Steve Bevan's Night Skies

Mankind's Greatest Achievement

It seems like an entirely different world today.  So much conflict and adversity and war.  July 20th, 1969 also had it's share of world problems yet a single event managed to make people stop and marvel.  Of course I'm talking of the day that three astronauts from the United States made history.  Apollo 11 had travelled a quarter of a million miles to the moon.  Michael Collins orbited in the Apollo 11 Command Module monitoring and maintaining the vital communications link with Earth while Mission Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin descended, touching down on the moon's surface at 8:17 PM Greenwich Mean Time (4:17 PM Eastern Daylight Time).  The whole world held its breath until Armstrong announced that they had arrived safely.  The words "the Eagle has landed" have become part of our lexicon.

Unfortunately to this day, some people don't believe that the Apollo 11 mission really happened.  This is despite the hundreds of kilos of moon soil and rocks which we now have (and could not duplicate), despite the conclusive photographic evidence and despite the laser reflecters left behind by the Apollo astronauts to allow researchers to measure the moon's distance to a fraction of an inch.

Don't doubt about it for a moment.  We went there and we'll be going back.

Phot Credit:  NASA

A Great Big Ball of Stars

The Hercules Globular Cluster, also known as M13, is a densely-packed ball of stars over 20,000 light-years away.  Look overhead on a summer evening at the constellation Hercules.  If you have very sharp eyes and a very dark sky you will see what appears to be a fuzzy "star".  What you are actually looking at is more than 100,000 stars packed into a space about 100 to 150 light years across.  If the Earth was orbiting a star inside this cluster, the night time sky would be chock-a-block full of very bright stars.  There would be enough light to read your newspaper!   Academics have pondereed why these objects exist in the first place.  One of the best theories is that Globular Clusters are the central cores of galaxies which were eaten up by our own Milky Way Galaxy. 

To find M13, look overhead after dark and seek out the "keystone" shape made by the four brightest stars of Hercules.  You will find the globular cluster just off of the line connecting two of the stars (see diagram).  M13 is visible to sharp eyes in dark skies but will be resolved into a fuzzy round object in binoculars.  Those of us with telescopes will see some of the individual stars that make up the cluster.  This is one of the reasons my wife can usually find me looking through my telescope every clear night each summer.

Once you've found the Hercules Cluster, you can look for another similar object, the M92 Globular Cluster close-by.  These are just a couple of the many fine objects visible each summer.

Join me and other members of the Durham Region Astronomical Association on the night of Friday, July 7th were we will view Jupiter, the Moon and other objects at Purple Woods Conservation Area.  There will be a variety of telescopes available.  I hope to see you there!

Star Chart made with Starry Night Pro software copyright IMAGINOVA

A Chance to See Jupiter and the Moon

Join me and other astronomers at Purple Woods Conservation Area on Friday, July 7th from 9:30PM to 11PM for a chance to see the Moon and Jupiter up close.  Members of the Durham Region Astronomical Association will be there with telescopes and knowledge of the night sky.  This is a great opportunity for the whole family to see these cosmic delights.  Jupiter is up only for a few weeks longer and will not be returning to our evening skies until next year! 

Weather date is Saturday, July 8th.

Wednesday July 5th -See the Shuttle and Space Station Tonight!

Photo credit:  NASA

POSTED WEDNESDAY JULY 5TH  -INFO FOR WEDNESDAY ONLY!

The Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-121) is getting closer to meeting the International Space Station (ISS) and those of us in Southern Ontario will have a chance to see them within two minutes of each other!

Look low in the west at 9:57 tonight to see the Space Shuttle rising into the sky.  About one and a half minutes later, you will see the ISS rising into our sky in roughly the same area.  Both Shuttle and Space Station move into the southwest -first the Shuttle reaching it's highest point, about 16 degrees above the southwest horizon at 9:59 PM and then the Space Station reaching about 23 degrees above the southwest horizon at 10:01 PM.   So take a moment to view them while you have the opportunity.  Even if all goes well (and I hope it does)  there will be only a few more flights by the Space Shuttle.  NASA is planning to replace the Shuttle with a new lauch vehicle in just a few years.