Kelly Whitt's Blog
Posted by Kelly Whitt
If you are an astrophotographer and have some nice shots of the night sky, conjunctions, the moon, meteor showers, planets, or other related pictures, I would love to be able to use them for my articles! I can't provide payment but I am happy to give you full credit and a link to your web site, if you have one. Contact me at astronomyspace@suite101.com. Thanks!
Posted by Kelly Whitt
I just returned home from a week-plus vacation to the American West. Just east of the Rockies the skies are often sunny, which means a chance for starry nights. The lower population also allows for less light pollution.
As we headed west through North Dakota, we saw an exit for "Home on the Range". As the song says, "the skies are not cloudy all day". And it was true - I looked up and saw no clouds. Our first night out west I was too tired to stargaze. The next night, the famed clear western skies grew dark and it rained. And the next day it rained. And the next day it rained. Every day we spent in the mountains of Montana we had passing showers and patchy evening skies.
By the time we headed home it cleared out. Our first night coming home we stopped at Mount Rushmore just as it was closing. The monument was lit up and would be for the next few hours. What I enjoyed most about the view, though, was seeing the Big Dipper sitting perfectly above the monument, leading visitors to scan from the faces on the rock, to the Big Dipper, to the stars above.
Posted by Kelly Whitt
The last month of stargazing has been a good one, but it has been one that has caused a bit of confusion. We've enjoyed checking out planets and constellations, double stars and more, but as far as we know we have not yet seen a shooting star. Yet meteor-like streaks of light have occurred overhead multiple times each night we were out. The problem: fireflies. As they zip overhead, they light up for a short period of time, creating a perfect streak of light that mirrors the look of a meteor. They also flit about us on the ground and are rather easy to catch. So despite the many falling star-like scenes we have witnessed, so far we are forced to explain them away with the numerous fireflies. Fireflies don't last forever, though, and it is only a matter of time before their season is over and the true shooting stars will make themselves known.
Posted by Kelly Whitt
A contractor working on the Orion space capsule, Hamilton Sundstrand, is asking for urine donations. It needs to 30 liters a day, every day, to test one of the support systems. Orion will be stationed at the moon for up to six months, sitting unoccupied and holding on to the "collections" it received on the journey there. The issue is "What do we do with all the pee?" Urine is acidic and full of solids, make it an especially foul problem. It will take a real "whiz" to solve this conundrum.
Anyone willing to donate?
Posted by Kelly Whitt
A brilliant new light is making people take notice after sunset. In the southeast, Jupiter is now far enough above the horizon in the early evening to make its presence known to anyone who looks. It is so bright that it is outshining all other stars and planets at the moment.
Jupiter is at magnitude -2.7. It is currently lying to the upper left of the handle of the teapot in Sagittarius.
If Jupiter caught your eye, you may also notice a star a little more to the south than Jupiter and shining a reddish hue. This is Antares. Antares is a rival of Mars, which sports a similar color. Mars is the name for the Roman God of War, and Ares is this same god in Greek. So Mars may also be called Ares. Therefore, the Anti Ares, or rival of Mars, is the star Antares.
