Wonder of Wonders: Jupiter and its four “Galilean” Moons

Jupiter and four of its moons. A Wikipedia Commons photo

If you want to feel the wonder of Creation, just take a look up at the nighttime sky when its full of stars. Even in a city today, you can see Jupiter right overhead. It’s presently in Gemini. When I was little, my father would set up his telescope in our driveway and get Jupiter in view. I marveled then and I marvel now to see the moons around Jupiter. If you look through a telescope for a couple of nights, you’ll see that the moons are moving. That is amazing!!! These four, easily visible moons, are called the Galilean moons, since Galileo could also see them. That’s amazing too!!!

Asteroid Passes Close to Earth Yesterday!

Do you know that an asteroid passed closer to the earth than the moon on Monday? It was relatively tiny – only 200 feet wide – which probably explains why astronomers did not see it until three days before it whizzed by? It is amazing to me that it passed only twice as high as telecommunication satellites. It makes you wonder if the predictions about 2012 are about a larger asteroid hitting earth.

A small asteroid buzzed by Earth Monday, though only real astronomy geeks in the Pacific would have noticed.

The rock, estimated to be no more than 200 feet wide, zoomed past our planet at an altitude of 40,000 miles at 1:44 p.m. universal time — or 8:44 EST.

Dubbed 2009 DD45, it was discovered only on Friday by Australian astronomers.

Forty thousand miles may sound like a lot, but it’s only about one-seventh of the way to the moon, and less than twice as far out as many telecommunications satellites.

Had 2009 DD45 hit the Earth, it would have exploded on or near the surface with the force of a large nuclear blast — not very reassuring when you consider humanity had only about three days’ notice.

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com …

Surprise Asteroid Makes Near-Miss of Earth (Missed by 40,000 miles)

Fantastic Galactic Center Photographs

I’m happy to say that the photographs that resulted from that part of my brain that wakes me up to take photographs are fantastic!

Both images of the Galactic Center sandwiched between Sagittarius and the circular tail of Scorpius with palm trees below and also the constellations – including all of Scorpius – turned out beautifully.

The digital photographs were taken at the Winter Star Party in the Florida Keys.

I took the photographs to illustrate the location in the sky of the center of the Milky Way Galaxy because there will be an alignment of the sun and earth with the Giant Black Hole at the Galactic Center on December 21, 2012.

I am very happy. And, I thank that part of my brain that wakes me up to take photographs!

Carol Chapman —

Sitting in the Dark with my Laptop

I sit in the dark with my laptop on my knees. That’s how I’ve been writing all my blog posts since I’ve been at the Winter Star Party if I write the posts at night.

It is nighttime now and dark outside. To guard our night vision, all bright lights have to be squelched. Only red filtered flashlights are allowed. 

The inconvenience is worth it because our eyes are adjusted to the darkness well enough that we can see the Milky Way Galaxy, that band of stars that are our home galaxy.

It’s a good feeling to be among my amateur astronomer friends looking at the heavens.

Carol Chapman —

A New Moon and an Old Venus

Tonight is a marvelous visible conjunction of the Moon and Venus.

Here, at the Winter Star Party, we can see, with telescopes, that Venus is a sliver of light similar to an old moon. The moon, on the other hand, is a new moon. 

We’re looking at a New Moon and an Old Venus!!!

Carol Chapman —

2012 Galactic Center Photo Yes! Video No!

After my great success making a digital photograph of the galactic center yesterday morning, I awoke this morning at 2:30 AM full of enthusiasm for making a videotape of the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. The galactic center is the place with which the earth will be lined up on the winter solstice, December 21, 2012. Many people believe this momentous event will herald great changes on earth.

Therefore, I wanted to photograph the galactic center which happens to be in the constellation of Sagittarius close to Scorpio. And I did.

However, when I woke up this morning and tried to take a videotape of the center of the Milky Way, I was not successful at all. As one of my amateur astronomer friends explained to me today, since the video camera shutter operates at 1/30th of a second, it is simply too fast to capture the night sky.

Yesterday, I had called my camera manufacturer and asked one of their technicians how to set the camcorder so it would videotape star constellations. The technician said it could NOT be done. I had to try anyway. I set the camcorder on “night” and gave it a try. As I said, it did not work. Now I know.

Carol Chapman —

2012 Photograph of the Galactic Center

I am so happy because last night – actually between 4 and 5 AM – I finally got a photograph of the galactic center. It is so cool!!!

You can see Sagittarius and the tail of Scorpio right beside it. And, there, glowing quietly, the galactic center.

The problem has been clouds and haze. I’ve woken up four mornings, crept around in the dark to the “berm” where you can see the whole sky . . . and have only seen haze covering the stars.

This morning,  the big problem, even though the stars were visible to the horizon, was wind. I feared that with such long exposures – over 30 seconds – I would only get blurry light spots. However, I held tightly to my tripod so it would not quiver in the gusts. The result? I have at least one photograph that beautifully shows the constellations and the center of the Milky Way!

Yay!

On December 21, 2012, the earth and sun will line up with the galactic center. Some think this will create momentous events on earth. We shall see!

Carol Chapman —

Looking for Sagittarius

My internal clock awoke me at 2:45 AM. Time to get to the berm and look for Sagittarius.

Why Sagittarius? I want to photograph the Galactic Center and it’s in the constellation Sagittarius.

Carol Chapman —

Will we make it through the gate in time?

We’re on  Highway 1 in the Florida Keys where the speed limit is 45 miles per hour. It’s 4:54 PM. We have over 50 miles to go. Registration closes at 6:00 PM. We’d like to get to the Winter Star Party before registration closes for the day. Registration started at 1:00 PM. We wanted to avoid the line up of hundreds of people waiting to get in. However, there’s a good chance we’re not going to make it by 6:00 PM.

Nonetheless, hope springs eternal. We’ve been through the mangrove swamp, crossed a number of bridges over azure water, and passed people fishing. A pelican just flew over our car.

From my point of view, I am happy that we’re going to get there on registration day. In the past, we have occasionally arrived a couple of days late. Of course, those were days when it was raining and, frankly, those years, we postponed arriving because it is not much fun camping out when it’s raining. Much nicer to hole up in a warm, dry motel and wait for the rain to end.

But, today the sun is shining as it slowly sinks toward the horizon. Although there are clouds in the sky, there is also a lot of blue – hope of a good viewing sky tonight. There’s always such a rush to set up and get a glimpse of Saturn or the moons of Jupiter.

Even though there are many gorgeous photographs of these heavenly objects in books, movies, and on the internet, still, it is so special to see them in real time and real life, suspended in space, really and truly, looking so alive and vibrant. It’s always a thrill.

The real issue is not whether we will make it to the Winter Star Party before registration closes or whether we will have our first glimpse of Saturn tonight. We can always register and set up our telescope tomorrow. It’s all about the gate. At 7:00 PM, the gate slams shut. You can’t get in. It’s guarded by a police officer.

Headlights are not allowed once the sky gets dark and it’s simply too dangerous to drive in the campsite without headlights. If we don’t get inside the gate before 7:00, we’ll have to park on the road and haul our bed linens in on our backs.

Definitely, not preferred. It’s not much fun making up a bunk bed by a dim red-colored flashlight.

Everything and everyone uses only red-colored mute lights after dark. Otherwise, night vision would be compromised. The communal bathrooms are lit with red fluorescent lights. Mickey’s onsite grill switches from white to red lights. Many people wear a tiny red light that hangs from a lariat around their neck so other people can see them walking in the dark.

Uh oh! We’ve just hit a line of cars barely moving. What is it? An accident? A flea market? The stop and start traffic has got John sighing. It looked good until this traffic slow down. Will we make it through the gate in time?

Carol Chapman —

Barreling Down I 95 with my Laptop

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My brother has called my husband Mr. Gadget. I can see why. During this trip to the 25th Annual Winter Star Party in the Florida Keys, I am, for the first time, writing on my laptop and, at the same time,  connected to the internet. 

I’m using a broadband cellular modem. It is mine so I guess I’m a bit of a Mrs. Gadget.

However, here’s the part about Mr. Gadget. It wasn’t enough for John to use the laptop on battery. He needed to charge its battery as we went along with this gadget he bought at a Roger Wilco truck stop service center. It’s called (and I quote) “It’s a 200 watt power inverter that takes 12 volts DC from the car’s electrical system through the cigarette lighter and provides 120 volts 60 HZ AC. So, it’s like being plugged in! And, it runs cool as a cucumber. It’s got a fan in it.  The inverter sits in the drink holder so it remains in a fixed position when you have lateral G forces induced by cornering and longitudinal G forces from braking or acceleration.”

John wanted me to use the laptop while we drove along as an experiment to see if we would have any interruption in internet service as we cruised past cell phone towers. I am happy to report that we seem to be having NO trouble seamlessly receiving signals from one cell phone tower after another as we go barreling down Florida’s I95 toward the Florida Keys.

As I said yesterday, we’re taking our yearly 1000 plus mile trek to the Keys to attend the 25th annual Winter Star Party hosted by the Southern Cross Astronomical Society. I hope to interview people specifically on the Milky Way’s galactic center and its association, if any, with the last day of the Mayan Long Count Calendar on December 21, 2012.

Carol Chapman —