StarWatch for the greater Lehigh Valley
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DECEMBER  2010

DECEMBER STAR MAP | STARWATCH INDEX | MOON PHASE CALENDAR

Print Large Sky Charts For 9 p.m. EST:   NORTH | EAST | SOUTH | WEST | ZENITH

[Moon Phases]
 
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Geomagnetic Field:  
Status
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Status Current Moon Phase
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[Foggy Morning]
Foggy Morning in late November... Gary A. Becker image, Coopersburg, PA...

[Jupiter and Satellites]
This composite image of Jupiter and three of its four Galilean satellites was taken on November 28 at 9:02 p.m. A 7-inch Questar, F/14.4 was used to snap Jupiter at 1/30 second, ASA 200. The original picture was underexposed by several stops. North is up. Prominent in the picture is Jupiter’s Northern Equatorial Belt. The Southern Equatorial Belt has been absent since May of this year, but may now be showing signs of returning. Gary A. Becker photo from Coopersburg, PA...
746    DECEMBER 5, 2010:   Geminid Meteors on the Rise
As we enter the month of December, two important astronomical events will be unfolding: the Geminid Meteor Shower on the morning of December 14 and a total lunar eclipse on the 21st, the last of its kind for North America until April 2014. In both cases North America is favored, with the West Coast being just a little more in the sweet spots of these two occurrences than the East Coast. I’ll concentrate on the Geminids for the next two StarWatch articles, and then hype the eclipse. When I was a kid growing up in Allentown, PA, the meteor shower not to be missed was always the Perseids. Its August 13 maximum date made it the most comfortable of the great annual meteor events to observe, but the Perseids have begun to play second fiddle with respect to the Geminids which can number as high as 120 meteors per hour. That was not the case when I was a teenager 40 years ago. Geminids always produced respectable rates, but the cold, long nights of December were enough of a deterrent to nix most maximum nights for the warm, cozy covers of a bed. That has now changed because the stream of dross that Earth plows through to produce this shower has been gradually changing position so that Earth is now more centrally located at the time of maximum. As the next several decades slip by, rates will continue to increase to perhaps as many as 150 plus shooting stars per hour. Currently, when it is clear, even during the early evening hours of December 13 when rates are at their lowest, you can easily see 10 meteors in 15 minutes radiating from above Gemini’s second brightest star, Castor. So if work will not allow you to participate during the wee hours of December 14, try an hour or so of viewing around 10 p.m. on the evening of the 13th. A map is included with the online article. More about the Geminids next week…

[Geminid Meteor Shower Radiant 10 p.m.]
Geminid meteors will be radiating from the "X" in the above map. Although the best time to see the Geminids will be on the morning of December 14 near dawn, rates of about 20-40 meteors per hour could be seen after 10 p.m. on the 13th. Map by Gary A. Becker using Software Bisque's The Sky, and real Geminid meteors...
 

747    DECEMBER 12, 2010:   Big Geminid Display Anticipated
This coming Tuesday morning, December 14 is when Geminid meteors should be flying at their maximum rates. Geminid meteor activity has been on the rise since the shower’s discovery in 1862 because the location of Geminid dross has been shifted ever closer into Earth’s orbital plane by Jupiter’s gravity. In 1877 rates of 17 meteors per hour were being witnessed, 27 meteors each hour by the century’s end. During the twentieth century rates climbed to over 80 events per hour. When I was a teen in the 60’s just getting started in astronomy, the Geminids were a major event, but they still paled in contrast to the August Perseids. Now they surpass the Perseids, but are still less observed because of the cold and often cloudy conditions which prevail in December. Geminids, while being the best bet for observing meteor activity if the weather cooperates, is the only shower related to an asteroid. In 1983, 3200 Phaethon was discovered and its orbit quickly connected with the path of Geminid meteors. This gave credence to the belief that many short period comets ended their active days masquerading as minor planets. For North America, meteor activity should increase throughout the night of December 13/14. The highest rates, perhaps as great as two meteors per minute, should be seen just before dawn. You can start observing as early as 10 p.m. Face east, but observe near the zenith. Geminids will be radiating upward from the east. By 2 a.m., face south but continue to look towards the zenith. Gemini will be in your field of view, and Geminids will appear to radiate from an area of the sky near the bright star, Castor. Maps for both of these times are posted in the web version of StarWatch at the URL associated with this article. Observe on December 12/13 if weather conditions will be inclement the following night. Post maximum rates decrease rapidly. Wishing everyone clear skies…

[Geminid Meteor Shower Radiant 2 a.m.]
Geminid meteors will be radiating from the "X" in the above map which assumes the observer is facing south and looking directly overhead around 2 a.m. on December 14. Dress warmly. Map by Gary A. Becker using Software Bisque's The Sky, and real Geminid meteors...
 

748    DECEMBER 19, 2010:   Winter Solstice Lunar Eclipse Upon Us
About 18 hours before the winter solstice on December 21, one of the most colorful astronomical events will be unfolding, a total lunar eclipse. Lunar eclipses happen when the full moon is occulted by the shadow of the Earth. Although there must be at least two lunar and two solar eclipses happening every year, your location on the Earth is usually not conducive to seeing most of them. So if you’re saying, “I’ll just ‘hang’ until the next lunar eclipse comes around,” you’ll be waiting until Income Tax Day, April 15, 2014. This eclipse has all of the promise of being very spectacular because it occurs right in the middle of the brightest stars of the winter sky. As the moon plows ever deeper into the shadow of the Earth and its directly reflected sunlight is replaced by a subdued reddish glow, Aldebaran, Capella, Bellatrix, Betelgeuse, Castor, Pollux, Procyon, Sirius, Saiph, and Rigel will gleam ever brighter against the velvety night sky. The moon begins entering Earth’s umbra or primary shadow at 1:34 a.m. Totality, which includes the most colorful parts of the eclipse, does not commence until 2:43 a.m. Binoculars will enhance the drama and make the colors more easily seen. Mid-eclipse, when the moon is at its darkest, happens at 3:20 a.m., and Luna does not begin exiting the umbra until 3:54 a.m. Sixty-seven minutes later (5:01 a.m.), the eclipse for all practical purposes has concluded, and you can return to bed or call in sick for the day. Obviously, the time frame is one of the negative aspects of this eclipse. The other problem is the cold. Be sure head, hands, and feet are toasty or all desire to stay out of doors will be quickly lost. A hot beverage would also help. Of course, whether or not the eclipse is visible at all depends upon the weather. Unfortunately, December can be very cloudy for the East Coast, so you just might want to play it safe and buy airfare to Hawaii.

[December 21st Total Lunar Eclipse]
'Twill be nights before Christmas and high overhead, the moon will turn orange or maybe bright red. The Earth and the sun with celestial scripts will conspire to make a total lunar eclipse (anonymous). This diagram of the eclipse was made prior to the event and then images of the real eclipse were superimposed over the computer generated lunar positions. All photography, Gary A. Becker…

[December 21st Total Lunar Eclipse-Earth's Shadow]
Earth's Shadow Revealed: Composite images of the eclipse to scale with the Earth's shadow by Gary A. Becker from Coopersburg, PA...

[December 21st Total Lunar Eclipse-Penumbral]
Penumbral Procession: The moon first enters Earth's secondary shadow, the penumbra. If you were an astronaut standing on the moon in Earth's penumbral shadow, you would see part of the Earth covering part of the sun, a partial solar eclipse. All images were snapped at 1/2000 second, F/4, ASA 200. Photography by Gary A. Becker from Coopersburg, PA...

[December 21st Total Lunar Eclipse-Ingress at 02:00]
This sequence of photos represents the partial segment of the eclipse as the moon entered into the shadow of the Earth. The moon is NOT going through its sequence of phases. The full moon is simply disappearing into Earth’s shadow. Totality, when the moon was completely immersed into Earth’s shadow, occurred at 2:43 a.m. EST All images, Gary A. Becker from Coopersburg, PA...

[December 21st Total Lunar Eclipse-Ingress]
This photo of the mid-ingress portion of the lunar eclipse represents a detailed look at the Earth’s shadow (umbra) as it raced across the lunar surface at 02:00 EST. Notice how the ray system of crater Tycho splashes radially outward from inside the shadow boundary Gary A. Becker image from Coopersburg, PA...

[December 21st Total Lunar Eclipse-Totality Begins]
Several minutes into totality... Can it get any prettier? Can it get any colder? My hands and body were numb from a five hour stint outdoors photographing the winter solstice lunar eclipse this morning. This 4 second, ASA 200, image was captured with an 8-inch, F/4 Meade Schmidt-Newtonian reflector shortly after totality began. A Canon 60D imaged the reddened prime focus moon. Another picture of 6 seconds in duration at ASA 400 showed the moon and nearby stars during mid-totality, while the last 5 second image was taken near the end of the total portion of the eclipse. Gary A. Becker images from Coopersburg, PA...

[December 21st Total Lunar Eclipse-Mid-Totality]
Mid-totality... There are so many techniques that can be performed to an astronomical image to make it look better. In this case I only reduced the original and sharpened it. The color is exactly the way the camera recorded it. An 8-inch, F/4, Meade Schmidt-Newtonian reflector on an equatorially driven Vixen mount was used with a Canon 60D camera to record this 6 second, ASA 400, prime focus image around mid-totality. Wow! Gary A. Becker image from Coopersburg, PA...

[December 21st Total Lunar Eclipse-Totality Ends]
All good things come to an end. That's easy to say when you are "snug as a bug" in front of your computer. However being outside in the cold and wind was a totally different story at the time. Gary A. Becker image from Coopersburg, PA...

[December 21st Total Lunar Eclipse-Post Totality]
The moon begins to emerge from Earth's shadow into sunlight. Gary A. Becker image from Coopersburg, PA...

[December 21st Total Lunar Eclipse-Egress-04:31]
Egress Close-up 04:31: During the lunar eclipse the altitude of the moon was decreasing which meant that any movement within the column of air through which the telescope was peering would deteriorate the image. The wind kicked up near the end of totality and this image worsening became very noticeable. Gary A. Becker image from Coopersburg, PA...

[December 21st Total Lunar Eclipse-Post Totality]
Egress photography of the Winter Solstice Eclipse... Gary A. Becker images from Coopersburg, PA...

[Luminaria Night 2010, Bethlehem. PA]
Trinity Episcopal on Luminaria Night 2010: For the past five years Bethlehem, PA has promoted an evening where residents and businesses place luminarias, candles set in sand inside paper bags, along the sidewalks in town. Luminarias are more of a Mexican and Southwestern tradition, but it is one, that in my mind should be popular all over the country. Gary A. Becker image...
 

749    DECEMBER 26, 2010:   Cold, Cold Quadrantids
In the Mid-Atlantic States we missed the Geminid Meteor Shower on the morning of December 14, but some managed to see the last total lunar eclipse until 2014. If I had to pick one over the other, I think the weather cooperated wisely. It was, however, unseasonably cold for both observations. Now that the excitement of these two events has passed, including the Holidays, we can brace ourselves for three more months of cold, blustery observing conditions, in my mind, the most difficult time of the year to view the heavens. The first cold event of the year is the Quadrantid Meteor Shower which culminates during the evening and morning of January 3-4. I wouldn’t even mention it if the moon were not incredibly cooperative. It is new on the 4th at 4:04 a.m. If four was a lucky number, I’d say that we would be in for quite a treat. Unfortunately, the Quadrantids are a little fickle, with maximum numbers occurring over a rather narrow time frame of several hours and predicted for the East Coast in 2011 to happen between 4 p.m. on January 3 through 1 a.m. on January 4. The later the better for us, because the radiant, the area in the sky from which these meteors diverge, gets higher in the sky throughout the night. If maximum occurs just a few hours later, observers along the East Coast could witness as many one to two meteors for every two minutes that pass. These rates could persist for several hours. Otherwise rates of 10 or so meteors each hour is the norm for a maximum night. During the early evening, Quadrantid meteors will seem to diverge from low in the NE. By dawn the radiant will be higher in the NE, below the handle of the Big Dipper. Most Quadrantids are faint, so a darker, rural site will be helpful for success. An online map showing the radiant is posted at www.astronomy.org below the StarWatch article for this date.

[Quadrantids Meteor Shower Radiant]
"X" marks the spot from where Quadrantid meteors will be radiating. This year shower, which could be hit or miss for the US will occur under a new moon. Map by Gary A. Becker drawn for 3 a.m. local time using Software Bisque's The Sky...
 

[December Star Map]

[December Moon Phase Calendar]
 

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