Mon Sep 28, 2026 SCORPIUS VS ORION
Today’s Skywatch was written by the College’s program assistant Daniel Bell. Down near the South West horizon tonight you will find a large fish- hook shape of stars. This is the constellation of Scorpius, with the red star Antares at its heart, setting earlier and earlier as summer comes to an end. Soon the hourglass-shaped constellation of Orion the Hunter will rise and take a central position in the southern winter sky. In mythology, Orion boasted so much of his hunting prowess that the Earth goddess Gaia, on the recommendation of Apollo, sent Scorpius to put him in his place. The scorpions’ sting slew Orion. Orion was placed in the sky as a constellation, but to keep him humble the gods did the same for Scorpius. Orion stays as far as he can from the scorpion, setting when it rises, and rising when it sets. And so, Scorpius takes a prominent place in the summer night sky, while Orion dominates the winter.
Tue Sep 29, 2026 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 Science Center on the main Fort Pierce 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 December. 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 30, 2026 SPECIAL RELATIVITY DAY
Even if you’ve never had a science class, you still probably know this one little formula: E equals m c squared. On September 30, 1905, that amazing equation was introduced to the world when Albert Einstein published it in his theory of special relativity. And in so doing, Einstein showed us how the sun has been able to shine steadily for all these years. There once was a lot of disagreement about how the sun produced so much energy. One theory was that meteor bombardment heated it and made it glow. Another theory was that it was burning like an immense lump of coal. The best theory suggested that the sun had once been as large as the whole solar system; as it shrank, it produced heat. None of these theories worked. But by invoking nuclear fusion, where hydrogen is fused to make helium and a lot of energy, Einstein solved the problem.
Thu Oct 1, 2026 ENIF
Today’s Skywatch was written by planetarium assistant Vela De la Mare. Summer is coming to an end, and while we may not feel any change in temperature, we can start to greet the first autumn stars and constellations. Look to the East after sunset. Four fairly bright stars make a nearly perfect square shape, with fainter trails of stars streaming out to the west, creating the constellation of Pegasus. Following along the lower right star-trail leads us to a beautiful shimmering supergiant, brighter than all the stars we used to find it. It’s the star Enif, and it marks the nose of this flying horse, like a gem found on the end of his muzzle. If you think about it hard enough, the word Enif sort of sounds like sniff, which can help remind us of what it represents. But if you speak Arabic, Enif literally means “nose,” which is a bit more on-the-nose, as far as mnemonics go.
Fri Oct 2, 2026 1ST ANNUAL TREASURE COAST ROCKET DAY
Today’s Skywatch was written by my student assistant, Isabella Gargiulo. Tomorrow, October 3rd, Indian River State College’s Project STAGE, Engineering, Physics, Science, Math, and Astronomy Clubs will hold the 1st annual Treasure Coast Rocket Day from 10:00am to 2:00pm at IRSC’s Public Safety Complex! Celebrating the 69th anniversary of Sputnik, the first earth-orbitting satellite, as well as the 100th anniversary of Robert Goddard's liquid fueled rocket, we plan on launching rockets of our own (models of course.) Stop by not only to observe mini rockets of all sorts blast off into our sky, but also to see a talk about the history of rocketry and a demonstration of Newton’s Laws! Let’s all go out to launch!
