Twinkle Twinkle Little Star: BGP's Astronomy Thread

I'm sure there are several astronomy enthusiasts here, besides TB&G and myself. I can't get enough of astronomy and I never get tired of learning new things about our universe. Ever since I was a kid I would lay on the grass at night and look up at the sky and wonder where those points of lights originated from and what it was like there. This thread is the place to post anything and everything you want about space, telescopes, anything and everything related to astronomy. Just interesting random facts and/or figures are greatly welcome as well.

Post away. Maybe we can teach each other some things we don't know about our incredible universe.

Tonight – June 15, 2017 – look for the ringed planet Saturn in the night sky. It’ll be visible from dusk until dawn, because today our planet Earth flies between Saturn and the sun, bringing Saturn to what guys like me call opposition. In other words, Saturn is opposite the sun in Earth’s sky right now. This is a big milestone for our year of observing the ringed planet! We go between Saturn and the sun on June 15 at 10:00 UTC. For us, that places Saturn’s exact opposition on June 15 at 7 a.m. EDT .

So this is Saturn’s special day, its yearly opposition, when Saturn is opposite the sun in Earth’s sky. As a consequence, Saturn rises in the east at sunset, climbs highest up for the night at midnight and sets in the west at sunrise. It is visible all night, closest and brightest for this year. I've been watching tonight. Check it out.

You can recognize Saturn because it’s in your southeast sky at dusk and nightfall, and near the star Antares, the brightest star in the constellation Scorpius the Scorpion. You can distinguish golden Saturn from ruddy Antares by color, either with the unaided eye or binoculars. Also, Saturn tends to shine with a steadier light than the sparkly star Antares. Enjoy!!!

I remember trying to explain that seeing in a star is like looking back in time to someone once. They never could comprehend that the light we were seeing was millions of light years away and that some of the stars we see have been dead for millions of years. Maybe I did a bad job of explaining it back then, but we argued about it off and on for years.

I remember trying to explain that seeing in a star is like looking back in time to someone once. They never could comprehend that the light we were seeing was millions of light years away and that some of the stars we see have been dead for millions of years. Maybe I did a bad job of explaining it back then, but we argued about it off and on for years.

J-Dad, I've experienced the same thing many times. It likely wasn't your explanation that was the problem. A lot of folks have a difficult time comprehending that. My granny was one of them. She never could get it---except apparently one time. There was one day she had been drinking Tall Boys all day long since about 10am. Later that evening I was talking about how the light from some stars originated thousands , maybe millions of years ago. Hence, when we look at the sky we are looking back in time. She took a swig of her Pabst Blue Ribbon and said, "That makes sense."

I pressed my luck a bit too much a couple of weeks later on one of her drinking days , however. She was about a quarter of the way through a case of PBR's and several shots of Old Grandad and I was trying to argue the Twin Paradox by explaining how time slows down when you travel at near the speed of light. She finished off her Tall Boy and then proceeded to go upside my head with an umbrella.

RIP Nanny.

Three planets can be seen in the night sky during June. Jupiter is the first one that will appear as the sky darkens and will shine prominently high in the south-southwest.

Saturn arrived in opposition tonight and should make for some great viewing all month and in July and August as well. By late twilight, Saturn will already be up in the southeast, just awaiting for your telescope to be turned its way(if you want to see rings, that is).

Venus will rise just a couple hours or so before the sun this month and can be seen in dawn's early light low in the eastern sky.

Mercury and Mars will be too close in proximity to the sun this month to be seen. Mercury will come from out of the sun's glare and can be viewed next month. Mars is pretty much on a summer sabbatical . Moving toward conjunction with the sun in late July, we likely won't see the red planet in our evening sky until late September.

Btw, if you see an orange-tinted point of light in the sky, you may confuse it with Mars. It's not. Mars can't be seen right now, plus Mars tends to be a bit more red-tinted and less orange.

Anyone know what the very prominent orange-tinted object is? It has quite the history in various cultures throughout history. It's the fourth brightest star in the night sky and the brightest star in the northern celestial hemisphere. To locate it, find the handle of the Big Dipper, which forms an arc. Continue to follow this "arc" to our orange star. It's actually a red giant, about 37 light years from Earth.

See if you can find it in the night sky.

Btw, if you see an orange-tinted point of light in the sky, you may confuse it with Mars. It's not. Mars can't be seen right now, plus Mars tends to be a bit more red-tinted and less orange.

 

Anyone know what the very prominent orange-tinted object is? It has quite the history in various cultures throughout history. It's the fourth brightest star in the night sky and the brightest star in the northern celestial hemisphere. To locate it, find the handle of the Big Dipper, which forms an arc. Continue to follow this "arc" to our orange star. It's actually a red giant, about 37 light years from Earth.

See if you can find it in the night sky.

Ohh! Ohhhh! Pick me! Pick me!

Ohh! Ohhhh! Pick me! Pick me!

I'm still awake, so go right ahead my friend.

Later this weekend, I may talk a little bit about one of my favorite red supergiant stars. Stay tuned.

I'm still awake, so go right ahead my friend.

My students can easily tell you to "arc to Arcturus," alpha star in the constellation Bootes. Then, "straight on to Spica," aloha star in Virgo.

My students can easily tell you to "arc to Arcturus," alpha star in the constellation Bootes. Then, "straight on to Spica," aloha star in Virgo.

Arc to Arcturus and spy to Spica is what I always heard.

I still have this book:

Arcturus is 200 X more powerful than the sun. Whew!

But it's surface is cooler than the sun, which causes it's orange color.

I looked it up, lol. I don't have that kind of info off the top of my head.

For those of you who are not familiar with the story of Arcturus' connection with the 1933 Chicago World's Fair, please read. I think you will enjoy.

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Every star has a story but some are more curious than others. The star Arcturus has an electrifying story with a mysterious twist involving the 1933 World’s Fair.

If you step out on a clear night in mid-March and follow the curve of the Big Dipper’s handle toward the eastern horizon, you’ll come face to face with Arcturus, the 4th brightest star in the sky. Pale orange and fluttering in the low air like a candle in the breeze, Arcturus is a bellwether of spring. By late May it shines high in the south at the onset of night. For the moment, the star hunkers down in the east, sparking through tree branches and over neighborhood rooftops.

The name Arcturus comes from the ancient Greek word “arktos” for bear and means “Bear Watcher”. That’s easy to remember because he follows Ursa Major the Great Bear, the brightest part of which is the Big Dipper, across the spring sky.

It was another spring 80 years ago on May 27,1933, that the city of Chicago opened its Century of Progress Exposition as part of the World’s Fair highlighting progress in science and industry. 40 years prior in 1893 the city had hosted its first big fair, the World’s Columbian Exposition.

In the early 1930s astronomers estimated Arcturus’ distance at 40 light years. Edwin Frost, retired director of the Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay, Wis., home to the world’s largest refracting telescope, hit upon the idea of using Arcturus to symbolically link both great fairs which were separated by a span of 40 years.

The Curious and Confounding Story Of How Arcturus Electrified Chicago - Universe Today

Okay, I'm a numbers guy, so I've got some numbers for you.

You could fit three Earth's inside Jupiter's Great Red Spot.(Yep, 3 earth's inside one storm)

You could fit more about 1,322 Earth's inside Jupiter.

You could fit 1.3 million Earth's in the sun.

You could fit about 23 billion Earth's in Arcturus.

You could fit more than 2,100 TRILLION (That's 2.1 quadrillion) Earth's inside the red supergiant Betelguese.

You could fit 6.6 quadrillion Earth's inside UT Scuti, currently the largest star ever discovered.

Yes, we are just an miniscule little dot in this vast universe.