Early November Astrominute

The Hatter Planetarium / WZBT astrominute for early November is on the air and online. Welcome, new reader Julia Giannini, '18. And listen to WZBT online too!

http://public.gettysburg.edu/~iclarke/hatter/podcasts/astrominute110114.mp3

November Sky-shows Coming Up

Eclipse sequence from 10/8/14 by Prof. Emeritus Larry Marschall

THE SKY THIS MONTH Sunday, 11/2, 4:00 PM Tuesday, 11/4, 7:00 PM We'll have a recap of the eclipses from October, a look ahead to events such as the Leonid meteor shower, a tour of the November skies, and an Astronomy Class Moment. The Hatter Planetarium is located in Room 115, Masters Hall. All shows are free and open to the public, and the program will last about 50 minutes.

Observing Report, AST 101-L1, 10/27/14

Waxing crescent moon seen from GCO.

The evening began before the scheduled lab start time of 7:15 PM with an attempt to see a rocket launch from NASA's Wallops Island facility. Unfortunately, the launch was scrubbed at the last minute due to a boat in the restricted hazard area. For context, here is a view of a Wallops launch from 2013. We were, however, able to see a flyover of the International Space Station almost overhead a few minutes later. It looks like a bright, slowly moving star. Want to see the station yourself? It's not difficult. Visit www.heavens-above.com or spotthestation.nasa.gov.

Then we began the lab proper. After a review of celestial sphere concepts, and an introduction to the concept of light pollution, we took a tour of the night sky.

Two compound Meade telescopes were on the observing platform. We reviewed their parts and some concepts form the "Telescopes and Lenses" lab. The waxing cresent ooon in the SW made a great first telescope object. Later, high clouds were moving through, but we were able to see M57, the Ring Nebula, in the constellation Lyra. After everyone had seen it, we used the SBIG 402 CCD camera to take a few images, as you can see below. All in all, a pretty successful night out.

12 second exposure with no filter.

Combination of 3 exposures through red, blue, and green filters.
Real glass filters, not the Instagram kind! Unfortuantely,
there was some equipment movement in both of these shots,
thus the 'double' appearance of stars.

Crescent moon with earthshine clearly visible.

Rocket Launch and ISS pass visible locally tonight

A rocket launch is scheduled tonight from NASA's facility on Wallops Island, VA. It should be visible locally, weather permitting. For context, here's a photo of one from campus last fall: http://gettysburgskies.blogspot.com/2013/11/minotaur-sighting.html The link below has all the details, but basically you want to get to a place with a flat southeast horizon at launch time. Follow NASA-Wallops on facebook or twitter too, as the launch can be delated or scrubbed. http://www.nasa.gov/content/how-to-view-the-antares-launch-oct-27/#.VE46gfnF_nh Almost simultanelusly, the International Space Station will fly over the mid-Atlantic. This is not unusual, but you do need to know where and when to look.  http://spotthestation.nasa.gov/sightings/view.cfm?country=United_States&region=Pennsylvania&city=Gettysburg#.VE5Ak_nF_ng Clear Skies! ------------------------ Ian Clarke Lab Instructor II (Astronomy) Hatter Planetarium Program Director Adjunct Assistant Professor of English Gettysburg College http://public.gettysburg.edu/~iclarke/hatter/index.html Hatter Planetarium on Twitter: @GCPlanetarium

Partial Solar Eclipse Tomorrow as the Sun Sets

The eclipse at 6:00 PM local,
only about 2 finger-widths above the horizon

We hope you got to see the lunar eclipse in the early morning hours of Oct 8. There is another eclipse, this time a partial one of the sun, on Oct 23. We are in an eclipse season, an approximately 34-day window in which eclipses occur. This one is much more difficult to see. An observer armed with proper protection, such as a pinhole projector*, can see the moon just barely taking a bite out of the sun before sunset. The eclipse begins at 5:50 PM with the sun only a few finger-widths away from setting. In Gettysburg it sets at 6:18. Observers in the northwestern US will get a much better show, but the eclipse is not total anywhere (on earth).

Great eclipse article from Phil Plait on Slate

*EYE SAFETY DURING SOLAR ECLIPSES  (NASA)

Late October Astrominute

A partial solar eclipse (barely) viewable locally is featured. Reader is Annie Skrabak, '15.

Lunar eclipse wrap-up

photo by Ian Clarke

Here is our view of the eclipse this morning. This was taken from S. Reynolds Ave just west of Gettysburg at 6:25 AM EDT, the beginning of totality. I believe that's the 121st PA Infantry monument in the foreground. We were fortunate. Despite a rainy first half of the night, skies cleared out in time to view the entire eclipse (or as much as was visible before local sunrise).

Lunar Eclipse Time!

I hope locals are ready for the lunar eclipse tonight. Current forecasts are mixed, with the cleardarksky.com forecast being a little more optimistic than the one from Accuweather. But even a few breaks in the clouds may be enough to see yourself some eclipse.

Here is a quick summary:

1. Set the alarm for around 5 AM (all times local)
2. Get out to a place with an unobstructed western view
3. Find the moon, about 2 fist-widths up in the west
4. Partial phase begins at 5:15 (shadow of the earth starts creeping across the moon)
5. Totality starts at 6:25 (meanwhile the moon will be getting lower and the sky will be getting brighter).
6. At 6:45 PM civil twightlight begins
7. At 7:12 the sun rises, and at 7:17 the moon sets. Show over.

Folks in the western US will see a lot more. Learn more by watching our astrominute for early October.