Skywatch for the week of November 4, 2024
Mon Nov 4, 2024 CROSS QUARTER DAY
We are now midway through the autumn season, something called a cross-quarter day. The quarter days in our calendar mark each season's beginning: March 21st for spring; June 21st for summer; September 21st for autumn; and December 21st for winter. The cross-quarter days divide each of these seasons in half: February 2nd, which is winter's midpoint, called Imbolc by the ancient Celts; and in old calendars it was called Candlemas; not too long ago, it also picked up the name Groundhog's Day. May 1st is the midpoint for spring and was called Bealtane. August 1st, the middle of summer, was called Lunasadh or Lammas; November 1st, is All Saints Day in the Church calendar, but also Samhain, the beginning of the ancient Druid year. Samhain is a late harvest occasion, when the last of the crops are brought in.
Tue Nov 5, 2024 /TELESCOPE WORKSHOP
Last night at sunset you might have seen the new crescent moon low in the western sky. As darkness set in, a very bright star appeared next to it. That bright star was the planet Venus. This evening you can see the moon and Venus together again, but now the moon will be a slightly fatter crescent, and it will be to the east of Venus. We will look at Venus and the moon at 7:30 pm tomorrow at the Hallstrom Planetarium during our telescope workshop, which is open to the public. From 7:30 to 9:30 pm, we will learn about telescopes and how they work, and what would be a good telescope to buy. You can bring your own telescope or binoculars to the class, but we'll have plenty of instruments for you to learn how to use. This workshop is geared toward adults and older students. Tickets can be purchased at Indian River State College's Box Office, on the Massey campus in Fort Pierce. Call 772-462 4750.
Wed Nov 6, 2024
Can you identify the 15th largest constellation? It is bordered on the north by Scutum, Aquila and Serpens Cauda, on the south by Telescopium and the Southern Crown, on the west by Scorpius and Ophiuchus, and on the east by Microscopium and Capricornus. The center of the galaxy lies in the direction of its western border, and it contains many star clusters as well as the Trifid and the Lagoon Nebulae. This constellation has no first magnitude stars, but a handful of 2nd magnitude stars trace out the crude shape of a teapot and this evening the crescent moon shines within the teapot's handle. In Greek myth it represents Chiron, a centaur who guards other constellations by keeping Scorpius at bay with his bow and arrow. Can you name this star figure, the ninth constellation of the zodiac? The answer is Sagittarius the Archer.
Thu Nov 7, 2024 MESSIER'S FALL
November 6th was the beginning of a very bad year for Charles Messier. On that day in 1781, the French astronomer fell down a flight of stairs. It took him over a year to recover from his injuries, but then Messier got back to work, making successful observations of the planet Mercury and then going on to discover over a dozen comets in his career. He also made a list of deep sky objects that still bear his catalog numbers, all beginning with the letter M – M, for Messier. There's M1, the Crab Nebula, which marks the spot where a star exploded a thousand years ago; or M13, a globular star cluster in Hercules; or the Great Orion Nebula, M42. Then there's M31 – the Andromeda Galaxy! Messier also managed to survive the French revolution and subsequent reign of terror, and was awarded the Cross of the Legion of Honor in 1806 by the Emperor Napoleon.
Fri Nov 8, 2024 EDMUND HALLEY'S BIRTHDAY
Edmund Halley, whose name is attached to a very famous comet, was born on November 8th, 1656 near London. Halley saw his comet in 1682, and although millions of people had seen it before him, going back to BC times, he was the first person to predict its return, in 1758. Halley had asked Isaac Newton to write the equations he needed to solve the comet's orbit, (Newton had to invent calculus to do it,) and using Newton's work, Halley figured out it would return in 76 years, saying that he hoped that posterity would record that an Englishman had made the prediction. Now if you missed seeing the last appearance of Halley's Comet in 1986, then you'll want to hang around for its next apparition in the year 2061. I'll be 108, and I'm looking forward to seeing it again.
