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Skywatch for the week of January 27. 2025

Skywatch Monday 1-27-2025.mp3

Mon Jan 27, 2025 HEVELIUS

The Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius was born on January 28, 1611. His family owned a brewery in Danzig, and he used his fortune to build an observatory and study the heavens. Hevelius made the first moon atlas, and named many lunar features, such as the Ocean of Storms, the Sea of Rain, the Sea of Tranquility – all in Latin, of course – Mare Imbrium, Mare Tranquilitatis, and so on. He also took the names of various mountain ranges on earth, such as the Alps, the Appenines, and the Caucasus, and applied them to the mountain-like walls of lunar craters. And Hevelius made up many new constellation patterns that we recognize today, such as Lynx the Bobcat, Vulpecula the Fox, Scutum the Shield, Lacerta the Lizard, Leo Minor the Little Lion and the hunting dogs called Canes Venatici.

 

Skywatch Tuesday 1-28-2025.mp3

Tue Jan 28, 2025 ASTRONOMY CLUB MEETING

There will be a meeting of the Treasure Coast Astronomical Society this evening at 7:30 p.m. It will be in room N117 at the Science Center on the main Fort Pierce 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 different constellations. The Society also helps out at planetarium shows by letting visitors look through their telescopes to see such cosmic wonders as the moon, the planets and the stars. So once again, the meeting is at 7:30 this evening at the IRSC Science Center in Fort Pierce.

 

Skywatch Wednesday 1-29-2025.mp3

Wed Jan 29, 2025 ASTRONOMY DAY – AND NIGHT!

The Treasure Coast Astronomical Society will host Astronomy Day at Indian River State College this Saturday, February 1st - from 3 pm until 9 pm, at the Planetarium and Science Center. There will be meteorite displays, telescope clinics, safe, filtered guided views of the sun - weather permitting - plus kids activities like cosmic cornhole – and much more. Bring your telescope to the telescope clinic and the Treasure Coast Astronomical Society will show you how to make it work! And when it gets dark that evening, we hope to provide telescopic views of the moon, as well as the planets Venus, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars. This astronomy day event is free, no tickets are needed. Just dress warmly, bring a lounge chair for viewing the sky and come on out to the Hallstrom Planetarium and the IRSC Science Center at 30th Street and Virginia Avenue on the Fort Pierce campus.

 

Skywatch Thursday 1-30-2025.mp3

Thu Jan 30, 2025 THE ORION NEBULA

Well up in the southeastern sky after sunset there are three stars close together in a row that form the belt of Orion the Hunter. Two stars above the belt form Orion's shoulders, and two stars below the belt are his legs. Between Orion's belt and his legs there are a few faint stars which form the Hunter's sword. If skies are dark enough, you can see that the star near the bottom of the sword looks fuzzy - a little out-of-focus. To the Siksika or Blackfoot Indians, this was called "smoking star." Smoking star is really a cloud in space called the Great Orion Nebula. If you aim a pair of binoculars at this fuzzy spot, you will see the nebula, lit up by stars inside the cloud, that make it glow in the darkness of space.

 

Skywatch Friday 1-31-2025.mp3

Fri Jan 31, 2025 ASTRONOMY DAY

The Treasure Coast Astronomical Society will host Astronomy Day at Indian River State College tomorrow, February 1st - from 3 pm until 9 pm, at the Planetarium and Science Center. There will be meteorite displays, telescope clinics, safe, filtered guided views of the sun - weather permitting - plus kids activities like cosmic cornhole – and much more. Bring your telescope to the telescope clinic and the Treasure Coast Astronomical Society will show you how to make it work! And when it gets dark that evening, we hope to provide telescopic views of the moon, as well as the planets Venus, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars. This astronomy day event is free, no tickets are needed. Just dress warmly, bring a lounge chair for viewing the sky and come on out to the Hallstrom Planetarium and the IRSC Science Center at 30th Street and Virginia Avenue on the Fort Pierce campus.