Mon Sep 2, 2024 YOUR WEIGHT ON OTHER WORLDS
The terms, “mass,” and, “weight,” are often used interchangeably. But this only works on the planet Earth, because while mass measures the amount of matter, or stuff, that the object contains, weight very much depends on how much gravity is exerted on that mass. Go to another planet or moon or asteroid, and while your mass remains the same, your weight changes depending on how much gravity that other world possesses. The moon has 1/6th the Earth’s gravitational pull, so you weigh 1/6th what you’d weigh on Earth. If you weigh 180 pounds, then on the moon you’d weigh a mere 30 pounds – just divide your earth weight by six, and that’s all there is to it. You’d weigh about 10% less on Venus, but 3 times more in the high cloud tops of Jupiter. And on tiny Deimos, a Martian moon, you could launch yourself into a low orbit just by running and jumping!
Tue Sep 3, 2024 SCHOOL SHOWS
We’re getting ready for another season of planetarium shows at Indian River State College. There will be a free open house on Saturday, September 14th, followed by shows this autumn about the hidden things in our universe - dark matter. And we are now accepting reservations from area school teachers and other community organizations who want to bring their groups to the Hallstrom Planetarium. The Hallstrom Planetarium offers field trips to all public, private and home school groups and other organizations. Programs cover a variety of astronomy topics, like stars and constellations, trips through the solar system, and even the exploration of distant galaxies and quasars nearly fifteen billion light years away. If you’re a teacher or a group leader and want to bring your folks to see the stars, call Indian River State College at 772 462-7503 to make a reservation.
Wed Sep 4, 2024 HOW TO SEE A BLACK HOLE
Three bright stars called the Summer Triangle can be found overhead this evening. Inside this triangle, in the neck of the constellation Cygnus the Swan, there is something that is invisible to the eye, but which nevertheless can be detected - that enigmatic phenomenon known as a black hole. It is called Cygnus X-1, and we can't see it because its gravity field is so intense that light can't escape it. But we have discovered an incredible amount of x-rays pouring out of this part of the sky, which tells us it’s there. Gas is being pulled from a nearby star and funneled into the black hole. When it collides with the hole’s accretion disc, a lot of energy pours out into space, and is then detected by our x-ray telescopes. Cygus X-1 is a black hole roughly 2500 parsecs, or 48 quadrillion miles away.
Thu Sep 5, 2024 MOON AND VENUS TOGETHER IN THE WEST
If you go outside at sunset today - and the skies are clear - and if you have an unobstructed view down toward the west horizon - you should be able to find the waxing new moon. It will appear as a very slender crescent, with its bow aimed down toward the western horizon, where the sun has just set. As day gives way to twilight, look just a little bit below the moon, and you should be able to find a bright star. That bright star is actually the planet Venus, which for the past several months has either been rising just before sunrise in the east, or has been behind the sun and impossible to see. Now Venus has rolled over into the other half of its orbit, the part of the orbit that allows us to see it in the west after sunset, and for this reason we call Venus our evening star. As the weeks progress, Venus will climb higher into our western sky.
Fri Sep 6, 2024 STAR TREK
The TV show Star Trek first aired on September 8, 1966. I saw that first episode, which was about an alien that would suck the salt out of you when you weren’t looking. So of course, like many young space enthusiasts, I was immediately captivated. I liked the show’s vision of a promising future (not counting the part where you get the salt sucked out of you,) and the portrayal of humans as daring explorers of the galaxy, curious about what they would find out there. The science and astronomy in it showcased the beauty and vastness of outer space – grand nebulas, lush planets, exotic moons. The writers built on the best of classic science fiction, and the science was, for the most part, well-researched. The writers confined the action to our Milky Way galaxy, which at 100,000 light years across, was big enough to contain us. For now, anyway.
