Astronomy.com blog : observing

Try these weekend observing targets

David Eicher — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:28:00 GMT

Did you ever find yourself out under a clear, dark sky in November wondering what to look at? How about targeting a few objects in the constellation Pegasus, one of my favorite autumn constellations. Here are some suggestions:

Galaxy NGC 7479 is one of the most popular objects for viewing in the constellation, as it shows a distinct, nearly face-on barred spiral structure. Photos of NGC 7479 appear frequently in astronomy magazines and on the web and give this object a familiar form. This galaxy lies at the end of a long string of stars that appear starkly to viewers with a 3-inch scope. In a 6-inch scope, this galaxy appears as a bar with a faint haze surrounding it. Larger scopes show much more detail, however, including the asymmetrical arms arcing away from the central glow.

How about targeting the two most conspicuous members of the Pegasus I galaxy cluster (pictured at right)? NGC 7619 and NGC 7626 are worth viewing even in small scopes. The galaxies lie just 7 arcminutes apart; the former shows a bright starlike nucleus while NGC 7626 has a tiny center.

If novelty’s your game, you could also target the first two objects in the NGC — NGC 1 and NGC 2. These galaxies are just 1.8' apart and are easily visible in a 6-inch scope under a dark sky.

Have you ever seen these galaxies? Do you spend time tracking down deep-sky objects in Pegasus? Let us know what your favorite November sky objects are and what you’re viewing them with.

Additional online observing resources from Astronomy magazine:

StarDome — Our interactive star chart helps you create an accurate map of your sky. This tool will help you locate these targets.
Video: Observe easy to find objects in the autumn sky, with Senior Editor Rich Talcott
Video: Autumn observing targets for small telescopes, with Senior Editor Michael E. Bakich [available to magazine subscribers]
Video: Autumn observing targets for large telescopes, with Editor David J. Eicher [available to magazine subscribers]
Podcast: Weekly observing targets, with Senior Editor Michael E. Bakich [available for free to registered members of Astronomy.com]

BOOK REVIEW: Faces of the Moon, by Bob Crelin

Matt Quandt — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:19:00 GMT

Faces of the Moon cover image

Guest review from Contributing Editor and Columnist Glenn Chaple

If you’ve ever doubted that the elegance of the night sky can be expressed poetically, you haven’t encountered Bob Crelin’s young readers’ book Faces of the Moon. With a marvelous blend of science and rhyme, Crelin tells the story of the Moon’s phases in a way that a youngster (and many adults) will understand and appreciate. Bob’s verse and artist Leslie Evans’ beautiful illustrations bring to life a complete cycle of the Moon’s phases, from one New Moon to the next.

Each phase is covered in a two-page spread comprising Crelin’s poetic description and Evan’s artistic rendering of the Moon’s appearance and location at that time. A unique feature of Faces of the Moon is the cutout windows that "animate" the phases as you turn the pages. Index tabs depicting the various lunar phases make it easy to target a specific phase – a kid-friendly approach that eliminates the need for a table of contents or index. Faces of the Moon concludes with an explanation of the Moon’s orbit and phases and a list of Moon facts (done in rhyme, of course!).

I learned about Faces of the Moon during a talk presented by Bob Crelin at the Conjunction Convention last summer. His enthusiasm was so infectious that I immediately purchased a copy of his book for my grandchildren. Recently, I took my 5-year-old granddaughter, Katie, outside to look at the Moon, both with the unaided eye and through my telescope. I then brought her inside, took out her copy of Faces of the Moon, and asked her to point to the index tab that showed the Moon the way we had seen it. She correctly pointed to the First Quarter Moon. She may have been a bit too young to understand orbits and shadows, but she had no trouble matching what she saw outside with its corresponding page in the book. A few months of showing her the real Moon and follow-up references to Faces of the Moon, and Katie will have a better handle on the Moon’s phases than most adults (except, of course, those who purchase the book for their own children).

Teachers looking for a book describing the Moon’s phases can do no better than Faces of the Moon. They’ll appreciate the book’s reasonable cost (just $16.95, plus shipping) and its non-technical approach to a topic that youngsters often find confusing. A free teacher’s guide is available at www.bobcrelin.com/FOTM-TG.pdf.

 An optional Moon Gazers’ Wheel at an additional cost of $4.95 augments Faces of the Moon. By rotating the chart to match the Moon in the sky with the phase illustrations shown in the cutout, you can name the phase and determine the Moon's position in orbit, its rise and set time, and the time of day or night that this phase is visible in the sky.

You’ll find much more about Faces of the Moon by logging on to http://www.charlesbridge.com/productdetails.cfm?PC=5191. As my friend and longtime amateur astronomer Bob “Barlow” Godfrey says, “Please consider sharing this new book and Moon Gazers’ Wheel information with your family, local educators, astronomy clubs, scout organizations, libraries, and other community-based youth organizations.”

2009 AIC recap: Heavenly images abounded, part two

Michael Bakich — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:44:00 GMT

Longtime astroimager and Astronomy magazine contributor Tony Hallas thinks about his upcoming acceptance speech. The Advanced Imaging Conference committee awarded Hallas its most prestigious award, the Hubble Award, for his service and the advances he brought to astroimaging. Michael E. Bakich photo

In my previous blog, I described the first day at the 2009 Advanced Imaging Conference (AIC), which occurred October 30 through November 1 at the San Jose, California, Doubletree Hotel. Day 1 revolved around imaging workshops.

Some of the workshops dealt with equipment, and some focused on imaging techniques, but the majority assumed the attendees could get good images. The rest of the workshop presenters, therefore, offered image-processing tips.

Day 2 was the general session for this, the sixth incarnation of this event. Registration and a continental breakfast took place between 7 a.m. and 8:15 a.m. Then, at 8:15 a.m. sharp, the conference’s opening remarks began. Ken Crawford, AIC’s president and long-time image contributor to Astronomy magazine, welcomed some 300 attendees and introduced AIC’s founder, Steve Mandel, who talked about the early days of the organization and new projects he’s working on.

Some of you may know the name Mandel from the Mandel-Wilson Unexplored Nebula Project. (Michael Wilson was the project sponsor.) This survey searched for low surface-brightness interstellar clouds in the Milky Way that appeared on some wide-field photographs of deep-sky objects.

Astronomer Beverly T. Lynds first noticed the phenomenon — dubbed “galactic cirrus” or “integrated-flux nebulae” — in 1965 on photographic plates taken at Palomar Observatory. But it wasn’t until December 2004 that Mandel recorded them on a wide-field image of Bode’s Galaxy (M81) and the Cigar Galaxy (M82) in Ursa Major. Astronomers now know that these nebulae are primarily thin dust clouds located at high galactic latitudes, that is, away from the Milky Way’s plane.

Michael E. Bakich photo

Next on the agenda was the presentation of AIC’s Hubble Award, the highest honor the organization bestows. This year, AIC president Ken Crawford handed the award to renowned astrophotographer Tony Hallas for the many ways Hallas has advanced astrophotography through the years.

Regular readers of Astronomy magazine will recognize Hallas’ name from his numerous images that have appeared through the years. Most recently, Tony won top honors in our 2009 Astroimage Contest, the results of which ran in the September issue. After receiving the award, Hallas presented a high-level, entertaining lecture on — what else? — astroimaging.

As with day 1, in the short time between workshops, during breaks and before and after meals, AIC encouraged attendees to visit a large exhibit hall called the Technology Showcase. There, more than 30 of our hobby’s top vendors showed off their best telescopes, cameras, filters, software, and accessories.

The conference continued through Sunday morning, November 1. Two imagers offered workshops, and the AIC staff presented door prizes. The Technology Showcase closed at 11:30 a.m., and AIC 2009 was over.

This was a great conference for me. During the entire event, attendees said nothing but great things about Astronomy magazine. Lots of astroimagers thanked me for running their work in the magazine. Actually, I’m the one who continually needs to thank you, the many celestial photographers who send in such great images. Without you, we wouldn’t be the world’s most beautiful astronomy magazine. So, please, keep sending me your stuff. And the more, the merrier. See you next year!

Editor's note: Watch videos from the 2009 Advanced Imaging Conference Michael took with a handheld camera, including interviews with AIC President and astroimager Ken Crawford, Steve Cullen of LightBuckets, and Adam Block of Mount Lemmon SkyCenter.

2009 AIC recap: “Advanced” doesn’t begin to cover it, part one

Michael Bakich — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:31:00 GMT

Renowned astroimager Adam Block of the Mount Lemmon SkyCenter presented a pair of workshops at the 2009 Advanced Imaging Conference. Michael E. Bakich photo

As part of my duties as photo editor for the world’s most popular astronomy publication, I attended the sixth annual Advanced Imaging Conference (AIC) October 30 through November 1 at the San Jose, California, Doubletree Hotel. If you’re one of our many readers who love the “eye candy” that top-level astroimagers produce, future issues of Astronomy will be required reading for you.

Organizers of the conference break it into two parts: They devote day 1 to workshops. Day 2 is the general session. In this blog, I’ll tell you about day 1.

Registration, which features a continental breakfast, began at 7 a.m., and the first workshops started at 8:30. AIC wasted no time or space. Some 300 registrants filled four workshops that all started at 8:30 a.m. Then, at 10:15 a.m., 1:45 p.m., and 3:30 p.m., four more workshops began. That’s 16 1.5-hour presentations in one day!

Most of the imagers I talked to attended four sessions, with a break only for lunch. Attendees raved about the talks. Listeners took detailed notes or photographed every slide. I can sum up the only complaint with this statement: “I had to miss such-and-such’s workshop because I was in so-and-so’s presentation.” Thoughtfully, AIC’s organizers will put all the workshop presenters’ PowerPoint talks online for the registrants to review at their leisure.

These talks were not for the faint of heart. For example, renowned astrophotographer Tony Hallas presented a workshop entitled “Image Processing with a Master.” He wasn’t kidding. I was in and out of all the workshops to sample their flavors and get some pictures. At one point I heard Tony talking about manipulating an image’s individual pixels to produce superior results. And he wasn’t the only one to get into that kind of detail. It’s those kinds of post-processing procedures that make today’s celestial images superbly detailed, rich in color, and accurate in what they show.

In the short time between workshops, during breaks, and before and after meals, AIC encouraged attendees to visit a large exhibit hall called the Technology Showcase. There, more than 30 of our hobby’s top vendors showed off their best telescopes, cameras, filters, software, and accessories. The Technology Showcase was open until 9 p.m. each night, so everyone had a chance to spend quality time there.

Tomorrow, we'll recap day 2.

Get ready for some Galilean Nights

Karri Ferron — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 21:27:00 GMT

Official Galilean Nights poster

Another International Year of Astronomy 2009 Cornerstone Project kicks off tomorrow night around the globe. The goal of Galilean Nights, October 22-24, is to allow hundreds of thousands of people all around the world to experience their own “Galileo moment” when they look up at the sky through a telescope for the first time. Currently there are more than 1,000 public observing events in more than 70 countries to help achieve such a goal. The Galilean Nights web site lists them all.

Plenty of astronomy clubs, universities, and professional observatories in the United States are participating, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to find an event to attend. But even if there isn’t one near you, it’s never too late to plan your own observing party. Invite friends and neighbors over one night for their first view of Jupiter. While they’re there, have them do some star counts to learn the visibility in your area. Start Stephen James O’Meara’s Ghost Hunt challenge, and see how many spooky objects on his list you can find.

The Galilean Nights organizers are also encouraging participants to photograph what they see and share the sights with the wider world through the Galilean Nights astrophotography competition. Astrophotographers of all levels are encouraged to participate.

In addition to these great activities, observatories are making their facilities available to the world for remote observing sessions. As well as attending local Galilean Nights observing events, anybody with access to the internet will be able to control telescopes on the other side of the world. Those taking part in remote observing sessions will be able to take photographs of astronomical objects from their own personal computers.

All in all, there are tons of ways to participate and enjoy some observing and outreach. So how will you be spending your Galilean Nights?

An amateur astronomer discovers an exploding star

Michael Bakich — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:21:00 GMT

This 5-minute exposure shows Stuart Parker’s latest supernova discovery in spiral galaxy PGC 17517. Stuart Parker photo

New Zealand amateur astronomer Stuart Parker just sent me an e-mail in which he announced his fourth supernova discovery. Parker routinely surveys numerous galaxies as part of a regular search program.

He discovered the magnitude 17.1 object October 18 in PGC 17517, a magnitude 13.6 galaxy in Pictor. PGC is an acronym that designates this galaxy as one in the Principal Galaxies Catalogue, which contains 73,197 entries.

 Peter Marples and Colin Drescher, both of Queensland, Australia, confirmed Parker’s supernova, and he received the discovery credit from the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams. That organization designated the supernova 2009jz and announced it to the astronomical community as Central Bureau Electronic Telegram (CBET) 1984. 

Stephen James O’Meara recaps the George Moore Astronomy Workshop

Matt Quandt — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 18:59:00 GMT

Please enjoy this guest post from Astronomy magazine Columnist Stephen James O’Meara:

Just wrapped up with a successful and fun George Moore Astronomy Workshop at Camp Maskepetoon near Pigeon Lake in Alberta. The Edmonton Centre of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada sponsors the event and hosted me.

Aside from meeting old friends, like Astronomy magazine Contributing Editor Alister Ling, who gave a wonderful presentation on how best to use the Sky Clock to maximize your chances of heading outside on a great starlit night, we had a full evening of starlight. Larry Wood of Edmonton set up his 12-inch f/5 reflector and treated many of us to views of obscure planetary and reflection nebulae.

Variable star guru Rick Huziak of Saskatoon shared some wonderful views of the Veil Nebula and other deep-sky delights through his 10-inch 5/5.6 reflector. Most impressive, however, was something I had seen for the first time: four geosynchronous-orbit satellites in a z shape (the brightest of which was 3rd magnitude). We viewed this pattern through Rick's scope at high power. We turned off the drive and watched the satellites stay in the field of view while the stars zipped by “behind” them. Awesome!

Kathleen Houston had fun finding M81 and M82, and a special guest — Sverir Rrudmundsson of Iceland — shared the wonders of observing from his home country and provided an international flavor to the event.

Thanks, Steve!

A Moon resource guide

Karri Ferron — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:07:00 GMT

A waxing gibbous Moon. Astronomy.com member "LATiger" photo

I have a love-hate relationship with the Internet. It makes getting information easier than ever, but it also can make getting the CORRECT information more difficult than ever. Sometimes, it takes a lot of sifting through less-than-reputable sites to find goods ones you can trust. So it’s a bonus when someone else does it for you.

The Astronomy Society of the Pacific has been working to collect series of resources on different astronomy topics for its “Family ASTRO” education program. Among them is one about our nearest celestial neighbor, the Moon.

If you’re looking for complementary online resources to go with Astronomy.com’s “Intro to the sky: The Moon and planets” or the “Observe the Moon with a small telescope” how-to video, this resource is a great place to go. It has links for information about scientific understanding of the Moon as a world, the appearance of the Moon in our skies, and the Moon in popular culture and historical events. Andrew Fraknoi, chair of the astronomy department at Foothill College in California and the person behind this collection, admits that this resource guide is by no means complete, but it is a good place to start as it suggests some resources that may be useful for beginners.

What do you think of this collection of links? Is it a good start for beginners, or do you have other suggestions for sites? Where do you send people who want more information about the Moon?

Seeing the (faint) light in Tucson

Bill Andrews — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:52:00 GMT

While it’s no secret that Astronomy magazine just opened its own observatory, don’t think it’s something only professionals can aspire to.

The Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association (TAAA) has been working to establish a permanent dark observing facility for more than 2 years now, and it’s impressive how much they’ve already done. After finding a good spot, the group had to convince the surrounding community they wouldn’t be lousy neighbors. Apparently, the idea of a star party conjured up images of booze and paparazzi, rather than a peaceful get-together to look at the night sky.

After enlisting the aid of local schools and community leaders, the TAAA received the appropriate paperwork and the deed to their 16 acres in early 2009. Then the hard work really began. They’re currently finishing Phase 1 of construction, meaning they’re simply making the place habitable – adding improvements like electricity, better roads, and a bathroom. Without such basic amenities, the club can’t even host a member star party.

By year’s end the TAAA hopes to begin Phase 2, which will see the construction of concrete observing pads, an observatory, an amphitheater, RV parking sites, and some other niceties. In January, they’ll choose an official name for the site (currently just called “The Dark Site”) from entries in a naming contest. Eventually they’ll move on to Phase 3, which will include a bunkhouse, more observing pads, numerous small observatories, and a caretaker’s residence.

While money has occasionally been a problem over the years, the TAAA’s lucky that its membership is so committed. One club member donated some $33,000 worth of new equipment, including four telescopes (14-inch, 11-inch, 9.25-inch, and 8-inch Celestron SCTs), an AP 1200 mount, and high-end eyepiece kits. The land itself is the gift of a group of members dubbed The Perseus Group. And, of course, all of this is strictly volunteer work – no one in the TAAA gets paid for any of it.

So the next time you’re wondering what you or your small group can do, keep the TAAA in mind. They’ve been able to accomplish some pretty ambitious goals, just by working together and planning well (and having some pretty generous members, too). And if you’re curious what it’ll be like, just wait a little and you can go see for yourself because the site will be open to the public. It just goes to show that, in many ways, astronomy really is the people’s science.

Photos credit: John Kalas

World’s largest solar telescope is now online

Michael Bakich — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 13:30:00 GMT

On October 3, the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) dedicated the world’s largest solar telescope at Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO) in California. BBSO, located on the north shore of Big Bear Lake in the San Bernardino Mountains of southern California, is one of the world’s leading solar observatories. It sits at an altitude of 6,780 feet (2,067 meters).

The telescope, which has an aperture of 63 inches (1.6 meters), took 5 years to construct. It collects light by means of an aspheric primary mirror. Such a mirror has a complex curve ground into it to eliminate optical aberrations found in other telescopes.

The new instrument offers three times the resolution of the telescope it replaced. With it, scientists will undertake joint observation campaigns with NASA satellites to optimize the scientific output of solar studies. One such area of research will probe the fundamental scale of the Sun’s dynamic magnetic fields. These fields are of great interest to solar physicists because they can cause magnetic storms that disrupt the power grid and communications.

BBSO contrast enhanced full disk H-alpha image: The image was recorded with a 12-bit, 2048 x 2048 pixel Pulnix CCD camera. This image has been corrected by dark and flat field images, and a limb darkening estimate has been subtracted to enhance the contrast. The image was recorded at 16:07:26 (UT) on October 09, 2009.

Image and credit info: Courtesy NJIT/BBSO