Mon Dec 4, 2023 FIRST TELESCOPE PURCHASE
Big box stores and department stores are great places to buy a lot of things, but when I buy a telescope, I don’t go there. Yard sales often have telescopes, but there’s a good reason why they’re in a yard sale, and it’s probably that those particular ‘scopes are hard to operate. Look out for flimsy tripod legs or cheap aluminum and plastic bolt-and-wingnut attachments from the tripod to the tube. A good starter telescope is actually a pair of binoculars, which cost under a hundred dollars. If you mount them to a camera tripod you can aim them just like a regular telescope. Then consider getting a Newtonian reflector with a 6 inch mirror on a Dobsonian mount. Begin your research on the internet, or e-mail me at jbell@irsc.edu for advice.
Tue Dec 5, 2023 SUNRISE, SUNSET, AND SEASONS
We speak of the sunrise in the east and sunset in the west, but there are only two times during the year when this occurs – at the beginning of spring and at the beginning of autumn. After the spring equinox, the sun rises to the north of east and sets to the north of west, and after the autumnal equinox, the sun rises to the south of east and sets to the south of west. In the summer, the sun’s path across the sky is long and high, the daylight period is longer than the night, and the weather turns warm. But at winter’s beginning, the sun’s path is very short and low; the daylight period is short, the night is long. Less direct sunlight and a shorter amount of sunlit hours lead to a drop in air temperatures as the weather turns cold.
Wed Dec 6, 2023 GIOTTO AND THE STAR OF WONDER
In the year 1301, the Italian artist Giotto di Bondone saw a comet. It was bright and glorious, but it had no name; centuries later it would be called Halley’s comet. In 1305, Giotto painted a fresco called, “the Adoration of the Magi,” which can still be viewed in the Arena Chapel in Padua, Italy. Above the Creche, Giotto painted Halley’s comet, portraying it as the nativity star. Could the comet have been the star? This weekend Indian River State College’s Hallstrom Planetarium will investigate, in its 31st annual presentation of “Star of Wonder.” Shows are on Friday night at 7 and 8:30 pm, and on Saturday afternoon at 1 and 2:30 pm. Call the IRSC Box office at 462-4750, between 11 am and 3 pm today through Friday.
Thu Dec 7, 2023 VENUS AND MOON IN THE PREDAWN
If you happen to be up tomorrow morning before dawn, and if the skies are clear, go outside and face toward the east. There you should be able to find the moon, now an old crescent with its bow pointed downward toward the eastern horizon. Just below the moon you’ll find a star called Spica; but you might not notice it at first because there’s a much, much brighter star a little farther below. This brilliant star is not a star, but the planet Venus. The moon and the star Spica are close together, what astronomers call a conjunction. But on Saturday morning before dawn, you’ll discover that the moon is now below Spica and in conjunction with Venus – that’s how far the moon travels in just 24 hours!
Fri Dec 8, 2023 STAR OF WONDER 2
Tonight and tomorrow afternoon, Indian River State College’s Hallstrom Planetarium will feature its thirty-first annual presentation of "Star of Wonder". In this program we use the planetarium to show you what the skies looked like from Judea over two thousand years ago, to see if we can discover the Nativity star, referred to in the gospel of Saint Matthew. We’ll look at sky phenomena such as comets, meteors and planets. And if skies are clear tonight, the Treasure Coast Astronomical Society will set up their telescopes after the shows so that we can view two planets – Jupiter and Saturn - on the south lawn of the Planetarium. To get tickets for “Star of Wonder,” call the IRSC Box office at 772-462-4750, between 11 am and 3 pm today.
