Jimmy Westlake:
"“By far the noblest (sight) astronomy affords.”
That’s how Sir Edmund Halley of Halley’s Comet fame described one of nature’s rarest astronomical events — a transit of the planet Venus across the face of the sun. You won’t want to miss the only chance in your lifetime to see this noble sight on June 5.
In centuries past, transits of both Venus and Mercury were important events because astronomers could use the timings to estimate the sizes of these planets and their distances from Earth. Nowadays, these sizes and distances are well established. Modern astronomers search for the transits of undiscovered planets in front of other distant stars. Studying transits in our own solar system helps them know what to look for when observing distant suns.
In effect, a transit is a miniature version of an annular eclipse of the sun, with Venus rather than the moon crossing the sun’s face. Even more rare than the once-every-76-year passages of Mr. Halley’s comet, transits of Venus occur in pairs separated by more than a century. The two transits in each pair are eight years apart. There were no transits of Venus in the 20th century, with the previous pair happening in 1874 and 1882....." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetic pursuit and tracking of patterns within the news others make since 2010."
Showing posts with label Jimmy Westlake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jimmy Westlake. Show all posts
May 29, 2012
May 22, 2012
SandBoxBlogs: Summit County Citizens Voice "Jimmy Westlake: Partial lunar eclipse on horizon"
All credit Jimmy Westlake:
"In an eerie re-creation of last December’s sunrise lunar eclipse, the full moon once again will slip into the Earth’s dark shadow by the dawn’s early light on the morning of June 4. This eclipse, however, will not be total for anyone on Earth. It is a partial eclipse of the moon, which means the moon’s path only takes it through the edge of the Earth’s shadow, not completely into it.
An eclipse of the moon occurs when the moon passes through the Earth’s long shadow cast into space, either partially or totally. This can occur only during the full moon phase when the moon is opposite the sun in our sky, but it doesn’t happen at every full moon because of the 5-degree tilt of the moon’s orbit relative to the Earth’s orbit. The full moon usually passes slightly above or slightly below the shadow cone of the Earth.
June’s full moon is known in folklore as the Flower Moon. It will rise at sunset on the evening of June 3 and will show no hint of an eclipse until just before 4 a.m. the next morning. That’s when the lower-left edge of the moon will begin to darken as it enters the Earth’s umbral shadow. Then it becomes a race against sunrise as dawn brightens the sky. Maximum eclipse happens at 5:03 a.m. when 37 percent of the Flower Moon will be shadowed. The sun will rise at about 5:39 a.m. and the partially eclipsed moon will set only nine minutes later, at 5:48 a.m....." (Read more? Click title)
"In an eerie re-creation of last December’s sunrise lunar eclipse, the full moon once again will slip into the Earth’s dark shadow by the dawn’s early light on the morning of June 4. This eclipse, however, will not be total for anyone on Earth. It is a partial eclipse of the moon, which means the moon’s path only takes it through the edge of the Earth’s shadow, not completely into it.
An eclipse of the moon occurs when the moon passes through the Earth’s long shadow cast into space, either partially or totally. This can occur only during the full moon phase when the moon is opposite the sun in our sky, but it doesn’t happen at every full moon because of the 5-degree tilt of the moon’s orbit relative to the Earth’s orbit. The full moon usually passes slightly above or slightly below the shadow cone of the Earth.
June’s full moon is known in folklore as the Flower Moon. It will rise at sunset on the evening of June 3 and will show no hint of an eclipse until just before 4 a.m. the next morning. That’s when the lower-left edge of the moon will begin to darken as it enters the Earth’s umbral shadow. Then it becomes a race against sunrise as dawn brightens the sky. Maximum eclipse happens at 5:03 a.m. when 37 percent of the Flower Moon will be shadowed. The sun will rise at about 5:39 a.m. and the partially eclipsed moon will set only nine minutes later, at 5:48 a.m....." (Read more? Click title)
May 15, 2012
SandBoxBlogs: Steamboat Today " Jimmy Westlake: The Centaur peeks in"
All credit Jimmy Westlake:
"Centaurs figured heavily in the mythology of the ancient Greeks — so much so that two of them are immortalized in the stars as our constellations of Sagittarius the Archer and Centaurus the Centaur. The legend of these half-man, half-horse beasts might have originated when someone long ago first saw humans on horseback and imagined them to be some sort of human-equine hybrid.
Centaurus is one of our most ancient constellations, first mentioned in Greek literature from the fourth century BC. It is thought to represent the centaur named Chiron. He was a wise old centaur that served as the personal tutor of Greek heroes like Hercules, Theseus and Jason.
During one of Hercules’ many rowdy scuffles, Chiron accidentally was nicked by one of Hercules’ poisoned arrows. Being immortal, Chiron could not die, but the agony of the wound was so severe that he begged Zeus to revoke his immortality. This Zeus did, and Chiron was mercifully allowed to die. Zeus then immortalized the image of Chiron among the stars as our constellation of Centaurus...."
(Read more? Click title)
"Centaurs figured heavily in the mythology of the ancient Greeks — so much so that two of them are immortalized in the stars as our constellations of Sagittarius the Archer and Centaurus the Centaur. The legend of these half-man, half-horse beasts might have originated when someone long ago first saw humans on horseback and imagined them to be some sort of human-equine hybrid.
Centaurus is one of our most ancient constellations, first mentioned in Greek literature from the fourth century BC. It is thought to represent the centaur named Chiron. He was a wise old centaur that served as the personal tutor of Greek heroes like Hercules, Theseus and Jason.
During one of Hercules’ many rowdy scuffles, Chiron accidentally was nicked by one of Hercules’ poisoned arrows. Being immortal, Chiron could not die, but the agony of the wound was so severe that he begged Zeus to revoke his immortality. This Zeus did, and Chiron was mercifully allowed to die. Zeus then immortalized the image of Chiron among the stars as our constellation of Centaurus...."
(Read more? Click title)
May 8, 2012
SandBoxBlogs: Steamboat Today "Jimmy Westlake: ‘Super moon’ or super hype?"
Could our favorite astronomer, Jimmy Westlake have missed the real point??
That the stir amongst the folks over the 'supermoon' was because of its beauty?
That they can't remember a previous 'supermoon' that looked so close to the earth?
He's entitled to a miss just like anyone else. Today's morning photo is Westlake's not so pretty but the most interesting shot of last weekend's 'supermoon'.
Jimmy Westlake:
"I can’t help but chuckle a little when the news media pick up on a rather mundane celestial event and blow it way out of proportion. Such was the case with this past weekend’s so-called “super moon.” I heard one TV talking head announce that the moon would look 60 percent larger than normal in our sky. Let me see if
I can help set the record straight.
Of course, we have a full moon once every month, so nothing is unusual about that. Occasionally, two full moons will fall into one calendar month, and this non-event is dubbed by some as a “blue moon.” Unusual?
Yes, but nothing to get all that excited about. And because of the moon’s non-circular orbit around the Earth, it swings in to its perigee, or closest point to Earth, once per month, then swings out to its apogee, or farthest point from Earth, also every month. Happens every month, so nothing unusual about that, either....." (Read more? Click title)
Photo Credit: Jimmy Westlake
That the stir amongst the folks over the 'supermoon' was because of its beauty?
That they can't remember a previous 'supermoon' that looked so close to the earth?
He's entitled to a miss just like anyone else. Today's morning photo is Westlake's not so pretty but the most interesting shot of last weekend's 'supermoon'.
Jimmy Westlake:
"I can’t help but chuckle a little when the news media pick up on a rather mundane celestial event and blow it way out of proportion. Such was the case with this past weekend’s so-called “super moon.” I heard one TV talking head announce that the moon would look 60 percent larger than normal in our sky. Let me see if
I can help set the record straight.
Of course, we have a full moon once every month, so nothing is unusual about that. Occasionally, two full moons will fall into one calendar month, and this non-event is dubbed by some as a “blue moon.” Unusual?
Yes, but nothing to get all that excited about. And because of the moon’s non-circular orbit around the Earth, it swings in to its perigee, or closest point to Earth, once per month, then swings out to its apogee, or farthest point from Earth, also every month. Happens every month, so nothing unusual about that, either....." (Read more? Click title)
Photo Credit: Jimmy Westlake
April 24, 2012
SandBoxBlogs: Steamboat Today " Jimmy Westlake: The Crow and the Cup"
"There’s a single Greek legend that links all three of these constellations together. In it, Corvus is the beloved pet bird of the sun god Apollo, whose day job was driving the fiery chariot of the sun across the sky. One hot summer day, Apollo grew very thirsty and sent his beautiful white-feathered bird Corvus to fetch a drink of water from a nearby well. The bird flew off with the best of intentions, carrying Apollo’s cup, but along the way to the well, Corvus was distracted by a fig tree and stopped to eat his fill of the sweet fruit. Realizing that he had tarried too long and that his master would be angry, Corvus concocted an alibi. He scooped up a scrawny little water snake in his beak, and flew back to Apollo with the empty cup, explaining that the water snake had prevented him from reaching the well. Apollo was furious at this feeble lie and cursed the bird so severely that his white feathers turned jet black. He then tossed all three — the Crow the Cup and the Water Snake — into the sky and transformed them into stars. There, Corvus the Crow suffers eternal thirst as Hydra the Water Snake prevents him from drinking any water from the Crater the Cup.
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
Jimmy Westlake teaches astronomy and physics at Colorado Mountain College’s Alpine Campus. Check out his website at http://www.jwestlake.com./..." (Read more? Click title)
April 17, 2012
SandBoxBlogs: Steamboat Today "Jimmy Westlake: Saturn and a shower of meteors"
One of our most favorite guys. Professor Jimmy Westlake. Down and over on Steamboat Today.
Jimmy Westlake:
"April not only brings snow and rain showers to the mountains of Northwest Colorado, it also brings the annual Lyrid meteor shower. A shower of meteors, or shooting stars, happens whenever the Earth crosses the trail of an old comet that has filled with tiny dust particles. These dust grains hit the Earth’s atmosphere at speeds of up to 30 miles per second, causing them to get so hot they burn up in a streak of light about 60 miles over our heads.
On any given night of the year, a single observer can expect to see five or six meteors per hour of sky watching, but on the night of a meteor shower, that number can rise considerably. This month, on the night of April 21, the Earth will pass through the dusty river left by Comet Thatcher, creating as many as 20 beautiful shooting stars per hour. You can see them in any part of the sky, but you’ll have your best view facing the northeastern sky at about midnight. The meteors will seem to fan out from a point near the bright star Vega in the constellation of Lyra, so they are called Lyrid meteors.
Remember, more meteors are seen after midnight than before midnight, so roll out that warm sleeping bag, kick back in a lounge chair or in the back of a truck, and watch the celestial fireworks April 21....."
(Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
Jimmy Westlake:
"April not only brings snow and rain showers to the mountains of Northwest Colorado, it also brings the annual Lyrid meteor shower. A shower of meteors, or shooting stars, happens whenever the Earth crosses the trail of an old comet that has filled with tiny dust particles. These dust grains hit the Earth’s atmosphere at speeds of up to 30 miles per second, causing them to get so hot they burn up in a streak of light about 60 miles over our heads.
On any given night of the year, a single observer can expect to see five or six meteors per hour of sky watching, but on the night of a meteor shower, that number can rise considerably. This month, on the night of April 21, the Earth will pass through the dusty river left by Comet Thatcher, creating as many as 20 beautiful shooting stars per hour. You can see them in any part of the sky, but you’ll have your best view facing the northeastern sky at about midnight. The meteors will seem to fan out from a point near the bright star Vega in the constellation of Lyra, so they are called Lyrid meteors.
Remember, more meteors are seen after midnight than before midnight, so roll out that warm sleeping bag, kick back in a lounge chair or in the back of a truck, and watch the celestial fireworks April 21....."
(Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
February 21, 2012
SandBox Comments: Steamboat Today "Jimmy Westlake Time to take up the slack"
Jimmy Westlake:
"Have you ever wondered why February has only 28 days most years but occasionally has 29 days, as it does this year? This whole leap year thing started back in the days of the Roman Empire under the reign of Julius Caesar. Even that long ago, astronomers realized that there weren’t a whole number of days in a year.
The Earth rotates 365 and one-quarter times in a year. Because it wouldn’t make any sense to have the last day of the year be only six hours long, Julius Caesar decreed in 44 B.C. that we would let the quarter-days days accumulate and then add in one whole day — a leap day — every fourth year. This would take up the slack between our calendar and Earth’s actual orbit around the sun. This calendar reform by Caesar assumed that the year was exactly 365.25 days long, but it isn’t. It’s really 365.2422 days long, about 11 minutes and 14 seconds shorter than Caesar assumed. So, using Caesar’s method, we were adding in too many leap days throughout the years. By the 1500s, all those 11 minutes and 14 seconds had added up to a full 10 days on the calendar, causing the vernal equinox, or first day of spring, to shift from March 21 to March 11.
If that error continued, we’d eventually be celebrating the first day of spring in December..."
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
"Have you ever wondered why February has only 28 days most years but occasionally has 29 days, as it does this year? This whole leap year thing started back in the days of the Roman Empire under the reign of Julius Caesar. Even that long ago, astronomers realized that there weren’t a whole number of days in a year.
The Earth rotates 365 and one-quarter times in a year. Because it wouldn’t make any sense to have the last day of the year be only six hours long, Julius Caesar decreed in 44 B.C. that we would let the quarter-days days accumulate and then add in one whole day — a leap day — every fourth year. This would take up the slack between our calendar and Earth’s actual orbit around the sun. This calendar reform by Caesar assumed that the year was exactly 365.25 days long, but it isn’t. It’s really 365.2422 days long, about 11 minutes and 14 seconds shorter than Caesar assumed. So, using Caesar’s method, we were adding in too many leap days throughout the years. By the 1500s, all those 11 minutes and 14 seconds had added up to a full 10 days on the calendar, causing the vernal equinox, or first day of spring, to shift from March 21 to March 11.
If that error continued, we’d eventually be celebrating the first day of spring in December..."
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
January 24, 2012
SandBox Comments: Steamboat Today "Jimmy Westlake: The sweet influences of the Pleiades"
"Steamboat Springs — High overhead as darkness falls on cold January evenings is a tiny cluster of stars that is often mistaken for the Little Dipper.
Although it does have a dipper shape, with a tiny little bowl and a tiny little handle, its real name is the Pleiades star cluster. It is the 45th object in Charles Messier’s famous catalog of comet look-alikes (M45), and is popularly known as the Seven Sisters. In Japan, it is called the Subaru. A likeness of the Pleiades star cluster adorns every Subaru car out there on the road.
A person with average vision should have no difficulty in seeing the six brightest stars in the Pleiades and a bit of careful searching should reveal a seventh faint star, as well. A person with exceptional eyesight might make out as many as eight, nine or even 10 stars with their unaided eye. How many can you see?..."
(Jimmy Westlake)
(Learn more? Click title. Comment to discuss)
Although it does have a dipper shape, with a tiny little bowl and a tiny little handle, its real name is the Pleiades star cluster. It is the 45th object in Charles Messier’s famous catalog of comet look-alikes (M45), and is popularly known as the Seven Sisters. In Japan, it is called the Subaru. A likeness of the Pleiades star cluster adorns every Subaru car out there on the road.
A person with average vision should have no difficulty in seeing the six brightest stars in the Pleiades and a bit of careful searching should reveal a seventh faint star, as well. A person with exceptional eyesight might make out as many as eight, nine or even 10 stars with their unaided eye. How many can you see?..."
(Jimmy Westlake)
(Learn more? Click title. Comment to discuss)
January 16, 2012
SandBox Comments: Summit County Citizens Voice "New surveys find plenty of planets in Milky Way"
sigh....sips her tea....sighs again....
....wonder if any of these are capable of sustaining human life and if so, how does one get there?
"SUMMIT COUNTY — The Milky Way likely has a huge number of planets that may be similar to Earth in some ways, according to one of the latest surveys of the galaxy.
“We used to think that the Earth might be unique in our galaxy. But now it seems that there are literally billions of planets with masses similar to Earth orbiting stars in the Milky Way,” said Daniel Kubas, one of the author of the research paper published last week in Nature.
The data from six years of research suggests that one in six of the stars studied hosts a planet of similar mass to Jupiter, half have Neptune-mass planets and two thirds have super-Earths...."
(Read the article? Click title. Comment to discuss)
....wonder if any of these are capable of sustaining human life and if so, how does one get there?
"SUMMIT COUNTY — The Milky Way likely has a huge number of planets that may be similar to Earth in some ways, according to one of the latest surveys of the galaxy.
“We used to think that the Earth might be unique in our galaxy. But now it seems that there are literally billions of planets with masses similar to Earth orbiting stars in the Milky Way,” said Daniel Kubas, one of the author of the research paper published last week in Nature.
The data from six years of research suggests that one in six of the stars studied hosts a planet of similar mass to Jupiter, half have Neptune-mass planets and two thirds have super-Earths...."
(Read the article? Click title. Comment to discuss)
January 13, 2012
SandBox Comments: Steamboat Today "Jimmy Westlake: Viewing Venus"
"Steamboat Springs — Venus, the lovely evening star, is dominating our evening sky right now. She is the first “star” that you’ll see pop out of the evening twilight, so feel free to make a wish on her. The only other object that you might confuse for Venus is the planet Jupiter, which is halfway across the sky from Venus and not quite as bright.
Venus appears so dazzling in our sky for a couple of reasons: First and foremost, Venus is covered in very reflective clouds so that she gleams like a mirror in the sunshine. Second, Venus is relatively close to Earth right now, just more than one astronomical unit away. That distance will decrease during the coming weeks, and Venus will become even brighter in our sky — a blazing star in the evening twilight.
Here are some of the celestial highlights involving Venus this winter and spring while she is in our evening sky:...."
(Jimmy Westlake)
(Read the rest? Click title. Comment to discuss)
Venus appears so dazzling in our sky for a couple of reasons: First and foremost, Venus is covered in very reflective clouds so that she gleams like a mirror in the sunshine. Second, Venus is relatively close to Earth right now, just more than one astronomical unit away. That distance will decrease during the coming weeks, and Venus will become even brighter in our sky — a blazing star in the evening twilight.
Here are some of the celestial highlights involving Venus this winter and spring while she is in our evening sky:...."
(Jimmy Westlake)
(Read the rest? Click title. Comment to discuss)
January 4, 2012
SandBox Comments: Summit County Citizens Voice "Sky Watching: Happy Perihelion!"
Bob Berwyn isn't our fav astronomer guy. Professor Jimmy Westlake, over on Steamboat Today is our absolutely best fav 'star man'.
But...Berwyn does put out some good posts on what's happening in the galaxy. This one is quite interesting.
"SUMMIT COUNTY — It may not be quite as sexy as the recent lunar eclipse, or as spectacular as this morning’s meteor shower, but Earth nonetheless experiences another celestial milestone today when it reaches it’s closest point to the sun during its 365-day orbit.
To be precise, at perihelion, our planet will close in to within about 91 million miles of the sun, more than 3 million miles closer than at the early July aphelion, when the the Earth and sun are more than 94 million miles apart. All this because, of course, the Earth’s orbit is elliptical and not circular.
It may seem counter-intuitive that the Earth is closer to the sun during the coldest time of the year, but the temperatures at the surface of the planet are influenced by the 23.5 degree tilt of the Earth’s axis and the angle of the sun’s rays much more than by the distance from the sun. Because of that tilt, the northern hemisphere days are much shorter in our winter, leading to the colder temperatures.
According to NASA, there are measurable differences in solar heating that result from our planet’s slightly elliptical orbit.
(Read more? Click title. Comment to discuss)
But...Berwyn does put out some good posts on what's happening in the galaxy. This one is quite interesting.
"SUMMIT COUNTY — It may not be quite as sexy as the recent lunar eclipse, or as spectacular as this morning’s meteor shower, but Earth nonetheless experiences another celestial milestone today when it reaches it’s closest point to the sun during its 365-day orbit.
To be precise, at perihelion, our planet will close in to within about 91 million miles of the sun, more than 3 million miles closer than at the early July aphelion, when the the Earth and sun are more than 94 million miles apart. All this because, of course, the Earth’s orbit is elliptical and not circular.
It may seem counter-intuitive that the Earth is closer to the sun during the coldest time of the year, but the temperatures at the surface of the planet are influenced by the 23.5 degree tilt of the Earth’s axis and the angle of the sun’s rays much more than by the distance from the sun. Because of that tilt, the northern hemisphere days are much shorter in our winter, leading to the colder temperatures.
According to NASA, there are measurable differences in solar heating that result from our planet’s slightly elliptical orbit.
(Read more? Click title. Comment to discuss)
December 13, 2011
SandBox Comments: Steamboat Today "Jimmy Westlake: Look out for Geminid meteor shower"
"Steamboat Springs — The annual Geminid meteor shower peaks this week, but it will be competing against the bright December moonlight. Unlike most other annual meteor showers that have been around for centuries, the Geminid shower is a relative newcomer to our skies. No one reported seeing any Geminid meteors before the year 1862, but every December since that year, the Geminid shower has appeared on schedule and seems to be getting stronger and better each year. Astronomers predict that this year’s Geminid meteor shower could produce 120 meteors per hour at its peak...."
(Jimmy Westlake)
(Read the rest? Click title. Comment to discuss)
(Jimmy Westlake)
(Read the rest? Click title. Comment to discuss)
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