A look at celestial happenings in the Northland

Cloudy UFOs pay visit to Iron Range


"UFO" clouds over an Iron Range landscape last week - Bob King/ News Tribune

We ran a photo of one of these clouds in today's Duluth News Tribune, but for online users, I thought it would be fun to share a wider view showing the full scene. One of the side benefits of sky watching is paying attention to the weather, clouds in particular. I've always found their forms and habits as interesting as the stars.

These clouds are altocumulus standing lenticularis, and form when strong winds are forced to  blow up and over mountains or hills. This creates a wave in the atmosphere similar to the waves a stone makes when you toss it into a pond. Their flying saucer shapes are very characteristic. Sometimes they've even been mistaken for UFOs.

Here you see them hovering over piles of black rock from the banded iron formation south of Tower, Minn. I photographed them last week on a mining assignment. My younger daughter said they reminded her of lily pads or steppingstones. 

On another topic, I want to share a very fine astro site with you called Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD). It's a showcase of wonderful, astronomy-related photos. Today's photo (at right) by NASA/JPL is of Saturn's crater-pocked moon Rhea. It's Saturn's second largest moon at 900 miles across, and easily visible in a small telescope.

 When you visit APOD, be sure to scroll down to the index or archive to get a flavor of what's available. You almost certainly find something nice for your desktop there.

Posted by: rking@duluthnews.com on 5/13/2008 at 7:14 AM | Comments (2) | Permalink

Meet my dog


Sammy resting happily on Planet Milk Bone -- illustration by Bob King with
help from the Hubble Space Telescope

OK, she's no Canis Major but she is our family dog. Meet Sammy, a mix of border collie, husky and, according to my older daughter, a touch of chow-chow. We picked her up at the animal shelter in Superior some years back, after she'd strayed from her original owner one too many times.

You may not think of dogs as potential astronomers but they have excellent vision. Since Sammy's an outside dog, she's probably seen more displays of northern lights, more meteors and more satellites than I've ever seen. Not that she knows what's going on but hey, don't we all just go out to enjoy the view, too?

Sammy's been a great companion and astronomical booster dog in another way. We walk her every night. I don't know how many times I've seen things like halos, cool clouds flying across the face of the moon and stars to last a lifetime because of that dog.

I imagine some of you have a dog like Sammy. And I'd hazard a guess that you know more about the night sky because of your pet.

When you go out tonight for a walk, and see the moon just below Saturn and Regulus, don't forget to give your bowser an extra scratch under the ears.

Posted by: rking@duluthnews.com on 5/12/2008 at 12:05 PM | Comments (2) | Permalink

Moon points to Saturn tonight

I just took a peek outside and it's a calm, clear night. The moon is in its first quarter phase and looks like half a communion wafer. If you're planning on going out, that's good, because just to the left of the moon are two celebrities of the sky, Saturn and Regulus. Saturn's been paired up with Leo's brightest star all winter and spring.

Enjoy them because Saturn -- the brighter of the two -- will pull away from Regulus over the coming months. A year from now it'll be halfway to the constellation Virgo. Saturn takes almost 30 years to orbit the sun, spending two to three years crossing each constellation of the zodiac.

It's been a visual delight watching its slow duet with Regulus but the ringed one has no plans to stay. An orbiting planet gathers no moss indeed.

Posted by: rking@duluthnews.com on 5/11/2008 at 9:33 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Nonstop flight to Virgo



A potpourri of galaxies. Our Milky Way would resemble the one at upper left.
Credit: Courtesy Adam Block, KPNO Visitor Program, NOAO, NSF

Spring is galaxy season for amateur astronomers. There are hundreds of billions of galaxies in the entire universe, several thousand of which that you can see in a modest telescope right here on Earth. Even though most look like little more than fuzzy cottonballs, each is a small universe unto itelf, composed of billions of stars, star clusters, clouds of gas called nebulas and millions of planets.


Tonight around 10 p.m. The Virgo Cluster is located below Leo's Tail - created with Stellarium

Over 2000 galaxies reside in what appears to be vacant space below the Tail of Leo the Lion. Named the Virgo Cluster, this is THE place to point your telescope if you're itching for an intergalactic journey on May nights. There are places in Virgo where you can see 10 or 12 galaxies crammed together in one view. Amazing. Especially if you consider you're seeing them across a distance of 60 million light years.

The Milky Way is a spiral galaxy, and the one we know best. The sun, one of the galaxy's approximately 200 billion stars, orbits around its center once every 200 million years. Our galaxy, along with about 45 others, comprise a gravitationally-bound cluster called the Local Group.  

It turns out our little group is a distant suburb of the Virgo Cluster. Only this suburb is not staying in one place. It will soon be absorbed by the big city. The Virgo Cluster is so massive, it's actually tugging the Local Group in its direction. In the far future, we and our Milky Way will find ourselves deep in the galactic lights of downtown Virgo. 

(Above image courtesy of Curious About Astronomy)

 

Posted by: rking@duluthnews.com on 5/11/2008 at 10:43 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Iridium madness and a new look at the neigborhood

Night owls have lots of opportunities for spotting those flashy Iridium satellites over the next week. Check the table below for times (to the second), how high and in what direction to look, and satellite brightness.

DateTimeDirectionAltitudeBrillianceSatellite #
May 1111:00:27 p.m.WestLowSpectacularIridium 65
May 1210:54:31 p.m.WestLowBrightIridium 68
May 1312:02:03 a.m.SouthwestHalfway upSpectacularIridium 47
May 1310:57:48 p.m.WestLowSpectacularIridium 70
May 1511:53:02 p.m.SouthwestHalfway upBrightIridium 46

Keep in mind that these times and brightnesses are for the Duluth-Superior area and may vary where you live. Logon here and select the Iridium flare link for exact times for your location.


All solar system bodies larger than 200 miles - image by Alan Taylor

I came across this amazing scale model of the solar system the other day, and just had to share it with you. It shows every body 200 miles across and larger -- 88 objects in all. Compressing these into a photo to fit onto a blog page is ludicrous, but I did it anyway. You'll really want to see the full version to appreciate the variety and scale of all these lovely beach balls rolling around out there in space.

Posted by: rking@duluthnews.com on 5/10/2008 at 9:28 AM | Comments (4) | Permalink