The first official day of Winter is coming up on December 21 (when the sun occupies the Winter Solstice point and traverses its lowest arc across the sky). That means the winter stars are starting to appear in the east after sunset, containing some of the most recognizable and popular constellations of the entire sky.

"The Seven Sisters"

The Great Square of Pegasus, a wonderful guidepost to the Autumn stars, is still prominent in the sky. It can point us to other bright stars and constellations. But now one of the most famous star clusters of the entire sky is rising out of the east: The Pleiades! Popularly known as “The Seven Sisters” from Greek mythology, it’s clearly visible to the naked eye even if you have some suburban sky glow. The Pleiades is best viewed through binoculars, revealing many stars that look more like “80 sisters”! We’ll take a closeup look at this star cluster to see what makes it so special  and why everyone knows the name of this cluster in Japanese.

December is also the month that the famous constellation of Orion the Hunter becomes visibe in the eastern sky. As one of the most recognizable constellations, it becomes the key “pointer” for locating other famous Winter stars like Sirius (in the Big Dog), Procyon (in the Little Dog) and Aldebaran (in Taurus the Bull).

The Geminid Meteor Shower comes to a peak on the nights of December 13 and 14. Unfortunately, the Moon will be in a bright phase (a waning gibbous that looks like a bulging ‘half moon’ rising an hour or two after sunset).  This will wash out all but the brightest meteors but don’t worry – The Geminids are well known for fast moving fireballs! Best times to observe the Geminids will be late evening and into the early morning hours.

Tickets are just $1. Members are free.

“Starry Tales” is very different from the average star show in that it takes a more poetic and philosophical approach. The elaborately detailed 3-dimensional art, deep colors and emotive music track makes for a beautiful cultural experience and lends itself nicely to the holiday season.

The show journeys through thousands of years to reveal Greek legends and their connection to the modern day. It underscores the cultural bond we all share with the stars and demonstrates how that relationship continues.

This program is in our schedule for a limited run (November 18 – January 5) so don’t miss it! We would sincerely welcome your feedback. Check our “Shows and Exhibits” page for show times.

Four of the brightest stars of the flying horse make up the well known asterism called “The Great Square of Pegasus” and makes for an excellent guidepost to other stars and deep sky objects for binoculars and telescopes. One such example is “M15″ (Messier’s catalog number for the Pegasus Cluster, a beautiful example of a globular star cluster).

The Andromeda Galaxy

One of the corner stars of the “Great Square” is shared with Andromeda. Alpheratz also represents the Maiden’s head. From there, we’ll use the pattern of Andromeda’s stars to find the most distant object visible to the naked eye, the Great Andromeda Galaxy (M31). It’s our sister spiral galaxy in space, and even though it lies over 2.5 million light years away, it shows up easily in binoculars as a fuzzy oval of light with a brighter blob in its core. What you’re seeing is actually the collective light of at least 400 billion suns woven together into a spiral shaped island univese in our Local Group of Galaxies.

Also of interest in November, is that the planet Jupiter is back! The largest planet of our solar system is currently at opposition, putting it at its closest approach to Earth. It’s easy to find in the sky - a couple of hours after the sun sets in the west, watch for Jupiter to rise in the east (hence the name “opposition” because it appears opposite of the sun in the sky). That also means this the best time for telescope viewers because it will be even easier to see the two dark cloud bands running near Jupiter’s equator. If you give the planet more time to climb higher into the sky, the visibility of those cloud belts (and others) will become even easier to see because the planet is rising above the murky pollution and thicker air that deteriorates seeing conditions down there.

Join us at 6:45 p.m. on Saturday, November 5, 2011 under our new Digistar 4 sky for a fabulous new way to observe the skies! Tickets are just $1. Members are free.

After going through our stock, we have selected telescopes that will be 35-50% off regular prices, while supplies last. The telescopes included in the sale are mostly floor models that are already assembled. All scopes have original parts or better. We offer a 30-day warranty and refund on all sales. All scopes come with their original manufacturers warranties. This is your chance to save hundreds of dollars on a great scope!

In addition to our telescope sale, we have discounted all astronomy books to 25% off regular price. It’s a great time to stop by Planet Fun for your stargazing needs; stop by soon for the best selection.

Celestron CPC 1100 XLT Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope

Orion AstroView 6 EQ Reflector Telescope:

Regular: $419.95                                       Sale: $209.95

Orion Skyview Pro 8EQ Reflector Telescope

Regular: $649. 95                                      Sale:$324.95

Celestron CPC 800 XLT Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope

Regular: $1999.00                                    Sale: $1299.00

Celestron CPC 925 XLT Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope

Regular: $2499.00                                     Sale: $1624.35

Celestron CPC 1100XLT Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope

Regular: $2999.00                                     Sale: $1949.35

Orion SV PRO 150 Go-To Mak-Cassegrain Telescope

Regular: $1399.95                                       Sale: $699.95

Orion SkyView PRO 120 Go-To Refractor Telescope

Regular: $1069.95                                       Sale: $529.95

Orion SkyView PRO 120 Go-To Refractor Telescope

Orion StarMax 127 Mak-Cassegrain Telescope

Regular: $629.95                                         Sale: $399.95

Orion SkyQuest XT6 Intelliscope Dobson-Reflector

Regular: $399.95                                         Sale: $259.95

Orion SkyQuest XT8 Intelliscope Dobson-Reflector

Regular: $529.95                                          Sale: $344.46

Orion SkyQuest XT10 Intelliscope Dobson-Reflector

Regular: $699.95                                           Sale: $454.96

Orion SkyQuest XT12 Intelliscope Dobson-Reflector

Regular: $1079.95                                        Sale: $701.96

Orion SkyQuest XT12 Intelliscope Truss-Dobson

Regular: $1299.95                                         Sale: $844.68

Orion Observer 60 Refractor Telescope (in box)

Regular: $99.95                                               Sale: $49.95

Go to OrionTelescopes.com and Celestron.com for more information on these scopes.

August 1st each year marks a traditional ‘cross-quarter day’ known as the Day of Lammas. It is when the first loaves are baked from the first wheat harvest, and marks the beginning of the harvest season. I don’t grow wheat, but I have enjoyed several peppers and zucchini from my garden already, and we are  preparing for a busy canning season in the near future.

Cross-quarter days are the midpoint days between a solstice and an equinox. It is on these days that we begin to sense or anticipate a changing in the seasons. For the Day of Lammas, we start to plan for the new school year, hurry to get that last camping trip in, or prepare for the fall sports season (can’t say much about the NBA, but the NFL is back on…)

For most people, the mindset of fall begins long before September 22nd, the date of the autumnal equinox. We expect the temperatures to cool down a bit and the Sun sets a little earlier now.

The actual midpoint between the summer solstice and the autumnal equinox for 2011 is Sunday, August 7th, but the Day of Lammas is recognized on August 1st each year. Other cross-quarter dates are Groundhog Day, May Day, and Halloween.

There’s still plenty of summer left! Maybe I’ll get in the pool this evening…

The Andromeda Galaxy, double cluster in Perseus and Milky Way

As the Milky Way climbed higher, I was able to shift my position to capture its light intertwining with the outstretched branches.

Bristlecone and Galactic Core

During the nearly 5 hours I spent there, I enjoyed the solitude with the sentinel that has watched the slow passage of time.  Imagine existing while history unfolded! This tree remained little changed as the middle ages unfurled; it existed through the dark ages, the crusades, untold wars and conflicts and the most monumental achievements of the human race. It was only in the last 2.5% of its life that we landed on the moon! This coupled with the light from the stars that have taken hundreds and thousands of years to reach the two of us added to the special feeling of the scene. Near the end of my time with my OLD friend, I was fortunate enough to shoot the Andromeda galaxy, Cassiopeia, and the double cluster in Perseus nestled near the outstretched branches of the sentinel that no longer bear life.

The Andromeda Galaxy, double cluster in Perseus and Milky Way

The light from the Andromeda galaxy left there about 2.5 million years ago, so even my old friend is young by that standard.

Next time, I’ll post some of my experiences from a recent trip to the Moab area. Until then, take a drive out of the city and get out and see the real thing!

One of my passions is to get outside at night in some of the most beautiful places around. Since the Milky Way can’t be seen from cities, this means that I now have to travel. It wasn’t always like this, however. I grew up in North Dakota and farmed for the first half of my life. The long days that stretched into the night meant that by the time work was done, the Milky Way would often be visible, even though it might just be a little after sunset. At the time, there were few lights around to ruin the view. I miss those times. So – in order to have new experiences under the stars, I now make pilgrimages to our National Parks and Monuments to photograph the night sky over some of the most beautiful places on earth. Luckily, many of them are within about a 5 hour drive of Salt Lake City.

My approach has been to wait for clear weather, a favorable moon phase, the weekend and then just bolt from work to do a 2 or 3 day mission (yes, mission) to capture the best astrophotos I can. I won’t sugar coat it for you…you do get tired (very tired)…but it’s worth it. Hopefully you’ll agree with me. If all my ramblings do is get you to stay up a little past dark the next time you’re out, I’ll consider it a success. Don’t be part of the herd and just eat supper before dark and then turn in. Your challenge is to break from the ordinary (just a little) and start to enjoy the beauty around you a bit more. This image is what got me started…more on that later…

Jupiter and the Milky Way over Delicate Arch, Arches National Park

Through the next installments, I hope to convey some of the inspiration that I find as I pursue the Milky Way and prominent constellations in some of the most amazing places. I’ll draw on my experiences over the last three years to share some of these places and events with you—you may find that things are not necessarily in order (most likely reverse order). The first ‘real’ entry in this series will be one that occurred most recently and recounts some of the fun we had at the Astronomical League Conference (ALCON) two weeks ago.

The Earth reaches aphelion on Monday, July 4th, 2011. At this time the Earth will be at its farthest distance from the Sun for the year. If this sounds a little odd, that the Earth is farther away from the Sun in the middle of summer, remember that when the northern hemisphere is experiencing summer, the southern hemisphere is in the midst of winter.

Seasons on the Earth are caused by the tilt of the Earth’s axis relative to Earth’s orbit around the Sun. Please review last week’s blog entry about the summer solstice for more information on the seasonal changes.

Like all planets, Earth orbits the Sun in an elliptical orbit, not a circular one.

Earth at aphelion, July 4th, 2011

So, at some point during the year Earth and Sun will be closest together, and at some point they will be farthest apart. Earth reaches perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) around January 4th each year, and aphelion around July 4th each year. This distance change has an insignificant effect on the seasonal changes. Even though Earth’s orbit is an ellipse, the distance between the two focal points is very, very small. The difference between Earth’s closest approach to the Sun and its farthest distance from the Sun is only about 5 million km. This may sound like a great distance, but we need to realize that the average distance between Sun and Earth is about 150 million km.

On another note, totally unrelated to aphelion, the Moon is at New Moon on Friday, July 1st, and there is a partial solar eclipse associated with New Moon this July. Unfortunately, you have to be on a boat between South Africa and Antarctica to see it.

June 1st: The New Moon is on June 1st, occurring at 3:03 pm, MDT. With no moon in the sky in the evenings, stargazing and deep sky observing with binoculars is a great activity on these warmer late-spring nights.
June 1st: There is a partial solar eclipse on June 1st, but it is only visible from the extreme northern parts of Canada and Alaska.
June 8th: 1st Quarter Moon occurs at 8:11 pm, MDT. The 1st Quarter Moon is basically due south at sunset. This may wash out some early evening observing, but the moon will be gone around midnight.
June 15th: Full Moon occurs at 2:14 pm, MDT. June’s full moon is the Strawberry Moon. From the Old Farmer’s Almanac, the Strawberry Moon is named for short season where strawberries ripen. A full moon rises as the Sun sets and doesn’t set until sunrise the next morning, making night sky observations difficult.
June 15th: There is a total lunar eclipse associated with this full moon, but, alas, it is an eastern hemisphere event.
June 21st: The summer solstice (in the northern hemisphere) occurs at 11:16 am, MDT. On this day the Sun is at its highest point in the sky as it crosses the meridian of the sky. The Sun also rises its furthest north of east and sets its furthest north of west on this day. The longest day and shortest night also occur with the solstice. In the southern hemisphere seasons are reversed. This is the shortest day of the year and winter is beginning.
June 23rd: 3rd Quarter Moon occurs at 5:48 am, MDT. Nighttime observing is good as the moon doesn’t rise until midnight. Note that the moon is due south at sunrise during 3rd quarter.
July 1st: The lunar cycle begins anew, with New Moon at 2:54 am, MDT on July 1st.

The Planets-
Saturn is visible throughout the month in the nighttime sky. It is in the constellation Virgo, and at 1st magnitude should be easy to spot. Don’t confuse Saturn, slightly yellow in color, with the bright blue star Spica, 15 degrees to the east. Saturn is very close (a quarter of a degree) to  Porrima, the third brightest star in Virgo, at magnitude 3.

Saturn in June, visible throughout the night

Early morning viewers can catch Jupiter, in Aries, and Venus, in Taurus, before sunrise over in the east.

Jupiter & Venus, June 15th early morning

Be sure to come back and read additional blog posts later in the month for more details and night sky observing projects.

Clark Planetarium will provide science programming on Saturday, March 5 from 1 -4 p.m. Guests will participate in experiments and activities that center around air and air pressure.  You will learn what causes air pressure, how it affects the weather and how strong air pressure is. Our education staff will also show you a ton of cool hands-on experiments and an activity you can try at home.  Other activities will include designing your own kite and meeting local meteorologist Ralph Patterson.

The UMFA is located on the University of Utah campus in the Marcia and John Price Museum Building at 410 Campus Center Drive.  All artful activity afternoon activities are free to the public.  For more information on this event or other events in this series, please visit the UMFA website.