[Friends_of_SSASTROS] Tomorrow is Tuesday...

[Matt Schricker]

Just to add a bit of fuel to Mike’s fire. The Beehive (M44) is screaming
right now. Here’s one I shot while waiting for The Green Lantern (Edgar) to
rise.

Cheers!

Matt



On Mon, Jan 23, 2023 at 11:15 AM Mike McCabe <cartech2000 at yahoo.com> wrote:

> ...and it's supposed to be clear, so why not make it a Super Tuesday from
> an astronomy perspective? It might be easier than you think!
>
> I'm not going to suggest that we try getting together or anything, what
> with the unreliability of the forecasts lately and all, but I would suggest
> the following to try and make the most of a rare clear day this month;
>
> Start by getting up early (for most of us - Louis, you can ignore my use
> of the term 'early') and being outside by 5:30am. There you'll find, high
> in the northeast sky, comet Edgar glowing away right next to the star
> Edasich in the constellation Draco. It'll be about 70° above the horizon,
> and Edasich shines at magnitude 3.25 so should be visible to the naked eye.
> I'm not going to offer any tricks to finding it, other than it looks like
> if you cast a line from Polaris through Pherkad (the dimmer of the two
> stars at the end of the little dipper bowl) and keep going a bit you'll get
> there. Print the chart below and bring it with you.
>
> [image: Inline image]
>
> Now whether you stay up or go back bed, that's up to you, but do try to
> observe the Sun during the day if you've got the means to do so, then plan
> to be at your low-western-horizon site around 5:30pm. If that site is
> remote to where you live and you have a grab-n-go telescope setup, bring
> it. From a naked eye perspective you'll find a long line of sights in the
> southwestern sky, including Jupiter, the Moon, Venus, and Saturn, as seen
> below.
>
> [image: Inline image]
>
> I know you'll be drawn like a magnet to put the telescope on Saturn, and
> absolutely do that, but the wonky seeing of the low atmosphere will
> probably fuzzy that view right up. After having your final dance with the
> King of the Rings, put that telescope on the Moon, where you'll find it in
> an excellent phase for investigating the spectacular craters Langrenus and
> Petavius. It's not often that these craters are highlighted particularly
> well, so be sure to take advantage of the circumstances.
>
> [image: Inline image]
>
> Next, lift you optics up to Jupiter, where you'll find the four Galilean
> moons all in close proximity to the planet proper. Low power will do the
> trick in the usually unstable seeing of evening twilight.
>
> [image: Inline image]
>
> Then at 7pm put your scope back on Jupiter and crank up the magnification
> some and see if you can make out the Great Red Spot. There are astronomy
> enthusiasts who have observed for a lifetime and can lay claim to never
> having seen it. I'm not one of them and will probably try myself tomorrow
> night to see it again. Why? The same reason many people cite when they're
> asked why they do things; because it's there.
>
> [image: Inline image]
>
> Finally, the Moon will have sunk by the time you've viewed the GRS, so why
> not tour a few deep sky objects while the opportunity presents itself? The
> fantastic Great Nebula in Orion will be high and mighty, or maybe you've
> got some objectives of your own that you'd like to work on? Have you picked
> your Astronomical League observing program for the year yet? One of our
> goals as a club is to get more people taking advantage of League offerings
> and benefits. To see what they're all about, click the link;
>
> The Astronomical League | <https://www.astroleague.org/>
>
> The Astronomical League |
>
> The Astronomical League is an umbrella organization of amateur astronomy
> clubs and societies. Currently their me...
> <https://www.astroleague.org/>
>
> Best of luck with *your* *Super Tuesday!*
>
> Keep Looking Up,
>
> Mike McCabe
>
>
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