Saturday the 28th of March saw the launch of MoonWatch and as luck would have it, the weather decided to play ball. The conditions weren’t fantastic as a thin veil of cirrus cloud drifted overhead, but still it was more than adequate for catching the slender crescent of the Moon with the 25×100 binoculars before it set.
The view was a truly stunning sight as the Earthshine lit up the dark side of the Moon to reveal the hidden Maria. Conversely the shining crescent highlighted several noteworthy features along the eastern limb of the Moon. The Mare Crisium which was partially visible looked wonderful as the wrinkled edges of the basin jutted out against the dark shadows while the prominent crater Langrenus just further to the south was bathed in complete darkness.
Also on show was the ancient Vendelinus and the overlapping crater Lamé alongside the smaller circular shapes of Barkla and Kapteyn just to the north east of these two battered lunar relics. However, I have to say that it was Petavius that stole the show; the large impact crater revealed it’s tall central mountains in all their glory as they cast a huge black swathe across the lunar surface. Clinging on to the southern rim of Petavius I could also make out the uneven outline of Hase and Hase d while sitting just eastwards of these two rough features lay the silhouettes of Adams and Legendre. Looking below this small jumble of craters I was also able to observe the eye-catching Furnerius but much like Langrenus it was completely hidden in shadow and offered no other detail.
By this time the Moon was now disappearing from view behind the rooftops which more or less forced me to bring my session to an end, but what a session! In addition to making some very nice observations I also managed to produce a rough drawing that I converted into the digital sketch that you can see above. Hopefully it conveys a general impression of the wonderful and absobing view that held me captive for twenty amazing minutes.
[Image edited: 01.04.09]
Tags: Adams, Barkla, Earthshine, Furnerius, Hase, Hase d, Kapteyn, Lame, Langrenus, Legendre, Mare Crisium, Moon, MoonWatch, Petavius, Strathspey 25x100, Vendelinus
Posted in Astro Art, Observing | 2 Comments »
Time, as they say, waits for nobody and when I look back towards the beginning of the month I am left wondering where all the time has gone. March began (01.03.09 & 02.03.09) by bidding a fond farewell to comet Lulin as it started the long journey back out towards the distant reaches of the solar system. Around this time I also logged the open cluster M47 from the Binocular Messier Club list with the 10×50s, but with an elevation of around +18° M47 offered a rather sketchy observation as it drifted through the southern sky glow. I had also tried to catch two other open clusters in this part of the sky: M46 (which is very close to M47) and M50 in Monoceros. Both remained hidden from view, again due to the sky conditions, but I am going to make every effort to catch these two objects before they disappear into the summer evenings.
Besides my Lulin and Messier observations, the beginning of the month (05.03.09 & 06.03.09) also offered me the perfect opportunity to study the cratered surface of the waning gibbous Moon and score a number of objects from the Lunar 100 list. The most notable objects included the Vallis Alpes, the crater remnant Hipparchus as well as the mysterious Bessel Ray and the ancient crater of Clavius. Aside from viewing a good many Lunar 100 objects I also took the time to explore many features beyond the scope of the list and I made wonderful observations of prominent impact craters such as Reinhold, Herschel, Eudoxus, Aristoteles and many more.
Beyond this point bad weather conditions brought things to an abrupt end for almost two weeks, so it was nearer to the end of March (21.03.09) before I managed out, this time turning my gaze towards two faint galaxies in Canes Venatici: Messier 94 and Messier 63. However, the immediate interference of a neighbor’s extremely intrusive light combined with the neck breaking altitude of +41° put paid to a more in-depth observation. I dare say that I will return to these two deep sky objects in the next few months when they are both in a better position.
Following on from this I then spent some time a few mornings later (24.03.09) hunting down three more Messier objects: the open clusters M29 and M39 in Cygnus as well as the planetary nebula M27 in Vulpecula. I couldn’t have asked for better conditions and I easily tracked down the two open clusters but the urban terrain combined with a low position in the sky unfortunately prevented me from viewing M27. In addition to my deep sky observations I serendipitously caught two satellites through the 25×100s as they shot over the eastern sky. After some digging around on the web I whittled my options down to two possible designations: A0-27 and ITAMSAT 1. I’ve never been very good at catching iridium flares or tracking satellites, so I still have some niggling doubts over the identities of the two space craft, but it seems as though A0-27 and ITAMSAT 1 are my best bet.
To finally wrap things up I took in a short view of Saturn and the cloud enshrouded Titan as they sat serenely under the watchful eye of Leo. Upon making this observation I originally thought that I’d also seen the small Saturnian moon of Iapetus, but later investigation revealed that it was in fact HP 54954, a 9th magnitude G class star about 365 light years distant. So unfortunately, no cigar.
In retrospect March has definitely been a celestial smorgasbord, but as MoonWatch week is upon us UK amateur astronomers I plan to spend much of my time gazing at the checkered lunar surface. Hopefully the elements will cooperate and grant me some decent Moon watching weather.
Tags: A0-27, Aristoteles, Bessel Ray, Bresser 10x50, C/2007 N3 Lulin, Canes Venatici, Clavius, Cygnus, Eudoxus, Galaxies, Herschel, Hipparchus, HP 54954, ITAMSAT 1, M27, M29, M39, M46, M47, M50, M63, M94, Monoceros, Moon, Reinhold, Saturn, Strathspey 25x100, The Sunflower Galaxy, Titan, Vallis Alpes, Vulpecula
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From the 28th of March till the 5th of April, the UK team for the International Year of Astronomy (IYA) will launch the first of two MoonWatch weeks. The first week runs from the 28th of March till the 5th of April and will coincide with 100 Hours of Astronomy, a global IYA cornerstone project. The second Moon Watch week will be launched later in the year and will run from the 24th of October till the 1st of November.
Fellow blogger and Twitterer Orbiting Frog had sent out a tweet asking if there was a MoonWatch poster or a flyer that could be used to advertise events. As there doesn’t seem to be anything for individuals or astronomy groups to use to help promote any events that they plan on running, I produced this generic A4 poster that you can freely download and use from this microsite I have set up. The poster itself is a high quality 150 ppi jpeg which can be professionally printed if you so choose.
While I won’t be taking part in any organised events, I am really looking forward to MoonWatch week and I plan on spending as much time as I can getting out and observing our closest astronomical neighbour.
Tags: 100 Hours of Astronomy, IYA 2009, Moon, MoonWatch
Posted in Observing | No Comments »
In the wake of comet lulin’s close encounter I’ve been spending some time observing the Moon, while also scoring a good few objects off the lunar 100 list. So far I have seen 26 of the 100 objects listed (and many more not listed), ranging from the oblique impact rays of Proclus to the the dark edges of the Mare Serenitatis as well as a tentative observation of the lunar graben otherwise known as the Vallis Alpes. I suspect that for many of the other objects listed I’m going to have to employ a telescope, but for the moment I’m happy to observe the Moon with my 25×100s.
Besides trekking my way across the surface of the Moon, I’ve also been trying to figure out how many search term combinations lead to my blog as the number one result in Google. You could be forgiven for thinking that I am being rather narcissistic but you’d be totally wrong. I discovered last week, much to my surprise, that I had been tagged by the acclaimed visual observer and astro sketching talent that is Jeremy Perez over at The Belt of Venus. The object of the game as I mentioned above is to find out how many different search terms lead to your blog as the number one result in Google.
This really is fun and it’s an interesting way of learning just how spiders and robots use the content, tags and meta data that you apply to each of your web pages or blog posts. The following search terms below returned Space Jockey as the #1 result:
Lulin Stenhousemuir
Astro Sketching Stenhousemuir
Astroart Scotland
Extrasolar Planet Scotland
25×100 Falkirk
Sinus Iridium Scotland
Afocal Photography Scotland
Astroart Stenhousemuir
It’s pretty clear to see that this blog is inseparably linked to Scotland and my home town. There were plenty of other search terms that returned Space Jockey as a result, in particular Lulin Scotland returned a page rank of 8 while Space Jockey itself came in at #5.
As this is a chain letter of sorts all that remains for me to do now is tag a few others: Phil, Stuart and Amanda. You don’t have to play and as Jeremy says: “you will not suffer bad luck, the clouds will not close in, and your house plants will not wilt.”
Tags: Jeremy Perez, Lunar 100, Mare Serenitatis, Moon, Proclus, Strathspey 25x100, Vallis Alpes
Posted in Observing, Uncategorized | No Comments »
The Jovian moon of Europa is surrounded by plenty of mystery and lots of speculation. Slightly smaller than our own moon, it is composed largely of silicate rock with a tenuous exosphere of molecular oxygen and a possible iron core. The surface is predominantly made of ice and while it is checkered with streaks and fractures it is in fact one of the smoothest in the whole solar system. This smooth but variegated surface resembles images of sea ice as seen on Earth and has led many planetary scientists to believe that there is a vast subsurface ocean of liquid water below the frozen crust.
Tentative evidence for this ocean can be seen by looking at what has been termed ‘chaos terrain’, an area where some believe the subsurface ocean has melted through the icy exterior due to tidal up-welling. Other evidence can be found in the data that the Galileo probe obtained, showing that Europa has a weak magnetic field induced through Jupiter’s own, suggesting the presence of a conductive sub layer i.e an ocean of liquid saltwater .
If indeed there is an ocean under the frigid surface, then it is plausible to think that extraterrestrial life might exist, but what kind of life? This proposition hinges on one fact: the temperature of Europa’s ocean. While the moon may possess an internal energy source, it is insufficient to provide the necessary heat to help maintain biological processes. However, the orbital resonance between Jupiter, Io, Europa and Ganymede probably heats the interior of the moon through tidal flexing which would ensure that the ocean remained liquid. The energy from the tidal flexing could also possibly be released through hydrothermal vents much like the black and white smokers that are found on Earth’s ocean floor. Europa’s hydrothermal vents could provide the ideal conditions for a more modest ecosystem than those found around Earth’s vents but they would support a hot, nutrient rich environment in which micro organisms like anaerobes and archaea could potentially thrive.
The only way that we will know for sure what lies beneath Europa’s mysterious surface is by going there, and it looks like we’re going to get our chance. NASA and ESA announced near the end of last month that they were going to undertake a joint mission to launch two probes by the end of the next decade to study Jupiter and it’s four moons. Just what discoveries will be made about Europa is anyone’s guess, but they’re sure to be extremely exciting and very compelling.
Tags: Europa, Ganymede, Io, Jupiter
Posted in Astro Art, Lo-Fi Science | 2 Comments »
