This week seems to have a few showers and thunderstorms (very cloudy skies) ahead, but despite this, there will be some clear (or at least partially clear) nights. The nightly low temperature hovers around 60°F and will provide a nice comfortably cool temperature for both you and your stargazing gear. Sunset this week will be passing 8:50 PM meaning the first stars will appear around 9:20 PM and fainter stars will be visible by 9:50 PM. This week be on the lookout for globular clusters, Mercury and Venus passing each other, Antares the star, and the 2.5 month-old Nova Cassiopeiae.

As summer approaches in the northern hemisphere, the arms of the Milky Way get higher in the sky at night. Since most stars and nebulae sit within the plane of the Milky Way, or the arms of the Milky Way, lots of star clusters become visible (in addition to other deep-sky objects). Arguably more interesting, however, are globular star clusters. These ultra-dense gatherings of old stars sit far out in the halo of the Milky Way and are not highly concentrated in the plane of the galaxy. Despite looking like faint fuzz balls through a telescope, globular clusters may contain 30,000 stars, and some upwards of a million.

Messier object 13 (M13), also known as the Hercules Globular Cluster, is one of the more famous globulars and it can be seen with a pair of binoculars looking 45° above the eastern horizon after sunset.

The positions our our Milky Way’s globular clusters. Notice how they collect near the bright center of the galaxy.

Starting Friday the 28th, right after sunset use binoculars or a telescope to spot Venus low in the west. You may notice that no more than 0.5° away is Mercury. Close encounters like these with the inner planets is a little more common than Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions since they orbit around the sun faster and have more opportunities to overlap.

Venus as seen on May 28. The pair will remain close for a few days after that.

At 9:30 PM any time this week, look low on the southeast horizon to find a bright red star – this is Antares. Around 11 PM or so when Antares is more overhead use binoculars to spot some neighboring young blue stars. If you are an astrophotographer, Antares is part of the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex. This is a very wide-field object that is a beautiful arrangement of stars, gas, and dust. The red Antares and blue neighboring stars give great popping colors and there is a long tail of dust and gas almost resembling a massive shooting star.

Antares, and the colorful Rho Ophiuchi region. The colors can be seen in photographs, but are too faint to be made out with the eye at a telescope.

In March, a new nova in Cassiopeia made some astronomy headlines. For some time, it shined at magnitude 7.7 making it visible with binoculars and telescopes. In early May this nova rapidly flared up in brightness and shined at magnitude 5.4 making it a naked-eye object. It has since dimmed back to its original magnitude 7.7. You can find this nova by hopping equidistant and in the same direction from the two stars on the “steep” side of the Cassiopeia constellation. This nova also sits very near to the famous Bubble Nebula.

How to find Nova CAS V 1405.

Enjoy the clear nights scattered between thunderstorms this week. The cool temperatures will be great for laying out a blanket or a lawn chair to stare upwards into the cosmos. Try to visit a dark sky park to truly experience the night sky especially now since the Milky Way core is higher in the sky. Look this week for some globular clusters, the close conjunction between Mercury and Venus, Antares and the Rho Ophiuchi complex, as well as the two-month-old nova in Cassiopeia.

Clear Skies!  

What’s Up This First Week of May

We are deep into spring now – more rainy days, but more comfortable overall temperatures both day and night. This week will likely be pretty cloudy and rainy with the exception of Wednesday night. Sunset will be passing through 8:30 PM and with sunrise at roughly 6:30 AM there is ten hours of darkness for stargazing and astrophotography.

It is interesting to draw a contrast between the length of night now and what it is on the shortest day of the year, the winter solstice, where Ohio sees nearly 14 hours of darkness.

Within the gaps of the clouds, be on the lookout this week for Eta Aquarid meteors, an early-morning eclipse on Jupiter, the rising core of the Milky Way, and the Summer Triangle.

The Eta Aquarid meteor shower peaks before sunrise on May 5 yielding around 20-30 meteors per hour. The whole shower lasts about a week so if you miss the peak, just try the night or two or three after. Meteor showers are the result of tiny particles that are shed off by comets passing through the solar system that slam into the earth’s atmosphere at insane speeds. Fun fact, the Eta Aquarid meteors are from the dust shed by the famous Halley’s comet! This particular meteor shower is known for having some of the fastest meteors, hitting the earth at over 148,000mph! At these speeds, the tiny sand-sized particles heat the air up so much it strips electrons off of the atoms (the process of ionization) and leaves a faint glowing trail for a few seconds.

The place that the meteors in a shower seem to come from is called the ‘Radiant”. The Eta Aqarid radiant does not rise until well after midnight.

In the early hours of May 7th, grab some binoculars and peer low into the eastern horizon. The brightest object in that part of the sky is Jupiter. Through binoculars or a low power telescope you will see all four of the Galilean moons off to one side of the gas giant. If you have access to a higher power telescope, look carefully and you may see a tiny black dot appearing on Jupiter’s surface. This is actually an eclipse (or shadowing of the sun) caused by the moon Ganymede.

Occasionally, one of Jupiter’s four big moons will cast a shadow on the body of the planet.

Jared May’s own photo of the shadow of Io crossing the face of Jupiter.

If you are a night owl like me, stay up past 11:30 PM to start getting a good glimpse of the returning Milky Way core. I say “returning” like it went away – it is always there, but just hidden away behind the sun in the winter months. The core of our galaxy is home to a supermassive black hole named Sagittarius A*. The massive gravitational force and other galaxy evolutionary processes cluster lots of stars and other cosmic objects into the galactic spiral arms and even more densely in the galactic core region. In a dark location the core (and even brighter parts of the spiral arms) will look like faint clouds stretched across the sky. This is actually the light of millions of stars. If you use a sky almanac or a software like Stellarium, you can find hundreds of nebulae, double stars, and more centered around this core region.

The milky-way rising over the eastern horizon after midnight this month.

How the milky-way will look at JGAP at around 3:00 am. Photo Brad Hoehne

At midnight look near the E-NE horizon and spot the Summer Triangle. This is a simple constellation consisting of three stars: Altair, Deneb, and Vega. This constellation overlaps with a section of one of the Milky Way spiral arms as well as indicates the onset of summer. Deneb is actually part of another constellation. It is the tail on Cygnus the Swan. Near Deneb is the very large North America Nebula (NGC 7000). This is a great astrophotography target but it helps to have a camera that is more sensitive to hydrogen alpha light.

The so-called “Summer Triangle” which rises after midnight in the East. It will rise earlier and earlier as spring turns into summer.

Despite sunset getting later in the evening and more cloudy days ahead, the temperatures are getting more comfortable and there are plenty of interesting cosmic treasures to see in the night sky. If Wednesday or the weekend nights are clear be on the lookout for some meteors, an eclipse over Jupiter, the rising Milky Way core, and the Summer Triangle near the North America Nebula.

Clear Skies!

This week of April we see partially cloudy skies both day and night. Nighttime temperatures do drop into the lower 30’s despite the warmer daytime temperatures we have recently been experiencing. Sunset this week is around 8:10 PM and continues to push later into the night as the season moves forward. Through the cloud patches at night be on the lookout for the moon passing through Taurus and Messier object 35, overhead satellites, as well as some late-night meteors.

This week is also the 60th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s spaceflight – the first in history.

On Wednesday the 14th shortly after sunset, look low in the western skies to spy the moon passing by the Pleiades – a bright and beautiful open cluster easily seen with binoculars. On Thursday the moon will be passing through the heart of the constellation Taurus. You may notice a bright red colored star nearby; this is the star Aldebaran. Between Friday and Saturday, the moon will proceed to pass by Mars which is found hanging 20° above Taurus. On Saturday the moon will be almost perfectly blocking the open cluster known as Messier Object 35 (M35) which normally shines at magnitude 5.1 (good for binoculars).

The moon on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings.

On clear nights I like to sit outside in a reclining lawn chair and just stair upwards into the darkness of the sky. As my eyes adjust to the darkness, they see more and more stars. Maybe once every few minutes I will spot a faint star that is slowly drifting across the sky. This is no star, just a satellite. On a typical night of stargazing for an hour or so I can count between six and twelve satellites that pass overhead. I challenge you to find more than twelve in an hour (hint: if you go to a dark-sky park like JGAP you may easily beat this number).

Friday marks the start of the Lyrids meteor shower. It doesn’t peak until April 22, but you may see some extra shooting stars in the coming days and weeks. At the peak, this meteor shower will produce around 15 meteors per hour. These shooting stars will appear to originate from near the constellation of Lyra, which is home to the third brightest star in the night sky – Vega, which rises in the NE around 10 PM.

The radiant of the Lyrid Meteor shower, which will be picking up over the next week or so. The radiant is the spot in the sky from which meteors appear to emanate.

In 1961 Yuri Gagarin of the Soviet Union commanded the Vostok 1 spacecraft and orbited the earth for 108 minutes before landing, completing the first ever human spaceflight. April 12 2021 marks the 60th anniversary of his flight. The story of the spacecrafts, cosmonauts, and the secrecy surrounding the Soviet space program are all extremely interesting, but Gagarin’s landing is particularly unique. Gagarin ejected from the space capsule at 23,000ft in the air and parachuted to the ground. His landing site was nearly 200 miles away from the planned landing site due to some engine misbehavior. After he touched down in a potato field, he was greeted by a farm woman and her daughter who were terrified by this man in an orange spacesuit who just plummeted from the sky. He spoke enough Russian to convince them he was friendly. Gagarin was then transported to the nearest phone so he could contact his base to tell them where he had landed. He was reunited with Soviet officials and took “selfies” with some of them and their kids. That is the interesting story of the first return of a human-piloted spacecraft – 60 years later spacecraft landings are done a little differently. ( https://www.nasa.gov/feature/remembering-yuri-gagarin-50-years-later)

Yuri Gargaran, the first human to orbit the Earth.

While the skies are partially cloudy and the nighttime temperatures are frigid this week, some nights may provide all right opportunities for stargazing. Take a step outside around 9:00 PM and try to spot the moon drifting by various asterisms and Messier objects, some shooting stars out of the Lyra constellation, and satellites passing overhead.

Clear Skies!

Give Ohio a few weeks and the weather can pull a 180° on us. This week’s forecast has clouds scattered

about, but perhaps some clear moments in the week ahead. The nightly temperatures this

week do not drop below 50° which is great for stargazers because normally nighttime temperatures in

the early spring and late winter timeframe can get pretty cold. Sunset this week will be passing 8 PM so

the fainter stars won’t be showing until after 8:45 PM or so. During these potentially clear upcoming

nights be on the lookout for Comet C/2020 R4 (ATLAS), the last International Space Station flyover for

JGAP until at least April 17, an early-morning moon, and some news on an asteroid that was thought to

be on a collision course with earth.

There is another comet that may make some small news, designated Comet C/2020 R4 (ALTAS). Right

now this comet shines at a faint magnitude 9.6 and should be visible with 80mm binoculars or a small

telescope. This ice ball is located in a part of the sky that can only be seen late in the night (or very

early morning), specifically, its located in the constellation of Aquila and very close to the star Almizan.

C/2020 is pretty far away from the earth, about 72 million miles, but the closest approach is coming up

on April 23 when the comet will be 43 million miles from the earth. You also won’t want to miss this

comet because it won’t be around again for over 900 years!

The comet C2020 R4 rises in the east in the early morning hours.

The International Spaces Station (ISS) is a common sighting for regular stargazers who spend most of

their free nights under the stars (when it’s clear). The manmade satellite looks like a bright airplane

flying overhead but has no blinking lights, in fact, the light we see from the ISS comes from reflected

sunlight off its body and solar panels. For a seeable flyover to happen, the sun and the station’s orbit

have to be in just the right range of spots. This Wednesday look near the western horizon at 9:02 PM to

spot the station. It will pass overhead for 3 minutes heading to the south/southwest before crossing into

the shadow of the earth. This will be the last visible sighting of the ISS from Logan OH until after April 17.

The ISS will appear as a bright “Star” when it passes overhead. If you miss a series of passes, you usually have to wait a few weeks for another set.

The moon goes through its monthly cycle: new moon, waxing crescent, waxing gibbous, full moon,

waning gibbous, waning crescent, then back to new moon. This week the moon is passing through its

waxing crescent phase as it approaches new moon this weekend. No moon in the sky is ideal for looking

at smaller and fainter deep-sky objects. But if you find yourself waking up early and outside between

5:30 AM and 7 AM this Wednesday, peer over at the eastern horizon for a glimpse at the moon. A look

through binoculars may also reveal a neighboring Jupiter and Saturn to the crescent.

The moon joins Jupiter and Saturn in heavy twilight just before dawn.

In 2004 an asteroid was discovered, 99942 Apophis, that was estimated to be 1,200 ft. across and was

given a 2.7% chance of impact with the earth on April 13 2029. This gave the asteroid a rating of 4 on

the Torino impact hazard scale meaning it would be capable of regional destruction on the order of a

several hundred megaton bomb (the largest nuclear weapon detonated was the Tsar Bomba rated at

just 50 megatons). Let me say the punchline for all of this – We are safe for at least the next 100 years

from this asteroid as per recent measurements on the object’s trajectory. These measurements were

made in March by NASA’s Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex and the Green Bank

Observatory.

Apophis is, even during its closest passes, nothing more than a blip in visual telescopes.

Get out and enjoy the warm and hopefully somewhat clear nights this week. There are rainstorms

forecast so it might be a little humid and get some condensation on your telescope or binocular

optics. This week try spotting the late-night comet, the ISS, the early-morning moon, or enjoy reading

about the close (but far enough) call.

Spring is officially upon us and the Ohio weather is reflecting that perfectly. This week will be relatively cloudy (with some rain storms) with nighttime temperature hardly getting below the upper 30s. The weekend may have some gaps in the clouds for some stargazing, or perhaps briefly Wednesday night after the rain. Sunset this week is right around 7:45 PM. Ever since daylight saving pushed us forward an hour, sunset and darkness consequently fall an hour later. If there are some clear skies ahead this week, be on the lookout for a newly discovered nova that can be spotted with a small telescope, the brightening moon, an early-morning Jupiter, and rising Messier 51.

Very recently, on March 18, Yuji Nakamura discovered a brand new nova within our galaxy designated V1405 Cas. A nova occurs when a white dwarf star is orbiting a larger main sequence star (like our sun) and the white dwarf’s gravity slowly siphons off hydrogen from the larger star. At some point in this process the surface of the white dwarf begins to heat up and nuclear fusion begins at the surface. This surface based fusion causes the white dwarf to glow very bright. So without warning on March 18, this nova appeared as a brand new star in the night sky. This new nova shines at magnitude 9.6 and can be spotted with small telescopes in darker locations. V1405 Cas can be found in the Cassiopeia region on the sky and sits very near the Bubble nebula (a fun deep-sky object for astrophotographers).

How to find V1405 CAS near the “w” of Cassiopeia low in the northwest skies just after sunset.

A Telescopic photograph of the Nova V1405 CAS. It is visible in good binoculars or a small scope, but to spot it will require comparing your view to a good map of the sky.

The night sky this week will be dominated by the moon’s light. It will reach full moon this Sunday as it sweeps more and more eastwards in the sky night-to-night. For people who have not gotten the chance to look through binoculars or a telescope into space, it seems the moon is always most amazing. Even to more veteran stargazers, we see the moon so often but with our wide-field and imperfect eyes. Getting up close to the lunar surface with binoculars/telescopes and seeing the craters and old lava seas is always amazing.

The moon as seen on Wednesday this week

If you wake up early for work (between 6 and 7:15 AM), step outside and look low on the ESE horizon to see Jupiter, which will stand out against the brightening sky. It does make a quick and easy binocular object since it is so big and bright. If you had a radio telescope you would notice that Jupiter is the second brightest radio object in the sky (day and night) second to only the sun. This is because one of Jupiter’s moons, Io, releases lots of charges particles into space that get swept up in the red giant’s strong magnetic field. This interaction between the charged particles and magnetic field releases something called cyclotron radiation and synchrotron radiation – but mostly cyclotron which is found in radio frequencies.

In the spirit of galaxy season, a great galaxy to look for this spring is Messier object 51 (M51) that has the nickname, the Whirlpool Galaxy. Similar to the M101 galaxy (mentioned a few weeks back), M51 is also a face-on spiral. So from earth we can see all of the grand spiral arms that give a galaxy its textbook look. M51 shines at magnitude 8.10 but it is very small in the sky, so you may need a more powerful telescope or a camera attached to a telescope to really make out the details of the galaxy’s structure. It can be found by looking just 4° south of the last star in the Big Dipper’s handle.

The beautiful spiral M51 is a favorite of skilled astrophotographers.

This week is a typical springtime Ohio week – cloudy and rainy but with warmer weather day and night. As the sun sets later and later, the total number of hours of darkness will continue to decrease up until the summer solstice. So be sure to maximize your time outside during the shorter and warmer nights. This week be on the lookout for the new nova near Cassiopeia, the full moon, Jupiter low on the morning horizon, and the M51 spiral galaxy.

Clear Skies!

This week will bring us some warmer temperatures (finally things are starting to feel like spring) before a cold weekend. Along with the warm temperatures, it looks like this week will also be bringing a decent amount of clouds. The cloud coverage is forecast to drop off a little towards the weekend, so maybe there will be more gaps in the clouds to do some quick stargazing.

Sunset this week occurs right around 6:30 PM, all the way until Daylight Saving Time begins this Sunday which will shift sunset to 7:30 PM. If there are clear skies, be on the lookout for some deep-sky galaxies, a good starting place for Messier object hunting, and the rising Big Dipper.

It is not spring just yet, but the night sky is starting to reveal its seasonal treasures – deep-sky galaxies. In the summer months the night sky is filled with the stars and dust of the core of the Milky Way. In the spring we face far enough away from the most crowded parts of our galaxy so we are able to see much deeper in space (an unhindered view). Most of these galaxies are several millions of light-years away and appear relatively small in the sky. For this reason, galaxies aren’t great target for binoculars. A small telescope with a moderately long focal length (anything over 800mm) will help pick out some of the brighter ones. There are some really impressive spiral galaxies to spy through a telescope, like M101 (a.k.a. the Pinwheel Galaxy). This is a face-on spiral, meaning we can easily see all of the spiral arms that give a galaxy its classic look. M101 shines at magnitude 7.9 and is much easier to spot than other galaxies due to its brightness and size. There are so many more galaxies waiting to be seen in the spring skies than just M101.

The glorious face-on spiral galaxy, M101, also called “The Pinwheel.” It lies in a patch of sky near the end of the “handle” of the Big Dipper

Many of the spring galaxies are given the name designation “Messier object ###”. This designation also applies to many other deep-sky objects, like nebulae. There are 110 total Messier objects (109 if you consider that one is a “lost” observation) that span the sky, across all four seasons. The great thing about Messier objects is that they are bright and make fantastic targets for stargazers with binoculars and telescopes as well as for astrophotographers. The original list of these objects was compiled by Charles Messier in the 1700s who was essentially listing off all “fuzzy” objects in the sky that weren’t comets. The loads of galaxies up in the spring (lots of them are Messier objects) will then transition into the even greater summer collection of Messier objects. So spring is a great time to start finding them all!

The many "Messier Objects” in the spring sky.

Owing to a quirk of positioning, with the sun occupying a “gap” in the collection of Messier Objects, Mid-March is one time of year in which a dedicated (and perhaps a little crazy) observer can spot all 110 of them if conditions are favorable. Amateur Astronomers call such a feat a “Messier Marathon.”

After the sun sets turn towards the northeast and you will see the iconic Big Dipper strung sideways in the sky. The handle arcs to one of the brightest stars in the sky, Arcturus, the front two stars on the bowl point to the north star, and there is a unique double star found in this constellation. When you find the Big Dipper, look at the second star from the end of the handle, can you see a double star? Seeing this double star (Alcor and Mizar) is a “poor man’s” test for 20/20 vision.

The Big Dipper, with the “eye test” stars Mizar and Alor pointed out with a marker.

The warm weather has unfortunately decided to coincide with mostly cloudy skies. There may still be some decent gaps in the clouds that will be enough for some quick stargazing. If this is the case be sure to grab your binoculars and a telescope and begin hunting for spring-time galaxies, Messier objects, and test your vision with the Alcor-Mizar double star in the Big Dipper.

Until next week, Clear Skies!

Grab your telescopes and binoculars this week because Ohio is forecasted to see several clear nights! There are some fluctuations in the forecast but, fingers crossed, the timing might work out for great viewing.

If you decide to pay the clear night skies a visit, the temperature (with windchill) will still be pretty cold- in the 20’s. So wear layers.

Sunset this week is right around 6:20 PM which means that all of the stars and deep-sky objects will be visible around an hour later, at 7:20 PM.

This week will bring us an exciting matchup between Mars and the Pleiades, the third quarter moon, a Jupiter-Mercury conjunction, and some early morning International Space Station flyovers. (Below, we’ll tall about how to snag a photo of it).

All this week, if you look a little more than 30° above the western horizon, you will notice a bright red Mars and a faint fuzzy Pleiades neck and neck in the night sky. A pair of binoculars or a wide-field telescope is perfect for observing this event. A low power scope will not be able to resolve the details of the Martian surface, but it will be enough to start resolving more of the fainter stars that are part of the Pleiades open cluster. A picture of this conjunction will be very impressive, especially if you are able to capture the vivid red of Mars in contrast to the bright blue of the star cluster.

Mars will appear close to the Pleaides star cluster this week. You should be able to see both at the same time in a pair of binoculars.

The tail end of this week will give us the third quarter moon. This is a double green checkmark night for observers; clear skies and a “late moon”. So not only are the skies free of clouds, but they are also clear of the bright light from the moon. If you are up late enough to see the third quarter moon, it will look incredible under low power binoculars or telescope – the craters and lunar seas will pop.

The less familiar third quarter moon will rise late in the evening at the end of the week.

Friday will bring the conjunction of the inner planet Mercury and the gas giant Jupiter. They will be roughly half a degree apart in the sky. The catch is that this event is only visible in the early morning (between 6 and 6:30 AM). So if you get up early for work, take a peak above the eastern horizon to see the two planets. If you look 15° further south from the conjunction, you will come across Saturn.

Early risers with clear eastern horizons will be able to pick up Mercury and Jupiter as they appear side-by-side just before dawn.

The International Space Station (ISS) is an orbiting science laboratory designed to house astronauts for long-term missions. With the solar panels, the whole station is about as large as a football field! The large solar panels make excellent mirrors and can reflect lots of sunlight back down to earth. For someone on earth, the ISS reflecting sunlight looks like an airplane but without the blinking lights. The next passes are as follows: Mar 4, 5:55 AM visible for three minutes NNW to ENE, and Mar 6, 5:57 AM visible for five minutes NNW to ENE. The catch here again is that this is an early-morning event for this week. In a few days or weeks, the ISS will be positioned such that it will reflect sunlight during the evening hours instead of the morning hours. A great website to track these passes can be found here: https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/sightings/view.cfm?country=United_States&region=Ohio&city=Logan#.YD2pN9xOlPY

It is possible to take pictures of the ISS even though it is flying at nearly 5 miles per second. This will require a long focal length telescope (1000mm) and camera attached to your telescope with a T-ring and T-adapter. Set the camera to a fast shutter speed (faster than 1/100s) and release the RA/Dec or Alt/Az locks so you can maneuver your telescope by hand. As the ISS passes, try to keep the space station centered in your viewfinder by controlling your telescope by hand. Simultaneously fire off lots of shots on your camera. Afterwards, sort through the images and see which ones came out best! Below is my attempt, you can hardly make out the white body and brown solar panels of the space station.

The iSS is more than just a “dot” when caught through a camera with a long telephoto lens . The trick is catching it in the first place! This is Jared’s attempt.

This week is going to be crammed with potentially clear nights and mostly moonless skies. The temperature will still be uncomfortably low, but will be very conducive for crisp and clear atmosphere so that views through binoculars/telescopes are very clear. Be on the lookout this week for the Pleiades/Mars matchup, the third quarter moon, and the early morning ISS passes and Jupiter/Mercury conjunction. Enjoy and explore the cosmos this week as we slowly lean into the spring nights.

Clear Skies!

The past several weeks have been plagued by nothing but cloudy skies day and night. Near the tail end of this week there may be some clear night skies. The temperature on these nights with windchill will be in the 20’s so prepare yourself and your gear appropriately. Sunset this week will be around 6:10 PM and will continue to get later and later as we creep our way into Spring. If we are lucky enough to have some gaps in the clouds, this week will bring the Lunar-Beehive conjunction, the full moon, a brilliant double star, and Mars (perhaps you heard the news about the Perseverance rover landing last week).

Wednesday will bring a close pass between the nearly-full moon and the large Beehive cluster (Messier object 44). Since the moon will be nearly full, it will blindingly bright and will likely wash out the fainter stars of this open cluster. To try spotting both the moon and the Beehive, use a pair of binoculars or a small telescope. Early next week, in the early evening when the moon hasn’t risen yet, the beehive will appear as a faint fuzzy blur. Messier 44 occupies a surprisingly large area of the sky, about as much as the moon itself.

The moon passes in front of the naked eye cluster, the Beehive (M44) on Wednesday evening. With the moon so bright, this cluster won’t be visible to the naked eye. However, those with binoculars might be able to make it out.

A simulated view of the full moon as it will appear this week.

Saturday will bring February’s full moon. It’s pretty typical luck for amateur astronomers and stargazers that one of the few clear nights in weeks coincides with a full moon. Regardless, the full moon can provide for some amazing viewing and photography opportunities. Binoculars are great for looking at the moon, but be ready to let your eyes adjust to the darkness for several minutes afterwards. If you are able to connect a camera up to your telescope using a T-ring and T-adapter, exposures on the order of 1/500 seconds are usually perfect for capturing the bright and dark spots on the lunar surface.



Double stars are not rare, but it can be difficult to find good double star from earth. The star Almach is a great winter double star to observe. One star is a bright blue and the companion is a brilliant orange. This double star system should make a good telescope target. Binoculars should work, but the extra stability and focal length of a telescope will make finding and seeing the double star mush easier. Almach can be found in the NW skies after sunset forming a triangle with the bright stars of Aldebaran and Capella.

Almach, a lovely telescopic double star, is setting in the west. Don’t forget the objects that are setting!

Mars will be up all week (in the NW skies as a noticeably bright red “star”) and made headlines last week – not Mars itself, but the rover that NASA landed on the red planet. The Perseverance Rover touched down on Mars February 18. This is a car-sized rover that contains seven primary instruments, 19 cameras, some microphones, and even a small drone. That’s right! Soon NASA will be attempting the first powered flight on a different planet. This rover is very similar to the one that landed in 2012, Curiosity. The landing maneuver was one of the most impressive feats of the mission. After the heatshield fell away and the radar found a safe landing site, the rover and skycrane dropped out of their protective shell. The skycrane is basically a jetpack for the rover itself so it can have a slow and controlled powered descent. The skycrane then descended the rover to about 70 feet above the surface when it began to lower Perseverance by cables all while the skycrane rockets were controlling the landing. Perserverence then sat suspended 21 feet below the skycrane. When the rover landed the cables were cut and the skycrane flew away to crash on the surface far away from the rover. To top it off, this was all done by onboard computers, so we on earth just had to sit and wait for the landing computers to make the decisions and report the results. The rover’s overall scientific goals are to look at the past Martian environment, look for evidence of microbial life, collect various samples, and make detailed measurements about the atmosphere in preparation for manned missions to Mars in the near future.

The Perseverance rover in the process of being set down on Mars. This image was taken by the Entry system’s “Sky Crane”, whose only function was to perform this delicate task.

This week’s weather is pretty Ohio February typical. The nighttime temperatures, with windchill, will be in the mid-teens, and cloudy skies occur far more often than clear skies. Sunset this week happens just after 5:50 PM. It won’t be too long until we pass the 6 PM sunset mark (nothing significant about that, it’s just indicative of the coming spring with longer and warmer days with more clear skies).

The cloud-cover forecast is not looking good at all this week. Cloudy skies may put a pause on using our telescopes and binoculars for stargazing, but it doesn’t mean that the stargazer’s curiosity must also be paused. Here are some stargazing-related activities that can be done under cloudy skies this week: learn about the constellations, join some citizen-science efforts, utilize remote observing, or if you’re an astrophotographer, go back and revisit some old photos to try re-editing them.

The constellations are probably one of the first things that come to mind when thinking of the night sky. They are mentioned in schools and in countless introductory and advanced astronomy books. Cloudy skies bring the perfect opportunity to read and discover the rich history of these celestial figures.

Knowing the constellations will also greatly aid navigating the night sky; knowing which ones lead to others and what major stars comprise them. The figures and stories behind the constellations likely started during prehistoric times as a means of telling stories and explaining the natural world. Many of the cosmic designs we know and love today originate from ancient Greek culture and mythology. It wasn’t until 1922 that the International Astronomical Union (IAU) formalized the names of 88 constellations. There are countless websites and books that dive into the interesting stories and histories of these mythological figures.

The winter evening constellations over the whole sky, as seen from mid-northern latitudes.

Another possibility for this week is to join a citizen science project. These projects can range in complexity, purpose, and membership size. Two very popular projects are the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) and Galaxy Zoo. The AAVSO is a massive effort by citizens to measure and take data on variable stars that professional astronomers then use for their research. It is not unheard of for AAVSO amateurs to get their names in scientific publications. The AAVSO’s website has lots of information on how to join and get started. They do a great job supporting anyone who joins: complete amateur to expert.

The second citizen science project is known as Galaxy Zoo. This projects aim is to have people view images of deep-space galaxies imaged by the Dark Energy Camera in Cerro Tololo, Chile. Fun fact: you are likely to be the very first person to ever lay eyes on the galaxies you see on this site. You are then asked a handful of easy-to-answer multiple choice questions about the structure in the galaxies you are shown. This helps astronomers classify the galaxies which in turn aids in galaxy morphology and evolution studies. Classifying these galaxies is mildly addicting and a ton of fun!

Another possibility for cloudy nights is utilizing remote observing. Lots of places have telescopes in really dark and clear sky locations that are available for the public to use remotely from the comfort of their own homes. Some of these remote observing sites are free to use and just require an “appointment” to get in the schedule and others require membership fees. There is a great website that walks through lots of these remote observing opportunities and how to get started.

A building full of telescopes waiting to be used by remote observers. You can rent one of these telescopes to make observations from iTelescope’s website.

Lastly, if you are an astrophotographer, beginner or expert, cloudy nights provide a great opportunity to revisit old images to try re-editing them with new skills or perhaps a different artistic approach. And after all, practice makes perfect. I personally have the bad habit of editing my photos at 3 or 4 AM after I finish my night of astrophotography. So a fresh take and good sleep may make a world of difference in the final edited photo. If you are new to astrophotography and want to save some money, consider using the free photo-editing software, GIMP. This is effectively a free Photoshop with minor differences.

Making pictures of the night sky is more than just pointing a camera. It’s also about processing the images you take. An image can be processed, and reprocessed, long after you take the original exposures that it is made up up.

While this week’s weather may be terrible for stargazing, it opens up a number of possibilities to enrich your astronomy knowledge, begin partaking in citizen science efforts, try remote observing, or retouch old astro-images. These activities are also indoors and will keep you safe from the frigid temperatures of February. There are many more ways to explore the cosmos than just gazing into the heavens on a clear night, explore the many possibilities that the amateur astronomy community has to offer.

Clear Skies!

The weather this week may actually work out for stargazers and astrophotographers. Tuesday and Wednesday night show promising signs of being clear or at least having some gaps in the clouds. Be warned – the temperature will be EXTREMELY low with windchill dropping as low as 4° F, so dress very warmly when stepping outside to gaze at the night sky.

Sunset is just after 5:40 PM and gives the perfect chance to step outside right after dinner. This week will give us the third quarter moon, a “variable star of the month”, some unique chances to spot the International Space Station and the faint arms of the Winter Milky Way overhead.

On Thursday the third quarter moon will rise just after 2 A. So, while it is sad that we have to wait so late into the night to see the moon, it does mean that we have darker skies (without the moon’s glow) that reveal more stars. The span between roughly third quarter phase to first quarter phase (with the new moon in between) are the best times to use binoculars and telescopes to peer dee into space and to hunt for faint celestial objects. When the moon is nearly full, or around that phase, it becomes a great time to shift your binocular’s focus onto the lunar surface for an amazing viewing opportunity.

The Third Quarter Moon, visible after midnight mid-week.

The American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) is an organization that engages in outreach and citizen science. The primary focus of this group is studying and gathering data on variable stars. Variable stars are simply stars that undergo some kind of variation in their brightness for one reason or another, perhaps a planet passes in front, it has a bright companion star orbiting and occasionally blocking it, or it just undergoes cycles of heating and cooling or expansion and contraction.

The AAVSO tries to showcase a new variable star each month. For February they are showcasing Betelgeuse. You can locate this special variable star in Orion’s right shoulder (from Orion’s perspective facing us). It will appear to be a very bright and subtly red star. This variable star has been the center of attention for quite some time, especially since it is pretty high up in the supernova candidate list this star can explode any day now- between tonight and a few hundred thousand years in the future. Whenever it happens, Earth will be safe. This star can be spotted easily by eye and its red color will “pop” when viewed through binoculars or telescopes.

Betelgeuse, top middle

Since the middle of this week may be clear, be on the lookout those nights for the International Space Station (ISS) flying overhead. Here are the times, directions to look, and how long to look for fly-overs Wednesday: 7:09 PM NW skies duration 4 min. Often there are two ISS flyover times separated by just 90 minutes. This is the amount of time it takes the International Space Station to do one full orbit of the earth. So, the second time you see it the astronauts onboard have just circled around the entire globe once! The ISS will look, at first, like an airplane flying overhead except it won’t have blinking lights and there won’t be any sounds from jet engines.

Stretching completely across the top of the sky at night are the arms of the Milky Way. These arms are more impressive in the summer where the northern hemisphere is more situated towards the core of the Milky Way where there are a lot more stars. But if you find yourself in a dark sky location and you see what looks like a thin cloud stretching from SE to NW, you’re actually looking at millions of faint stars sitting in the disc of our home spiral galaxy. Binoculars and telescopes may help pick out small details and features in the arms but they look most impressive with just your naked eyes.

With a sky absent of moonlight and two potentially clear nights this week it is extremely tempting to spend as much time out under the stars. But with temperatures and windchills so low, care must be taken to protect yourself from the harsh weather. Perhaps step outside briefly after dinner hours to gaze into heavens as more and more stars will appear after sunset. This week be on the lookout for the third quarter moon (or the lack thereof), the impressive featured variable star, Betelgeuse, some ISS passes, and the faint arms of the Milky Way.

Clear Skies!

A wide view of the fainter Winter Milky Way

Ohio weather is leaning in favor of stargazers this week. Several clear or partially clear nights are coming up, so make sure you know where your binoculars and telescopes are.

Sunset this week is nearing 5:40 PM and nighttime temperatures, with wind-chill, aren’t a stranger to the mid-teens. If you take a scope out under the stars be sure to let your stargazing equipment thermally equilibrate with outside temperatures for at least 30 minutes before use.

This week will give us the first quarter moon, a celestial trio between the moon, Mars, and Uranus, Mercury at its greatest eastern elongation, and the Dog Star.

On Wednesday evening look in the Eastern skies to see the washed-out first quarter moon on the rise. As the sun sets, and the sky gets darker, the half-moon’s light will slowly dominate the night sky. First quarter is an excellent time to view the moon with a telescope or binoculars since there is lots of contrast along the terminator (Where the light meets the dark on the face). Many companies sell moon filters for telescopes and binoculars that are fairly cheap and really help with viewing the moon. These filters are basically sunglasses that simply reduce the amount of light getting through and since the moon is so bright, these filters help save your night vision.

Image of the First Quarter Moon, by Jared May

While you are observing the moon Wednesday night, scan your binoculars or telescope just 5° degrees “above” of the moon (more north) to see a celestial body trio – Uranus and Mars will both be neighbors to the moon. Uranus shines a faint magnitude 5.76 so binoculars will work best in a dark location and Mars shines a bright magnitude 0.22 (remember that the magnitude scale is reverse such that fainter objects have a more positive magnitude).

The Moon and Mars help guide you to Uranus (no joke!).

On Saturday, peer low into the WSW skies between 6 and 6:45 PM to see Mercury at its greatest eastern elongation. This is the day that Mercury will be above the horizon for the longest since the greatest eastern elongation is just a point where Mercury appears to be at its furthest distance away from the sun. Binoculars and telescopes both will do a great job of showing this inner planet, but it is a very small planet so don’t expect to see any details of the planet’s surface.

After sunset, look for Mercury in the twilight. This is the best week for a while to view the elusive planet.

Almost exactly an hour after sunset this time of year, turn your attention eastward to see the Dog Star a.k.a. Siruis. This star is part of the constellation Canis Major (Latin for “The Greater Dog” – hence the star’s nickname) and is the seventh brightest natural object in the sky behind the sun, moon, Venus, Jupiter, Mars, and Mercury - Sirius shines at magnitude -1.46. This bright star sits just 8.6 light-years away from Earth (very close in terms of cosmic scale), and is 25.4 times as luminous as our sun and these combined make it the brightest star in the sky. This “dog star”, is actually not alone in the sky, it is part of a binary system and its accompanying star is a much fainter white dwarf. These two dance around each other once every 50 years. This is a perfect naked-eye object but looks equally impressive through binoculars and telescopes.

Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, is easy to find at this time of year.

The forecast shows potential for several nights this week to be clear or have gaps in the clouds – the weather this time of year is hardly ever that nice. Be sure to take full advantage of this rare opportunity and explore the sea of stars and the treasures found in the night sky. This week lookout for the first quarter moon, the celestial trio, the inner planet Mercury, and the unmissable Dog Star.

Clear Skies!

There’s finally some good news regarding the weather.  This week may have a few clear nights!   It looks like Monday and Tuesday nights will be clear or at least have some clear patches, and there is a small chance for more gaps in the clouds during the weekend.

Sunset this week is around 5:30 PM and will continue to get later as the days go on. Nighttime temperatures will be roughly between 32°F and 16°F on the clear nights when taking wind-chill into account. Make sure to dress very warm. 

It helps to let your observing equipment (binoculars, telescopes, and cameras) thermally equilibrate with the outside temperature for about 30 minutes before use.

With the upcoming clear nights be on the lookout for what this week brings us: Mercury on the rise, the new moon, neighboring planets, Mars overhead, and deep-sky targets for beginner to pro observers.

Just 15 minutes after sunset, use a pair of binoculars to spot a planetary trio very low to the WSW horizon. Mercury, Jupiter, and Saturn will all be hanging in the sky forming a small triangle. Be quick to spot these, because all three of these planets will sink below the horizon just 15 minutes after they can first be seen.  They may be difficult to see against the bright twilight of the setting sun.

This is the finale to the Great Conjunction that happened a few weeks ago. Jupiter and Saturn are slowly retreating more and more west in the sky. In several months these two gas giants will once again be high in the sky.

In the evening twilight, three planets appear near one another.

Wednesday brings the new moon for January. Stargazers are very fortunate that the sparse clear nights this time of year have decided to coincide with the new moon. The new moon is a stargazer’s best friend because the skies are much darker than when the moon is full and hanging overhead washing out many of the fainter stars. The biggest enemy besides moonlight is human-made light pollution. The only solutions to light pollution are specific filters (which can only do so much) or taking a trip to a dark sky location (like the John Glenn Astronomy Park!).

On Thursday if there are gaps in the clouds, continue to look at the WSW horizon. Just 10 to 15 minutes after sunset you will begin to see the waxing crescent moon, Mercury, and Jupiter all falling into a nearly straight line. At this point Saturn is too low on the horizon to be seen. (IMAGE)

The thin crescent moon joins the planetary conjunction in the evening twilight on Thursday evening.

Keeping with the theme of planets to observe, about an hour after sunset look almost straight up. You may notice a distinctly bright star, and if you have good observing skills you may notice that this star is noticeably red. This is no star, it’s the red planet Mars. Viewing Mars with binoculars will make the color even more noticeable, but you will need a telescope of a moderately long focal length (1000 mm is a good long focal length) to have a chance of seeing any details of the planet, like its polar ice caps.

Mars is still a good target for telescopes, even though it is getting quite small.

One of the most famous and recognizable arrangements of stars in the night sky is the Orion constellation. This constellation is home to many deep-sky treasures that make great viewing and photography targets for amateur astronomers of any skill level. Some deep-sky objects found in or near the Orion constellation include: The Orion Nebula, Horsehead Nebula, The Flame Nebula, M43, Barnard’s Loop, the Witch Head Nebula, and the Capser the Friendly Ghost Nebula. Each of these objects are very unique in their history and appearance. These objects range from naked-eye-visible magnitude 4 (the Orion Nebula) to magnitude 13 (the Witch Head Nebula) that will require more specialized equipment to observe.

What to look for in Orion. Some of these can be seen in telescopes (The Ghost nebula, M42 and M43) and while others require photography to “view.”

Despite the cold, this week is the perfect opportunity to take a quick trip outside and to explore the cosmos. Ohio weather has been unkind to stargazers for the past three weeks and this week alone has at least two clear nights! Once again, be sure to dress for the weather and let your binoculars, telescopes, and cameras cool down to the outside temperature for at least 30 minutes before use. Be on the lookout this week for the planetary coincidences, Mars high in the sky, or perhaps scan the Orion constellation for any number of deep-sky objects.

Clear Skies!

The forecast looks cloudy this week, unfortunately. It’s the third week in a row of disappointing weather forecasts for stargazers and amateur astronomers. Sunset will be occurring around 5:20 PM, which is still very early and great to see the stars if you have an early bed time. The nighttime temperatures are pretty typical for this time of year, freezing or below. This week brings us the third quarter moon, Mercury near Jupiter and Saturn, and, since it will likely be cloudy, a section on astrophotography for beginners in this post to help prepare before before the next clear night.

Early morning Wednesday will be the official third quarter moon. This half-moon will begin to rise in the East around midnight which gives plenty of time to observe subtle night-sky objects without the moon’s blinding glow. As the moon approaches its new moon phase, it will rise later and later in the night and become a progressively narrower crescent. 

On January 9th and 10th look low into the WSW horizon 20 minutes after sunset with a pair of binoculars to revel in the planetary trio: Jupiter, Saturn, and Mercury. They will appear to make a triangle in the sky. We can gather some information about the positions of the planets based on this observation.

Jupiter, Saturn and Mercury: this week in heavy twilight.

Since Mercury is an inner planet (closer to the sun than the Earth) and both Jupiter and Saturn are outer planets (further from the sun than the Earth), we can conclude that Jupiter and Saturn are nearly opposite of the Earth in their orbits (see the diagram below).

As we look out at Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn this week we are seeing them on the other side of the sun.

Some of the objects or astro-events that are discussed in these blogs are very difficult to see without the aid of a telescope or binoculars. Taking a picture through a telescope will not only “preserve” the astro-event or object in the image, but it enables us to see more than what the human eye can.

Many astrophotographers (including myself) get started in the hobby by taking quick snapshots through telescope or binocular eyepieces with their smartphone. With some practice, software, and a little time, you can take amazing astro-images.

To go beyond that, all you’ll need to get started is a DSLR, a lens with a moderately long focal length, and a tripod. You will also need to download the free software, “DeepSkyStacker”. A great beginner deep-sky object is the Orion Nebula found near the knee in the Orion Constellation. Frame up your shot using the longest focal length you have (<1000 mm). Make sure your camera is on manual focus, vibration reduction is off, the camera is in manual mode, and you are shooting in RAW (not JPG). Set up your camera’s onboard timer to shoot as many photos as you can manage, or be prepared to click the shutter button several times. Use the live view to manually focus stars. Start with an ISO of 800 or 1600 and use the “500 rule” to choose your exposure length (500/focal length = exposure time). Take lots of images (anything between 20 and 200 to start) while disturbing your camera as little as possible, this will eventually help increase the signal-to-noise, which is a top priority for astrophotographers.

After imaging, upload your RAW files to DeepSkyStacker and let it work its magic (there are lots of tutorials online for how to use this software on more advanced levels). This software aligns all of your images and averages them to increase the signal (the Orion Nebula) and decrease the noise (thermal noise, walking noise, etc.). You can make basic edits to your image in DeepSkyStacker or edit them in a photo editor of your choice. These are the basic steps to astrophotography and revealing otherwise invisible features of the night sky.  

A simple DSLR setup, with a camera on a tripod, for taking simple “deep sky” images.

One of Jared’s images of the “belt” (at left) and “sword” of Orion, taken with a simple DSLR on a tripod. It is made up of dozens of images “stacked” in an image processing software, such as Photoshop.

If we are fortunate enough to find some gaps in the clouds this week, be sure to take a break and observe the cosmos. It is a humbling experience to lay eyes on a sea of stars knowing how distant they all are and realizing how small we are in the universe. Be sure to lookout for the third quarter moon, the planetary trio shortly after sunset, and perhaps prepare to do some astrophotography on Ohio’s next cloudless night this week. Clear Skies!

The wild year of 2020 is about to come to an end. This year gave lots of interesting and unique objects and events to look for in the night sky from comets to ultra-rare planet conjunctions. Hopefully 2021 is a friendlier year and will give great opportunities to explore the night sky.

The weather this week is once again classic Ohio for this time of year – cloudy and cold. There may be some gaps in the clouds on some nights. Sunset occurs just after 5:15 PM, so this time of year makes the night sky very accessible to busy people since you can see what’s up in the sky just after dinnertime.

This week gives us the full moon, the rising Christmas Tree Cluster, and Betelgeuse high in the sky. Read below for advice on how to shoot “star trail” images which are great for beginner astrophotographers and people looking to take easy yet impressive space pictures.

Tuesday will be the full moon. Since this means the moon will be opposite of the sun, it can be spotted rising just after sunset and setting right before sunrise. The full moon shines at a blinding -12 magnitude so many fainter objects in the sky will be washed out. If you decide to look at the lunar surface details through a telescope or binoculars, try buying a lunar filter (usually pretty cheap – it just “dims” the moon) or allow for lots of time for your eyesight to readjust to the darkness.

No more than 10° to the southeast of the rising full moon is the Christmas Tree Cluster that shines at magnitude 3.9. This open cluster makes a great target for binocular users as it is large and is comprised of brighter, easier to spot stars. In general, open clusters are made of several very bright blue stars that have all formed near each other and at around the same time. Their bright blue color is an indicator that the stars are young and extremely hot. The view will get better as the moon slides out of the way later in the week.

The moon, Orion, and the location of the Christmas Tree cluster, as seen on New Year’s Eve.

The famous star, Betelgeuse, crosses the zenith (an imaginary line drawn across the sky from north to south) at almost exactly midnight. This unmissable star is among the first to show after sunset low in the eastern skies. Betelgeuse glows a bright orange at magnitude 0.5 and makes up Orion’s right shoulder. This red supergiant is about 15 times the mass and 900 times the radius of the sun, and lives roughly 643 light-years away. The light you are seeing from Betelgeuse in your backyard left the star in the year 1377! This red beast is nearing the end of its life and is expected to explode (go supernova) anytime in the next 100,00 years (very short on the cosmic timescales).

At center, Betelgeuse, the bright orange star that forms the armpit (yes, the armpit) of the great hunter Orion.

Astrophotography is an art and science that pushes photography techniques, technology, and skill to their limits. Many practitioners of the art invest huge amounts of money and time to milk celestial images out of the faint light from space. However, there are many possibilities for taking impressive astro-photographs that do not require thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment.

The photographs that most impress me are star trail images. These images show long streaks in the sky caused by the stars’ apparent rotation about the North Star. The equipment that is required to take these images include a tripod, a DSLR, and a cheap intervalometer (if the camera doesn’t have an onboard timer/intervalometer). Equip a wide-field lens to your camera to start (18mm kit lenses work great). Frame up the shot you wish to take and set your ISO to 400-1600 (depending on the light pollution) and take 3 to 15-second-long exposures. Be sure to check the camera’s focus and that you are shooting JPG. RAW images are usually recommended and very high quality but difficult to batch process quickly. Use your intervalometer or onboard timer to loop these 3-15 second exposures for 90 minutes – be sure not to move the camera once this process has begun. Download and install the free software, StarStaX. Upload your images here and begin editing them and processing them. The software is very intuitive and straightforward. After adjusting the settings to your liking, you will have an impressive star trail image.

Jared May’s star trail image showing the region around the north celestial pole.

The weather this week may not be conducive to beautifully clear nights, but there may be some gaps in the clouds for some quick observing. The nighttime temperatures are in the 20s and 30s and frost may form on your astronomy equipment so be prepared. Be on the lookout this week for the bright full moon, the Christmas Tree Cluster, and Betelgeuse. Perhaps on a clear night in the near future try imaging some star trails and impress your friends and family. The new year will definitely give some interesting astronomical events so stay tuned. Clear Skies!

What’s Up This Fourth Week of December

This week sunset will occur around 5:15 PM and the first stars will star appearing about an hour after that. However, the weather this week is very typical of the Ohio winter – cloudy, wet, and cold. There is a chance that the clouds will disappear over the weekend. The nighttime temperatures this time of year drop into the 20’s and 30’s, so be sure to dress warm when you’re outside stargazing. This week brings us the finale of the Great Conjunction, the peak of the Ursids meteor shower, the moon near Mars, and since Christmas is here – a few tips for setting up a telescope for its first light under the stars.

If you have not heard already, the Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn occured on Monday. While this is the closest these two outer planets have appeared in the sky in several hundreds of years, do not worry if you miss it (thank you, cloudy Ohio skies). These planets will slowly drift further apart in the sky and there is a large window of several days, even weeks, where these planets will still appear to be very close to each other. This conjunction also occurs every 20 years, although these two planets may not appear to be as close as this recent conjunction.

Image taken on December 19 by friend of JGAP, Robert Sparks… not in Ohio (of course.)

Tuesday marks the peak of the Ursids meteor shower. This shower will only yield roughly ten meteors per hour under dark skies. These fireballs can typically be seen between December 17th and December 26th and will appear to originate from the Ursa Minor constellation. Ursa Minor, not to be confused with the more famous, Ursa Major, otherwise known as the Big Dipper, is very close to the North Star. From Ohio, the North Star and Ursa Minor star can be found by looking due North and looking up about 40° (four fists held at arm’s length) above the horizon.

The “radiant” of the Ursid meteor shower is in, of course Ursa Major. This is the point in the sky from which the stars appear to emanate.

On Wednesday try spotting the bright waxing gibbous moon in the southern skies. You may notice a bright red-colored star nearby. This bright star is in fact the red planet Mars. A pair of binoculars or a telescope will reveal lots of surface detail on the moon. A telescope with a long enough focal length and high power eyepiece may even be able to resolve the Martian ice caps!

The Moon and Mars on Wednesday evening.

With Christmas this Friday, many of you may be receiving or gifting others a brand new telescope or astro-equipment. While it may be irresistible to take the new telescope outside that night and begin using it, there are a few things to check and perform so that the telescope is operating at its maximum potential and will give the least frustration. There are two different main types of telescopes: reflectors and refractors (yes, some telescopes combine these two designs). There are also different mount styles, alt-az and German equatorials being the most common. Most refracting telescopes (use glass lenses) are ready to go right out of the box. Reflecting telescopes (designs that use a mirror) may require a check of the collimation since the mirrors may be slightly misaligned. There are many beginner’s guides to collimation online. For the mounts, alt-az (short for altitude and azimuth) mounts are very common and simple to use. Electronic alt-az mounts usually only require a few alignment stars to get the computer oriented to the night sky. German equatorial mounts are a little more advanced and expensive but have a many advantages. These mounts require knowing your local latitude and having a compass or sight of the North Star to start getting it oriented to the night sky.

Some advice from past experience – always get familiar with your equipment inside before setting things up in the frigid temperatures or after nightfall. New or unfamiliar equipment may have a bit of an unforeseen learning curve or troubleshooting that may eat up your time outside.

While Ohio seems to have some poor weather, the end of the week may surprise us all. Be prepared to dress warm while outside looking at the finally of the Great Conjunction, some Ursids meteors, the moon and Mars, or trying out some new astronomy gear. Since the solstice was Monday, the nights will slowly get shorter and shorter so be sure to take full advantage now of the long nights.

Clear Skies!

What’s Up this Third Week of December

Sunset this week occurs just after 5 PM, so while the early onset of darkness is ideal for stargazers, the weather this week may not work out in our favor. With the exception of a small dip forecasted in the cloud coverage Monday night, the rest of the week looks very cloudy. This week and the next several days have in store some great astronomical events for stargazers of any skill level.

Tuesday night brought close pass between the already neighboring gas giants Jupiter and Saturn, and Messier 75. They are still close as of this writing.

This Messier object is a dense globular cluster of stars that shines at a faint magnitude 9.18. This object might be difficult to see even with binoculars unless you are in a very dark location, but it might make a good photo opportunity for astrophotographers. This close-pass can be seen deep in the SW skies starting roughly an hour after sunset.

If you haven’t noticed or heard the news already, Jupiter and Saturn are due for a historic conjunction this upcoming Monday (December 21st). The two outer planets will be separated by a mere 0.1° in the sky. A separation of the planets by only 0.1° last happened in the year 1623, nearly 400 years ago! Already, you can look in the SW skies an hour after sunset and see with your naked eyes how close these two planets are. It may appear as a bright “double star.” A telescope or pair of binoculars will help bring out the details of the two planets: Jupiter’s moons and red streaks in its atmosphere and Saturn’s famous ring system.

The globular cluster M75 appears, this week, very near to Jupiter and Saturn in the sky.

Jupiter and Saturn on the evening of December 21

While the skies over Ohio this week aren’t very conducive to stargazing, there are still lots of astronomical events occurring or setting themselves up. If you find yourself outside on a clear night this time of year be sure to dress very warm as the nighttime temperatures will readily drop below freezing. Keep an eye on the skies for meteors, M75, and the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction.

Clear Skies!

Sunset is now just after 5 PM and the stars and planets start popping out roughly 45 minutes after that. The weather this week is rather typical of Ohio this time of year – cloudy and cold. There is, however, a small chance of a clear night Saturday! Nighttime temperatures are forecast to drop into the low 40s and perhaps even into the 30s. So, stargazers, be sure to dress warmly.

This week, if there is a clearing in the clouds, brings us the Moon and its close approach to Mars, stationary Neptune, a soon-to-be historic meeting between Jupiter and Saturn, and winter deep-sky targets.

Wednesday, after the sun has set, the first thing that will grab your attention in the sky will be the bright moon well on its way to becoming full. 30 minutes after sunset you will start to notice a faint star appearing 5° above the moon. As the sky continues to darken this “star” will give off a red glow. It is actually Mars which currently shines at a bright magnitude -1.3. A telescope with a longer focal length and a high power eyepiece may be enough to reveal the Martian polar ice caps.

The Moon and Mars high in the southeast on Wednesday evening.

The most outer planet Neptune (sorry Pluto) can be spotted in telescopes and binoculars due south at 6:30 PM at almost exactly 45° above the horizon (4.5 fist lengths held at arm’s length). It will require a chart to find, as it is shining at a faint magnitude 7.88. Saturday this planet will appear very still in the sky relative to the background stars since it is finishing off its retrograde (“against the stars”) loop and will be resuming its “normal” eastward tracking.

One astronomical event that has been making headlines recently is the close pass between Jupiter and Saturn that will occur December 21st. On that evening they will be separated in the sky by only 0.1° (1/5th the apparent width of the moon!) This meetup of the gas giants occurs about every 20 years, but a separation this close last happened in the year 1623, just 14 years after Galileo made his first telescope. These two planets can be spotted low in the southwest skies shortly after sunset as two bright “stars” separated by about 2° right now.

Jupiter and Saturn are getting closer and closer in the sky. Catch them before they set, not long after sunset.

One of the most famous constellations, Orion, is now fully above the horizon by 8:30 PM. Not only is this constellation easy to spot, but it has some spectacular deep-sky objects to try and spot with binoculars and telescopes alike under dark skies. This constellation is also home to a diverse set of astrophotography targets for everyone: beginners through advanced users and wide-field to narrow-field telescopes. Some of these objects include the Orion Nebula (very bright and can even be seen with binoculars), Flame Nebula, Horsehead Nebula, the supernova candidate Betelgeuse, and Barnards’s Loop. The Orion Nebula in particular is a great object for those just getting in to astrophotography.

Orion comes into view a few hours after sunset on late fall evenings. There are plenty of celestial targets within to attract those with small telescopes and cameras.

The winter does provide the extremely clear night skies and stable atmosphere conducive to great astrophotography and observing, but it can get tricky to deal with frost. In the winter it is best to set your telescope out just before sunset so the telescope and the optics can thermally equilibrate with the outside temperature. Purchasing a dew shield or dew heaters (for the more dedicated telescope users) will help prevent frost from forming on the telescope optics. Frost could lead to blurry images/seeing or leave watermarks on the lens/mirror. Its best to let your telescope warm up slowly after you finish a night of observing so that condensation does not cover the lens/mirror aggressively. With these simple things in mind, your telescope will be much more protected from the frost and water that usually comes with cold-night observing or imaging.  

While this week may not be the best for stargazing, there are some exciting objects and upcoming events in the night sky. But do not worry if you can’t see anything this week, many of these objects and events cycle back around or hang around in the sky for the next several weeks or months. If there is a clear night, be sure to dress warm while you peer between a few light-seconds and several hundreds of light-years into the cosmos.

Clear Skies!

Sunset this week is just after 5 PM and it will continue to get earlier and earlier as we approach early December.

The weather for this week is looking particularly cold with perhaps some clear-ish nights around Wednesday and Thursday. The moon this week is in its waxing crescent phase so the night skies will be even darker. If you go stargazing be sure to bring some layers to stay warm as nighttime temperatures will feel below freezing. This week brings us the peak of the Leonids meteor shower, meteor collecting at home, a close pass between the moon and some outer planets, and some rising winter constellations.

Tuesday night and Wednesday morning are the best times to watch for some Leonid meteors shooting across the sky. This annual meteor shower is active between November 6th and 30th and originates from the constellation of Leo. This constellation does not rise until the early morning hours, but it can be found by first locating the Big Dipper and then traveling down past the bottom of the bowl of the dipper by about 40° (about four fist lengths). Roughly 10-20 meteors per hour are expected but seeing this many requires a trip to a dark sky location. The meteors from this shower come from the debris of Comet 55P/Temple-Tuttle and streak through the atmosphere at 44 miles per second!

The Leonids are not a particularly strong shower, but it produces occasionally bright meteors. A much better shower coming up is the Geminid shower, which produces as many as 100 per hour on the night of December 13. Every 33 years, however, when comet 55P/Temple-Tuttle dives into the inner solar system, the Earth passes through a particularly dense patch of dust from the meteors, and the show is much, much stronger. In 1999 and 2000, hundreds of meteors per hour were seen. The next time this will happen will be in 2033.

The “radiant” of the the Leonid shower. This is the point that the meteors of this shower seem to come from.

Did you know it’s actually possible to collect meteors from your backyard? Well, micrometeorites- the tiny particles that meteors leave behind- at least. All you need is a magnet, some Ziploc bags, a binder clip, and a microscope or magnifying glass. Roughly 3,000 tons of micrometeorites fall to Earth’s surface every year and plenty of that lands on your yard, rooftop, and elsewhere. To collect these micro-space rocks, start by wrapping the magnet in 2 layers of Ziploc bags (just in case one tears) and fasten the magnet in the bags to a gutter spout using the binder clip so that when it rains the water pours over the magnet. The rainwater will wash down many micrometeorites that have fallen onto your roof. The magnet will help separate out the iron based micrometeorites. After several days, take the bags off and sort through what the magnet has picked up with a microscope or magnifying glass. Any small and very spherical objects are your micrometeorites.

On Wednesday and Thursday, the moon will be neighbors to the outer planets of Jupiter and Saturn. A pair of binoculars or a telescope will be able to reveal great detail in the lunar surface. You may also get to see the famous rings that circle Saturn and the four Galilean moons of Jupiter.

The moon joins Jupiter and Saturn in the southwest this week.

Some winter constellations to be on the lookout for include Pisces the fish, Taurus the Bull, and Perseus. All of these can be seen shortly after sunset in the eastern skies. There are many different legends and myths associated with the different constellations across different cultures. In addition to simply enjoying the beauty of the stars and planets, perhaps added context and legends may enhance the experience.

The constellations that rise in on November evenings.

This week may only yield one or two clear nights, but those few nights will be very exciting with meteors and a moon not bright enough to wash everything out. The nights ahead will be uncomfortably cold, but will give crisp and clear night skies as the cold air cannot hold as much moisture as warm air nor is the cool air as turbulent. Be on the lookout this week for meteors, the moon and some outer planets, and some winter constellations.

Clear Skies!

I hope you all remembered to set your clocks back one hour on Sunday! Setting the clocks backward for daylight savings time sets the stage for the early winter nights and cold month stargazing. The sunset has now jumped (because of the time change) from around 6:20 PM to 5:20 PM! This rapid change in the sunset can be somewhat depressing, but it presents the most convenient time for amateur astronomers and casual stargazers alike. Since sunset falls right after dinner hours, the night sky is more accessible than ever, especially for those who have to wake up early for work.

In addition to an earlier night sky, the weather this week looks extremely promising with night-time temperatures in the mid-40s and, perhaps, several clear nights. This week the night sky gifts us with a Messier-moon close pass, the Taurid meteor shower, and the Andromeda Galaxy.

Wednesday the moon will be 82% illuminated meaning it still nearly full, and much of the sky will be washed out. No more than 2° ahead of the moon on this night, resides Messier object 35 (M35), also known as the Shoe-Buckle Cluster for its location in at the “left foot” of the Gemini twins. This open cluster shines at magnitude 5.1. Binoculars should be fine for both viewing the moon and this cluster, but realize that the moon is extremely bright and may wash out the much fainter M35. If you decide to look at the moon through binoculars or a telescope yours eyes will need several minutes afterwards to fully readjust to the dark.

It will be a challenge to see the “Shoe Buckle” next to the moon on Wednesday evening when it rises, but with binoculars you might just barely be able to make it out against the glare.

This week brings an interesting overlap between two meteor showers: The Northern and the Southern Tauridsmeteor showers. The meteors for both of these showers appear to originate from either side of the Pleiades cluster. The Southern Taurids occur between September 10th and November 20th and the Northern Taurids occur between October 20th and December 10th. These showers only produce between five and ten meteors per hour but tend to produce very intense and colorful fireballs.

The radiant of the Northern and Southern Taurid meteor showers. The radiant is the point in the sky that the meteors seem to emanate from.

This week and the over hthe next several months are ideal times to observe and/or image one of the more famous and very bright deep-sky objects – The Andromeda Galaxy. This nearby galactic neighbor sits about 2.5 million light-years away from our own galaxy, yet shines at an astounding magnitude 3.5. This galaxy can be found by locating the constellation of Cassiopeia (big “W” in the norther skies) and drawing a line from the sharper point of the “W” for about 15°. The Andromeda Galaxy also crosses the zenith around 11:10 PM. This diffuse object is best seen in dark sky locations and will appear as a fuzzy patch in the sky through telescopes and binoculars. This fuzzy patch is actually a collection of roughly one trillion stars that will one day collide with our own home galaxy. There are lots of tutorials online for imaging this great deep-sky object regardless of your camera/astrophotography skill level.

An ultraviolet mage of the Andromeda galaxy brings out the bright, blue, young(ish) stars in its spiral arms.

The weather and night skies this week could not be better (with the exception of the nearly full moon) with an early sunset, warm temperatures, and potentially many clear nights. Take advantage of this rare opportunity and explore the vastness of the night sky from the comfort of your backyard or from a dark-sky park. Be on the lookout this week for that close encounter between the moon and M35, some bright fireballs, and the Andromeda Galaxy.

Clear Skies!

Sunsets this week occur before 6:30 PM and dark skies fall roughly 45 to 60 minutes after that. While the sun may be getting out of the way early for night-sky enthusiasts, the weather this week may not be on our sides. It is looking to be very cloudy most of this week with a small chance that this weekend may clear up. Last week’s warm temperatures may have been the last of 2020. This week’s nighttime temperatures will be in the 40’s and even approaching freezing some nights. This week, if the weather is forgiving, brings us the Hunter’s Moon (A Halloween full moon…spooky), a close encounter between Mars and the moon, the Pleiades, and the “Summer Triangle Effect”. If the weather doesn’t cooperate it might be the perfect time to look around at some new astronomy equipment for when the skies do clear up.

It is a spooky coincidence that on Saturday, Halloween (be safe!), there will be a full moon. This particular full moon is called the Hunter’s Moon as any full moon that occurs in the month of October is given this nickname. The official full moon this Saturday occurs just hours after the moon reaches its orbit’s apogee, or the furthest point from Earth. This means the full moon this Saturday will be the smallest one of 2020, however, it will still wash out many of the fainter night-sky objects.

On Thursday, the moon will make close pass with Mars. The red planet can be seen as a noticeably bright red “star” that hangs in the eastern skies shortly after sunset. This is an ideal moment to use binoculars since both objects are very bright, relatively close to each other, and lower to the horizon shortly after sunset (no straining your neck to view something straight overhead).

Mars and the Moon on the night of October 29, 2020

Around 8 PM this time of year a small fuzzy patch in the sky can be seen rising in the east-northeast skies. While you have your binoculars out observing the moon and Mars, turn towards this fuzzy patch. The magnification through the binoculars will reveal that this spot in the sky is actually a bright collection of blue stars. The brightest stars in this cluster are the seven sisters, the Pleiades. This open star cluster spans roughly 18 light-years across and is 400 light-years away from Earth. Estimates are that this young cluster will be pulled apart in 250 million years due to gravitational interactions with its surroundings.

A closeup view of the Pleiades M45. Image by Greg Chatelain

The Summer Triangle, one of the simplest asterisms (“star pictures”) and one of my personal favorites. It is a symbol of the summer skies; the warm weather, summer deep-sky objects, and more. This figure appears to be “fixed” in the night sky around this time of year. It is of course slowly moving and setting earlier and earlier (as the seasons progress), but since sunset is also earlier and earlier the stars of the Summer Triangle appear to pop out earlier. These two competing effects, seasonal progression of the night sky and earlier sunsets, give the illusion that the Summer Triangle stands still overhead for several weeks.

Cloudy weeks are great times to poke around online to see what kind of astronomy gear is for sale. With Christmas coming up soon too, it might make the perfect time to gift someone some new binoculars or a telescope. Many retail stores have beginner telescopes for sale for under $50, and while they make fantastic scopes for kids and beginners, there are many other options for buying slightly more advanced scopes designed for beginners. Some great company websites to browse for cheaper gear aimed at beginner and intermediate telescope users include: Celestron , Orion, and Meade. These sites have a great selection and make picking out telescopes, binoculars, and accessories easy.

For more experienced users, the price on equipment is probably starting to get rather steep. Consider buying equipment secondhand from a site such as cloudy nights (https://www.cloudynights.com/). You do have to make an account to view what people have for sale, but there is a massive selection and usually really good deals on the equipment you need.

To sum up:
The naked eye can do the night sky lots of justice but using even cheap binoculars can drastically enhance your night-sky observing experience. Be on the lookout this week for the full moon on Halloween, the close pass between the moon and Mars, the Pleiades, the “Summer Triangle Effect”, and perhaps look around for some new gear to use for when there are cloudless nights.

If the clouds hold out this week make sure to bring a warm jacket outside for when you stargaze.

Clear Skies!