I recently added a new “Online Resources” tab and dedicated page on this web site to specifically highlight astronomy related information, documentation, charts, data sets, educational materials, lecture series and more. This information, as you might suspect, is geared to the novice or budding amateur astronomer and serves as a kind of repository for interesting but functional resources that I find myself returning to. Others are simply resources that I feel could be useful to those with a hunger to learn about and explore all things astronomy.
All posts by Scott
Acton Nature Center Star Party
The Rio Brazos chapter of Texas Master Naturalists will be hosting a star party on Saturday September 10, 2016 from 8:00 to 11:00 p.m. at Acton Nature Center, 6900 Smoky Hill Ct. Granbury, TX 76049. There will be a guest speaker at the twilight program under the pavilion adjacent to the parking lot starting at 8:00 p.m. After the program attendees will take a short walk down the path to the farmhouse where we will have telescopes set up with sky guides to show you the night sky.
Please bring a blanket or chair to sit in, water to drink and enjoy the evening. Restrooms are available on site. We welcome anyone who is interested in sharing knowledge or telescopes with the public.
Earth at Aphelion on July 4th
Today, July 4, 2014 the Earth reaches its farthest point away from the sun. This is called aphelion or in U.S. we call it Independence Day. Aphelion occurs when the Northern Hemisphere is experiencing summer. The point in orbit where a planet is nearest to the sun is called the perihelion. The word aphelion derives from the Greek words, apo meaning away or off and Helios (the Greek god of the sun). Earth’s aphelion usually occurs sometime around July 4. At aphelion our planet is around 152 million kilometers (94 million miles) away from the Sun. This is in contrast to perihelion when it is 147 million kilometers away from the Sun, and it currently occurs around January 3.
May-Be a New Meteor Shower in May? The Camelopardalids!
Sky watchers will be out in force early Saturday morning May 24th looking for meteors appearing from the northern part of the sky. The new shower known as the Camelopardalids have the potential to be the biggest meteor shower event this year with up to 200 meteors per hour.
Continue reading May-Be a New Meteor Shower in May? The Camelopardalids!
Star Party Rescheduled for This Weekend
The Palo Pinto Mountains State Park star party scheduled for last Saturday evening (April 26th) was postponed and rescheduled for this Saturday, May 3rd due to cloudy weather.
The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, along with the Texas Astronomical Society of Dallas, and the Fort Worth Astronomical Society, will be hosting a stargazing party at the new Palo Pinto Mountains State Park on Saturday, May 3rd, beginning at 5 p.m.
The park is located near Strawn, which is 4 miles north of Interstate 20, halfway between Fort Worth and Abilene. To get to the event, just go west on FM 2372 or the Tucker Lake Road from Strawn. Go two miles from town and look for the signs.
You can bring your own telescope or use one provided by volunteers, who will be on hand to share expertise, knowledge, and lore.
Hamburgers, hot dogs, chips and drinks will be available.
Explore the dark skies of night-time Texas at a stargazing party in our newest state park!
Musical Interlude
I enjoy all types of music. In fact if I can tap my toes to it then chances are I’ll enjoy it, and I like all the tunes listed below.
I’ve been kicking around the idea of posting some astronomy and or space related songs for quite some time and only recently decided that I needed to go ahead and make it happen, so here they are.
I do want to preface the songs below by stating that I’m in no way advocating that this is a “definitive” list or or anything close to that. The songs below are simply ones that I happened to pluck from my library, enjoyed and hopefully you’ll enjoy as well. Again, all have some type of astronomy/space theme or setting, and they are in no particular order. Okay well, I did attempt to arrange them in a random order that I felt flowed better but that’s about it
So sit back, pop in your ear buds or slip on the headphones and let the music take you away, far away. I hope you enjoy them.
Mars @ Opposition & a Total Lunar Eclipse
This month Mars is at opposition (opposite the sun in the sky as seen from Earth). This means our planet is closer to Mars and thus Mars is brighter (-1.5 mag) in our sky, well placed for telescopic observation and generally a lot more interesting to view. Here are some keys dates. On April 8, 2014 Mars will be at opposition (distance to earth: 0.621 AU, brightness: -1.5 mag, diameter: 15.08″). On April 14, 2014 Mars makes its closest approach to Earth (distance to earth: 0.618 AU, brightness: -1.4 mag, diameter: 15.16″). This will be a great time to get out and observe the red planet through a telescope, it’s polar ice caps and light and dark regions, and also how the planet changes over time. It’s not uncommon for dust storms to occur and totally change how we see the planet.
Full rainbow after storms in DFW
What to do when your power is out? I stepped outside and enjoyed this very nice complete rainbow out my front door! It was a real nice one too. Lasted a good 20 minutes and only faded with the sunlight. I hope those of you in the DFW area were able to see one. Apparently there were a bunch across the region this afternoon as several lines of thunder showers moved through. Here’s a few shots of the one I saw.
Vernal, Spring or March Equinox
A little over two months ago I wrote about the Winter Solstice. Now that the Vernal, Spring or March Equinox is approaching there’s no better time to discuss the equinoxes, when they occur and why they are important.
There are two per year. They occur in March around the 20th day of that month and in September around the 22nd day. The March equinox or Vernal equinox will occur here in the DFW area on Thursday, March 20, 2014 at 11:57 a.m. CDT or Thursday, March 20, 2014 at 16:57 UTC.
The word origin for equinox come from the Latin words aequus (equal) and nox (night). So it stands to reason equinox literally means the time when the amount of day light hours and night time hours in one day are almost equal.
If you imagine the Earth’s equator projected out into space this is referred to as the Celestial equator. The two points where the Sun crosses this Celestial equator (see numbers 2 and 4 in the graphic above) are the equinoxes. Again, one happens in Spring and the other in Fall for both the Northern and Southern hemispheres of the planet. As we mark the Spring equinox in the Northern hemisphere the Southern hemisphere is observing it’s Fall equinox. But again, the key here is that the amount of day light hours and night time hours on this day are almost equal at about 12 hours each. This is true no matter what hemisphere you are in.
The Northern hemisphere marks the beginning of Spring which is seen as a time of rebirth and thus many or the world’s religions have celebrations at this time. Christian’s celebrate Passover and Easter around this time.
North Texas Hill Country Star Party – Saturday, April 26th
The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, along with the Texas Astronomical Society of Dallas, and the Fort Worth Astronomical Society, will be hosting a stargazing party at the new Palo Pinto Mountains State Park on Saturday, April 26, beginning at 5 p.m.
The park is located near Strawn, which is 4 miles north of Interstate 20, halfway between Fort Worth and Abilene. To get to the event, just go west on FM 2372 or the Tucker Lake Road from Strawn. Go two miles from town and look for the signs.
You can bring your own telescope or use one provided by volunteers, who will be on hand to share expertise, knowledge, and lore.
Hamburgers, hot dogs, chips and drinks will be available.
In the event of rain or cloudy skies, the event will be the following Saturday, May 3.
Explore the dark skies of night-time Texas at a stargazing party in our newest state park!