Mon Aug 29, 2022 THE CRAB NEBULA
On the night of August 28th, 1758 the Crab Nebula was discovered with a telescope. The nebula's discoverer, Charles Messier of France, thought at first that it was a comet, which when seen far out in space, resembles a small fuzzy splotch of light. But unlike comets, this fuzzy object didn't move against the starry background. Hour after hour, night after night, the thing refused to budge. Disappointed, Messier catalogued this object as Messier #1, or M-1, and from then on, whenever he saw it, he moved on to more promising candidates. But when bigger telescopes were invented, we found that M-1, the Crab Nebula, is most impressive: it is the exploded remains of a star that went supernova. Tonight M-1 can be found, with a telescope, low in the east northeast, a little after 1 AM, behind the forward horn tip of Taurus the Bull.
Tue Aug 30, 2022 LONG MONTH, BLAME CAESAR
August used to be only thirty days long; now it’s 31. Back in 46 BC, our calendar got a major overhaul when Julius Caesar re-set the beginning of spring to March 25th (it had slid over into May). He also introduced the leap year, which gave February an extra day every fourth year. Then he was assassinated (probably no connection here,) and eventually Julius’ step-son Caesar Augustus took over. To honor dear old dad, Augustus changed the name of the 31-day month Quintillis, and it became July. Then Augustus thought that he ought to have a month too, so he changed the next month, Sextillus, re-naming it August. But it had only 30 days, so the emperor tacked on another day to make it just as long as his father’s, and that’s why this month is so long, and that’s also why politicians should never be left in charge of calendars.
Wed Aug 31, 2022 CRASH GO THE COMETS!
On August 31st, 1979, a comet crashed into the sun. Well, crashed is probably not the right word. It’s hard to crash into anything if you’ve been vaporized long before impact. It turns out that a lot of comets have augered into the sun over the years. That’s because the sun’s huge gravity field is powerfully attractive! Comets are named after the people who discover them, typically amateur astronomers who scan the heavens using telescopes with wide fields of view for searching large sections of the sky. This one was called Comet Howard-Koomur-Michiels, which was discovered independently by three amateur astronomers, so their names were attached to it. Of course, this comet no longer exists; as I’d mentioned it got toasted by the sun 43 years ago.
Thu Sep 1, 2022 NAME THAT CONSTELLATION - SEPTEMBER
Can you identify the twenty-ninth largest constellation? It is bordered on the north by Serpens Caput and Virgo; on the east by Scorpius and Ophiuchus; on the south by Hydra and Lupus; and on the west by Virgo again. This constellation was invented by the Romans about 21 hundred years ago when they formed it from the claws of Scorpius, and they often portrayed it as being held by Virgo, who represented Astraea, goddess of Justice. This constellation has no bright stars or notable deep sky objects like galaxies or nebulas, but tonight the waxing crescent moon appears near its brightest star, Zubenelgenubi. Can you name this star figure, the seventh constellation of the zodiac, and the only zodiacal figure that is not a person or an animal? The answer is Libra the Scales, now visible in the southwest sky after sunset.
Fri Sep 2, 2022 EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS
Edgar Rice Burroughs, the creator of Tarzan, was born on September 1st, 1875. When he was just two years old, the planet earth passed Mars at a distance of 35 million miles, which gave astronomers a chance to view the red planet up close. In America, the US Naval Observatory Director, Asaph Hall used a 26 inch refracting telescope to discover the two moons of Mars; while in Italy, the astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli made sketches of what he called “canali,” that he saw on the Martian surface. The Italian word, “canali,” means, “channel,” which Schiaparelli thought were natural features on Mars. But in America, the word got mistranslated to, “canals,” which are artificial. From that time on, a regular Mars mania swept the world, and in 1912, Burroughs’ novel, “Under the Moons of Mars,” launched his career.
