December 2008 edition of Manitoba Skies

In this issue:
* Dance of the planets
* How to buy a telescope


The Sky This Month
This section is optimized for southern Manitoba including the city of Winnipeg. All times are Central Standard Time (CST), the local time for Manitoba.

There are lots of events going on in the sky, but some are only observable with special equipment or are not of general interest. The events listed here are chosen so anyone can observe them. This is NOT an exhaustive list of what’s going on in the sky! You can also pick up Sky News magazine (www.skynews.ca) or consult The Observer’s Handbook 2008, available from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.

Dance of the Planets
Best seen: evening twilight all month (special events Dec. 1, 2, 28, 29, 30, 31)

There’s a celestial ballet going on in the western sky after sunset this month. The giant planet Jupiter has been visible all summer and is slowly sinking lower into the western sky. Meanwhile, brilliant Venus is rising out of the bright sky near the sun and becoming more prominent. The two are the brightest objects in the sky besides the sun and moon, becoming visible well before any of the other stars. You can watch them draw closer each night, as the combined motions of Jupiter, Venus, and our own Earth alter our perspective on the scene.

The highlight occured on December 1st, when the Moon, Jupiter, and Venus were all within a 4° circle in the southwest after sunset – and obscured by clouds for Manitobans. But there is still time to see the celestial ballet unfold.

In the first week of December, Venus moves higher and farther south while Jupiter sinks lower into the sunset. As the month progresses, Jupiter will be come very difficult to see, but you can catch it right after sunset if you have a clear southwest horizon – any trees, buildings or haze will block your view.

At the end of the month, the planet Mercury will appear below Jupiter for a brief showing. On December 28th, Mercury will be about half the height of Jupiter soon after sunset. The very thin crescent Moon will be below and to the right of the pair, but you’ll need very clear skies and probably binoculars to see them. On the next night (December 29th), the moon has risen above the two planets, and is much easier to spot. On December 30th, the Moon will be farther along its track, halfway between Jupiter-Mercury and brilliant Venus. The last night of the year has a crescent moon shining just above Venus, another great sight not to be missed.
For images of these events, visit Sky News magazine at www.skynews.ca.

How to buy a telescope

As the holidays approach, we often receive calls from people wishing to buy a telescope, for themselves or as a gift. There are so many choices that it can overwhelm the new skywatcher. Often, people just buy whatever telescope they find first that’s in their price range.

Sadly, these telescopes usually wind up being a disappointment, and are relegated to the closet after a few bad experiences under the stars. It’s not the fault of the observer - the telescopes carried in most department stores, camera stores and big box stores usually are usually heavy on appearance, but don’t actually do the job. Some beginner’s telescope sold today border on false advertising!

We recommend that you purchase any telescope from someone who knows and uses telescopes – a science or nature store, a science centre or planetarium, or a dedicated telescope store. Experienced staff who are also astronomers will be able to tell you what features you need and which telescopes are not going to perform. After all, you probably wouldn’t buy a car from someone who doesn’t even know how to drive!

The Planets for December 2008

Mercury becomes visible low in the southwest near Jupiter for the last week of the year.

Venus is visible in the evening sky this month as detailed in “Dance of the Planets” above.

Mars is too close to the Sun to be visible this month.

Jupiter is low in the southwest after sunset, and passes behind the sun early in 2009. It will reappear in the pre-dawn sky in late winter.

Saturn rises in the east about 1AM Standard time, and climbs halfway up the sky in the southeast by sunrise. The rings are still visible, but our perspective is becoming almost edge-on, and so Saturn is fainter than usual. This month provides our best chance to see Saturn’s rings as close to edge-on as possible – while the rings do get thinner later in the year, it occurs when Saturn is behind the sun and so invisible. Get your telescope out in the early AM for a look at Saturn’s thin rings!

Uranus is only visible to the unaided eye in very dark conditions. Binoculars and small telescopes show it as a pale green “star” with no details. Neptune is even fainter, and only visible with a telescope. The dwarf planets Pluto and Eris are unobservable without a telescope. For locator charts, consult the Observer’s Handbook of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.


Phases of the Moon:
Full Moon December 5, 2008 at 3:26 PM CST
Last Quarter December 12, 2008 at 10:37 AM CST
New Moon December 19, 2008 at 4:29 AM CST
First Quarter December 27, 2008 at 6:22 AM CST
Note: Phases of the Moon given here are in local time and date for Manitoba (Central Daylight Time); they may differ by what is on your calendar because calendars often use “Universal Time”, the time and date at the Greenwich meridian in England. Greenwich time is 6 hours ahead of Central Standard Time and 5 hours ahead of Central Daylight Time. Sometimes this pushes the date of an event to the previous day for Manitoba.

Last week's conjunction

Well, Manitoba was clouded out for the triple conjunction of Venus, Jupiter and the Moon on December 1, but we had a hole in the clouds on Dec 2 that let me see the three of them. The moon had moved higher and farther away, but Jupiter and Venus were beautiful, blazing in the southwest. I managed to snap a couple of pics quickly with my point-n-shoot camera set on "twilight" (although I needed a tripod).

You cans till see Venus and Jupiter, but they're moving fartehr apart - Jupiter is sinking lower, while Venus moves more to the left in our sky. Check out the December update for details of Jupiter's upcoming conjucntions with Mercury at the end of the month!

Clear skies,
Scott

Find your sunset view now!

A reminder to find a good spot to watch the sunset from, because that's where all the action is in this month's sky.

With Venus so low and Jupiter getting lower, you need a good view to the southwest to see them. I finally saw them last , on the way to an event we passed along a road with a great view over the river. My house has a lot of trees and houses between me and the setting sun, so I haven't been able to see Venus from my house yet this season. With a clear horison, though, I spotted Venus right away. It's one of my favorite views: the brilliant white beacon against the fading colours of sunset. Jupiter was visible almost immediately thereafter, to Venus' left and slightly higher in the sky.

It's only two weeks to the "big show", when Jupiter and Venus and the crescent moon will cluster in the southwest after sunset - a sight not to be missed. Make sure you find a spot to observe from now, free of trees and houses and too many bright lights. The best view will be December 1st and 2nd, but anytime leading up to that or afterwards will be a good view as well (although the moon will be out of the picture). Binoculars are a nice addition but not required for this event.

Clear skies!

Scott

November Skies

Manitoba Skies - November 2008

In this issue:

• Dance of the planets
• How to buy a telescope
• Daylight Savings Time ends

There are lots of events going on in the sky, but some are only observable with special equipment or are not of general interest. The events listed here are chosen so anyone can observe them. This is NOT an exhaustive list of what’s going on in the sky! For mroe details, you can visit the Planetarium at The Manitoba Museum. You can also pick up Sky News magazine (http://www.skynews.ca/) or consult The Observer’s Handbook 2008, available from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.

Dance of the Planets

Best seen: evening twilight all month (special events Nov. 3, 29, 30, Dec. 1)

There’s a celestial ballet going on in the western sky after sunset this month. The giant planet Jupiter has been visible all summer and is slowly sinking lower into the western sky. Meanwhile, brilliant Venus is rising out of the bright sky near the sun and becoming more prominent. The two are the brightest objects in the sky besides the sun and moon, becoming visible well before any of the other stars. You can watch them draw closer each night, as the combined motions of Jupiter, Venus, and our own Earth alter our perspective on the scene.

On November 3rd, the crescent Moon hangs just below Jupiter, low in the south-southwest. Go out about 6:30PM, when the sky is dark enough to show the pairing but they haven’t sunk too low to be visible. The pair will be a bit less than degrees apart (equivalent to about six times the moon’s diameter), and will fit nicely into the field of view of binoculars. The “dark” side of the Moon will also be faintly visible, as sunlight reflects off of the Earth and back to the Moon. The group sets soon after 8:30 for observers in Manitoba.

The Moon moves on in its regular orbit around the Earth, leaving Jupiter behind by the next night. By November 13 the moon is nearly full and on the other side of the sky. The Pleiades star cluster will be about 3 degrees to the Moon’s right, but they’ll be hard to see in the bright moon’s glare.

At the end of the month, Jupiter and Venus draw ever closer together. On Nov. 29th, Venus shines 2.5° directly below Jupiter in the evening sky. The next night, Venus has moved slightly towards the left relative to Jupiter. If you have an unobstructed horizon you may glimpse the thin crescent moon below and to the right of the pair, very close to the horizon.

The highlight occurs on December 1st, when the Moon, Jupiter, and Venus are all within a 4° circle in the southwest after sunset. This grouping of the three brightest nighttime objects is one of those events you should keep your calendar clear for. Once again, binoculars will give the best view – a telescope will show details of each object individually, but most don’t’ have a wide enough field of view to contain the entire scene. Try taking pictures with a digital camera if you have one – the “twilight” mode often works acceptably for planets against the sunset colors.

How to buy a telescope
Special Seminar Sunday, Nov. 23rd at The Manitoba Museum's Planetarium

As the holidays approach, people often look at a telescope as a gift for themselves or a loved one. There are so many choices that it can overwhelm the new skywatcher. Often, people just buy whatever telescope they find first that’s in their price range.

Sadly, these telescopes usually wind up being a disappointment, and are relegated to the closet after a few bad experiences under the stars. It’s not the fault of the observer - the telescopes carried in most department stores, camera stores and big box stores usually are usually heavy on appearance, but don’t actually do the job. Some beginner’s telescope sold today border on false advertising!

I recommend that you purchase any telescope from someone who knows and uses telescopes – a science or nature store, a science centre or planetarium, or a dedicated telescope store. Experienced staff who are also astronomers will be able to tell you what features you need and which telescopes are not going to perform. After all, you probably wouldn’t buy a car from someone who doesn’t even know how to drive!

If you want to learn about choosing a telescope, The Manitoba Museum's Planetarium is hosting a special seminar on Sunday, November 23rd from 1 to 4 PM. Held in the Auditorium, the seminar will demonstrate various types of beginner’s telescopes and show you what to avoid. You can also see the telescopes the Planetarium has available for sale – we are an authorized Orion dealer and carry a full line of beginner, intermediate and advanced telescopes, binoculars and accessories. To register, email skyinfo@manitobamuseum.ca with your name, email and phone number. The seminar is $15 for Museum members and $25 for non-members, and includes a package of telescope references, star maps, and resources for sky watching.


Daylight Savings
Ends Sunday, Nov. 2 at 2AM

Finally, DST ends this month. The range of time we observe Daylight time has been extended in recent years, so it’s nice to see the sun setting when Nature says it should rather than when the Time Police determine! Set your clocks one hour earlier when you go to bed Saturday night.


The Planets
Mercury is still visible this month in the pre-dawn sky, appearing as a fairly bright “star” in the east-southeast before sunrise. It sinks lower each night and is lost in the sun’s glare after the first week of November. If you’re using binoculars, watch for the star Spica to Mercury’s upper right – it is fainter than Mercury.

Venus is visible in the evening sky this month as detailed in “Dance of the Planets” above.

Mars is too close to the Sun to be visible this month.

Jupiter is moving towards Venus, as detailed in “Dance of the Planets” above.

Saturn rises in the east about 2:30AM Standard time, and climbs halfway up the sky in the southeast by sunrise. For the first few days of November, Saturn is very close to the star Sigma Leonis, the back leg of Leo the Lion. The rings are still visible, but our perspective is becoming almost edge-on, and so Saturn is fainter than usual.

Uranus is only visible to the unaided eye in very dark conditions. Binoculars and small telescopes show it as a pale green “star” with no details. Neptune is even fainter, and only visible with a telescope. The dwarf planets Pluto and Eris are unobservable without a telescope. For locator charts, consult the Observer’s Handbook of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.


Phases of the Moon:
Full Moon November 2, 2008 at 2:14 PM CST
Last Quarter November 9, 2008 at 9:56 AM CST
New Moon November 16, 2008 at 1:14 PM CST
First Quarter November 24, 2008 at 3:39 PM CST

Note: Phases of the Moon given here are in local time and date for Manitoba (CST after Nov 2 at 2AM) ; they may differ by what is on your calendar because calendars often use “Universal Time”, the time and date at the Greenwich meridian in England. Greenwich time is 6 hours ahead of Central Standard Time and 5 hours ahead of Central Daylight Time. Sometimes this pushes the date of an event to the previous day for Manitoba.

Hallowe'en Treats

Hallowe'en night will be a great night to check out the sky. It's dark early, although with Daylight Savings Time running longer this year, we still have that extra hour of evening daylight to contend with. Many folks will be out trick-or-treating, which either means you'll be outside walking around with your kids, or having a stream of visitors to your door. Either way, it's a great time to see what celestial treats the sky has in store.

On Hallowe'en night, the sun sets about 6:06PM Central Daylight Time for southern Manitoba. It will start to get dark over the next hour, but try and get to a spot where you have a clear view to the southwest. Brilliant Venus will be visible soon after sunset low in the southwest, with a thin crescent moon below it. Any trees or houses will block your view, though - you really need to get an unobstructed horizon to see this!

Higher and farther to the south is Jupiter - not quite as bright as Venus, but still outshining the rest of the stars. Make note of how far apart Jupiter and Venus are - by the time the Moon rolls through this part of the sky again next month, they'll be almost on top of each other.

If you've got a telescope, bring it out and show the trick-or-treaters what's up in the sky!

Happy Holmes Day!

It was one year ago today that Comet Holmes blew its stack. Normally a faint object aronud magnitude 17, Holmes brightened about a million times overnight, becoming visible to the unaided eye and surprising observers. Within hours the news was out, and folks around the world went looking for the "new" comet. I raced home from work and drove out to a dark site to get a view with binoculars. There's something special about seeing something that wasn't predicted to occur... you never know what might happen as you watch! Astronomy adreniline!

Holmes is properly comet 17P/Holmes, and has had outbursts like this in the past. No one knows why they occur, making prediction of the next one impossible. All an observer can do is to be ready to capitalize on fast-breaking discoveries: have your astronomy bag always packed with binoculars, pencil and logbook, and be ready to change your lpans at the last minute.

Here's to the next exciting unpredicted event!

Clear skies,
Scott

Manitoba Skies - October 2008

This month:

• Celestial Treats for Hallowe’en
• Venus at sunset
• Jupiter low in the south
• The Hunter’s Moon

NOTE: This is NOT an exhaustive list of what’s going on in the sky! You can also pick up Sky News magazine or consult The Observer’s Handbook 2008, available from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.


Celestial Treats for Hallowe’en
Best seen: Hallowe’en night (October 31st), 6PM to 7:30PM

Hallowe’en night brings people outside and under the evening sky, so we’ve prepared a list of Hallowe’en “treats” for you to watch for.

The highlight is in the western sky after dark. Brilliant Venus shines like a white beacon low in the sky, becoming visible as soon as the sun sets (about 6:05 PM for Winnipeg). Below it is a thin crescent Moon. The moon’s “dark” part will be dimly visible as well – a phenomenon called earthshine, since it is light reflected from the earths that is lighting up the “dark” side of the moon. These objects are quite low, so you’ll need a clear horizon to the southwest to be able to see them. If your house has a clear line of sight and you have a telescope or binoculars, invite all the trick-or-treaters to take a look too! Even through common binoculars, the view will be amazing.

Higher up and to the south is the planet Jupiter. It is also an impressive sight for trick-or-treaters, but a telescope is needed to do it justice.

At 7:15PM CDT for areas in and around the city of Winnipeg, stop what you’re doing and look up into the southern sky. Halfway up the sky, you suddenly see a bright “star” appear out of nowhere. It will brighten to outshine everything else in the sky, and then fade away into oblivion. This isn’t a real exploding star – it’s called an Iridium flare. The Iridium series of satellites orbit the earth, carrying communications signals around the globe. As they orbit, sunlight glints off of their shiny solar panels – much like sunlight can reflects off of a moving car’s windows if the angles are just right. The “glint” becomes visible to us on the ground as a slowly moving flare that last a few seconds and then disappears. Iridium flares can be predicted in advance by visiting the web page www.heavens-above.com. Select your location from the database and it will tell you when to watch for Iridium flares and other satellite passes, including the International Space Station. (Alas, no ISS passes on Hallowe’en night for us… you’d have to get up early the next morning to see it!)


Venus at sunset
Best seen: evening twilight, all month (special events Oct 1st & 31st)

The brightest object in the sky other than the Sun and Moon, Venus blazes in the southwest after sunset. It becomes visible as the “first star I see tonight”, long before the sky is dark enough to see any other stars. Venus is so bright for two reasons: it is relatively close to us compared to other planets; and it is covered with shiny white clouds which reflect a lot of sunlight at us. Venus is so bright that it is often mistaken for an unnatural object by people unfamiliar with the sky.

On October 1st and again on October 31st, the thin crescent moon joins the scene, as related in our Hallowe’en special report above.

By month’s end, Venus is only a little higher than it was at the beginning of the month, but it has moved farther to the left from our point of view. For the next several months, Venus will be low in the west and southwest as the sun sets.


Jupiter low in the south
Best seen: evening sky, all month

The giant planet Jupiter is still the highlight of the evening sky, despite being so low in the south. Jupiter is now setting about 10PM in the southwest, as the sun catches up to it from our point of view. In fact, it’s the Earth and Jupiter doing the moving. As our planet orbits the Sun, we are swinging onto the far side from Jupiter with the sun moving in between us. Jupiter’s motion also contributes to this, although it is much slower than Earth’s.

Despite the low altitude, Jupiter is still worth a look. Binoculars will reveal some of its moons, which appear as tiny “stars” lined up on either side of the planet. A telescope will reveal some of the cloud bands and perhaps the Great Red Spot, but the telescopic views are affected by Jupiter’s low altitude and so might not be as clear as in previous years. Don’t worry, Jupiter is back every 13 months or so, and the next several oppositions will put Jupiter higher in our sky.


The Hunter’s Moon
Best seen: October 14th all night

The full Moon in October is traditionally referred to as the Hunter’s Moon. Many people believe that this moon, and last month’s Harvest Moon, are bigger and orange in the fall. In fact, the full Moon can appear big any time it is seen rising – this is a well-known but little-understood optical illusion. The orange colour comes from seeing an object through the thicker air near the horizon – the same reason the sun appears red or orange as it rises and sets.

However, the Harvest Moon and Hunter’s Moon are special – they happen to rise at a time when people are heading home, and so they are more often seen and remembered. And of course, in October the Manitoba skies are often shrouded with smoke from farmers burning stubble, and the smoke can enhance the orange colour as the moon rises.

If it’s cloudy on the 14th, don’t worry – most people can’t tell a truly “Full” moon from one that is a day before or after. You’ll have several nights around the 14th to watch a big orange moon rise into the prairie night!


The Planets as seen from Manitoba:

Mercury becomes a dawn object in the second half of October, appearing as a fairly bright “star” in the east before sunrise. It rises about 6:30AM on the 27th, just above and to the left of the thin crescent moon. The moon moves on after this, but Mercury sticks around until after the end of October.

Venus is visible in the evening sky this month, very low in the west-northwest as the sun sets. See article above.

Mars is too close to the Sun to be visible this month.

Jupiter is low in the south as darkness falls, and is visible until about 10PM when it sets in the southwest. See details above.

Saturn has become a morning object, rising about 4AM and standing about 30° high in the southeast as dawn breaks. The rings are still visible, but our perspective is becoming almost edge-on, and so Saturn is fainter than usual.

Uranus is only visible to the unaided eye in very dark conditions. Binoculars and small telescopes show it as a pale green “star” with no details. Neptune is even fainter, and only visible with a telescope. The dwarf planets Pluto and Eris are unobservable without a large telescope. For locator charts, consult The Observer’s Handbook 2008, available from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.

Phases of the Moon for Manitoba:
First Quarter October 7, 2008 at 4:04 AM CDT
Full Moon October 14, 2008 at 3:02 PM CDT
Last Quarter October 21, 2008 at 6:55 AM CDT
New Moon October 28, 2008 at 6:14 PM CDT

Note: Phases of the Moon given here are in local time and date for Manitoba; they may differ by what is on your calendar because calendars often use “Universal Time”, the time and date at the Greenwich meridian in England. Greenwich time is 6 hours ahead of Central Standard Time and 5 hours ahead of Central Daylight Time. Sometimes this pushes the date of an event to the previous day for Manitoba.