Wow, were we lucky that day, my son, Chris and I. We started off at 7 am from the hotel at Melbourne Beach, about 40 minutes away and headed up the Florida coast towards KSC. We were told by a KSC employee that if we got there at the gates before 9am, we could tour the visitor center while waiting to go out to the NASA causeway where people who write to NASA to request a special "car pass" can view from 6 miles away. This is the closest you can get unless you are press, family or friends of NASA. Well, they decided to close the gates at 8am and we arrived at 8:01! They directed us over to an adjacent parking lot to wait until they got word to let us pass. While waiting for the next 1.5 hours, we met many other wonderful and interesting people from all over the world who were there also to see the launch and were detained.
Finally we got the go ahead to go to the KSC Vistor Center. We toured the main building and got to see things we missed the day before since there was so much to see. They also had live NASA TV going so we could watch the astronauts before they got into the shuttle. At 10am everyone took off down to the causeway and we were very lucky to get a spot right on the edge of the water on the front row!! It filled up very quickly, and we got out our lawn chairs and umbrellas to reserve our front row seats behind the rope.
There sat the Columbia across the water on the launch pad and over to the far left you could see the huge VAB building. We were all like a bunch of kids, excitedly waiting for the big moment!! Well, it was a long wait but luckily we brought plenty of cold drinks in the cooler and sandwiches and snacks. We read books while stretched out in the back of the van with the hatch open and the much appreciated breeze gave us some relief from the heat. There were portable restrooms close by and vendors were there selling food,drinks and shuttle souvenirs. People were all around playing card and board games, reading, talking, and also listening to the live audio from mission control being broadcast over loud speakers to pass the time. Then the first rain storm rolled in, and another! We thought it would never launch, then the clouds parted over the pad and they announced they were "go for launch" and everyone scrambled to grab their cameras and binoculars!
There were cheers and clapping as the Columbia gracefully lifted up into the sky with billowing clouds forming below on the launch pad. It was very bright even in the daylight as the flames from the SRBs and the ET shot from below the shuttle. I thought to myself as I was watching in disbelief that I was actually seeing a real launch, why couldn't we hear it yet? About that time the sound waves came rolling in and hit us sounding almost like fireworks. The shuttle rolled and arched to the right as it got higher in the sky and we took photos and a videotape of it until we could no longer see it.
My son exclaimed with disappointment, " I didn't see it!!!! I was looking through the black and white viewfinder on the camcorder and I forgot to actually look at the launch!!" I felt so bad, I didn't think with all the excitement to tell him to look. It was also his first experience recording anything with the camcorder and I was busy clicking away with the 35 mm camera. I took over the camcorder when the shuttle got up really high , making it hard to locate in the tiny viewfinder. So, if you go out to see a shuttle launch, please remember to just aim the camera and occasionally check the viewfinder so you will be watching it in full magnificent color with your eyes!
We started packing up everything and it took a good while to get out and back to Melbourne Beach down the coast. You know what though, it was well worth all the waiting and the heat, I'd do it again! Make sure you get to experience at least one launch in person and up close, you won't regret it!
I just want to say being here in Statesboro, Georgia I have made some really great friends for life! I am not going to be really that far from here, okay no more than 10 hours, and all of you can come and visit, we'll go to the mountains to stargaze anytime, just call first! I know that I am not saying good-bye, but see you when the stars come out at night! You are all going to be in my thoughts when I look up!
Becky, thank you for introducing me really to the great open areas of Georgia. To have someone to look up with at anytime I could come over and look through the telescope and learn more about what is up there. Tina, for having someone to laugh with when we were at the star parties and understanding most of my weird jokes! Erich, to hear really interesting things about the night sky with that voice of yours! Cris, to have someone to laugh at and with while going into that big bubble in the mall during Astronomy Day, 12 April 1997! To all the rest, learning more about different people and their ideas about astronomy through their eyes I have learned more!
My experience has been very educational, fun, life giving and friendly! I will walk into the next phase of my life with more knowledge and more of an open mind than I had starting out! I want to thank all of you very much and I know that I will be seeing you all again! Thanks and remember: Hoping for clear skies and keep looking up!
We got to the pier and ran down to the end just in time to see the beautiful shuttle Atlantis blazing a red trail in the dark star filled sky at ~4:08 am out over the Atlantic Ocean to the SE. We could even see it flare up when the solid rocket boosters separated from the shuttle and fell downward towards the ocean. After a few minutes it was out of our sight and cheers with clapping erupted from the small excited crowd that had gathered on the pier for the event. Vickie Watson and Walter Clayton from the Oglethorpe Astronomical Association were there also with a friend and we all stayed a little while and talked afterwards. The Milky Way was beautiful in the early morning sky and we reluctantly left to head back to Statesboro to face the reality of a workday, a long workday ahead of us. My photos were disappointing since I had forgotten my tripod so I have a photo with red zig-zags on it. Oh well, next shuttle launch I will be closer, at Kennedy Space Center with my family to see the STS-94 launch on July 1 at 2:37 pm. I can't wait!!!
Saturday, April 12, 1997, was Astronomy Day worldwide. Members of the Statesboro Astronomy Club were at the Statesboro Mall to distribute information about space science, Comet Hale-Bopp, as well as other events related to the club. Cris Beetschen, a Graduate Assistant in the Physics Department of Georgia Southern University, and Cyndi Humphrey, Museum Educator from the Georgia Southern University Museum, gave a number of star shows in an inflatable planetarium known as STARLAB. It was provided by Project SENSE and the Georgia Southern University Museum. In addition, children were given the opportunity to color Hale-Bopp, experiment making craters, see how eclipses occur with a model, and observe what a comet is made of. The response to Astronomy Day was overwhelming. The Statesboro Astronomy Club wishes to thank Dr. Ben Zellner of the Georgia Southern University Physics Department for giving his time availing himself to the public for any questions they may have in regard to space science and astronomy. Plans for a public observation of Hale-Bopp had also been made, but were cancelled because the viewing conditions were less than satisfactory. This event was to take place after dark, when the Statesboro Mall had closed for that day, but regretably those hoping to participate were held captive by the weather and city lights. Despite this unforseen factor, Astronomy Day was largely a success. In fact, the Statesboro Astronomy Club was able to sign up many new members. Currently, the total count is at 94 total members! The success of Astronomy Day is largely attributed to the tireless efforts of Becky Lowder, President of the Statesboro Astronomy Club, whose photograph of Hale-Bopp appeared on WTOC-11 News with Pat Prokop, and Erich Landstrom, Planetarium Director of the Savannah Science Museum, who had been interviewed by newspapers and television stations prior to the event. No doubt, this played a major part in enticing people to come to the mall and learn more about amateur astronomy. Congratulations to Becky for the coverage received by her photo, and many thanks to Cris, Erich, Dr. Zellner, and the public for their overwhelming support. The following members are also to be thanked for volunteering their time with all the exhibits: Tina Douzenis, Carol Dean, Sharon Greenhut, Bridget Smith, Marisa Hall, Leslie Smith, Karen Heimsoth-Miles, (and Bruno Pelczarski). The Statesboro Astronomy Club expresses its gratitude to the employees and consumers of the Statesboro Mall, especially the children attending the star shows and the parents who brought them.
Prologue:
On April 20, 1997, I was priviledged to fulfill a childhood dream - I met a man who walked on the Moon. You see, unlike other children of my generation who might have wanted to walk on the Moon themselves, as a child I was a real space buff and knew that once Skylab came crashing down, the glory days of Apollo would be over for good. And with no Apollo, there was no chance of getting to the moon any time soon (alas, time has borne out my prediction). So, I wanted the next best thing: to shake hands with one of moon walkers. Think about it - out of the five billion people in the world, only a twelve have ever stood on the surface of another world, only a dozen have been held down by the gravity of a place other than the Earth. If the thought of belonging to that elite cadre doesn't stir something in you, you haven't been paying attention for the last thirty years. In my mind, they occupied some mystical middle ground of earth and sky; twelve astronauts, like twelve disciples. Precocious for kid, eh?
Years later, as a planetarium director, I could finally appreciate the combination of skill and training, engineering and construction, politicking and posturing, that culminated in the moonshot. More than ever, I wanted to meet one of the men who had walked into history. Unfortunately, time seemed to be running out, since none of us was getting any younger. Fortunately, the state of South Carolina was about to exhibit southern hospitality.
Part One: Getting dust on a nice white suit
I won't say a lot about the actual building of the South Carolina State Museum except to say that it looks right for the part; big and brick. The reason that I won't say much about it right now is because I didn't even get to see one fifth of it on my trip. I managed to spend over a four hours on just one part of one floor and in the auditorium of this amazing institution. This easily a place where spend an ENTIRE weekend. (and would be an excellent employer, I have no doubt, hint-hint.) But to comment on the whole museum based on my limited exploration would be like describing London based soley on the Underground. There's much more to see, so I'll reserve reviewing it until after a throughout tour.
But the small part I did see was the surface of the Moon. Literally. Encased in a translucent protective cover on the third floor, a moon rock was placed on display. Grey and pitted on the outside, but whiter than chalk under the crust where it had been bisected in half, it sat. Directly behind, in a diorama depicting the cratered surface of the Moon, an Apollo astronaut's EVA spacesuit stood. Still bearing the dust of the earth's satellite, the gold visor was down, and a rake was posed in the gloves to simulate the un-earthly unearthing. Very cool.
This corner of the museum was made possible by General Charles Duke, a South Carolinian who walked on the Moon during Apollo 16 along with John Young. Realizing his home state would want these artifacts, Gen. Duke donated numerous momentos of career. Proud of their hometown boy made good, the curators had made put them out, both marvelous and mundane. Here, a can of Spam (TM) that was supposed to be a part of the astronaut's dinner. There, a tool desgined for drilling into the lunar subsurface and extracting a sample. The rock. The suit.
It was a little intimdating to realize that in a few minutes I would be meeting the man who stood inside that suit 25 years earlier as he strolled on the moonscape. My excitment was rising and after looking at a little more of the exhibits I went down to get a third row seat in the auditorium.
Part Two: Not exactly Hazard county, but this Duke boy went for a wild ride.
Prior to introducing Gen. Duke, some pretty daring plans for museum expansion were announced. An new IMAX 3-D movie theater was in the future. Even more daunting, the entire relocating of the Gibbes Planetarium into a new, larger, dome with a state-of-the-art Digistar II projector. As a planetarium professional, I could appreciate the magnitude (no pun intended) of the undertaking. I was impressed, and looked forward to enjoying the new dome (hint-hint).
A short tribute in praise of Gen. Duke and his wife followed from friends and collegues who could not be there. While these testimonials were clearly heartfelt, some were not terribly eloquent. Ah, but they knew what they were doing, because now the stage was set for an dynamic, energetic, wonderful speaker. It may have only been my imagination that he bounded up the steps like an astronaut in one sixth gravity, but he seem to leap into the spotlight: General Charles Duke.
To describe him physically, I would say he was a short man (as were all Apollo astronauts, since they were required to be under 5' 10"). His hair was grey. His build was lithe. His voice, if he sang, would probably be in the Tenor II range. He was dressed neatly in a single-button suit. Of his appearance and demeanor, what struck me the most was how expressive he was with his hands. He started off with his hands in pockets of his suit, not out of nervousness, but in a poise that mixed his air of confidence with his relaxed attitude. It was the same sense of grace one gets after watching a professional perform a difficult feat but leaves you thinking to yourself, "He sure makes it look easy." Then he pulled his hands out of his pockets and held them wide apart to indicate how broad the Descartes Plains were, or smacked them together to illustrate the Lunar Excursion Module joining the Command Module, or jerked a thumb back to point to the Moon 240,000 miles distant (but in some was to him right next door). His hands conveyed asmuch of the story as much as his words did.
General Duke provided a running narration of video footage taken during the Apollo 16 mission. I was, as always, fascinated with the stark beauty of the Moon, it's magnificant desolation. I was also impressed with the practiciality shown by Duke and Young. For example, in order to extract materals stowed under the lunar excursion module, they rigged up a "clothesline" that would help them quickly to bring the material down. When driving the lunar rover over the moon's terrain, rather than waste valuable time backing up or reversing their buggy, they would simply get out, pick the rover up, turn it around until it was facing the right direction, and drive off again (it helps to be in 1/6th gravity when performing this maneuver). Bumping up and down over the crater and ejecta covered lunarscape, they never went more than five miles from their base. Why? Simply because if they had broken down, it would have been too long a walk back.
Of the problems faced on Apollo 16 (ranging from life threatening failures prior to touchdown to the carelessful tearing our of hoses on experiments because the astronauts couldn't see their own feet), what may have been the worst problem - coming back to Earth - had it's own special challenges. For someone who had had to cram so much into a span of a few days, General Duke could have spent the last twenty-five years reliving those moments of glory. He confided to us that he realized that it would be difficult to top a trip to the Moon, and adjusting to life out of the spotlight and beyond the NASA was hard on a marriage. But he wanted to make his life on Earth count for something as well, thus he and his wife have been very active with their church, and Gen. Duke has become a motivational speaker.
Duke concluded by answering questions from the audience, which ranged from the technical (how sort of power source was used on the lunar surface), to the philosphical (personal opinions about space exploration) to Tina's wanting to know how did they shower in the LEM. Once again, an insight into their practicality - they didn't. Ken Mattingly tried to keep up appearances and shave, however, the sponge bath technique wasn't working very well in zero gravity. So, they gave up and just let the module stink like a locker room.
Conclusion : Aim high.
General Duke signed autographs after the presentation in the lobby of the gift shop. Along with copies of his book and video, one could purchase a postcard of his spacesuit on display and get them signed. I had a special treat, though. Several weeks earlier I had written to the archivist at NASA's Public Affairs Office and had him send me NASA press release stills rom the Apollo 16 mission. Along with the two shots of Duke in his spacesuit, was included one very moving picture. Black and white, it showed lying on the barren surface of the Moon a snapshot wrapped in plastic. It was a picture of General Duke, his wife, and two children taken in their yard, looking for all the world like it had fallen out of his back pocket, and landed on this alien landscape. He had carried a little piece of home with him, two hundred forty thousand miles away. I truly admire a man who thought and felt that way. As I shook his hand, I tried to express to him how much that picture meant to me. It means even more now - more than just sign his name, he addressed it personally to me with a two words of inspiration that simple as they sound express an entire philosphophy for living. He wrote, "To Erich, Aim High. Charlie Duke."
Erich Landstrom meeting and talking
A piece of the Moon brought back
with Astronaut Charles Duke.
by Charles Duke of Apollo 16.
It's 5:30 am Monday morning on May 5th and my 8 year old son and I just
got in from viewing the Eta Aquarids from our backyard! The night before
we both set our alarm clocks for 4am, had the old folding lounge chairs
ready by the door, had our sweatsuits ready to jump into with our shoes
and socks nearby and tried to get to bed early. Well, it was worth getting
up early on this chilly morning and we were not disappointed! We bundled
up with blankets and started searching the sky looking towards the southeast
when Timmy saw the first meteor! He exclaimed, "There's one! Wow, it was
as bright as Sirius!" Of course, I was looking down at the moment but a
few minutes later we saw one together, and another, and another! The most
exciting moment was when we both saw a fireball in the ENE and it left
a lingering bright trail! It was amazing to think that these small particles
of dust were left behind by Halley's Comet. The cats enjoyed being out
in the darkness of the early morning also and especially liked the blankets
and the warmth of our laps. While looking for meteors, we also saw two
satellites sail across the silent and beautiful sky and Jupiter was a lovely
sight to behold in the southeast. After things slowed down, we came in
and warmed up with mugs of hot chocolate with marshmallows and talked about
our exciting adventure together. It's so nice to share meteor showers and
star gazing with your children and create warm memories that will last
a lifetime. I hope one day in the future Timmy will take his children out
to see the meteors in the sky.
Wow, what a great day we had bringing astronomy to
the public on April 27th at the Statesboro Mall for Astronomy Day '98!
Thanks to everyone who came out and volunteered their time, enthusiasm,
and enjoyed all the exhibits and displays!
We had STARLAB, on loan from Project SENSE of the
Georgia Southern University Museum, running every hour and sometimes every
half hour, delighting the audiences with what to look for in the night
sky with Chris Beetschen, Paul Bridges and his son Cameron helping out.
Visitors could pick up a starmap to take home with them and enjoy looking
at the wonders of the night sky themselves.
People were fascinated with live views of the Sun
and its sunspots with the two telescopes set up behind the mall.
Bill McFadden had his 6 in. F-8 Newtonian set up using a clear glass mirror
without an aluminized coating, and a gas welders filter on his eyepiece
which gave spectacular views with a green tint. I had my 6 in. Dobsonian
set up with a Thousand Oaks glass solar filter on the end of the scope
which gave a warm yellow-orange color to the Sun. Craig Wheeler and Jim
Kuhns braved the heat to also help outside with the solar observing.
Tina Douzenis, Jeff Lackmeyer, Bruno Pelczarski
and other members helped out with the information desk which had displays,
hands on experiments making craters and demonstrating gravity and curved
space. We also showed astronomy video tapes all day long for
visitors to view. Lots of handouts, booklets and catalogs on astronomy,
our newsletter, and lots of other great items were given away free as well
as many fantastic doorprizes!
The children's area was busy with lots of astronomy/space
related coloring sheets, quizes, puzzles, match the constellations game,
and even whirlygigs to take home and fly! Mark Upchurch and Carrie Williams
helped the children and also did a great job making sure the astro posters
stayed on the slick wall.
The toy Mars rover bit the "Martian dust" just like
Sojourner did, except ours got a small rock jammed in the wheel gears and
the motor started to burn. We had to retire the little rover to just
being displayed on the red soil (Georgia red clay), but the kids as well
as adults enjoyed it!
Special thanks to our youth members who volunteered
their time and helped so much! They were Amanda McClurg, Will Nevils,
Chris Lowder, Mandy Kennedy, Belle Oglesby, Jennifer and Andrew McFadden.
They really did a fantastic job!
Dr. Ben Zellner and Dr. Joanne Hughes came and answered
astronomy related questions for our "Ask an Astronomer" table.
We had our astrophotography on display as well as
telescopes from Jeff's Meade ETX up to Jim's 10 in Dobsonian. Tina brought
her Celestron refractor and Craig had his reflector on display as well
as Amanda McClurg's 6 in. Dobsonian. Bill brought another 6 in. Newtonian
as well.
After sunset, Craig and I returned with our telescopes
and binoculars for a public observing session behind the mall, but it didn't
last long due to clouds rolling in and the lights in the parking lot were
really too bright for viewing the sky. Only a few first magnitude
stars were visible.
A big thanks to everyone who helped out, to all
the stores for donating the prizes and tables, and for those who attended
as well! It was a great success thanks to everyone!!
Here are a few more photos from Astronomy Day '98!
Mark Upchurch and Cris Beetschen helping out in the children area.
Chris Lowder at the scope, Craig Wheeler and Bill McFadden outside
with the solar observing.
Our astronomy poster display which included a light pollution display.
Tina Douzenis, Jim Kuhns, Chris Lowder, and Dr. Ben Zellner observing
the Sun.
Dr. Joanne Hughes, far right, answering questions at the "Ask An Astronomer"
table.
Chris Lowder (back), Becky Lowder and Craig Wheeler at the solar system
puzzle area.
Members and visitors in the STARLAB, info desk and telescope display
areas.
Bill, Jennifer, and Andrew McFadden making craters along with Bill
Kuhns and Tina Douzenis
in the info booth area.
The Mars rover in action maneuvering over the pretend rocky Martian
landscape by remote control.
Paul Bridges, Bill Kuhns, Cris Beetschen inviting visitors to explore
the night sky in STARLAB.
Paul was busy folding the Astroday '98 whirlygigs and handing them
out for the children to enjoy!
A lunar occultation occurs as the moon moves from west to east relative to the background stars. The moon’s limb moves in front of a star (or planet), and hides it until it reappears behind the moon’s other limb. A graze occultation is when the moon’s northern or southern limb exactly touches a star as the moon moves past. It turned out that in the early morning hours this past June 21st, a Sunday, several of us had the opportunity to observe a graze and do some real science. Ok, it’s not like discovering a bright comet or a new supernova. However, most of the time, my activities in amateur astronomy have served only my own amusement.
I first became aware of the graze on June 21st by looking at the chart of bright star grazes published annually in the January issue of Sky and Telescope. It showed a graze line for the 4.3 magnitude star 5 Tauri right over our part of Georgia. A 4.3 magnitude star is somewhat dim to the naked eye, but is a bright star in a telescope. I thought that watching a star blink off and on as it disappears behind mountains along the limb of the moon would be rather cool. It turns out that careful timing of an occultation can provide highly precise scientific data on the position of the moon in its orbit and the height of features along the moon’s limb. Occultation data was very important towards planning the Apollo moon missions.
Well, observing this event was going to need a bit more research. The width of the graze path is the same as the height of the features along the limb of the moon. The 5 Tauri graze was along the moon’s mountainous south polar region with mountains several miles high. I contacted the International Occultation Timing Association and Dr. David Dunham, IOTA’s president returned my call and provided names of several people who might try to observe the 5 Tauri graze. Mike Kazmierczak, IOTA regional coordinator, provided the detailed graze line prediction. I got in touch with Hal Povenmire from Florida. He said that he was planning to come to Georgia to observe this graze, and he would like to get together with my group. Hal is the author of the “Graze Observer’s Handbook”. We benefited greatly from his expertise.
Next, I assembled the team. Along with Hal and myself, Paul Bridges, Charles Lawrence and Becky Lowder decided to do the graze. In the week prior to the event, we scouted several possible observing sites along the predicted graze line from Toombs Central to just north of Reidsville. Hal came up from Florida on Saturday afternoon. Hal and I got together and checked out the graze path on his topographical maps. The latitude and longitude of the observing stations need to be reported to better than 50 feet to be useful. Graze timings need to be better than 0.5 seconds. We then checked out the previously scouted sites and we selected US 280 just NW of Reidsville.
Finally, the day had arrived. We all met at 3:30 AM in Reidsville. We discussed the plan one more time to make sure that we all knew what we needed to do. Except for Hal, the rest of us were first time grazers. Hal said that if the police were to stop, we were to tell them that we were “collecting scientific data for the government”, and to send them to his observing station. This is basically true. The data finally ends up in the hands of the Naval Observatory, and Hal works for Rockwell as a trouble shooter for the Shuttle launches on contract with NASA. Of course, we are on our own if we get into trouble. We then drove over to the observing site and proceeded to set up our stations. The stations were set up between 500 and 1000 feet apart. Charles and Paul had the southern station. Hal set up his station on the predicted center line. Becky had the next station, and I had the northern station closest to the body of the moon.
There are many things that can go wrong with graze observations.
The weather could turn cloudy and you wouldn’t see anything. The
prediction could be wrong and you either get a total occultation instead
of a graze or no occultation at all. In either of these cases, it
isn’t much fun but the data is still useful. Many sorts of equipment
glitches could present themselves including pressing play instead of record
on your tape recorder. You could be pointing your scope at the wrong
star, although with a bright start like 5 Tauri this wasn’t a problem.
A truck with its brights on could drive by and blind you at the critical
instant, and so on.
I am happy to say that the fates smiled on us that morning and everything
went off without a hitch. The sky was crystal clear and the Milky
Way stood out prominently. I pointed my scope towards the south pole
of the moon, and found 5 Tauri near the dark limb. Was the limb of
the moon really going to hit it? At first it looked like it might
be a miss. My short-wave radio was playing the WWV time signal.
The moon’s limb continued to approach the star. A beautiful bright
central peak several miles high stood out surrounded by darkness.
About 5 minutes before the predicted time, I set my tape recorder to start
recording. The dark limb of the moon got closer and closer to 5 Tauri
until they looked like they were touching. At exactly 09:34:45.8
UTC (05:34 EDT), I said “OUT” to my tape recorder as 5 Tauri blinked out
behind the dark limb of the moon. 2.4 seconds later, I said “IN”
as the star reappeared. Three more times, 5 Tauri disappeared and
reappeared. The third time it passed well below the brightly lit
central peak. The last reappearance was on the moon’s bright limb.
What a thrill! It was absolutely beautiful to see. The folks
at each of the other stations recorded three disappearances and reappearances.
We collected a total of 26 data points.
After the graze, we went to breakfast. Then several of us went tektite hunting with Hal. Unfortunately we didn’t manage to find any of the rare tektites.
On Tuesday December 8th just before midnight, Hal Povenmire is leading
a graze expedition near Brunswick, GA for the star Regulus. Regulus
is the 21st brightest star in the sky, and the fifth brightest that the
moon can occult. This graze will require absolutely perfect conditions
because it will occur only 5 degrees above the horizon. I can’t wait!
If you recall that January 31st was the "blue" moon (the second full
moon of a month) who sees the star-struck standing alone, then you will
be delighted to know those who love looking at the sky are well rewarded
in February. There is a heavenly pairing of the two brightest starlike
objects on the 23rd. Start watching on the 17th when the thin crescent
Moon hangs like a smile beneath the happy couple.
During the following week in the western horizon immediately after
sunset, the planets Venus and Jupiter move into a planet-planet conjunction
one fifth of one degree apart from each other. Less than half the thickness
of your outstretched thumb will be all that separates the dazzling duo
in twilight's rose red glow. Not since 1990 has such a tight, bright and
really observable conjunction been seen, and that last one was closer to
the Sun. Making this time even more amazing
is watching Saturn and Mercury in the west-southwest. Mercury is 12
degrees below the celestial couple, Saturn is a little over twice that
above.
YOU MUST NOT MISS SEEING THIS - a first quarter Moon, Saturn, Venus,
Jupiter, and Mercury together.
Along with the jovial joining, there will be stardust in our eyes and
a near encounter with Eros; no, this is not a horoscope - this is an update
on two NASA spacecraft, Stardust and NEAR. The Stardust spacecraft will
be the first U.S. mission dedicated solely to gather samples of icy comet
dust and return them to Earth, the planned first return of extraterrestrial
material from outside the orbit of the Moon. Set for launch from Cape Canaveral
on the sixth, Stardust will encounter comet Wild 2 (pronounced "Vilt-2")
in January 2004. Additionally, Stardust will bring back samples of interstellar
dust particles, recently discovered material streaming into the Solar System.
Analysis of these samples after their return in January 2006 could yield
important insights into the evolution of the Sun and planets, and possibly
into the origin of life itself.
Follow the mission on the Web at http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/
The Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft's main engines
fire in mid-February to rendezvous with its target, asteroid 433 Eros.
Launched in February 1996, the burn will lessen the distance between NEAR
and Eros as they orbit the sun. By February 2000, NEAR will catch up to
Eros. The spacecraft will then enter orbit around Eros and begin its year-long
study of the asteroid. So the plan for this Valentine's Day is to get
fired up for a heart of stone, especially because the mission scientist
have a daunting challenge: naming more than 100 craters that may be found.
The NEAR team has asked for suggestions on crater names, which will
later be submitted for official consideration. The selection of worthy
names is in keeping with the convention of naming the geologic features
of a planetary body appropriate for the place, for example, sites on Venus
are named after famous women. The name Eros suggests an obvious theme:
love.
The craters of Eros can be named after famous lovers, legendary romantic
locales, aspects of love, and so on. You are invited to submit names for
Eros' craters, accompanied by a short explanation (50 words maximum) of
why the name is appropriate; please, no obscene or offensive names. Please
use a separate sheet of paper for each suggestion, and send entries to:
Names on Eros
The Planetary Society
65 N. Catalina Avenue
Pasadena, CA 91106
USA
PLANET PLACEMENT:
MERCURY is visible the last half of the month low in the western evening sky.
VENUS is visible low in the evening twilight, and makes a very close approach to Jupiter on the 23rd.
MARS rises before midnight and stands about 30 deg above the south-southwest horizon before sunrise.
JUPITER is visible low in the west-southwest after sunset, and sets 3 hours after the Sun.
SATURN is in the southwest in evening's twilight, and sets in late evening.
URANUS emerges from conjunction with the Sun on the 2nd to be 1.5 degrees north of Mercury.
PLUTO crosses the orbit of NEPTUNE on the 9th, becoming the outermost planet of the solar system for another 230 years.
ALMANAC - There is no Full Moon in February. The Last Quarter Moon on
Feb. 8th hinders viewing the Alpha Centaurid meteor shower. The New Moon
of Feb.16th. First Quarter Moon on Feb. 23rd is between the horns of Taurus
the Bull, passing north of the red star Aldebaran.