Mon Nov 18, 2024 MOON MIDWAY BETWEEN JUPITER AND MARS
In the late 1960’s there was a very popular song, “Aquarius,” which was sung by a terrific group called the Fifth Dimension. In it are the lyrics, “When the moon is in the seventh house, and Jupiter aligns with Mars.” Well, tonight the moon is not in the seventh house – that would be the constellation Libra the Scales – it’s in the third house, the zodiacal constellation Gemini. And while Jupiter is in Taurus while Mars is in Cancer, these two planets will make a line, with the moon in between them – a pretty sight! You won’t be able to see all three of them until after midnight tonight, but if you’re out that late, look for the old gibbous moon over in the east. To the west of the moon is a very bright star, which is actually the planet Jupiter. To the east of the moon is another star, not as bright but slightly red in color and that’s Mars.
Tue Nov 19, 2024 ROYAL SOCIETY, TREASURE COAST ASTRONOMICAL SOC.
On November 28th, 1660, the Royal Society was founded. It was made up of scientists and physicians, including Isaac Newton, who wrote the laws of motion and gravity; Edmond Halley, who successfully predicted the return of the comet that bears his name; and Christopher Wren, who rebuilt London after the great fire of 1666. The Royal Society is active and strong today, with thousands of members from around the world. Now if you’re not part of this society, there’s another group you can join called the Treasure Coast Astronomical Society. Its members carry on the great tradition of science and discovery, and they meet tonight at Indian River State College’s Science Center on the Fort Pierce campus. The meeting is open to the public, and it begins this evening at 7:30 pm.
Wed Nov 20, 2024 EDWIN HUBBLE AND HARLOW SHAPLEY
Two American astronomers were born this month: Harlow Shapley on November 2nd 1885; and Edwin Hubble on November 20th = that’s today - in 1889. Each made great discoveries. Shapley found that our sun & solar system were not at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, but instead a little over halfway out, and that the Milky Way was much larger than anyone had previously thought, almost 600,000 trillion miles in diameter: big. But Shapley thought that the Milky Way was all there was to the Universe. It was Hubble who measured the distance to the Andromeda Nebula, that is galaxy, some 15 million trillion miles away, which placed it far outside our own galaxy. Hubble also found evidence that the Universe was expanding, suggesting that everything began billions of years ago in what is now called the Big Bang.
Thu Nov 21, 2024 WILLIAM HERSCHEL BORN
William Herschel was born on November 15th, 1738. Herschel was a church organist in Bath, England. He also had a great interest in astronomy, and in telescopes. But most musicians don’t make much money, and telescopes were expensive. So he built his own. It was with just such a telescope that in March of 1781, William Herschel discovered a planet. Herschel named it George, after the King of England. Many astronomers suggested the planet simply be called, Herschel. Eventually Uranus, who in mythology was the father of Saturn, was chosen. Herschel also found four moons: Oberon and Titania, which orbit Uranus, and Mimas and Enceladus, which orbit Saturn. And Herschel mapped the stars of the Milky Way, concluding from their distribution that the galaxy in which we live was shaped like a giant disc.
Fri Nov 22, 2024 DARKNESS WASTING TIME
I hope by now that everyone has recovered from our recent semi-annual lurch in time. After more than half a year of Daylight Savings Time, we’ve finally returned to the more sensible Standard Time. Daylight Savings Time was implemented in the United States in 1918 by the Woodrow Wilson administration, and it has been with us pretty much ever since. By setting our clocks ahead one hour in the Spring, we can stretch out the afternoon and evening daylight periods. But for astronomers, Daylight Savings Time is known as Darkness Wasting Time, because it makes us wait an extra hour for the skies to darken so we can see the stars. Now as nights get longer and daylit periods shorter, and a return to Standard time, at least for now we can get some serious observing done long before the midnight hour.
