Beyond All That is Familiar

The Night Sky

September 2021

The Andromeda Galaxy

This month we are hunting down one of the only objects we can see unaided in the night sky beyond our own galaxy. Looking east towards Low Lane / Bolton Abbey from Embsay, half-way up in the night sky, you will see four stars making the shape of a square-type diamond, as it is tilted at an angle at this time in the year. To the left and slightly higher is the familiar ‘W’ shape of Cassiopeia. Between these two shapes on a dark night you will make out a faint ‘blob’ with your naked eye. This is the most distant object you can see without a telescope. The light from it has taken 2.5 million years to arrive into your eyes. As the light set out ‘we’ were making stone tools to catch our food and lived in caves. As the light beams journeyed unobstructed over this vast distance we have evolved into what we are today. The four stars making the square/ diamond shape form the Great Square of Pegasus and ‘the blob’ is the Andromeda Galaxy, a galaxy like our own, but bigger, made from a spiral of a trillion stars!

Looking east at 10pm on the 7th September.

When we look at this spot we are looking beyond our own galaxy, all that is familiar, beyond the stars and constellations with which we are familiar that are made up from our own galaxy, the Milky Way. In time Andromeda and the Milky Way will merge and this is currently estimated to be about 10 billion years from now.

To get the best view it is important that your eyes are dark-adapted. So try not to look at anything bright especially bright torchlight or your mobile phone for 15 minutes. If you have binoculars you will have a better experience. As your eyes get used to the darkness you will see more of the galaxy.

In a small telescope the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) looks like a bright oval. In a larger telescope it looks rather magnificent! (see below)

In this picture you can see stars, dust and gas mingling in a spiral shape. Two other galaxies are also visible called M32 and M110.

Follow the link below to find out more about Andromeda. It is believed now that there are massive black holes that exist at the centre of most galaxies and research has shown that Andromeda has a possible 26!

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/chandra/multimedia/bonanza_image.html

Other things to look out for this month are Jupiter and Saturn low in the south-east mid-month around 8pm.

Clear Skies

Milan Davidovic

The Illussion

The Night Sky

August 2021

Here in Embsay we are blessed with wonderful views and nature around us, albeit being nibbled away by the relentless march of new housing and high intensity lighting. Nature is precious and often we forget and assume it will remain unchanged around us. For many, nature is limited to our immediate surroundings, but when we look up into the night sky we are just a speck of all nature. The scale and distance of objects conceal the reality of the situation. We live on a rock (Earth!) spinning 1000 miles an hour and circling the sun at 67,000 mph, yet I am deceived into thinking that I am standing quite still. Even looking up into the night sky things do indeed look unchanged year after year. However, the stars, whilst appearing a similar size to each other, trick us into thinking they are roughly the same distance away. Deceived again! Each star we look at has a vastly differing distance and size. For example, take two familiar stars, one called Sirius takes 8.6 years to send its light into your eye (double the size of our sun), but Deneb takes 1500 years (two hundred the size of our sun)! Yet they both look like similar dots in the night sky. Even the familiar patterns of the constellations are changing ever so slightly each year, century and millennia. Finally, one of the most astounding facts is that when we do spot an object with our eyes it is as it was when the light left the object, often thousands or millions of years ago. We are seeing the ancient past, probably an image of something which has changed beyond all recognition.

Despite all of this, we can predict and we are very good at doing this. In the past, predicting when an eclipse was due to take place would have been met with great suspicion or adoration. I hope the latter as I predict this month’s highlight. In 1862 a great Comet visited Earth’s orbit leaving a trail of material across Earth’s path. We cross this point each year between the 12th & 13th of August on our journey around the sun. These tiny pieces burn up or bounce off our atmosphere to create a meteor shower called the Perseids. Often the moon is so bright it can wash out the sky but this year it is just after a new moon, so cross your fingers for a few clear nights. In my experience it is best to look out for the meteors late on the 12th August around midnight / early hours of 13th August. Look East and half-way up the sky. The Comet that created the path of tiny pieces is called Swift-Tuttle and returns every 133 years. It was rediscovered around 1992 and will become visible again in 2126. Here is a link to the Natural History Museum for this and other Meteor showers.

https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/meteor-shower-lyrids-perseids-geminids-leonids-orionids.html

Whilst you are out looking upward on a dark, clear night, try and search out the constellation of Cygnus (the Swan). It is easy to find as it is almost overhead at this time of year. Its long neck heads south and its tail is the bright star Deneb already mentioned in this article.

There are too many wonderful things to list here as you gaze around this spot in the sky. Most are out of reach to the naked eye but with binoculars you may see some of them. For me, a prize must go to the aptly named North America Nebula. Here is an image I took from Kielder, Northumberland. I just opened the shutter of my camera for 180 second and gathered all the light up all in one go!

(Photo Milan Davidovic)

It is almost four full moons’ width across when observed from Embsay. It is a huge cloud of interstellar gas, and within it are young stars lighting up the region.

Don’t miss the head of the Swan either as it is made up of a double star, Albireo. One golden and one blue, an amazing double that is famed amongst astronomers for its colour contrast.

(Photo by Bob Franke)

Hope you spot a few meteors and explore Cygnus for yourself.

Clear Skies

Milan Davidovic

Planet Watch

The Night Sky

July 2021

The Planets.

This month the long summer days stretch into the evening making it quite difficult observe deep, dark sky objects. But this month, if you want to see Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn here is some help.

If you were lucky enough to live in the southern hemisphere and look up at the night sky you would barely recognise the night sky. ‘Down under’ the best feature over the next few years is the position of the planets such as Saturn and Jupiter. They will pass directly overhead throughout the year and will be a dream to observe. Unfortunately, for us in Embsay these planets barely get above the horizon and are badly placed for several years. However, there are opportunities to see them if you know when and where to look.

There are just three obstacles to overcome. The weather, staying awake and having a view low to the west and south. If you can tick all three - you are in business!

A big clue to finding the planets at these times is the position of the moon.

Look out around 10pm on 12th July and the moon passes Venus and Mars low in the West. PLEASE MAKE SURE THE SUN HAS SET BEFORE SCANNING THE SKY WITH BINOCULARS.

Venus will be brighter than Mars but as they are so close together they will be easy to spot. It is amazing that here on Earth we are controlling Rovers called Perseverance and Zhurong which are exploring the surface of that little dot called Mars. We also have recently piloted a Drone (Ingenuity) which is the first powered- controlled flight of an aircraft on another world.

Later on in the month, 24thJuly and a little later at 11.30pm, you will see a full moon pass Saturn and the following day Jupiter, low in the south-east.

Looking directly at Jupiter in a telescope you will see bands of clouds and maybe you will catch the great red spot as I did when I took this picture a few years back.

If you have binoculars you will easily see 4 of Jupiter’s moons as they will all be lined up on one side of Jupiter on the 24th and furthest out, Callisto, Ganymede, Europa and closest is Io. Europa is of particular interest. A trapped ocean under its surface as a possible breeding ground for life has created great excitement. A spacecraft called JUICE due to arrive in 2029 will explore this and other icy moons of Jupiter.

If you also take a closer look at Saturn, you will spot its giant moon Titan. We have already visited Titan in the probe Huygens. It is the only place other than Earth known to have liquid rivers, lakes and seas on its surface. If you have a steady hand with binoculars and focus on Saturn itself, you may be able to discern its rings but in all likelihood you will see a star with ‘ears’. But if you are lucky enough to have a telescope, then Saturn, of all the planets, is the most spectacular. Even a low powered telescope can observe the rings around the planet and the prominent gap between them called the Cassini Division.

Realistically, however, this is what you are more likely to see through binoculars:

Photo Dr Niranjan Chavan MD

Happy planet hunting and clear skies.

Milan Davidovic