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New Moon:
Jan
8
Full Moon:
Jan
22
Club Indoor Meeting: Thursday,
Jan 3
Club Stargaze: Friday, Jan 11, to be held at PARI, near
Rosman, NC. The sun sets at 5:34pm and astronomical twilight ends at 7:05pm.
The 14%-illuminated moon sets at 8:59pm. You can check for satellite passes
by going to "www.heavens-above.com"
and logging-on as registered user "Astro Asheville" with password
"12345". There are several observing site to choose from. Choosing
the correct site is important only for seeing the Iridium flares. On this night
the HST passes over twice!
DEEP SKY OBJECTS (DSO's):
NGC1275: The brightest galaxy in the Perseus I Galaxy Cluster
is actually two colliding galaxies, emits a huge amount of radio waves and X-rays,
and is classified as a "Seyfert Galaxy". There are about 500 galaxies
in this cluster, which is 250 million light years away. It is quite a bit further
away than the Virgo Cluster,
which is 60 million light years away, and much further away than the closest
major galaxy, Andromeda, which is 2.3 million light years away. NGC1275 is magnitude
11.9, so you'll probably need at least an 8" scope to see it. It is about
two degrees WNW of the famous star Algol, or Beta Persei. Cornell University
has an article
on its structure. (Location: 03hr 20m RA +41 deg 31' Dec)
NGC2169 (The "37" Cluster): This is a small open cluster whose stars make the shape of the number "37". It covers only 6 arc minutes of sky and its actual diameter is only 7 light years. At 3,600 ly away, it is about twice as far away as most of the stars and nebulae of the Orion Complex. See this "Astronomy Photo of the Day" image. This open cluster is found in the elbow of Orion's club arm, which is held over his head. In other words, it's almost 1 degree SW of Zi Orionis, so it's EASY TO FIND (Location: 06hr 08m RA +13 deg 58' Dec)
Auriga's Double Cluster: M38 and NGC1907 (Caldwell 21): Most of you are familiar with the famous Messier trio of fairly bright open star clusters in Auriga - M36, 37, and 38. They are impressive even in small telescopes. M38, however, presents you with a bonus cluster that is located just ½° to its SSW. NGC1907 is a mag. 8.2 open star cluster located just slightly farther away (at 4,500 ly) than brighter and larger M38 (at 4,300 ly) which shines at mag. 6.4. Both clusters will fit nicely in the same wide field of view, displaying numerous individual stellar members. (Location: 5hr 28m RA +35deg 19' Dec, in Auriga - the Charioteer)
Fantastic Winter Triple of Dwarf Stars: Omicron-2 Eridani (aka "40 Eridani" or "Keid"): The primary star of this triple system is Keid, and it is located about 7 degrees NNE of brighter Gamma Eridani (Zaurak, mag. 2.9). Keid shines at magnitude 4.4 and is only 16 light years away, making it the eighth-closest, naked-eye star. Keid's low apparent brightness for a nearby star confirms its status as an orange-dwarf. Just 83 arc seconds and 400 astronomical units (AUs) away is a pair of stars that orbit Keid once every 7,200 years! That pair consists of a 9th magnitude white dwarf and an 11th magnitude red dwarf that orbit each other with a period of 252 years, and they are now separated by 9 arc seconds or about 35 AUs (slightly more than the distance from Neptune to our sun). Think of the white dwarf, realizing that it is about 11/2 times the diameter of the Earth, but very dense. It's mass is about 50% of our Sun's mass! The dimmer red dwarf companion is a very "cool" star that burns its hydrogen fuel at a very slow rate, therefore having an enormous expected life span in the tens of billions of years. (Location: 4hr 16m RA -7 deg 39' Dec, in Eridanus - the River, or 15 degrees due west of Rigel - ß Orionis)
Links to more info on other web sites: http://x.astrogeek.org/observations/log.php?object_id=1236, http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/keid.html, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Position_angle , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/40_Eridani
The Omicron-2 Eridani A star system is a prime suspect for an earth-like planet
and is the Vulcan home planet in the Star Trek universe:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrestrial_Planet_Finder#Top_100_TPF_target_stars
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stars_and_planetary_systems_in_fiction#40_Eridani
The following map of Omicron-2 Eridani BC shows component B (the magnitude
9 white dwarf) at one focus of the elliptical orbit, where the big cross is.
Various plots of the location of Component C (the magnitude 11 red dwarf) are
shown by small green & magenta crosses. The most recent plots are at the
bottom of the ellipse, and show Component C's location at this time. Note that
east is to the right and north is to the bottom, as if viewed through a Newtonian
telescope. This drawing will enable you to visualize the binary stars' orbits
as you look through the telescope. Remember that the distance between the two
stars is at this time about the same as from the Sun to Neptune!
ASTEROIDS:
CERES can be found 2 degrees WNW of Mu Ceti on the night of the star
gaze (Jan 11), shining at magnitude 8.3. Ceres is stationary in it's east-west
travel on January 1. This is the largest, but not the brightest, asteroid and
is now considered a "dwarf planet".
HIGHLIGHTS:
Jan 3-4: Quadrantid meteor shower. ZHR=120.
The radiant of this"modern" meteor shower is in northern Bootes. The
show will be good this year because of the new Moon on January 8. Best viewing
is expected to be late on the night of Thurday, January 3 and early in the morning
of Friday, January 4. Expected peak is at 1:40am on January 3, and often last
only a few hours. The 12%-illuminated Moon rises at 4:30 am. These meteors tend
to be rather faint and travel at a moderate speed (41 km/sec, or 91,700 mph).
See this info and animation: http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/our_solar_system/meteors/quadrantid_shower.html&edu=high.
Jan 2: The Earth is at perihelion (closest to the Sun this year).
Jan 10: The first day of the Islamic year 1429 A.H., but it actually depends on the first sighting of the new moon, and begins at sunset on January 9. The Islamic year is lunar-based and is 11-12 days shorter than the solar year. So in about 16 years, the Islamic New Year will be in July!
Feb 1: A VERY CLOSE CONJUNCTION OF VENUS & JUPITER! This will be the closest the two brightest planets will be until 2016. They will be only 40' (arc minutes) apart (0.67 degrees) at 6:00am, 90 minutes before sunrise. Venus will be mag -4.0, 85% illuminated, and 12.4" diameter. Jupiter will be mag -1.9 and 33" diameter. The following applies to an 8"/f10 telescope: Both planets will fit in the field of view of a 35mm/52 deg AFOV eyepiece. This will give 58 power. A 22mm/82 deg AFOV eyepiece in the same scope might give a better view, as both planets will (barely) fit in the field of view, but at a much higher power (102x). A compromise would be a 26mm/82 deg AFOV eyepiece, as both planets will fit comfortably in the field of view at 78x. Too bad I have neither a 22mm nor 26mm 82 deg AFOV EP! Thru your scope, use the shortest focal length eyepiece (i.e., highest power) that will comfortably fit both planets in the field of view. In this case, big AFOV rules!
TERMS
AFOV=apparent field of view / dec=declination
/ EP=eye piece / FOB=field of view / ISS=International Space Station / HST=Hubble
Space Telescope / ly=light year / mag=magnitude / ra=right ascension /
culminates=transits the meridian=when an object as at its highest point in the
sky / transit=passing in front of another object / ZHR=zenithal hourly rate
(basically, the most meteors 1 person could see in 1 hour under ideal conditions)
CLUB STARGAZE
You can check the AstroAsheville
Yahoo e-group [or call Tim @ 251-0040 or John @ 251-1933 (before 5:00) or
667-9268 (after 5:00)] for a go/no-go decision and to verify location.
CLUB MEETING
Indoor club meetings are usually the first Thursday of every
month, at 6 p.m. in the Sims
Group offices (230 Short Coxe Ave., Asheville, NC.)
Happy Starwatching! Dress Warmly! Blue Ridge Parkway Information
Line is 828-298-0398
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(Much of the above info is derived from Sky & Telescope magazine, Ottewell's
Astronomical Calendar, The Night Sky Observer's Guide, Burnam's Celestial Handbook,
Megastar 5.0, Planets202, Cartes du Ciel, the ol' Miller Planesphere, and a little
(very little) common sense.)