Get Involved: Globe At Night, Lectures, California Academy of Sciences

There is always something to do if you are interested in getting a bit more involved in astronomy. Right now, you can learn at a lecture, attend a star party, or take part in a global project to record light pollution while learning about new constellations. Read on for details.

Here in San Francisco, the California Academy of Sciences hosts a lecture series on astronomy topics. The Dean Lecture Series features talks on some of the most riveting subjects in astronomy, and Monday April 4th is the next talk, presented by Joel Primack and Nancy Ellen Abrams, focuses on the most modern research in cosmology, that of Dark Matter and Dark Energy.

The California Academy of Sciences also has a fun event every Thursday night with its "NightLife" series, transforming the museum into a fun party. Each week has a theme, and next Thursday April 7th is Yuri's Night, an annual celebration of the first man in space. If the skies are clear, you can find me on the Living Roof giving star tours alongside the docents of the museum showing off planets, nebulae and the Moon through telescopes.

If you don't live in San Francisco, visit the Night Sky Network website to find lectures and astronomy clubs in your area.

The Globe At Night project is now in the second phase, inviting Citizen Scientists around the world to support the effort to raise awareness of light pollution, learn about the night sky in your neighborhood, and pay attention to details of the constellation Leo the Lion. Take part - it only requires a few minutes and is an eye-opening experience.

Vernal Equinox, Super Full Moon, and other astronomical musings

I enjoy sharing highlights of the sky with friends and have been blogging for several years now, pointing out events of astronomical interest here as The Urban Astronomer. I was surprised to see the excitement and questions about the Super Full Moon, the coincidence of nature that is leading to a full moon at perigee today. The fact that the general public is being scared into thinking something bad is about to happen is unfortunate, but the fact that people will be out tonight looking at the full moon is the good outcome that I wish for. Of course, there is absolutely nothing to be worried about. Every 29 days the Moon swings a bit closer to the Earth than other times of the month, and that pattern of perigee and apogee, full and new, repeats in a beautiful "super pattern" every 18 years, something now known (but likely not fully understood) by the many who are reading about the Super Full Moon being the biggest one in 18 years.

There are numerous patterns and cycles in the heavens. Tomorrow, March 20th, is the Vernal Equinox, the semi-annual moment when the length of the day is exactly 12 hours everyone on Earth. I like that dynamic, a twice-a-year event in which we are all given equal periods of sun above the horizon and below the horizon, regardless of your latitude, regardless of whether you are in the Northern or Southern Hemisphere. That is a moment of beauty in the grand annual rhythms of our home planet.

The pattern of lunar repetition that lasts for just longer than 18 years is also responsible for the cycle of lunar and solar eclipses that take place around the world. I witnessed a total solar eclipse in Europe in July 1999, and the celestial dynamics of that eclipse will exactly repeat in August 2017 when a wonderful total solar eclipse will sweep across the United States. For me, it will be a rare chance to be standing in the shadow of the Moon on the second passing of this particular alignment of Moon, Earth and Sun, one that will be far more dramatic and meaningful to me than any particular Super Full Moon you might encounter between now and then. But in the end, if you can find some meaning and solace looking up at the Moon tonight, savor the moment and mark your calendar for April 2029 when the conditions will align themselves and present you with a chance to relive this magic moment when you saw a particularly big and impressive full moon. That is something worth pondering, and the rest of the media hype you are hearing right now should be simply ignored.

Image courtesy NASA.

Jupiter and Mercury: Prograde and Retrograde Motion

Elusive Mercury makes an appearance for the coming weeks in the evening sky, slowly progressing toward Jupiter as the two planets share the same space (from our point of view) just above the setting Sun. Although Jupiter is considerably farther away from Earth as Mercury, Jupiter's massive size more than makes up for that distance and makes it appear to us as a much brighter light on the horizon.

As Mercury rapidly arrives in the evening sky, it changes its location each evening quite a bit, and before long will be aligned with Jupiter, setting around the same time as Jupiter toward the end of March. As it reaches this point, it will then change its daily direction across the evening sky and move rapidly westward toward the Sun, something called "retrograde" motion. For a few weeks, people will say that "Mercury is in Retrograde" which is, from an astronomical point of view, very normal behavior for Mercury every few months. However, for many who follow astrology, this can be a very troubling time. Perhaps seeing Mercury with your own eyes changing location and moving gracefully across the sky, first in prograde motion (the basic motion of planets across the backdrop of stars, eastward), then in retrograde, will make its impact a little more friendly. Try it out for yourself and see.

KFOG Podcast - March 4, 2011

As always, I had a good time at KFOG today talking with Morning Show co-host Irish Greg who has boundless enthusiasm for just about everything, including talking with me about all-things-astronomical. We even did some indoor stargazing (see photo) in the KFOG broadcast studio :-). Check out our podcast for the latest on what to see in the sky, and where to go to hear some excellent lectures and talks about astronomy.

Take part in "The Globe At Night" project - just look up at the sky tonight!

For the next week everyone is invited to participate in a global effort to measure light pollution and to learn about stars and the sky in your neighborhood, especially for those in big cities like San Francisco. The "Globe At Night" project invites people from around the world to take a few minutes in the next 7 days and look at one of the most beautiful constellations in the sky, Orion, and simply report how much of it you can see. It's easier than you think. And it's a great family project to show kids what you can see in the night sky.

The Globe At Night website provides all of the details, but in summary you compare what you see in your sky (your backyard, rooftop or any other convenient observing location) to a series of images on the Globe At Night website. By finding the image that best matches your view and reporting this on the website, you are helping to gather data from cities around the world on the relative light pollution in the sky. The constellation Orion contains stars of varying brightness, and depending upon the darkness of your skies, you will see more or less of these stars. The charts on the Globe At Night website show you Orion with differing "magnitudes" of stars, so for very light polluted cities you might only see the 1st and 2nd magnitude stars, whereas in darker skies you will see 3rd, 4th, or even 5th and 6th magnitude stars (the higher the number, the fainter the star).

Join the worldwide "Citizen Scientists" supporting this effort to increase awareness of the night sky, and take part. And bring along a friend. It's fun!

Seeing Summer in Winter - Scorpius and Sagittarius

The early morning sky this week holds some treasures for star gazers. As the view of the heavens changes from season to season, we have a chance to see the symmetry of our sky by looking south-east in the morning. In winter, we see the majestic winter sky in the evening, but by early morning we see the summer sky! How is this possible? Every 12 hours as the Earth rotates on its axis, we face the different constellations and in fact see the "opposite" season in the morning. This week, as the old Moon passes through the summer constellations of Scorpius and Sagittarius, it accentuates the rich beauty of these two constellations, both of which contain many treasures for the unaided eye as well as for those who wish to get out their binoculars for a closer look.

Sagittarius is located in same direction as the center of the Milky Way, and Scorpius is just next to this, so both contain a richness of nebulae and star clusters that are easy to find in binoculars. It's worth the extra 2 minutes in the morning to take a look if you can get outside before the first light of dawn, before 6:00 am in San Francisco.

The Winter Sky Beckons

The Winter Sky beckons me to stop what I am doing and pay attention, for the view of the heavens in this magical season is unlike any other. Here in San Francisco, when it is not raining (as was the case for most of January through today), the air is dry and the atmosphere clear, giving the casual observer sparkling vistas into the heavens. And as this kind of weather happens with regularity in the winter, and the hours of darkness are at their maximum, it is all but impossible to miss the winter sky.

Evenings right now are dominated by the slowly fading planet Jupiter high in the west at sunset, and the colorful bright stars of Orion high in the southern sky, Canis Major and Sirius to the lower left of Orion, and Taurus and Aldeberan to the upper right of Orion. Facing north, the Big Dipper and Cassiopeia trade places every 24 hours, circling Polaris, the North Star. And later in the night to the east are a variety of treasures in Virgo with Saturn in the vicinity. Two weeks ago the morning sky featured the old Moon passing through Scorpios and Sagittarius, creating beautiful alignments that accented the eastern horizon at dawn.

The most important thing to do, if you want to see these amazing sky spectacles, is to keep your eyes open and look up - - nothing more than that is necessary to be captivated by the spell of the sky. No need for a telescope or binoculars. This time of year the stars dazzle in the night, and appear to be asking all of us to take a moment to contemplate their majesty and come to appreciate the universe, awaiting your view each night of the year.

Celestial Companions in the Cold Dark Morning

January mornings are dark times, and when the sky is clear it is certain to be chilly outside. So I find the sight of the old Moon reassuring, a warm light that fades a bit each successive morning and guides the way through bright stars and planets along the ecliptic to the soon-to-be-rising-Sun. You can see this spectacle at its finest the next few mornings as the Moon moves a bit further eastward each day and passes near to some distinct celestial companions.

The Moon is passing now through Scorpius and the grey-white of the Moon stands in stark contrast to the red-orange of the star at the heart of the Scorpion, Antares. Moving close to Antares on Friday morning, the Moon continues toward the brilliant planet Venus on Saturday morning, and then slowly fades into the glare of sunrise on Sunday morning. My kitchen window faces south-east so I see this changing landscape each morning and I look forward to the coming days with clear skies in the forecast. If you rise before sunrise, take a moment to look out toward the south-east and enjoy the calm of this morning celestial grouping of close companions in the heavens.