion over the last few months.  That, while moving further from us towards the other side of the Sun.  Since we have slightly more light being reflected towards us, with Mars a little closer to the Sun, that has kept the magnitude from getting dimmer.  As for setting, seen from the aforementioned latitude in the brief, Mars  sets 1 hour, 40 minutes later, which still gives us a little time to see it with the unaided eye.  Remember that as each day passes however, Mars dips a little closer to behind the Sun, while the Sun sets a little more north and later; the combination of this leads to a washed-out Mars by the end of the month, so catch it now, or very soon while you still are able to.

Summer Triangle stars' positioning

Event Date: January 12th

Time: 6:30 AM/PM

Brief

   At the beginning of the month, I mentioned that the Summer Triangle was just barely above the horizon in its entirety; least-northern star Altair being the only one to be too close to the horizon to see easily.  That has changed, and now all three stars can be seen with an unobstructed horizon.  If skies are clear enough, Altair can be seen above the horizon, while Vega and Deneb are already easily visible, high enough.  What is interesting about the Triangle this week, is that 12 hours before and after the morning viewing, it can be seen at about the same altitude of sky...or Altair itself, anyway.  The position of each star relative to each other seems different, yet we can still see all three of them.  

Let's take a look at an image for both parts of the day to see this: AM followed by PM, 6:30 each time.

click on images to enlarge: courtesy of Starry Night Pro Plus, version 6.4.3, by Simulation Curriculum Corp.

Detailed

  Once again, while looking at both of these images, Altair is about the same altitude in each, which is important to see the entire triangle.  Remember however, that the stars' rising and setting is not symmetrical to the meridian; these stars make different size circles around the north celestial pole and therefore, always the same separation from that coordinate in the sky: 90º declination.  

    From mid-northern latitudes, Altair rises well after Vega and Deneb, and sets not long before Vega.  Why?  It is only 9º N vs Vega and Deneb's 38º and 45º declinations respectively.  This is a big difference in the number of hours that each star is above the horizon as seen from these latitudes.  For example, at 38º N, being approximately that of these images, Vega spends 17.3 hours above the horizon, Deneb spends 19.1 hours, and Altair spends just slightly over 13 hours.

The higher the northern latitude that one views from, the closer Deneb and Vega get to being circumpolar, while it takes a trip to 81º north to see Altair go circumpolar, being declination 8.9º.  If you prepare accordingly and don't mind watching the star for 24 hours with little or no warmth that close to the pole, go for it-- not many others make such an effort!  Then again, you can use the more comfortable--even if less conventional--way of doing so, by buying a version of astronomy software such as what you see samples of above!  That, or go online, time-bend the clock of applicable, and watch the star move along/above the horizon in a matter of seconds!  After thinking about it, seeing it live would probably be much more adventurous and real-like!

Venus and two nebulae

Event Date: January 11th

Time: 6:45 AM

Brief

    Yesterday, I mentioned--without naming--the two nebulae near Venus this week.  Using a 5º field, which is ideal for powerful binoculars or some finder (spotter) scopes, let's zoom-in on them.  Labeled below, the Trifid and Lagoon Nebula look much better in darker skies.  However, we will have to wait about a month for that, as they rise about four minutes earlier each day and the Sun moves away from them, further separating from them, as we start to see these nebulae rising in very dark skies come Summer Time.  Look at this site to combine info and photos of them.  Don't let the photos discourage you too much; as they were taken with much darker conditions with very powerful telescope/camera combinations.

click on images to enlarge: courtesy of Starry Night Pro Plus, version 6.4.3, by Simulation Curriculum Corp.

Detailed

Both nebulae are about 5,000 light years away, and near the galactic center in Sagittarius.  They are bright enough to see with optical aid, and maybe even without, under the darkest of conditions when those months come later this year.  Some nebulae, such as the small Ring Nebula, are much smaller and quite faint.  As a planetary Nebula, the Ring doesn't have a cloud that is given color via very hot stars; ultra violet radiation.  The Orion nebula, which sets during early morning hours, is one of the famous, easily visible emission nebulae.  When looking at link-photos such as those that I provided earlier in the entry, more of the spectacular color combinations show.  Give them a view sometime with whatever optical aid the sky gives you the best contrast.  Remember, that large magnification isn't necessary, as that can degrade contrast and make the color not as easy to see.  One example of this is Jupiter's belts and zones (bands).

   Enjoy the nebulae, whether now during twilight, or moreso after dark!

Moon near Venus, and deep-sky wonders!

Event Date: January 10th

Time: 6:45 AM

Brief

  As we look southeast this morning, bright Venus rises a little over an hour before the Sun, as seen from most latitudes in the world.  Joining it, is a very old, waning crescent Moon.  If skies are clear, can you see both?  Looking carefully at the Moon, this is also a good chance to see the Earthshine on it.  Although this usually works better when it is higher above the horizon and out of atmospheric pollution, the Moon is only 2% illuminated and therefore, enough light is being reflected off of Earth to come back to the Moon's shadowed portion*, for us to see.

   Looking below, I will show a zoom-out of the two, followed by a zoom-in.  Although the software cannot adjust Earthshine accordingly, it still shows the the lit portion can be light enough to even see the largest of Maria (seas).

* hence the term, as we have Moonshine on our planet during full and gibbous Moons

click on images to enlarge: courtesy of Starry Night Pro Plus, version 6.4.3, by Simulation Curriculum Corp.

Detailed

Venus and the Moon as shown above, are a little over 3º separated.  Also, near Venus, while or when dark enough, we see two deep-sky features.  I have briefly mentioned these so far in a past entry, and will go into more detail tomorrow.  For now, look to see how little of the Moon we see lit up.  The entire dark portion of the disc is outlined circumference-wise.  If looking through a powerful enough camera, binoculars, or of course a telescope, you may see something similar to what I captured in this photo: I took this last month when the Moon was a little bigger in phase.  Take a look, and see with the cropped, 4--times [optical] zoom how much Earthshine you can see.  

©David Likuski: taken with a Canon Powershot® A570, 7.1 megapixel; before Sunrise Dec. 11th, 2012

   With your monitor turned on brightly, do you also notice--besides the Earthshine--the larger maria (seas)?  They are darker, and possibly visible if you put the photo in your library (which is fine with me!) and enlarge it.  Try not to enlarge too much though, as it may become "grainy", and harder to see the contrast of dark areas.   

Finally, I will mention that the Moon reaches waning crescent phase about once a month, yet much more impressive when pairing with one or more planets.

waning crescent Moon nears Venus

Event Date: January 9th

Time: 7:00 AM

Brief

   We will continue from yesterday looking southeast, with the waning, crescent Moon leaving the brighter stars of Scorpious.  Now, it is approaching a much brighter "star-like" object, being Venus.  Take a look here, with a zoom-out, the ecliptic, and the Moon's image.  Nearby Antares is 11º separated from the Moon, after being about 5º separated at best, about 18 hours ago and seen that way in far-east countries.  Although we didn't have that opportunity, we will have some as Antares appears higher in the sky about four minutes earlier each morning and the Moon cycles around the sky every few weeks.  Getting back to Venus, it still appears bright, although well past greatest elongation now.

Take a look at the planet's position in the sky during twilight, with the still waxing-crescent Moon see to its upper-right.

click on image to enlarge: courtesy of Starry Night Pro Plus, version 6.4.3, by Simulation Curriculum Corp.

Detailed

   Venus has been in our morning skies since early June, following the last-of-the-century transit of the Sun.  We continue to have it with us lower each day in the east, as it approaches superior conjunction in about two months.  Although the geometry of this part of the sy is worsening quickly between now and then, we can still witness the Moon passing by it and making some good pairs; none will be too close however, since the Moon's orbit puts it further north of Venus.  When we get Venus back in our evening sky later this year, we will have a chance to see more pairings with the Moon: some close, some not so much so, depending on what month we are talking about, and now far each body is from the nodes between the orbits.  One of the more impressive pairings of the two happened about a month ago, when they formed a trio with dimmer Mercury; revisit this entry for a reminder of that, as the grouping was more impressive than most duos of the Moon and Venus alone.  Then again, that is my opinion!  If you want to make your own, try to view at the right time, and decide which pairing of the Moon and Venus you like best: as a very thin crescent, or a thicker one.