Mon June 10, 2024 NAME THAT CONSTELLATION - JUNE
Can you identify the thirty-first largest constellation? It is bordered on the north by the constellation Lynx the Bobcat, and on the south by Hydra, on the west by the Gemini, and on the east by Leo the Lion. There are no bright stars here, and it is one of the darkest regions in the night sky. But there is a beautiful open star cluster within its borders, known as the Praesepe or Beehive cluster, and some of its stars have been found to have planets orbiting them. In mythology it was a crustacean that was sent by the goddess Hera to attack the hero Hercules. It was accidentally crushed by Hercules during the fight, but Hera restored it to life in the heavens as a constellation. This evening the waxing crescent moon appears near the Praesepe cluster. Can you name this star figure, the third constellation of the Zodiac? The answer is Cancer the Crab, high in the southwest after sunset.
Tue June 11, 2024 SYZYGY
“Syzygy” is a great astronomy term; it’s when there are three celestial objects in a position where they line up. In the case of the earth, moon and the sun, syzygies happen every two weeks, at new moon or at full moon. A new moon syzygy is called a conjunction because the sun and moon are together in the same part of the sky. A full moon syzygy is called an opposition because the moon is on the opposite side of the sky from the sun. Most earth-moon-sun syzygies are rough alignments because the moon’s orbit of our planet is offset by 5 degrees from the earth’s orbit of the sun. but about every six months, during what’s called an eclipse season, the orbital planes of the earth and the moon intersect with the syzygy points (the intersections are called nodes,) and then you have a perfect syzygy which results in an eclipse.
Wed June 12, 2024 PLANETARIUM SHOW: BLACK HOLES
There are two basic kinds of black hole. Most are massive stars, that when ending their lives, collapse in on themselves, creating a singularity, a mathematical pinpoint which has a gravity field so powerful that light cannot escape it, rendering it invisible to the eye. The other way you can make a black hole is to crowd so much stuff into a small area, such as at the center of our Milky Way, that you end up with a galactic black hole millions of times more massive than the sun. We’ll show you where these black holes are at the Hallstrom Planetarium with our presentation of “Black Holes.” The show is narrated by John de Lancie, who played the alien character known as “Q” on Star Trek. Who better than Q to discuss such cosmic mysteries? Join us at the Planetarium this weekend. Shows are on Friday night or on Saturday afternoon. For tickets to the black hole, call Indian River State College’s box office at 772) 462-4750.
Thu June 13, 2024 FLAG DAY
Tomorrow is Flag Day. The first United States flag, adopted by the Continental Congress in on June 14, 1777, held thirteen stars, one for each of the original colonies. The current U.S. flag has 50 stars, one for each state. The arrangement of stars on flags does not as a rule correspond to any actual constellation in the sky, and the U.S. flag has gone from a circle pattern to a series of rows and columns, and of course there was even an arrangement where the stars were made into a great star pattern, such as the one that flew over the fort in Fort Pierce when it was built back in 1838. Sometimes the stars on flags do reflect actual star patterns, such as the use of the Big Dipper and the North Star in the state flag of Alaska, or the use of the Southern Cross in the flags of Australia and New Zealand; and Brazil’s flag features the Southern Cross, Canis Major and Scorpius.
Fri June 14, 2024 PLANETARIUM SHOW: BLACK HOLES
There are two basic kinds of black hole. Most are massive stars, that when ending their lives, collapse in on themselves, creating a singularity, a mathematical pinpoint which has a gravity field so powerful that light cannot escape it, rendering it invisible to the eye. The other way you can make a black hole is to crowd so much stuff into a small area, such as at the center of our Milky Way, that you end up with a galactic black hole millions of times more massive than the sun. We’ll show you where these black holes are at the Hallstrom Planetarium with our presentation of “Black Holes.” The show is narrated by John de Lancie, who played the alien character known as “Q” on Star Trek. Who better than Q to discuss such cosmic mysteries? And tonight we’ll also look at the moon through telescopes, thanks to the Treasure Coast Astronomical Society.
