Monthly Newsletter Articles | Astronomical Society at OSU

What’s Up? – July, 2023

July 9 2023March 18, 2024

Constellations, Planets, and Astronomical Events Visible in July 2023

-written and compiled by Alyssa Whalen

Now that the solstice has passed, it is now officially summertime! Enjoy the long days and warm weather, and hopefully the summer nights will be clear enough to go out and observe. The sun will rise around 6:15 am, and set near 9:00 pm everyday; although the days will now begin to slowly grow shorter. Since we are still in the height of summer, we are losing daylight at a rate of only 1 minute and 20 seconds per day, but that rate will increase as we approach the autumnal equinox in September.

The full moon this month is a supermoon! Supermoons are full moons that occur when the moon is at its closest approach to Earth. This is only possible because of the slight ellipticity in the moon’s orbit around Earth. When the full moon is at perigee and full in the same night, it is called a supermoon. The July supermoon occurs the evening of July 3rd. It is often nicknamed the Buck moon, as this is the time of year that male deer grow their antlers. The new moon occurs on July 17th. With clear skies and some luck, this will be the best time to observe during the month.

There is a meteor shower this month! The Delta Aquarids meteor shower runs annually from mid-July to late August. This year, the shower peaks the night of July 29th with a peak rate of around 20 meteors per hour. While the shower peaks on the 29th, the rate of meteors should be fairly constant throughout the shower’s duration. The radiant point of the meteor shower is in the constellation Aquarius, though it will be possible for meteors to appear anywhere. Aquarius will be slightly southward from the eastern horizon around 11 pm the night of the 29th, but the best time to view the meteor shower will be during the early morning of the 30th between 2-4 am when the constellation is higher in the sky. There is a full moon in early August that will make viewing the fainter meteors difficult, so finding a dark sky in the earlier days of the shower (or later in mid-August) when the moon is nearly new might prove to be a better strategy. With enough patience, there should be a number of bright meteors that make a good show even during the full moon.

Mars and Venus are in conjunction this month. On July 1st, the two planets will make their closest approach to one another. The conjunction will be visible in the evening for a few hours after sundown, and the planets will remain close together in the sky. Both planets will be visible at sundown; Venus will set first around 11:20 pm on July 1st, with Mars disappearing below the horizon shortly after at 11:35 pm. They will both set earlier in the night as the month goes on.

Mercury is too close to the sun to be visible at the beginning of the month, but, in the later days of the month, it will begin to appear slightly above the western horizon after sunset. Jupiter continues to rise earlier in the night; now it is above the horizon around 1:45 am. Saturn is becoming more easily observable, as it now rises around 11 pm. Uranus is difficult to observe this month since it does not rise above the horizon until 2:15 am. Neptune rises near midnight; however, both ice giants are not visible without the aid of a telescope or binoculars due to their distance from Earth.

While Ursa Major and Ursa Minor are always above the northern horizon to help guide our stargazing, this time of year there is another popular way to get around. The Summer Triangle is an asterism (a group of stars that form a shape/pattern, but are not officially recognized constellations) made up of the bright stars of three constellations in the summer sky: Vega in the constellation Lyra, Deneb, in the constellation Cygnus, and Altair in the constellation Aquila.These stars are very bright, and can even be seen clearly in light polluted cities, which makes them popular guide stars. The name ‘Summer Triangle’ comes from the fact that these constellations are nearly directly overhead at sundown, and are visible all night during the summer months.

Sources:

https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/@5165418?month=7&year=2023

http://www.seasky.org/astronomy/astronomy-calendar-2023.html

https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-delta-aquarid-meteor-shower/

https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/night/usa/columbus

https://stellarium-web.org/

Image Credits:

Sunset: Alyssa Whalen

Buck Moon: https://science.howstuffworks.com/buck-moon.htm

Credit: JOHN FINNEY PHOTOGRAPHY/GETTY IMAGES

Meteor Shower Radiant: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-delta-aquarid-meteor-shower/

Mars/Venus: https://www.businessinsider.com/see-mars-venus-align-planetary-conjunction-2021-7

Aquarius/Pegasus: https://stellarium-web.org/

Cygnus/Lyra/Aquila: https://owlcation.com/stem/Exploring-the-Summer-Triangle-in-the-Night-Sky

The Moon :)

July 9 2023March 18, 2024

written by Alex Torres

The Moon is arguably the coolest thing in the night sky. It can sometimes get a lot of hate for being so bright that it washes out other interesting celestial objects (especially when it is full), but it more than makes up for that by being the most consistently and widely visible object in the night as well as Earth’s most intimate companion in the cosmos. In fact, the Moon has piqued human interest for as long as we have known human civilization to exist, even at times being worshiped as a god or goddess.

However, what I would like to discuss today is the Moon’s appearance from Earth. It is relatively common knowledge that the Moon is moving away from the Earth at roughly 1.48 inches per year due to tidal interactions between the two celestial bodies. Indeed, when the Moon initially formed around the Earth, it was most likely between 14,000 and 20,000 miles away from the Earth, 12 to 17 times closer than it is now at about 238,000 miles away on average. Though, interestingly enough, the Moon drifted away from the Earth much faster right after its formation than it does now. This is presumably because tidal forces between the Earth and the Moon were much stronger when they were closer, but regardless, after 600 million years, the Moon was already about 84,000 miles away from the Earth which would have made it about 2.8 times larger in the sky in terms of diameter and 8 times larger in terms of area. The relative size of the moon as it appeared from the Earth at different times are shown in the diagram below.

This time period also coincided with a period in the history of the Solar System called the Late Heavy Bombardment during which the Moon experienced a large number of significant impacts. What is interesting is that since the Earth is so much more massive than the Moon, leftover heat from its formation and the impact that presumably formed the Moon 4.5 billion years ago would have taken longer to dissipate from the Earth than from the Moon. Furthermore, since the Moon became tidally locked with the Earth within 100 million years of its formation, the near side of the Moon would always face the still incredibly hot Earth exposing it to significantly more heat than the far side. This is presumed to have made the crust on the near side of the moon thinner than on the far side because it took longer for the near side to solidify with so much energy radiating from the Earth, and with the large impacts of the Late Heavy Bombardment constantly bringing up molten mantle material from below the crust on the near side, the crust would only become thinner and thinner over time. This presumably caused significantly more volcanic activity on the near side of the moon than the far side and would lead to the formation of the lunar seas that we see today: the large patches of dark surface rock on the Moon that once were literal seas of molten rock.

By roughly 3.8 billion years ago when the Late heavy Bombardment was coming to an end, the Moon actually looked quite similar to how it does today minus a few craters that occurred within the last 3.8 billion years. This means that at that time on Earth, you actually could have seen, more or less, what the Moon today would look like if it was much bigger in the night sky, making pictures like the one below not that crazy of a sight.

Dramatic panorama view of beautiful Big moon with twilight sky and clouds.Image of moon furnished by NASA.

Another interesting thing that I discovered whilst researching for this post is that the gravitational field of the moon is rather chaotic. As I mentioned earlier, the moon has been subject to numerous large impacts throughout its history, and the near side of the moon has a significantly thinner crust than the far side of the moon. This means that impacts to areas of the moon with thinner crust allow for dense mantle material to be drawn up to the surface and create areas of high mass concentration known as “mascons” among scientists. The effect of these mascons on the gravitational field of the Moon are so dramatic that it is incredibly difficult for objects to form stable orbits around the Moon as they constantly dip toward and drift away from the Moon during their orbits. This causes circular orbits to quickly degenerate into elliptical orbits that often even lead to collisions with the Moon.

Overall, despite the Moon being an object that I see almost daily, I have learned that there is still A LOT about it that I don’t completely understand, and honestly, I think that is what makes this mysterious celestial object still so beautiful even after 4.5 billion years

Sources:

How to Find Dark Skies

June 4 2023March 18, 2024

written by Alex Torres

Hey guys! If you are a part of the Astro Society or even just vaguely interested in astronomy, you have probably heard of light pollution. Light pollution is light from manmade sources that make it much more difficult to see stars and especially deep-sky objects in the night sky. Often times in cities, only the brightest stars and planets (as well as the moon) are what you can see because of the haze from all the lights used at night.

However, there are still many good places to go stargazing away from ample light pollution, and I want to provide a few resources for finding those places here in this article. There are two main websites that I use when scouting out a good spot to go stargazing. This link will take you to a map of internationally recognized dark sky locations who have received their recognition due to low light pollution or substantial efforts to reduce light pollution in their area.

This second link is map of light pollution itself. This will help you figure out where there might be a low light pollution location near you, which is really helpful especially if you can’t make it to an international Dark Sky Place. Sadly, the east coast of the U.S. has a LOT of light pollution, but there are still a few good places nearby, and there is always the western part of the United States which I recommend visiting for more than just the dark skies.

Outside of those two links, there are a few places that I want to emphasize for their amazing astronomy conditions. If you have been active in the club, you have probably heard of the John Glenn Astronomy Park located in Hocking Hills. We visit this astronomy location as a club several times a year, and for a location in Ohio, it is a very nice place to do stargazing. On an especially clear night, you can even make out the galactic core of the Milky Way which is a real treat if you have lived in a city your entire life and have never seen it. Additionally, a little further away is Greenbank, West Virginia which the club visits once a year to admire its radio telescopes, but it also happens to have some incredibly dark skies perfect for stargazing. The Astro Society will make our way over there this coming fall, but if you can’t make that trip, I definitely still recommend going yourself. Lastly, my personal favorite spot for stargazing is pretty far away, but the vast amount of stars that you can see more than makes up for how far away it is. It is called Capulin Volcano National Monument in Northeastern New Mexico, and its incredible isolation in addition to its high elevation lets you see more stars than you can count. I took my favorite picture ever there a few years ago which I have included down below.

What’s Up? – June, 2023

June 4 2023March 18, 2024

Constellations, Planets, and Astronomical Events Visible in June 2023

-Written and Compiled by Alyssa Whalen

Happy Summer! In terms of the astronomical calendar, summer begins after the Summer Solstice. This means summer begins on the longest day of the year, June 21st. While all days have about 24 hours, we call the solstices the longest and shortest days due to the amount of daylight we see. The Summer Solstice creates the “longest day” because the Earth’s northern hemisphere is tilted towards the sun. Therefore, the sun will appear higher in the sky, and stay above the horizon for a larger fraction of the day. This causes warmer temperatures and longer stretches of daylight in the northern hemisphere, but it has the opposite effect on the southern hemisphere. On the day of the solstice, there will be approximately 15 hours of daylight in Ohio, but the amount of daylight varies by latitude.

June’s full moon occurs the evening of June 3rd. There are many nicknames the moon has this month, but the most common is the Strawberry Moon. This nickname was given by Native Americans, as this is the time of year when the strawberries would ripen and be ready to harvest. The Rose moon is the Celtic nickname for June’s full moon, since it is the height of the rose blooming season. The new moon occurs on June 18th, so the moon will not be visible in the night sky. The moon is the brightest object in Earth’s sky after the Sun, so the days surrounding the new moon will always be the best times to observe fainter objects. In cities, the light pollution makes the difference between the sky during a new and a full moon very small, but if there is an opportunity to stargaze away from the big cities, the difference is staggering.

A supernova has been spotted in the Pinwheel Galaxy! M101 is located in the constellation Ursa Majoris, and is a popular object for astrophotographers due to the nearly face on spiral arms. The supernova was spotted by amateur astronomers the night of May 19th.

Supernovae occur when a massive star reaches the end of its life. The star’s core becomes unstable, eventually leading to the collapse and explosion of the star. Supernovae are some of the highest energy processes that happen in space, so the event is extremely luminous. The pinwheel galaxy is 21 million light years away, yet the explosion of this star is visible to us with an amateur 4.5 inch telescope. This also means the star we are observing went supernova over 21 million years ago. This is a fairly rare occurrence to witness, as supernovae occur approximately once every 50 years per galaxy.

Mercury is too close to the sun to be observed this month. Since it is the closest planet to the sun, there are only a few select windows of time that it is far enough away to observe properly. Sadly, it won’t be visible again until early August. Venus, however, was in greatest eastern elongation on June 4th. This means Venus is as far away from the sun as possible in our sky. Venus will be 45.5 degrees away from the sun and will appear bright in our evening sky. Greatest elongation is the best time to view Venus, and it will be visible in the western sky between sundown and midnight.

Mars will also have decent observing conditions this month. While not in conjunction (yet), Mars and Venus are very close in the sky this month. Mars is slightly eastward from Venus, and it will be visible in the western sky between sundown and slightly past midnight. Jupiter is finally coming back from its journey behind the sun, though it is still fairly difficult to observe. The signature gas giant will rise around 3 am, so it will be visible for a small window of time in the early morning before sunrise. Saturn continues to rise earlier in the morning, but you’ll still have to get up pretty early. Saturn rises around 1 am, and will have good observing conditions until sunrise. Uranus rises slightly after Jupiter, around 4 am. However, due to its distance from Earth and its position relative to the sun in our sky, it will be nearly impossible to observe. Neptune will rise around 2 am, but, as usual, it is too far away from Earth to view without a telescope or binoculars.

Now that the summer season has returned, so has the milky way’s center returned to our night sky. In Ohio, the milky way’s center is near the southern horizon, but the galaxy’s band stretches across the whole sky. While the milky way is impossible to see in cities due to light pollution (and still difficult to spot with the naked eye in darker skies), there are many reliable ways to spot it for an exposure.

The easiest way to find the Milky Way’s center is through the constellation Sagittarius. The upper body of the centaur is often compared to a teapot, whose spout points directly to Sagittarius A*, which is the supermassive black hole at our galaxy’s center. It is also common to hear that the Milky Way is the steam that floats out of the teapot.

Another way to find the Milky Way is through the constellation Cygnus. Connecting Deneb (the swan’s tail) to Alberio (the swan’s beak) reveals the plane of the Milky Way. An easy way to remember it is that the swan is flying along the milky way towards its center, since Cygnus is one of the easier constellations to identify.

Sources:

https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/@5165418?month=6&year=2023

http://www.seasky.org/astronomy/astronomy-calendar-2023.html

https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/moon/strawberry.html

https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/bright-supernova-blazes-in-m101-the-pinwheel-galaxy/

https://www.space.com/6638-supernova.html

https://stellarium-web.org/

Image Credits:

Orbit Diagram: https://www.weather.gov/cle/Seasons

Pinwheel Galaxy (Supernova): https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

Credit: Craig Stocks

Constellations: https://stellarium-web.org/

Planet Series V: Earth

April 7 2023October 8, 2023

Written by Anonymous Astro Society member who does not want their name associated with this post

Earth: the ultimate astronomer answer to the age-old question “what’s your favorite planet?” At first, this seems really lame…like…how could this be the coolest planet when it seems so mundane (and if you’re like me and have lived in ohio your whole life…kind of shitty from November-May)? Why not somewhere exotic and gassy…like “your anus”—sorry—Uranus? Or adorable and fringe, like Pluto? Or ringed and featuring hexagonal storms, like Saturn? Or hot and sexy like Venus? Or one of the thousands of discovered exoplanets beyond our solar system?

But clearly, Earth is doing something right, if astronomers, arguably those who know the most about extraterrestrial worlds, tend to answer again and again that Earth is the best planet. Or the fact that the reason people care so much about exoplanets is because of exoplaneteers’ search for the fabled Earth Analogue.

Let’s talk about a cool kind of exoplanet for a second—Hot Jupiters! These were discovered by transit surveys like Kepler, which work by looking for dips in stars’ brightnesses caused by planets crossing in front of them (from how much light the planet blocks out, how quickly it orbits, and an estimate for the star’s mass, we can estimate the mass and radius of the planet). Hot Jupiters (large gas giants orbiting really close—I mean closer-than-mercury close—to their host stars) are the easiest planet to discover with the transit method because they block out a lot of light from their host star and transit at high frequency. They’re also a super exciting discovery—who’d have thought there’d be so many gas giants so close to stars—how’d they get there? Our understanding is that the gas giants in our own solar system were only able to form in the cool outskirts (too close to the sun and they’d have evaporated!), so Hot Jupiters must have migrated in somehow!

In contrast, it turns out exo-Earth’s are really hard to find. For a star about the mass and age of our Sun, an exo-Earth would have an orbital radius of about 1 AU, but this means that it only transits its host star once every ~365 days! Not to mention that compared to a Hot Jupiter, an exo-Earth (or really any rocky planet compared to a gas giant) is teeny. So basically, it’s really hard to find Earth analogues–we should be grateful there’s at least one, right?

And don’t even get me started on how hard it would be to travel to an exo-Earth if we found one. All this crap in movies (*cough cough* I’m looking at you, Interstellar) about “we weren’t meant to save the world, we were meant to leave it,” is totally unrealistic. It’s immeasurably easier to just fix Earth (with regard to, like, climate change and stuff) than it is to abandon it.

There are lots of cool physics questions to answer in the search for exo-planets, but……where would we be to seek their answers if not for Earth? The origin of all our knowledge of the universe originates right here, on this planet. Earth should be your favorite planet because without it, where would you be?

As backward as it may seem to the Musk Bros who want to colonize space at all costs, I’m realizing that I fundamentally disagree that turning our focus inward is a bad thing. Because from where would we do all of this gazing up at the universe, if not from our home? I’m not saying curiosity is bad, in fact curiosity is vital and fundamentally human. But our environment is our vessel for curiosity!

Basically, I am grateful to Earth—without it I wouldn’t get to pet dogs or hug my friends or study astronomy or collect pretty rocks or take hot girl walks or drink coffee or listen to music on the bus. Happy Earth Day, Astros.

The Other Astro Word… April, 2023

April 7 2023April 7, 2023

Written by Anthony Will

Friends, foes , and everyone in between, welcome to this month’s trek through the stars with the April edition of The Other Astro Word! For those of you who are here for the first time, or those of you that have successfully avoided this article chain until now, this is a monthly horoscope brought to you by yours truly to lift the veil on the sky and give you a semi-accurate prognosis. Read on to see some of the significant events going on in the sky, and a little fun personal reading as well!

Monthly Update
This month brings a strong surge of energy from the sky above, as we are in eclipse season! Historically, eclipses are a momentous occasion, coinciding with significant events in humanity’s timeline and usually bringing about special significance (If you don’t believe me, just watch Avatar: The Last Airbender). Expect no exception this month, and use this time to live in the moment and move forward. April 11th brings Jupiter and the Sun together to make the “luckiest day of the year”. Plan something meaningful for this time, and use it as a springboard to propel you forward this year.

Horoscopes
This month is full of energy, yet some of it will bring energy of the nervous type, as we close out April with finals. To coincide with that, I’ll drop a little study tip geared at each sign, to maybe bring some comfort in these coming weeks.
***

Aries: Jupiter remains in your sign, so luck is on your side! Apply this to future endeavors and all the emails you need to send. Rely on your strengths, and you’ll sail through.
Study tip for Aries… Don’t just drive through all your work- study breaks are important! Take a second to sip some tea and let those brain muscles rest as you grind out your work.

Taurus: This month shows signs of duality for you. The beginning of the month has Mercury in your sign, inspiring strengths in communication, though Mercury does go retrograde at the end of the month. Pay attention to this, and play into your strengths when they’re at their best.
Study tip for Taurus… Find the perfect spot to study on campus, away from the noise and business of so many places. There are some great spots if you really search, and the location will help with your productivity for sure!

Gemini: Venus enters your sign on the 11th, and this coinciding with the luckiest day promises some luck with love. Focus on the people you care about this month, as it’s the perfect time for you to.
Study tip for Gemini… make a perfect playlist! Find the tunes that match your most productive self and jam out while you work. If heavy metal is too much, rock with some Mozart!

Cancer: Mars enters your sign in this month, pulling you out of your comfort zone and into the battle zone. It may be different being at the forefront of things, but you’ll have some luck throwing yourself at things and taking some risks.
Study tip for Cancer… the time spent not studying is just as important as the time you do. Buy some extra tea and some comfort foods, and TAKE CARE of yourself! Self-care is the cornerstone of good finals grades.

Leo: You connect deeply to the sun astrologically, and it resides in Aries, thus firing you up. This is a perfect time to practice some self-care, and smear that expensive face mask on. Focus on you this month. You deserve it.
Study tip for Leo… It may be hard to find the motivation to kick out some of your work if it seems too challenging. Try your best to chop up the work into smaller bits, and celebrate the smaller victories.

Virgo: This month brings one word to mind – patience. An avid communicator, you may see some frustrations arise when Mercury goes retrograde. Try your best to be patient with yourself as well as with those around you this month, and things will work out.
Study tip for Virgo… The best thing for you this finals season is to not try to overdo. Focus on one thing at a time, and give it your full attention.

Libra: You share a ruling planet with Taurus, and that is the planet of Love, Venus. It travels into Taurus this month, so expect some luck surrounding those you care about, and put some time into these relationships!
Study tip for Libra… Focus on the time you spend while you study. Put in enough time to get work done, but don’t forget to schedule time in for talking with family and spending time with friends as well as yourself. Use and honor your schedule.

Scorpio: This is a very solid and stable month for you. Your ruling planets are chilled out this month, so expect some peace and quiet. Expect a drive towards others as well, and momentum that gears you towards helping others and donating your time.
Study tip for Scorpio… No one will be able to help you as much as yourself when you study. Find a place to hole up, shut down and focus on your work. Focus on the location you work best, and go there.

Sagittarius: You’ll be adding fire to fire this month. Your ruling planet Jupiter resides in Aries, so expect to be amped all through April. Lean into that drive to try new things and go new places.
Study tip for Sagittarius… Don’t do too much. Make sure that when you plan out your work, it is able to be done in a day and you don’t overwork.

Capricorn: With Saturn in Pisces, you’ll feel a difference within, and potentially the feeling that you’re out of your comfort zone. Embrace that. Use this time to pay attention to your emotions and be honest with how you feel. Be open.
Study tip for Capricorn… Get a drive to study! Set goals for yourself while you work, whether it’s a grade you want of an amount of progress you want to make. Challenge yourself and your friends.

Aquarius: With Pluto hanging out in your sign still, you may feel rebellious. Pluto’s rebel vibes blend well with your search for justice, and you may feel a particular affinity towards speaking up against injustice. Whether this deals with the news or a rude customer or friend drama, you know how to stick up for yourself and others this month.
Study tip for Aquarius… You work well in a group, but it’s also important to know when you need to work by yourself. Plan study time with friends and also make sure to work alone, and sort out the work you can get done accordingly.

Pisces: This is the time to let your brain go crazy! Imagination will run rampant all through this month with your ruling planet, Neptune, in your sign. With illusion at the forefront, it may be a bit confusing and strange, but use this time to let your creativity shine.
Study tip for Pisces… Don’t procrastinate. I know, I know… it’s hard. But take a minute every, say, 15 minutes or so and plan how to continue your work. Little by little, all the way.

What’s Up? April, 2023

April 1 2023

Constellations, Planets, and Astronomical Events Visible in April, 2023

Written and Compiled by Alyssa Whalen

April is Global Astronomy Month! Every April, Astronomers Without Borders encourages everyone to go out and observe. Astronomers Without Borders is a nonprofit organization that focuses on astronomy outreach. Their goal is to study and share the wonders of the universe across the borders of nations, so that everyone has a chance to experience our night sky. To learn more about Astronomers Without Borders, visit their website here.

Spring is officially here! While the weather in Ohio doesn’t always show it, the astronomical start of the spring season is behind us. The vernal equinox occurred on March 21, so from now until the autumnal equinox in September, the sun will shine more hours per day than the stars. While this does mean less time for observing every night, the nicer weather will make staying out late much more comfortable. This month the sun rises around 6:55 am and sets around 8:10 pm; although, the exact time changes slightly, since approximately 2 minutes and 30 seconds of daylight is added everyday.

The full moon rises early this month on April 6th. April’s full moon has many names, but the most popular is the Pink Moon. This has nothing to do with the moon’s color; instead, it is because this time of year is when the first flowers of spring bloom. For many Native American tribes, this was the wild ground phlox, a vibrant pink flower, hence the nickname Pink Moon. The coastal tribes nicknamed April’s full moon the Fish Moon, because this is when the American shad fish swam upstream to spawn. The new moon and darkest skies this month occur on April 20th. With a little luck with weather, the days around this time will be the best times to observe.

The Lyrids meteor shower is visible this month. This meteor shower runs annually from April 16th – 25th; this year, it peaks on the night of April 22nd with an expected 20 meteors per hour. The radiant point of the meteor shower is between the constellations Lyra and Hercules, which will be on the eastern horizon after 11:00 pm. It will be best observed after midnight, as the radiant point will become higher in the sky as the night goes on.

Mercury is at its greatest eastern elongation this month on April 11th. This means Mercury will be at its highest elevation in the sky just after sundown. Mercury is typically difficult to observe due to its proximity to the sun, but it will be in its best observing conditions during greatest elongation. It will be visible in mid-April, and it will be above the horizon from sunset until 9:45 pm. Venus is also visible after sundown for a few hours before it sets around 11:30 pm. Beside the sun and moon, Venus is the brightest object visible in our sky; it is brighter than the stars and the other planets during the intervals it is far enough from the sun to be visible

Currently, a straight line can be drawn from Earth to Jupiter through the sun. Jupiter is completely obscured, and will not be visible in the night sky this month. As the planets move through their orbits, Jupiter will eventually drift westward from the sun from our perspective on Earth, so it will creep above the horizon before sunrise, but it will not be observable again until June. But, just as we lose one gas giant, the other finds its way back into our sky. Saturn will be visible in the later part of April as it finishes its journey behind the sun. It rises at 3 am, about 4 hours before sunrise, but it will still be close to the horizon, and therefore difficult to observe until May. As the year progresses, it will rise earlier in the morning, so it will be easier to observe.

Mars can currently be found within the constellation Gemini, which will be in the western sky at sundown. It is only above the horizon for half the night, as it will set around 1:20 am, but it will be perfectly visible in that time given clear weather conditions. Uranus is already below the horizon by the time the sky is dark enough, and Neptune will rise close to Saturn, but its proximity to the sun and large distance from Earth will make it nearly impossible to observe. Both ice giants require very dark skies and clear conditions to view. Even with that, they cannot be seen with the unaided eye due to their distance from Earth.

It’s time to start saying goodbye to our favorite winter constellations. Orion and Taurus are on the western horizon around 10pm, so they will only be visible for a few hours after sunset. Without the famous hunter to guide us, we have to turn northward to the tried-and-true pointer stars in Ursa Major.

The Big Dipper, made up of a section of stars within Ursa Major, is the most popular navigational tool in the northern hemisphere’s sky. At Ohio’s latitude, it will never set below the horizon at any point throughout the year, so it is usable year round. In April, The Big Dipper will be found eastward from Polaris after sundown, and it will revolve counterclockwise around the North Star as the night goes on. Once you have found the Big and Little Dippers, Draco the Dragon weaves between the two ladles toward the northeastern horizon. Later in the night, around midnight, the constellations Hercules, Lyra and Cygnus will rise on the eastern horizon. These three constellations can be found by following Draco to the dragon’s head. This will also put you in the prime location to view the Lyrids meteor shower after midnight on April 22nd.

Pictured Below: The northeastern night sky at midnight the morning of April 15th

Sources:

https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/sights-to-see.html

https://my.astronomerswithoutborders.org/home

https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/@5165418?month=4&year=2023

http://www.seasky.org/astronomy/astronomy-calendar-2023.html

https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/night/@5165418

https://in-the-sky.org/news.php?id=20230423_10_100

https://stellarium-web.org/

Image credits:

Mercury: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/mercury

Venus: Brocken Inaglory: https://www.jacksonville.com/story/lifestyle/2018/05/04/looking-up-venus-and-jupiter-share-evening/12312263007/

Lyrids Meteor Shower :https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/lyrid-meteor-shower-back-here-s-how-see-april-s-ncna993891

Lyrids Radiant Point: https://in-the-sky.org/news.php?id=20230423_10_100

Constellations: https://stellarium-web.org/

The Other Astro Word… March, 2023

March 3 2023March 4, 2023

Written by Anth Will

Welcome to March! Oh, and also your cosmic awakening. This is “The Other Astro Word”- a monthly zodiac update guaranteed to entertain, inform, and poke ya right in your third eye! I know the onslaught of midterms and drab February weather may have you looking for a positive sign. Well, I’ve got 12 of them right here, and I gotta say, it’s looking god. Read on to see what the planetary positions mean for you and your spring break outlook.

Monthly Update

As we are all well informed (and if you’re not, just ask Kaia), Pluto is not technically considered a planet right now, to the dismay of many astronomers (if you can’t find any that are upset by this, just ask Kaia). While poor little Pluto may not make much of a dent in our planetary classification in 2023, it has a MAJOR impact on the zodiac! For the first time since 2008, Pluto will leave Capricorn and enter the forward-thinking Aquarius, shifting the mindset of society for another 20-some years. Saturn also enters pisces this month, both a planet and a sign connected to endings. Expect some changes that may seem abrupt, and face this shift head on. With the double punch of Pluto and Saturn, this month is pretty pivotal from a stellar standpoint. It’s also retrograde-free however, which gives you a great opportunity to face March head-on, and carpe that diem!

Horoscopes
A month featuring a glorious, wonderful week to breathe and unwind calls for a locationthemed blurb in addition to your horoscope. If you haven’t planned your spring break
trip yet (looking at you Gemini), here’s an idea of where to go!

Aries: Venus and Jupiter are in your sign throughout this month, so listen to your heart, and pay attention to your personal wants and needs. Luck is on your side! Not just because of St. Patrick’s Day. That’s a bonus.

The perfect travel spot for Aries… Yosemite, to free solo El Capitan with no prior experience.

Taurus: This month kicks off with a very reflective vibe for you… this, paired with Jupiter and Venus in your rest sector give off a social focus for this month. Who do you want to be, and be with? Answer some of these questions with the sunrise and a cup of coffee.

The perfect travel spot for Taurus… Florence, Italy, to gaze at Botticelli and sample Chianti like you’ve always wanted to.

Gemini: This pivotal moment throws you right at the border between social and personal life. Mingle like crazy, meet new people and be active! This is another way of saying you should totally go to the physics mixer and play some board games. It’s sooooo worth it.

The perfect travel spot for Gemini… the twin cities! Get it, because of your sign? But actually, super cool city spot to spend a week.

Cancer: This is the month of planning for you, Cancer. All this pivotal change happening this month makes it a fantastic opportunity for you to look ahead to the summer and beyond, get your career ambitions in order, and buy that book you’ve always wanted.

The perfect travel spot for Cancer… a lakeside retreat in the middle of nowhere, to breathe, relax, and read that book you just bought.

Leo: Focus on the journey this month, Leo. Use this month of change to branch out, find new parts of yourself and your social and professional life. Focus on the lessons, and use them moving forward.

The perfect travel spot for Leo… Yellowstone National Park, where you can fill your socials with scenic locations… and pictures of yourself too, probably.

Virgo: This month may bring forward the uncomfortable feeling you get when it’s time for growth. You will see this month bring a personal goal to the forefront, and maybe even get it crossed off. Keep up the hard work.

The perfect travel spot for Virgo… anywhere you can get a fantastic massage, and get those muscles you’ve been tensing for the past couple months rolled out.

Libra: You really get to enjoy the changes happening through this month. Expect joy in your social life and the connections you make with others. Appreciate the time you have,
and make the most of it.

The perfect travel spot for Libra… Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Let the stress of midterms and the relaxation of the beach balance like your scales.

Scorpio: You have been in the groove all year, Scorpio. This month won’t change that. Expect a positive light to shine on your productivity, and ease to flow through your
hardships. Go with the flow.

The perfect travel spot for Scorpio… a city road trip to a concert that you said you’d never pay that much for. Treat yourself, as long as it isn’t $1,000 Taylor tickets.

Sagittarius: Take advantage of this time of change. Dance to the beat of a new song this month, as it’s the perfect time to. Pay attention to shifts in your personal life, and follow your instincts.

The perfect travel spot for Sagittarius… South America, on a monthlong expedition to find and unearth an ancient artifact.

Capricorn: March is the month of the mind for you. Get lost in your head. Expand your thoughts and wants, and pay little attention to idle conversation. Make everything important.

The perfect travel spot for Capricorn… New York City, for a fantastic and slightly overpriced meal.

Aquarius: Pluto joins your sign in the sky this month, which is absolutely huge for you. This transformative process may affect all parts of you, and shake your foundation.
Hang on. This is how it’s meant to be.

The perfect travel spot for Aquarius… Mammoth Cave National Park, to get lost in nature, both above and below the ground.

Pisces: You may feel personal pressure in this month of change and shifts. Find a time to treat yourself, even if it’s in a small way.You have spent a lot of time focused on healing, and now use that time you spent to push yourself in a direction of growth.

The perfect travel spot for Pisces… Mesa Verde National Park, for your to tap into your psychic nature and decipher the geoglyphs of civilization long ago.

Planet Series IV: Neptune

March 3 2023

Written by Nicole Fedor

“rain-diamonds … bears the light beneath the rifted clouds – the invisible shared out in endless abundance” – Denise Levertov

Noble Neptune… or should we say Not-so-Near Neptune, as the farthermost major planet in our Solar System. Being ~4.5 billion kilometers (~2.8 billion miles) away from Earth, it’s understandable that this planet was hard to come by. It wasn’t even known to exist until mathematical speculations and predictions – about something mysterious affecting outer Solar System gravity interactions – arose in the 1800s. And it wasn’t actually observed until 1846 with the use of precise predictions to where this small blue speck would be in the sky. Let’s take a 12 year journey (at least, if we were as precisely launched as Voyager 2 was), to get a closer look at this incredible planet!

Some basic facts right off the bat: it’s blue, it’s big, and it’s cold… who woulda thought! Neptune is one of the Solar System’s two “ice giants” (fitting name for it and Uranus), and one of the three “blue marbles” (Earth being one of them along with Uranus once again). In my opinion, Neptune is the best bluest of the blue, it’s just such a pretty shade! You can thank its thick atmosphere made up of hydrogen, helium, and methane (which absorb red light and reflect blue) for that. But why is it called an ”ice giant” if I listed elements that are usually gases? Well the gas that is present on the surface transits into a slushy ice and liquid as you go further down towards its center. The very low temperatures slow down the atoms to turn these elements into a liquidly state. This water-ammonia mush ocean serves as the planet’s mantle, then there’s an Earth-mass rocky/metal core. This ocean/atmosphere somehow creates such huge storms and wild weather, like raining diamonds due to high pressures deep in the mush, that it is still somewhat of a mystery. And even if I said Neptune is big, that’s just relative to Earth-scales, it’s actually the smallest (in physical size) gas/ice giant. But it’s big enough to have a decent gravitational impact on Uranus that made scientists look for its mysterious presence in the first place!

One of my favorite things about Neptune is its rings, yes it has rings!! They are so faint, that they weren’t discovered until more than 100 years after the planet’s discovery. But I find them very classy. There are 5 distinct rings – Galle, Le Verrier, Lassell, Arago, and Adams – all named after some guys (guys who discovered important insights about the planet). One of the rings, Adams, has “arcs” (aka areas where material tends to clump up more), three of which are named Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity, how nice. The particles of the rings are small and radiation baked, and usually only seen when light reflects the thicker clumped arcs. Stay classy with those dainty rings, Neptune.

One more thing, its moons! Oh Neptunian moons, named after Greek mythological water deities, so fitting. There are 14 distinct named ones: Naiad, Thalassa, Despina, Galatea, Larissa, Hippocamp, Proteus, Triton, Nereid, Halimede, Sao, Laomedeia, Psamathe, and Neso. The most famous and largest (~ the size of our Moon) moon out of these being Triton, which is a character in of itself. I would need a whole other article to write about Triton, so I’ll save its interesting quirks for now.

And that does it for Neptune itself. A big beautiful blue ball! Thanks for reading, and stay on the lookout for falling diamonds on this rainy day!

What’s Up? March, 2023

March 3 2023March 3, 2023

Constellations, Planets, and Astronomical Events Visible in March 2023

Written and Compiled by Alyssa Whalen

Happy spring season everyone! The astronomical start of the season is marked by the vernal equinox which occurs March 20th, but we’ll have to wait and see whether the weather will reflect the season. The vernal (spring) equinox is a special point in Earth’s orbit around the sun where the Earth’s tilt is perpendicular to the sun. The two equinoxes are most widely known for being the two days out of the year when the sun spends the same amount of time above the horizon as it does below. So from March 20th until the autumnal equinox in September, the sun will be shining more than the stars are out every day.

March’s full moon rises the night of March 7th this year. As March is the start of the spring season, classically tied to warming weather and rainfall, Native Americans named the full moon the Worm moon. This season’s changing weather softened the ground, so earthworms are commonly found on the surface. March’s new moon occurs just after the vernal equinox on the night of the 21st. The dark skies during this time are the best nights to observe fainter objects, but the best views will be found far away from city lights.

Venus and Jupiter are at their closest approach on March 2nd! The two planets will be visible after sundown at 6:30 until the planets set around 9 pm. Weather permitting, the planets will be clearly visible with the naked eye and binoculars, but they are still too far apart to be viewed together using a telescope. The lunar occultation of Venus also occurs later this month on the 24th. A lunar occultation is when an object is obscured by the moon from our perspective on Earth. The occultation itself will not be visible from Ohio, but we will be able to see Venus approach the moon that night.

Saturn is slowly peeking out from behind the sun in the early mornings. Later in the month, Saturn rises before sunrise at around 6 am, but will vanish after the sun rises. Mercury and Neptune are currently too close to the sun from our point of view on Earth to see. Uranus will be visible in the early part of the month, but it will be difficult to spot without a telescope. Conversely, Mars will be perfectly visible to the unaided eye from sunset until it sets around 3 am.

The γ-Normid meteor shower peaks in the morning of March 15th in the constellation Norma. The radiant point of the shower is on the horizon in the southern sky, which makes the shower difficult to view, but it is still possible to see meteors throughout the sky at a much lower rate. The constellation is below the horizon until early in the morning, and at this time of year it will not be fully above the horizon, so the best time to view the meteor shower will be between 5:00 am and sunrise at 7:45.

As we transition to the spring season, I want to take this opportunity to discuss popular guide stars that are up this season. These stars are bright enough to be seen in even Columbus’ night sky, and they can be used to orient yourself as you stargaze.

The most popular constellation this time of year is Orion the hunter, which can be found in the southern/southwestern sky at sundown. It is most often recognized by “Orion’s Belt”, the three stars in the center of the constellation. Above the belt is the bright star Betelgeuse (left shoulder), and below the belt is Rigel (right foot). Following the belt westward leads to the bright star Aldebaran in the constellation Taurus, and following the belt eastward leads to Sirius in the constellation Canis Major, the brightest star in our sky. Drawing a line between Rigel and Betelgeuse, and following it further overhead will point you directly to the constellation Gemini, with its characteristic twin bright stars Castor and Pollux. Castor is the brighter of the two stars, and Pollux is the slightly dimmer star further eastward. The bright star east of Orion, between Gemini and Canis Major is Procyon in Canis Minor