Mon Sep 23, 2024 NEPTUNE’S DISCOVERY
Neptune was discovered on September 23rd, 1846. Johanne Galle used the Berlin Observatory’s nine-inch refracting telescope to search for a possible eighth planet in a small spot in the sky where the mathematician Urbain Leverrier had calculated it to be. Searching that spot, Galle saw a tiny, faint blue dot in the telescope’s eyepiece. Galle and his assistant Heinrich d’Arrest opened up their book of star maps, something called, the Berliner Akademischen Sternkarte, (I think I said that right,) and found that his star was “not on the map!” The next night they found that the tiny dot had moved against the background of fixed stars - it was a wanderer, a planet. Tonight, Neptune will be in the southeast after sunset, in the constellation Pisces – but you’ll need a good telescope to find it!
Tue Sep 24, 2024 TCAS MEETING
There will be a meeting of the Treasure Coast Astronomical Society this Tuesday evening, at 7:30 p.m. It will be at the Hallstrom Planetarium on the main Fort Pierce or Massey campus of Indian River State College. Many of the Treasure Coast Astronomical Society members own at least one telescope, but if all you have is a pair of binoculars, or even just an interest in the sky and astronomy, then this is the club for you. Each meeting features astronomy lessons and highlights all the space news like their hopes to see a star go nova over in the western evening sky sometime between now and November. So once again, come on out to the meeting at 7:30 this evening at the Indian River State College’s Hallstrom Planetarium, here in Fort Pierce.
Wed Sep 25, 2024 PLANETARIUM SHOW: PHANTOM OF THE UNIVERSE
The poet T.S. Eliot once wrote, “O dark dark dark. They all go into the dark, The vacant interstellar spaces, the vacant into the vacant.” Eliot was commenting on space and time and the human condition, but he could just as well have been writing about something in the Universe known as “dark matter.” It seems that 90% of the Universe is made of dark matter. How do we see that which we have not been able to see? Join us at the Hallstrom Planetarium this weekend for our newest show, “Phantom of the Universe,” where we pursue this hidden dark matter! “Phantom of the Univese” is narrated by Tilda Swinton and will be presented on Friday evening and Saturday afternoon. Call the box office at Indian River State College for tickets, at 772-462-4750.
Thu Sep 26, 2024 INTERSTELLAR VS. INTERGALACTIC
The science fiction movie The Day the Earth Stood Still opened on September 20th, 1951. In it, an alien named Klatuu says he traveled 200 million miles to land on Earth. That’s not very far, about the distance from here to Mars. Klaatu says he represents many civilizations from other stars in our galaxy. Now the correct term for this is “interstellar,” literally, “between the stars.” But what bad science fiction movies often say is “intergalactic,” meaning, “between galaxies.” And the aliens say things like, “We traveled hundreds of light years from another galaxy so that we could take all your chocolate.” But then they’d still be inside our own Milky Way, which is 100,000 light years across. Other galaxies are millions of light years away. So let’s forget “intergalactic,” and bring back good old, “interstellar.” And maybe we should hide the chocolate too, just in case.
Fri Sep 27, 2024 PLANETARIUM SHOW: PHANTOM OF THE UNIVERSE
There is something out there called “dark matter.” It accounts for almost 90 percent of the mass of the universe, but it cannot be seen. Is it deep space debris, or a multitude of dim stars, or perhaps black holes? We can observe the effect it has on stars and galaxies, but how do we see that which is hidden from the telescopic eye? Join us tonight or tomorrow afternoon at the Hallstrom Planetarium for our new show, “Phantom of the Universe,” where we pursue this hidden dark matter! “Phantom of the Univese” is narrated by Tilda Swinton and will be presented on Friday evening and Saturday afternoon. If skies are after clear after this evening’s shows, the Treasure Coast Astronomical Society will set up telescopes so we can look at things up there that can be seen, weather permitting. Call the box office at Indian River State College for tickets, at 772-462-4750.
