Sky Wise

Fellowship under the Stars

Starfest -Canada's largest Star Party, now in it's 25th year!

The community of amateur astronomers in North America is small, yet there are enough of us around to populate many "Star Parties" throughout  the continent.  The yearly "Starfest"  gathering just outside of Mount Forest, Ontario is the largest of its type in Canada.  I've had the pleasure of attending two Starfests -in 2001 and again from August 23rd to 26th this year.

Waiting for night...

This year, despite the rainy weather, we set up our tents, visited friends and made new ones, learned about the latest astronomy software, imaging techniques and purchased equipment from a number of on-site vendors. Alas, the skies poured on us but it didn't dampen our spirits.

Hmm, should I buy it?

One of the highlights of this year's Starfest was a series of presentations by Space Shuttle Astronaut Story Musgrave. For those of you who don't know, in 1993, Story and his fellow team mates of STS-61 flew to the Hubble Space Telescope to correct a serious problem with its optics. Without the mission, the HST would have been a multi-million dollar loss. It took five space walks and very delicate handling to fix Hubble.  The result of this very dangerous mission was the wealth of incredible pictures taken by the Hubble -many of which have advanced our knowledge of the universe greatly.  Story Musgrave is the one everyone remembers opening the Hubble and replacing its components while attached to the end of the Canadarm.

Story Musgrave autographs his picture for a future astronaut

The most wonderful thing about Mr. Musgrave was the way he connected with everyone. (Ask me about how he drank fizzy Coca-Cola in space)  All of us were inspired, entertained and awed by his warmth, humour, positive spirit and incredible achievements.

Thanks to the North York Astronomical Association, presenters of Starfest, for another great year.

Photos:  Steve Bevan

Solar System Shake-Up

Picture Credit:  International Astronomical Union

Would you believe that until now, no one has really defined what a planet is?  As our knowledge of the solar system has expanded, the question of  "planet status" has been a tough nut to crack.  We have moons around Jupiter and Saturn that are bigger than Pluto and asteroids that are round and in their own private orbits.  Beyond Pluto we keep discovering big round objects that match the classical interpretation of a planet, except they are in highly elongated orbits and take over 200 years to go around our sun.

The International Astronomical Union has been charged with the job of deciding just what is a planet and what isn't.  Within the next week, the IAU membership will vote on a draft resolution to redefine the accepted view of our solar system and text books will never be the same again.  The discovery of big round planet-like objects beyond Pluto forced the issue. 

If accepted by the IAU membership, the new interpretation will promote the asteroid Ceres to planet status.  Pluto's former moon Charon will be a planet and we have at least one other -a new planet which hasn't yet been formally named (The popular title is Xena but it's not official.  Scientists refer to it as 2003 UB313 while they figure out a permanent name)

Under the new system it's a planet if it's big enough to be round (or nearly so), if it orbits around a star, as well as not being a star itself.  Earth's moon doesn't qualify because it orbits around the Earth.  Pluto's fomer moon Charon is now a planet because both Pluto and Charon orbit around their common center of gravity which exists somewhere between them in space.

With this new interpretation, there will be many more additions to the solar system's tally of planets.  There are a number of candidates already lined up for consideration and I'm sure there will be more with time. 

It's Raining Stars!

Photo Credit:  NASA

Every summer evening, starting in July and thoughout August you can be willing to bet that a few meteors will streak across the sky.  The Perseids meteor shower comes to a peak of activity on August 12th.  Falling stars or meteors are not stars.  Meteors are very small pieces of comet-stuff which have entered the Earth's atomsphere.  Most of this dust and debris is no bigger than a grain of sand.  The atmospheric friction causes it to heat up, ionize and glow like crazy for a few moments until it is consumed.  Really large pieces occassionally make it to the ground to be found as meteorites.

You need dark skies to see these streaks of light and unfortunately this year, there is an almost full moon to contend with.  Even so, it's still worth taking out the lawn chairs and looking up -at least until the moon is up high.  Enjoy!

The Big Mars Hoax

Picture Credit:  NASA

It's happening again!  The Big Mars Hoax is a piece of sensational news about Mars that is floating around the internet right now.  In the last week I've received at least six notes from excited friends and acquaintances who want to find out more about the impending "close approach of Mars" on August 27th.  The information they've read indicates that it will be a once in a lifetime event and that the red planet Mars will appear as big as the full moon.

I'm sorry to say that this close approach won't be happening.  Although it was based on a particularly good viewing opportunity in August 2003, the story contains more than one factual error.

In late August of 2003, Mars was about as close as it ever gets to Earth and was a very bright object in the sky.  I remember being on the waterfront in Oshawa with the Durham Region Astronomical Association (DRAA) in that final week of August.  Hundreds of people came from miles away to see Mars through our telescopes each clear night.  As big as it appeared in our telescopes, Mars never looked to the naked eye more than a very, very bright red star-like object.  That's about as good as it gets.  Don't get me wrong though --when Mars gets into a favourable alignment with Earth (about every 26 months) you can see features like the polar caps and dark and lighter terrain through your telescope.  It's still great to see but it's never going to look as big as the moon!  By the way, see that huge canyon stretching across that picture of Mars?  That's Valles Marineras and if it were on Earth, it would span from one side of North America to the other.  Our Grand Canyon is a wannabe by comparison.

Mars is visible for a good amount of time each year but right now is not a great time for it.  Wait a month or so and it will be there for you to see.  Want a really good view?  Sorry.  Try again at Christmas next year when it gets relatively close to us again. 

Jupiter and its Moons are visible for a little while longer!  For those of you who would still love to see a planet in all its glory, come visit with the DRAA at Purple Woods Conservation Area on Monday August 7th from 9 PM - 11 PM (weather permitting)  We will have our telescopes out to show the planet Jupiter, the Moon and other celestial wonders.  Purple Woods is located off Simcoe Street at Coates Road, a few minutes north of Oshawa.

The DRAA also will be at the Parkwood Estate during the day on Monday August 7th from 11 AM - 3 PM as part of the "McLaughlin Day" celebration.  It's a great family-oriented event.  We will have astronomical displays and special solar telescope equipment to see flares and prominences on our sun.