Mon Aug 7, 2023 THE AGE OF AN UNBOUNDED UNIVERSE
Some astronomers have recently suggested, based on their interpretation of data from the Webb space telescope, that the Universe is roughly twice as old as we thought: instead of slightly less than fourteen billion years old, it’s now closer to 28 billion. There have been many attempts to determine the age of the Universe by the means of refining the Hubble constant, the rate at which galaxies recede from the initial theorized Big Bang. Not everyone agrees with this new estimate, but we are still talking about the likelihood of a very old, although not infinitely old, Universe. While cosmologists continue to search for that theoretical time when things began, a common thought is that the Universe is still unbounded, like a great unending forest of stars and galaxies that curves back upon itself – a cosmic singularity.
Tue Aug 8, 2023 GALILEO’S FIRST TELESCOPE
On August 8th, 1609, members of the Venetian senate climbed to the top of the tower of St. Mark’s Cathedral for a demonstration of Galileo’s first telescope. The senators viewed ships far out at sea, ships that couldn’t be seen by the naked eye for another two hours. What a marvelous invention! Galileo’s salary at the University of Padua was immediately doubled. Now if you were to buy today the cheapest, crummiest telescope you could find, it would still be better than that first one. Galileo did not invent the telescope; but after hearing reports of is invention made one of his own. It was what he did with the telescope that made the difference. Instead of looking at ships out at sea, he turned the telescope skyward, and wrote about the moon, the planets and the stars - all the marvelous things in the heavens.
Wed Aug 9, 2023 NAME THAT MOON
Can you identify and name a few of the many moons in our solar system if I list some of their features? This first moon has impact craters named Plato, Kepler, Copernicus, Aristotle and Hevelius, plus great dark features like the Sea of Cold, the Bay of Rainbows, the Ocean of Storms and the Sea of Tranquility. This is easy, it’s the moon, our moon. What about El Dorado, Aztlan, Xanadu and Shangri-La? These features are found on Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. This next moon has lots of volcanoes with names like Thor and Loki, Marduk, Maui and Pele. The moon is Io and it orbits Jupiter. And finally, try Kirk, Spock, Uhura, the plains of Vulcan, Nemo, Skywalker, Ripley, Vader crater, the Tardis chasm, and a dark feature at its north pole named Mordor? These are found on Pluto’s largest moon, Charon.
Thurs Aug 10, 2023 THE “TEARS OF ST. LAWRENCE”
Every year at this time, the earth travels through a part of its orbit that’s littered with bits of comet dust. As we plow into this region, we’re treated to a display of shooting stars, when those particles plunge through our atmosphere. The ice and dust are vaporized, lighting up the sky in brief flashes of light – meteors. This particular meteor shower is called the Perseids, so named because they seem to come out of the part of the sky near the constellation Perseus; it’s a reliable shower viewed by millions of people for many years. In medieval times it was known as the “tears of St. Lawrence,” in honor of the Christian martyr whose feast day is today August 10th. Go outside after midnight, or as late in the evening – that’s okay too; face east, and look up toward the top of a clear, dark sky for the best views.
Fri Aug 11, 2023 PERSEIDS AT THEIR PEAK
The Perseid meteor shower is now at peak activity throughout the weekend. These “shooting stars” are bits of comet dust that fall to earth at high speeds, burning up in our atmosphere and lighting up the night sky. Most meteor showers are best after midnight, and with the old crescent moon not appearing in the sky until nearly dawn, this should be a great shower. If after midnight is too late for you, go out as late as you can in the evening. Dress warmly, protect yourself against mosquitoes, find a safe spot that’s away from bright streetlights. Bring a lounge chair that lets you lean all the way back, and of course refreshments such as iced tea and chocolate chip cookies – they’re always a good idea. Meteor showers are fun, but you can sometimes go for several minutes before seeing one. And if it’s cloudy you won’t be able to see any at all.
