So Many Stars!

I am vacationing with some friends in western Maryland near Deep Creek Lake.  After dinner it was dark out so I decided to go see what the night sky looks like.  We are staying in a semi-wooded area far from the city, to see the stars you have to look between the branches of the trees surrounding the house. Being from a city suburb with lots of street lights, the only stars you could see the brightest of the bright. The crazy amount of stars one can see in the middle of nowhere never stops to amaze me.  I even dragged my friends out to show them and point out what stars and constellations I could identify between the branches. We just kept saying "there are so many stars!" Then we would turn around and see even more stars. It is dark enough to see the faint Milky Way stretch across the sky.

My work in a planetarium allows me to show visitors a digital projection of the night sky and all of the thousands of stars and I hear how awed they are by the view.  Nothing beats seeing the real thing, it is even better. Take a trip away from the bright city lights, Meet Me Outdoors.

Moon over the Science Center

I was taking a walk the other day along the Baltimore Harbor and noticed the Moon was out.  I got a picture of it over the Maryland Science Center. (It's the bright object over the arching roof of the building.)

On Friday nights, if it is clear out, they open the observatory to the public.  When the Moon is out, and isn't a full moon, they look at the craters. Sometimes, they even aim the telescope at the planet Jupiter when it is visible in the sky. Even in the city you can see some stars in the sky, you just have to have to scan the sky on a clear night.  But if you want to see more stars you will have to leave the city for that. 

Next time you have a clear night or one with few clouds go outside and look up. (If it's winter you might want to grab a jacket, mittens and a hat so you don't freeze.)  Go explore the sky, Meet Me Outdoors.

Seattle, WA

 Seattle is a great walkable city, once you get past the idea of having to climb a few hills to get to places.  You know when people give the "When I was your age..." speech that usually ends with "going to school involved walking up hill both ways." Well I now understand how that could be possible. Going to dinner we went up one really big hill down a small one then up another big hill. So it resulted in being uphill both ways.  Food was well worth it, despite the climb.

Moonset in Seattle

Afterward, we went down to the waterfront to watch the sunset. Being on the West Coast, a sunset happens over the ocean, this is a nice change since one doesn't have to wake up really early to watch a sunrise over on the East Coast.  Since the moon was still relatively new, we also got to see a moonset not long after the sunset. I tried to take a picture of it since it was a nice clear night, but it may be hard to tell. In the picture with the Ferris wheel and ferry, the moon is faintly visible between the two in the sky. The other evening picture has the moon more visible as it sets, with a bird flying nearby. The phase of the moon shown is called a crescent.

Moonset with bird

We were able to catch the International Space Station as it moved across the night sky.  Pretty cool to watch, knowing that there are people up there in space and their spacecraft can be seen as a dot moving across the sky.  And, with my knowledge of the night sky we were able to locate a couple planets and various star pictures, like the big and little dipper.


This morning we decided to go check out the Farmers Market at Pike Place.  Witnessed fish flying over peoples heads, tried some amazing fresh peaches, and walked around seeing all the various stands at the market, tasting random foods along the way.  Since the peaches were just so good we had to go back and buy a few for the road, they made for a great snack on the train ride.

Gum Wall

A hidden feature, but well marketed as a site to see at the market (besides the fish tossing) is the Gum Wall.  As you may have guessed by its name, the Gum Wall is a wall completely covered with gum.  I only took pictures of part of it, because it is rather massive corner filled with gum.  I am sure no other wall has ever been as minty fresh as this one.  Yet I know that many of you reading this might share the same sentiment I have which is of how gross a wall of used chewing gum really is.

After the market we went on the ferry to Bainbridge Island. There we walked along the Waterfront Trail and through the shopping area in the center of town. You can spend a whole afternoon exploring what the island has to offer, unfortunately we had to make it back in time to catch our train to Spokane, WA which is our next quick stop that begins the driving portion of the road trip.

Me on the ferry returning from the island to Seattle

Until next time, Meet Me Outdoors.

Going on a Road Trip

The summer is winding down and I have decided to go on a road trip to the western United States and part of Canada.  This is a bit of a different kind of road trip than I have done in the past were the destination was usually the point of the trip more than the journey itself.  For this it trip is all about the adventure.  What we will see along the way and how different it may be from where we started.  I will try my best to record this trek by way of pictures and anecdotes.  Share some road trip games played, show the sights, and interesting detours.

For this particular trip my travel buddy and I are starting up in Vancouver, BC Canada, by way of various trains and cars we will some how end up in Phoenix, Arizona two weeks later.  While there is lots of driving involved we do plan to hike some of the great parks that are out west to take a break from sitting in a car for long periods of time.  Both of us are not real mountain climbers but do enjoy taking in the views along the way, likely taking the easy trail or viewing from afar. 

Things I am looking forward to:

• Being out in fresh air away from the city
• Being away from city lights to be able to see a clear sky at night to look for stars and planets
• Seeing more trees than people
• Seeing new interesting wildlife 
• Hoping not to encounter a bear in the wild
• Getting a decent panorama image of natural sights - Grand Canyon especially
• Learn something new about life out west
• Much, much more...

Stay tuned, Meet Me Outdoors.

Follow Your Curiosity

Early Monday morning around 1am, I stayed up intently watching NASA TV as the newest rover, named Curiosity, land on Mars beginning its 2 year mission.  I remembered that Mars is still visible in the evening sky so when I did the SciCast for the Maryland Science Center I mentioned the mission and where to find Mars this month in the sky.   Listen to the August '12 SciCast to learn more.

Here is the transcript from the SciCast:

Early morning on August 6^th, at 1:31 am Eastern Daylight Time, the newest Mars rover landed safely on the Martian surface.  Mars Science Laboratory, or Curiosity, is a large car-sized rover now located inside Gale Crater where it will begin a 2-year mission. The goal of the mission is to assess whether the landing site ever had, or still has, environmental conditions favorable to microbial life. 

To find Mars in the evening sky this month look toward the south western part of the sky and you will see 3 bright objects near the horizon. The star Spica, of the constellation Virgo, is the lowest twinkling bright object. About 3 finger widths above Spica, is the planet Saturn which has a yellow color and will appear as a non-twinkling point of light. Making its way between Saturn and Spica is the planet Mars, which also appears as a non-twinkling pink point of light. 

One way to confirm that you found this threesome is to look for the Big Dipper in the northwest, follow the arch of the handle to the bright red star Archturus then spike down to Spica.  Above Spica are the two planets. At the beginning of the month these 3 will appear as a triangle with Saturn as the top point, Mars on the right and Spica on the left.  On August 13^th and 14^th Mars will have moved in between Saturn and Spica forming a line.  After the 14^th of August, Mars continues to move more to the southwest creating a mirrored version of the triangle from the beginning of the month. 

 

Go outside and look up. What can you find in the night sky? This weekend August 12-13 is the peak for the Perseid Meteor Shower, look to the north eastern sky after midnight to see this event.  Later in the month, the Moon will be near Saturn and Spica on August 21st, and near Mars 22nd.  Spend the next clear night star gazing and enjoy the view, Meet Me Outdoors.

Transit of Venus June 5, 2012 Event

Here are some pictures from the last in a lifetime event. The white circle is the Sun and the little black dot is Venus.  Venus from our perspective is 30 times smaller than the Sun which is why it looks so small. But really the diameter of Venus is slightly smaller than Earth's.  

There were various ways that people were able to safely look at the transit, one of the ways involved placing a funnel on the eyepiece of a telescope with a special screen on the end so the image is projected onto the screen.

Projected image of the beginning of the transit.

The tiny dot is Venus at the 10 o'clock position. The lower half is clouds. 

 I was in charge of the binoculars which were used to project an image onto a paper.  I had to aim the binoculars just right so that we could see the Sun but without looking though the eyepieces because the concentrated light and super brightness of the Sun would have damaged my eyes. 

Me showing a projected view from the binoculars onto my hand.  

 To keep people from trying to look through the eyepieces, I put a box with a hole for the binoculars to fit on and the opposite end was taped a piece of paper where the image is projected. 

Sun/Venus is projected through the box and onto the paper for safe viewing.

Another great view of the transit.  Tiny dot now farther from the edge.

There were hundreds of people who trekked out to the Maryland Science Center to see this last in a lifetime event.  The clouds even parted long enough for us to view.  I hope you got a chance to view some of it. 
Until next time, Meet Me Outdoors.

Last in a Lifetime Event June 5/6, 2012

On June 5/6, 2012 there is a last in a lifetime event happening.  Depending one where you are in the world you may be able to catch a glimpse of this occurrence.  Last time this happened was June 2004 and the next time will not be until December 2117.  That's over a hundred years from now!

So what is this amazing event??

It is the Transit of Venus.  A transit, in astronomy terms, is when one object passes in front of the face of another object. In this case, it is when the planet Venus passes between Earth and the Sun such that we see it move across the face of the Sun.

WARNING: DO NOT LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN!! 

THIS WILL DAMAGE YOUR EYES!!!!

Venus will appear as a tiny dot moving across the face of the Sun.  This alignment where Earth, Venus and the Sun are along the same plane does not happen often, and usually occurs in pairs 8 years apart.  So if you missed the June 8th, 2004 transit of Venus, this one of 2012 will be your last chance to try to catch it as the next time this happens is December 11, 2117.   

For more information on safe viewing of this event and when to see it in your location see the website TransitOfVenus.org.  Check to online see if your local observatory, planetarium or stargazing/astronomy clubs will be hosting an event during the transit.  The closer you are to middle of the Pacific the better chance you will have of viewing of the full transit, which takes about six hours from start until finish.  Otherwise you might just catch it either at sunrise or sunset.  East Coast of the United States will see the transit as the sun is setting beginning around 6:04pm and until 8:30pm when the Sun has set. 

The Maryland Science Center, located at Baltimore's Inner Harbor, will be hosting a viewing event from 6pm-8pm.  There will be various ways available to safely view the transit as well as other fun hands-on activities.  The activities will start before the transit begins, and will continue until the Sun and Venus go behind the buildings. 

I know I will be there to see this rare event and I hope you will join me, Meet Me Outdoors.

Lunar Eclipse Photos

As promised I am posting my photos from the Lunar Eclipse that was on December 21, 2010.  This eclipse was visible all across North America in the early, early morning on that chilly December day, which also happened to be the same time as the winter solstice, the longest night of the year. Braving the cold and the late hours of the start of the eclipse, I started taking pictures around 1:15am and tried to take them at semi-regular intervals, last picture taken around 2:30am just before it became a total eclipse.  (I have to go to sleep sometime.) I am also posting some of my favorite photos below the video as well.

In the slide show you will notice that the ball that is the Moon is slowly being covered by the Earth's shadow. I didn't have a tripod so the Moon in the same place in each time so it looks a little like a bouncing ball in the blackness of the sky.  And yes I know the banjo music is a bit funny, just enjoy it.

 These were taken from around 2am-2:30am. From where I was standing to take the pictures and see the eclipse there was a tree branch that you can see in silhouette in these pictures.  I actually didn't see that the branch was there until after I took the pictures. I think it makes the pictures look cooler than just the moon. 

Each picture is about 10-15 minutes apart.  If I stayed up an extra 20 minutes I might have gotten a shot of the Moon fully covered by the Earth's shadow, but I was too tired.  In truth, I think the partial eclipse looks more interesting in pictures than when it is a total eclipse because the Moon would be fully hidden. What do you think?

 You don't have to wait for the next eclipse to enjoy the wonders of the Moon and the night sky.  Go outdoors on the next clear night and see if you can see the Moon, stars, or if you are lucky a planet.  At this time of the year you can find some fun constellations like Orion the hunter, Taurus the bull and even the Gemini twins.  Use a star-map (you can also use the one listed on the resource page) to see where some of the constellations are or other interesting features in the sky.

Go out, have fun, Meet Me Outdoors!

Total Lunar Eclipse

Yes it is cold outside, and night time, but it is not often that you get to see a total lunar eclipse.  To be seen by all of North America and I am just waiting with anticipation.  I already took a peek even though I know it doesn't start for a couple hours. The whole thing starts at 1:32 a.m. EST when the full Moon starts to move into the shadow of Earth.  The Moon is fully in the shadow – and fully eclipsed – by 2:40 a.m. and stays that way until 3:53 a.m.  The darkest part of the eclipse occurs at 3:17 a.m., when the Moon is in the deepest part of Earth’s shadow.  From 3:53 to 5:02 a.m., the Moon moves out of the shadow.  

Next time we will get a total lunar eclipse in this part of the world will be in April 2014. So if you got clear sky's get outside and have a look. Join in the lunar fun and Meet Me Outdoors!

Looking from a different perspective

The other day I mentioned that I was going to an Observation Night at the Museum of Science in Boston, MA.  What amazed me most beside getting to see some celestial objects like the moon and some planets was seeing the Boston skyline at dusk, just after sunset. Of course my camera is not the best for taking night pictures I still wanted to take a couple to remind me of how cool it was.

Where the red is in the sky is where the sun went down, so the first picture was taken earlier than the second picture because there is more light along the horizon. These were taken from the roof of the Museum of Science's garage.  The tallest building on the left is the John Hancock Tower and the second tallest on the right is The Prudential Center, aka The Pru.  I actually went to the top of The Pru, for someone like me who is afraid of heights it was not so bad as long as I didn't look down. But to see it from this angle at night it was a different experience. The horizon is where the ground meets the sky it is also called a skyline.  What do you see along the horizon where you live? Do you have tall buildings, trees, houses, mountains? Do you live near a lake or ocean where you see the water and sky meet?  

That night I also tried to take a picture of Venus which is the really bright object in the sky in the 3rd picture.  It is much more exciting to see in person than in this picture.  So I do encourage you to go and look for it on your next clear night.  Venus is visible just as the Sun is setting in the western part of the sky.  Some times it is seen right before the Sun rises. This is why Venus is nicknamed "The Morning and The Evening Star," even though it is really a planet not a star.  It is bright enough to be seen in the city, you just have to find a spot to look for it where there are no buildings blocking your view.  There is a simple trick you can use to tell if an object in the sky is a star, a planet or airplane. Light traveling from a star has to travel many light years to get here and comes to our eyes in points of light, as these points of light travel through our atmosphere it bounces around giving it a twinkly appearance.  While light reflected off a planet comes to our eyes as disks of light since they are closer to us than the stars so they do not twinkle. An airplane will be moving faster across the sky and has blinking lights of different colors like green and red.

Go and discover what you see on your horizon.  Compare looking at night versus looking during the day. What changes?  Come along and Meet Me Outdoors.

Observation Nights

Many planetariums, observatories and science centers have what is called an Observation Night.  They pull out their telescopes, a few binoculars and invite the public to join them each week (weather permitting of course) to view some of the unique objects in our nights sky.  I went to one last week at the Museum of Science in Boston (at the observatory on the 5th floor of the garage) and had a blast.  They focused the telescopes on Venus, the Moon, and on Jupiter.  The event was free and open to the public, families of all ages encouraged to come.

If you can't make it out to an observation night, you can have one of your own. Check your local science center or observatory's website to find a map of the night sky and print a copy. (or see Resources page for StarDome sky map maker) Make sure it is the right month, because the constellations and planet positions change depending on what part of the year it is. Once outside with a sky map in hand, your task is to find North so you can orient your map (point it in the right way). To find north, if you don't have a compass, use the stars. Locate the Big Dipper in the sky, seven stars that look like a giant spoon - 3 stars make up the handle 4 make up a the bowl of the spoon - with the two stars on the outer edge of the bowl of the spoon imagine that you are pouring liquid out of the spoon and following it as it spills until it lands on a star. That star is Polaris the North Star, a star that doesn’t move as time goes on because it is located directly above Earth’s axis, the invisible line that Earth rotates around. Now that you found North, hold the sky map so that North is on the bottom. All of the stars on the bottom of the map are in front of you, stars in the middle are above you and the stars at the top are behind you.  Now you are ready to start identifying some stars and constellations.

So are you ready for Observation Night?  I am!  Let's go look at the stars!  Come and meet me outdoors!