IN THIS UPDATE:

Dance of the Planets

   Saturn at Opposition - 2014

Dear Friends,

 

I got this nice email from Crystal.....

 

Thank you so much for the explanation of the blood moon! This was something that I was having a hard time with.  As a homeschool mom, I don't want to give wrong impressions to my children, and I know I get sucked up into these sky conspiracies easily. It's nice to have a steadying hand when there is a lot of hype with everything and even trusted people are pounding out blood moon messages.  I do learn a lot from you and your site and look forward to your emails. They are ones I definitely don't delete! 

 

Thanks Crystal, I am very grateful for the kind feedback.  As Christians, it is very important that we be discerning, especially with so many pop teachings flying around at all times.  As homeschool parents, we need to take care to educate our children and teach them the rational methods of science, upon which our modern culture is based.  So happy to help cut through the hype, and share some info that was not commonly reported.  We'll have more to share about "Blood Moons" in time for the next one, in the fall.

 

o o o o o

 

Looks like warm days have finally arrived to the ice-encrusted shores of the Great Lakes, though this past winter has left enduring marks.  Our roads are in really bad shape, heavily pocked with potholes, and a lot of trees and shrubs were killed by that harsh cold.  The Old Farmer's Almanac really nailed this last winter, predicting last September that most of the USA would have a cold, snowy winter.  Now the OFA is predicting a hot, dry summer for North America.  If so, I'm hoping that translates into some clear weather nights for looking at the constellations and sharing the starry sky with others. 

 

The response remains small for our Consider Thy Heavens astronomy campouts.  For our first event in Pennsylvania, coming up in less than two weeks (May 23-24), we have only received definite responses from seven parties outside our family (and I'm hoping those folks all end up making it).  I'm grateful for everyone who has indicated interest, and pray that it will be a worthwhile investment of their time.  And we'll have a great time hanging out with everyone who comes.  But with so many newsletter readers within a few hours drive of this location, I'm disappointed that the interest level has been so low.  

  

 

 

Those who do make it to the Pennsylvania campout are possibly in for a big treat!  Professional astronomers are tentatively predicting a brand new METEOR STORM emanating from the northern sky, on the SAME WEEKEND as our campout!  I mean, like, WOW!  This could potentially be a once-in-a-lifetime event (though such predictions have been known to fizzle).    

 

 

 

If this storm pans out, there should be an average of one meteor every four seconds!  In my experience, there will be probably be long lulls of several minutes, and then a bunch of shooters going off all at once.  Take it from me, this is very exciting stuff!  Whatever the outcome, it's not too late for families to join us in PA!  For everyone else, it would be worthwhile to seek out a dark sky somewhere close to home, and make an effort to experience this new meteor shower.

 

We're still giving a lot of thought to "Consider Thy Heavens" events for 2015, especially west of the Mississippi.  Would anyone out there reading this, from any part of the country, have any interest joining us near Mount Rushmore?  A national homeschool meetup near the famous Faces sounds like a dream vacation to me.  Does anyone else agree?  Anyone?.... Anyone????  Buehler?????  If so, please drop me an email.  

  

* * * * *

 For more information about topics from Classical Astronomy discussed in this newsletter,

please check out Signs & Seasons, a

homeschool astronomy curriculum

(but popular with adult readers too!)

 

 

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Dance of the Planets

 

Saturn at Opposition - 2014
 
We had a great response to the last couple newsletters from folks who were successful in finding the bright red planet Mars in the constellation Virgo, based on the Big Dipper and the star Arcturus.  Hope everyone has kept their eyes on Mars on clear evenings this past month, and will continue to do so throughout the spring and summer.  If you still have not found Mars, the instructions were presented in the last two editions of this newsletter, and you can find them in the newsletter archive.  

 

So if you can Mars this month, you might also be able to find the planet Saturn, since the ringed planet is just over in Libra, the next constellation over from Virgo.  Saturn has just passed opposition on May 10, when it was opposite the Sun in the sky, rising in the evening just as the Sun sets.  For the rest of the spring and summer, Saturn will be a prominent object in the evening sky, and its rings will be easy to spot through small amateur telescopes.

 

Now that Saturn is past opposition, all three of the visible superior planets will be visible exclusively in the evening sky for the rest of the month of May.  Looking to the west, the bright planet Jupiter is still moving slowly through the stars of Gemini, and is prominently visible below Castro and Pollux, the conspicuous twin stars of Gemini. 

 

Jupiter is near the place in the sky of the summer solstice, and indicates roughly the point in the sky where the Sun will be in the latter days of June.  At the present time, the Sun appears to be moving toward Gemini, and this constellation (with Jupiter) will disappear into the sunset as summer approaches.  (A complete explanation of the apparent seasonal motions of the Sun and the constellations is given in our Signs & Seasons curriculum.)  

 

 

Though Jupiter is inclining toward the sunset, bright Mars and Virgo can be found high at the meridian, above the southern horizon, in the hours after sunset.  Go outside around 10:00PM, after darkness has fallen, to see these planets together in the evening sky.

 

 

Once you spot Jupiter and Mars, turn around and look to see Saturn coming up in the southeast.  Saturn is currently passing through Libra, which is not much of a constellation, mostly defined by two not-so-bright second magnitude stars having the tongue-twisting names of Zubeneschamali and Zubenelgenubi. (These names always make my eyes glaze over!  Sheesh, you wonder why people don't know more about astronomy!) 

 

Anyway, Saturn is easy enough to spot in this part of the sky, as it lies just to the east of Mars, and has a distinct "butterscotch yellow" color.  As you look at Jupiter, and then turn to see Mars and Saturn, you can get a sense of standing on the Earth, gazing out along the plane of the solar system to see the outer planets. Keep and eye on Mars and Saturn throughout the summer, as these two will draw close together during August, as explained in the last newsletter.

 

Saturn is a slow moving planet, and completes a circle of the constellations in about 30 years.  This is compared to Jupiter, which takes 12 years, and Mars which circles the sky in only two years.  Saturn was in Virgo in 2012, and has taken more than two years to creep along to its present position.  Because of its slow movement, Saturn has traditionally been associated with Father Time, and is often depicted in folklore as an old man holding an hourglass, sometimes having wings, to indicate that "time flies."  Father Time is also shown with a scythe, and this character has a darker aspect when shown as "The Grim Reaper," to suggest that Time cuts down everyone eventually.  For more on this, read our article Saturn in Folklore. 

 

 

If you still are not sure which of those stars are Saturn, take a look when the Moon passes by this week.  The Moon will be closest to Saturn on Tuesday, May 13, and will still be close the next night, when the Moon is full. 

 

Saturn will share the evening sky with Jupiter during the spring and summer for many years to come.  Jupiter and Saturn line up in a conjunction every 20 years, and Jupiter is currently drawing closer, as it will slowly overtake the ringed world in 2020.  This will be an amazing sight, as Jupiter and Saturn will be very close, separated by a mere 8 arcminutes, and visible in the same telescope field of view.  Also, Mars will line up between Jupiter and Saturn every two years until then, in 2016, 2018 and 2020.  We hope to still be covering those events in future editions of the Classical Astronomy Update. 

 Til next time, God bless and clear skies,

- jay

 

The Ryan Family
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
 
 
When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and
the stars, which thou hast ordained, what is man that thou art
mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
- Psalm 8:3-4, a Psalm of David