NIGHT SKY FOR SPRING
OUR MILKY WAY
BELOW IS A PHOTOGRAPH OF THE MILKY WAY, THE BRIGHTEST AREA IS SAGITARIUS WHICH IS THE CENTRE OF THE GALAXY. ANTARES (THE HEART OF THE SCORPION) CAN BE SEEN AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PICTURE WHILE A SHAPE RESEMBLING A KIWI CAN BE SEEN BETWEEN ANTARES AND SAGITARIUS. THE PHOTO TAKES IN APPROXIMATLY 40 DEGREES OF THE MILKY WAY.
ASTRONOMERS ESTIMATE THAT THE MILKY WAY CONTAINS ABOUT 100 BILLION STARS. RECENTLY, HOWEVER, THIS NUMBER WAS UPPED BY ABOUT A BILLION AFTER THE DISCOVERY THAT VERY OLD, NEARLY INVISIBLE STARS HAD ESCAPED EARLIER DETECTIONS. RECENT INFRARED SURVEYS WITH NASA'S SPITZER SPACE TELESCOPE CONFIRMED THAT THE MILKY WAY IS NOT A PERFECT SPIRAL GALAXY BUT INSTEAD SPORTS A LONG BAR OF STARS WITHIN THE CENTRAL BULGE. THIS CHANGES THE MILKY WAY FROM THE SPIRAL TO THE BARRED SPIRAL GALAXY CATAGORY.
WHAT IS A LUNAR ECLIPSE
A lunar Lunar Eclipses occurs when the sunlight is blocked by the Earth and a shadow is cast over the Moon. This happens when Sun, Earth & Moon are in line. Usually around the full Moon, but not every full Moon because the Moon's orbit is inclined 5 degrees from the ecliptic, therefore the moon is mostly above or below the Earth and not in the Earth's shadow. With a full eclipse the Moon will take on a ruddy glow during totality, lightening towards the end.
BELOW IS A SERIES OF PICTURES DEPICTING THE VASTNESS OF OUR UNIVERSE.
JUPITER
JUPITER AND ITS MOONS IO (SMALLEST OF THE GALILEAN MOONS), EUROPA, CALLISTO AND GANYMEDE CAN BE SEEN WITH A GOOD PAIR OF BINOCULARS. THE PLANET HAS 63 KNOWN MOONS AND A SLIGHT RING OF SMOKE-SIZED PARTICLES AND DUST. JUPITER CONTAINS 71% OF THE PLANETARY MATTER IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM AND SO ITS HUGE GRAVITY PULLS EVERY OBJECT TOWARD IT. IN FACT, MOST OF ITS MOONS WERE CAPTURED AND ARE ASTROIDS. ITS GRAVITY ALSO EFFECTS COMETS ORBITS (EG:IF A COMET GOING AROUND THE SUN IS ORBITING BEHIND JUPITER ITS SPEED WILL BE INCREASED AS THE PLANETS GRAVITY DRAWS IT ALONG.ON THE OTHER HAND IF THE COMET IS AHEAD OF JUPITER IT WILL BE SLOWED DOWN SHORTENING ITS ORBIT.
SATURNS PHASES
SATURN IS THE SECOND-BIGGEST PLANET IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM & TAKES 29.42 YEARS TO TRAVEL AROUND THE SUN. AND BEING INCLINED 25 DEGREES THE RINGS ARE CONSTANTLY CHANGING FROM OUR POINT OF VIEW. BELOW IS AN ANIMATION SHOWING THE ANNUAL CHANGES. LIKE JUPITER, SATURN IS ALSO A VERY FAST-SPINNING PLANET. IT WILL FULLY ROTATE IN ABOUT 10 HOURS AND 40 MINUTES, WHICH MEANS THAT IT SPINS AT 10 000 KILOMETRES PER HOUR. SATURN IS MOSTLY MADE UP OF LIQUID HYDROGEN AND HELIUM, WITH ONLY A VERY SMALL CORE OF SOLID ROCK.
WHAT EXACTLY IS A STAR? HOW DOES A STAR FORM? WHAT ARE THE BRIGHTEST STARS IN THE SKY?.
TO MANY PEOPLE, A STAR IS SIMPLY ONE OF MANY BRIGHT GLOWING LIGHTS IN THE SKY AT NIGHT. IN REALITY, STARS ARE MUCH MORE COMPLEX. A STAR IS ACTUALLY A SELF-LUMINOUS CELESTIAL BODY CONSISTING OF A MASS OF GAS THAT IS HELD TOGETHER BY ITS OWN GRAVITY. THE GLOWING LIGHT TYPICALLY SEEN FROM EARTH IS CAUSED BY ACTUAL NUCLEAR REACTIONS OCCURRING WITHIN THE STARS CORE. THESE NUCLEAR REACTIONS ARE BALANCED BY THE OUTFLOW OF ENERGY TO THE SURFACE OF THE STAR, WHICH PRODUCES THE GLOW WE SO COMMONLY ASSOCIATE WITH STARS AS SEEN FROM HERE ON EARTH.
THE 20 BRIGHTEST STARS IN THE SKY IN ORDER
SIRIUS, CANOPUS, RIGEL KENT, ARCTURUS, VEGA, CAPELLA, RIGEL, PROCYON, ACHERNAR, HADAR, ALTAIR, BETELGEUSE, ALDEBARAN, ACRUX, SPICA, ANTARES, POLLUX, FOMALHAUT, DENEB, MIMOSA.
OUR SUN (SOL)
OUR SUN, WHICH IS 4.6 BILLION YEARS OLD, IS LOCATED 26,000 LIGHT-YEARS AWAY FROM
THE GALACTIC CENTER ON ONE OF THE SPIRAL ARMS. THE SUN MOVES AT ABOUT 250 KM/S IN ITS ORBIT,
AND IT TAKES 225 MILLION YEARS TO COMPLETE ONE REVOLUTION AROUND THE GALAXY.
OUR GALAXY (MILKY WAY)
THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION SIGHTINGS
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THESE SIGHTINGS ARE FOR THE LOCATION OF THE MAPLETON OBSERVATORY, BUT ABLE TO BE SEEN OVER MUCH OF THE COAST AND HINTERLAND, HOWEVER IRIDIUM FLARES NEED A MORE PRECISE LOCATION ENTERED IN THE HEAVENS ABOVE WEB SITE.
FOR MORE SATELLITE SIGHTINGS CLICK THE LINK ABOVE TO GO TO THE HEAVENS ABOVE WEB SITE TO FIND THE TIMES OF THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION, HUBBLE TELESCOPE, AND MANY OTHER SATELLITES.
