STAR GAZER Programs for March

I’m back from Miami Florida where I filmed another eight episodes for the iconic astronomy program – STAR GAZER. This is the show you see late at night on PBS where a guy stands on a light beam and tells you, “What’s Up,” in the sky. Well, for the third month, that guy has been me! I can hardly believe it - but now I’m able to share my passion for the night sky on 1-minute and 5-minute segments aired on over 90 TV stations around the globe. If you’d like to watch them, they’re on YouTube. I wrote Finding Direction in the Night Sky – where I get to tell my classic myth jokes. Check them out, “Like” them, and post comments please:

March 7-13 The Biggest Full Moon in 18 Years
5-minute: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eycsw-DZ9wg  
1-minute: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ng2wT3Azdw  

March 14-20 Finding Direction in the Night Sky
5-minute: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7-bTOKeCUE  
1-minute: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6AQAJ-pt9M  

March 21-27 Venus and the Moon at Dawn
5-minute: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsZAg7VnPh4  
1-minute: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n7lIM2ptro  

March 28-April 3 Arcturus and Saturn Join the Moon and Pleiades
5-minute: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnqBioC7Fh4  
1-minute: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgHwMujAY2Q  


You can download all of your favorite Star Gazer programs at: http://www.jackstargazer.com/JHSG_DNLD.html

If you don’t get Star Gazer on local your PBS station – let them know about it. The program is free for anyone to broadcast. Spread the word!

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Lepus the Hare and Columba the Dove

Below Orion's Feet

This week I'll focus on two fainter constellations that creep low across the southern sky in winter.  The easier one to see is Lepus the Hare who scampers from southeast to southwest below Orion's feet.  Although there is almost no mythology behind this constellation, it dates back to the original 48 star shapes documented by Ptolemy in 150A.D.  It's easy to make out the body of the rabbit - four fairly bright stars mark his body - and with a little imagination you might be able to visualize his front paws jutting out to the right with his ears streaming back to the left. 



The Bunny Rabbit

Lepus' position (below the much brighter Orion) led the Arabs to call this the "Throne of the Central One" (meaning Orion's platform.  Another legend calls the four brightest stars four camels drinking from the nearby river (the constellation Eridanus).  And to the Egyptians it was the boat of their main god/dude Osiris.


Moses' Dove

Below Lepus is a fainter constellation: Columba the Dove.  From Cincinnati, you really can only see Columba in the winter evenings since it barely clears the southern horizon.  If you live farther south (like in Florida), you'll have a better view.  Legend has it that Columba is the starry representation of the dove Moses sent out in search of land during the great flood.  It came back to the ark bearing an olive branch - a sure sign that dry land wasn't far.  Columba first appeared on star charts around 1600 to fill in the space below Orion and below the Hare.

Try to find these small constellations low in the southern sky before they move out for Spring.

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International Space Station Passes

Space Shuttle Discovery launched on its last mission on Thursday February 24 and rendezvoused with the International Space Station (ISS).  In Cincinnati we will have some great chances to see the ISS fly overhead.  Maybe we'll even be able to see Discovery detach from the ISS.  It'll look like a bright, unblinking star moving slowly across the sky.  Below are the dates, times and locations to look for the ISS above the Cincinnati area.  To find out when it passes over your town, please visit: http://www.heavens-above.com/

5 Mar    7:38pm-7:41pm moving NW to NE
6 Mar    8:03pm-8:06pm moving NW to NE
7 Mar    6:54pm-6:59pm moving NW to NE
7 Mar    8:29pm-8:32pm low in the NW
*8 Mar    7:20pm-7:26pm moving NW to E  **Brightest pass of the week**
*9 Mar    7:46pm-7:51pm from WNW to SSE *Another good one*  It will go right past the Moon!
10 Mar    8:15pm-8:18pm from W to S
11 Mar    7:05pm-7:10pm from WNW to SSE

*Check back later this week - times may change slightly due to the Space Shuttle docking and undocking
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Another Week, Another Crazy Astronomy Story

No, we're not going to have a Second Sun in 2012.



Sorry Luke...

 Last week it was the new zodiac, this week it's about Betelgeuse.  Have you heard about this?  A Senior Lecturer of Physics at the University of Southern Queensland, Dr. Brad Carter unleashed another media frenzy when he talked to a reporter about this star's impending destruction.  The article, picked up by everyone across the globe claims wrongly that the supernova of Betelgeuse (Orion's red-giant armpit star) will give us two Suns, a la the fictional planet from Star Wars, Tatooine.  My reaction, "Balderdash... pure balderdash".

What they got wrong:

1) Betelgeuse is the second largest known star in the universe.  Wrong -  it ranks around 10th in our galaxy.

2) It could go supernova as early as 2012.  Wrong - it go go any day, but there is no new evidence saying it will go by 2012.  This infamous date was added for effect (bravo reporter, sarcastic clap clap).  We will have no warning about it.  It could go today or 1,000 years from now.

3) When Betelgeuse explodes it will be as bright as the Sun and there will be no night for days.  Wrong - astronomers estimate that it will be no brighter than a full moon and won't appear that large.  From past accounts of supernovas, it should be bright enough to be visible in the day time - like a really, really bright star, and not bright enough to vanquish nighttime.

4) This will affect the Earth.  Wrong - Betelgeuse is so far away (over 600 light years) that the radiation, gamma rays, and other nasty stuff won't reach the Earth. 

Tycho's Supernova

The eventual exploding of Betelgeuse is not news.  I'm hopeful that it will explode in my lifetime, but I'm not holding my breath.  We're definitely due for a bright supernova.  The last two bright enough to be visible day and night were in 1572 and 1604.  (Those guys in the Renaissance had all the luck!).  The Supernova of 1572 was described in great detail by Tycho Brahe, Danish astronomer and loser of a nose in a mathematics-themed sword fight.  It shows up on old stars charts in the constellation Cassiopeia.  The Supernova of 1604 is often called Kepler's Supernova from the German astronomer Johannes Kepler, who came out of Brahe's shadow to become the leading astronomer of the 1600s.  Both of these supernovas blazed for weeks.  I can't wait to see one... any day now ;)

"Two Suns?" what poppycock!
Signed,
The Crabby Astronomer
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Astronomy or Astrology

A science news story has been making the rounds regarding the zodiac.  When Parke Kunkle, a board member of the Minnesota Planetarium Society commented on the true dates of the zodiac, the firestorm erupted (okay maybe I'm exaggerating a little bit here).

Kunkle correctly pointed out that the traditional astrological dates for our zodiac signs do not match up to what is happening in the sky.  Since the zodiac was created by the Babylonians over 2000 years ago, the Earth's perspective on the stars has shifted slightly.  This has shifted the dates of your Sun Sign (the location in the sky when you were born).  In short, 88% of people aren't the sign they think they are.  Below are the traditional dates next to the actual dates.  If you don't want to know the truth, turn away now!



For larger view, right-click pic and open in new window


I understand that it is difficult to learn that your whole astrological life has been a lie.  But don't panic.  Astrologers use the Tropical Zodiac (where the constellations were in 150AD).  They seem to be stuck on that because it is "more accurate."  But to me (and the Babylonian creators of the zodiac) a Virgo is a Virgo because the Sun stood in front of the constellation Virgo when you were born.  It wasn't sitting in front of Leo.  The reality of the zodiac is very simple - anyone can see it.  Using the outdated dates cheapen the original Babylonian idea of the zodiac.  If you told the Babylonian king that the Sun was going to be in Leo and he went outside to check and it wasn't, that astrologer would be in big trouble :)  They were measuring the relationship of the Sun, Moon, and planets with the ancient star patterns that they pass through.  You can't take the stars out of the equation.  Don't call me a Sagittarius when the Sun was really in front of Scorpio when I was born...

*Oh by the way, the 13th zodiac sign included in the chart above (Ophiuchus) is a guy holding a giant snake.  Have fun with that one...
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IT'S LUNAR ECLIPSE TIME!

A rare astronomical event will happen Tuesday December 21 in the early hours of the morning.  The Sun, Earth, and Moon will be in perfect alignment and the Earth's shadow will cha-cha across the face of the Moon.  This is the TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE!  The action begins at 1:32 AM (Eastern Standard Time) when the first visible part of the shadow eats away the left side of the Moon.  I especially love to watch this part because of the precision - it happens exactly, to the second, when astronomer predict it.  That's the time to hoot a holler at the Moon like a real "Luna-tic". 

The Moon will continue to move into the darkest part of the Earth's shadow (the umbra) and turns an eerie shade of orange.  This will occur from 2:40-3:53am.  Why orange?  You're seeing the sunlight bend off of the the atmosphere of the Earth and still getting to the Moon with a slightly different hue.  You can think of it as the reflected light of all the sunrises and sunsets of the Earth giving the Moon a similar glow.

Then the Moon will slide out of the shadow and return to a normal full Moon at 5:01am.  And then that's it.  We won't have another one in the United States until 2014.  So don't miss it!  Either set an alarm to wake up to the eclipse or stay out all night! 

For more on the eclipse you can check out my videos for the program Jack Horkheimer's Star Gazer.  I'm privileged to be the guest host of this program that is on PBS across the country.  Look for me on your TV late at night or watch the eclipse videos at:
1 Minute: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSwxfzFsDUA
5 Minute: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wp4EpGFxHJY
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Piscis Australis - The Southern Fish

A cute, little fall constellation seemingly swims alone on the southern sky this month. Piscis Australis (or Piscis Austrinus) is the southern fish, big daddy to the two fish tied together in the zodiac constellation Pisces. The mythology on these stars is sketchy at best. One account says that a goddess fell into a lake near the Euphrates River and was saved by this fish. In most drawings of Piscis Australis the waters dumped by the constellation Aquarius flow right into his big mouth. Does a fish really need to drink?

Piscis Australis is easy to find because it has one really bright star called Fomalhaut (pronounced foam-a-low) which means, "fish's mouth." Look to the south right after sunset and you'll see one lonely bright star just a 1/4 the way up in the sky. That's Fomalhaut. The other stars are faint but look a little like a line-drawing of a goldfish.  Fomalhaut is a great indication for fall and it has the most unique color of all bright stars. Most astronomers will say that stars cannot be green, but if you look closely you might see it flicker blue, white, and GREEN. Most recently a planet was seen in orbit around Fomalhaut (see picture) so could this be a place for alien fish to thrive?
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