Mon Feb 24, 2025 WASHINGTON’S BIRTHDAY
George Washington was born on February 11th in 1731. He was also born over a year later, on February 22nd, 1732. If there were a calendar over Washington’s cradle it would have said the date was February 11th, 1731. But that was the old Julian calendar, introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 BC. In 1582, Pope Gregory replaced it with the Gregorian calendar, because after fifteen hundred years of reckoning time, the Julian calendar had slipped by ten days. But the English colony of Virginia was Protestant, and they didn’t change over until 1752, when everything was off by eleven days. So they cut those days out of the calendar and also changed the new year’s beginning from March 25th to January 1st, thus shifting Washington’s birthday to February 22nd, which was fine with him. And now, Congress says it’s the third Monday in February. OK.
Tue Feb 25, 2025 ASTRONOMY CLUB MEETING
Tonight, there will be a meeting of the Treasure Coast Astronomical Society at 7:30 p.m. It will be at the Brinkley Science Center on the Massey 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 Brinkley Science Center in Fort Pierce.
Wed Feb 26, 2025 AURIGA THE CHARIOTEER
High in the northern sky this evening there is a somewhat obscure constellation called Auriga, the Charioteer, in legend and myth, an early king of Athens, and the inventor of the chariot. Now if you're good at imagining constellation shapes, you'll immediately see Auriga in all his glory - a man, driving a chariot, while holding on to a whip in one hand, and a bunch of small goats in the other. But if you have that kind of imagination, then I probably didn't have to tell you all that. For the rest of us, Auriga looks like a pentagon shape - a five-sided figure of stars, marked by a bright yellow star - Capella, the head of the charioteer. Look for the goat kids also, a few tiny bright stars just to the south of Capella.
Thu Feb 27, 2025 LONGFELLOW AND THE EVENING STAR
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, born on February 27, 1807, is probably best known for his epic poem, “Paul Revere’s Ride.” He also wrote the poem “Evening Star,” about the planet Venus. Any bright planet you see at sunset is called an evening star, and right now Venus appears as a brilliant star-like object well up in the western sky at dusk. Here’s a portion of the poem, in which he compares the planet to the love he had for his beautiful but departed wife: “Lo! in the painted oriel of the West … Like a fair lady at her casement, shines The evening star, the star of love and rest! My best and gentlest lady! Even thus, As that fair planet in the sky above, Dost thou retire unto thy rest at night, And from thy darkened window fades the light.”
Fri Feb 28, 2025 MOONSCAPES TALK
When we look at the moon, scarred by countless impact craters and covered in smooth flat dark basaltic lava flows, we can discover what the early solar system was like, since erosion on the airless moon is almost nil. Tomorrow, that’s Saturday, at 6 pm there will be a free talk at the Planetarium about the moon’s cratered history. Mr. Aric Attas has catalogued the lunar craters according to size and age, and has even set the story to music, which should tell us even more about our nearest neighbor in space. After the talk, members of the Treasure Coast Astronomical Society will be on hand to provide telescopic views of the moon and some planets in the evening sky, weather permitting. Tickets are not needed, just come on out to the Hallstrom Planetarium at Indian River State College in Fort Pierce and see the moon!
