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"The diversity of the phenomena of nature is so great, and the treasures hidden in the heavens so rich, precisely in order that the human mind shall never be lacking in fresh nourishment."
-Johannes Kepler (1571 - 1630)
This is a page in progress!
Our objective is to transform this white screen of void and vaccum into the "DAILY ASTRONOMER" section of the planetarium web-site. When time permits (2017 A.D), we intend to have this section completed. It will include archived articles, a comprehensive glossary, image gallery, interactive quizzes and hopefully an espresso dispensing spigot. For the moment, it merely contains images that the DA has selected to supplement the current articles. We hope you continue to enjoy the Daily Astronomer and that the images help you in your effort to learn your way around the night sky and Universe. Visit us often to see this page evolve....like a lethargic amphibian.
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IMAGE TO ACCOMPANY: April 8, 2008: Hydra Rising
Hydra the water snake meanders through the night sky. Its tail ends just to the southeast of Corvus the Crow. This long constellation represents the first creature Hercules killed during his famous labours.
IMAGE TO ACCOMPANY: March 26, 2008: Summoning the Summer Triangle
See the Summer Triangle after midnight tonight. Now that the weather is warmer, the Spring and Summer patterns return to our early and late evening skies.
IMAGE TO ACCOMPANY: March 25, 2008: Leo's Double Chin
Regulus is the brightest star in Leo the Lion. It marks the Lion's heart and is at the southern tip of his sickle-shaped head and mane. Saturn is to the east of Regulus and for now gives the lion a prominent "double chin."
IMAGE TO ACCOMPANY: March 5, 2008: Dragon's Lair
Draco the Dragon: a circumpolar constellation that is low in the northern sky this evening.
IMAGE TO ACCOMPANY: March 3, 2008: In the Eye of a Dime
Hubble Deep Field: A field of galaxies found in a small region of the sky north of the Big Dipper. The amount of sky encompassed by this image could be covered by the Roosevelt's Eye on a dime held at arm's length. Within this tiny little pin-prick one finds a rich field of early galaxies.
IMAGE TO ACCOMPANY: February 23, 2008: Saturn at Opposition
Figure 1: A multiple view of Saturn, showing the changing aspect of its Rings. The Ring System reflects a great deal of the sunlight that strikes it. This ring reflection makes Saturn much brighter in our sky than it would otherwise be.
Figure 2: A particularly beautiful view of Saturn.
IMAGES TO ACCOMPANY: February 17, 2008: Alpha Stars
FIGURE 1. A Bayer view of the "Big Dipper." The stars within the dipper are labeled according to relative brightness. The Bayer system lists the brightest star in a given constellation as alpha, the second beta, and so on throughout the Greek alphabet. Unfortunately, in 33 out of 88 designated constellations, the alpha star is not the brightest star. In Ursa Major, the epsilon star (Alioth) is brighter than the alpha star (Dubhe).
Figure 2. The Greek Alphabet.
IMAGE TO ACCOMPANY: February 16, 2008: Who's Zubenelgenubi?
Zubenelgenubi is the Alpha star in Libra the Scales. Its name means "Southern Claw," as the constellation we now recognize as Libra was once part of Scorpius the Scorpion. The Beta Star (at the tip of Libra) is called Zubeneschamali, "The Northern claw."
Zubenelgenubi is a binary star system approximately 65 light years away from our solar system.
IMAGE TO ACCOMPANY: February 13, 2008: Capella, not Polaris
Auriga the Charioteer is the constellation to the north of Orion. Its brightest star, Capella, is high overhead this evening. Being so bright and high in the sky, Capella is often mistakenly regarded as being the north star.
IMAGES TO ACCOMPANY: February 12, 2008: What's in a World?
Mars: WORLD |
Io, Moon of Jupiter: WORLD |
Stelios Arcadius: Greek artist who had an ear genetically implanted in his forearm: WEIRD |
How does one define a world? It could be anyplace!
IMAGES TO ACCOMPANY: February 11, 2008: That's a What?
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High in the northern sky, one will find the elusive Camelopardalis, a constellation invented by Dutch cartographer Petrus Plancius (1552-1622). Like Monoceros, another recently invented constellation featured in the Feb 9 DA, Camelopardalis is not choking in bright stars. It is highly faint, but circumpolar, meaning that it will always be hardly visible.
IMAGES TO ACCOMPANY: February 10, 2008: Pizza Planet
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To the left: Io, the innermost of Jupiter's four Galilean Moons. To the right, an aerial view of pepperoni pizza. Difficult to tell them apart, isn't it?
IMAGE TO ACCOMPANY: February 9, 2008: The Good Luck Unicorn
Monoceros, the Unicorn, occupies the dark region to the east of Orion
IMAGES TO ACCOMPANY: February 7, 2008: Ring of Fire
Figure 1. During an annular eclipse, the Moon doesn't completely block the Sun. A "ring of fire" forms around the dark moon during totality. The word annular comes from the term annulus, meaning "ring."
Figure 2. Observers in southern Australia witnessed a partial solar eclipse, when the Moon covered only the "top" of the Sun.
IMAGE TO ACCOMPANY: February 6, 2008: The Dipper Trick
Use the outer bowl stars of the Big Dipper to find Polaris, the north star. The Big Dipper is circumpolar, meaning that it will never set at our latitude. (At least not in our lifetime.) As the Big Dipper describes circles around the northern sky, its two outer bowl stars (Dubhe and Merak), remain directed toward Polaris. The Aurora is included for a splash of color.
IMAGES TO ACCOMPANY: February 5, 2008 - Seeing Black Holes
Figure 1. Gases stripped from the highly massive star form an accretion disk around the black hole. Differential rotation of the faster moving gas closer to the hole and the slower moving gas further away generates a great amount of energy. The matter close to the Black Hole becomes so hot that it emits X-rays. Thus, when astronomers find an x-ray source in the same system as a visible star, they assume that the source is a black hole.
Figure 2. NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory.
IMAGES TO ACCOMPANY: February 4, 2008: Falling Down
Explorer 1. (Courtesy of the Smithsonian)
File photo of plummeting Spy Satellite. (Courtesy CIA)
IMAGES TO ACCOMPANY: February 3, 2008: Football-Shaped Galaxies
Exhibit 1. American Football
Exhibit 2. Lenticular Galaxy
Exhibit 3. Exhibit 1 placed near Black Hole so as to more closely resemble Exhibit 2
Exhibit 4. Part of Virgo Cluster of Galaxies: including the lenticular "football-shaped" ones
Exhibit 5. Hubble's "Tuning fork," showing the different galaxy types. The Milky Way is an SBb spiral. Lenticulars are SO, at the connection point between the left horizontal elliptical line and the two branching spirals.
IMAGE TO ACCOMPANY: January 29, 2008: Death Star Moon
Twins! Saturn's Moon Mimas bares a striking resemblance to the Death Star: a planet destroying sphere featured in the Star Wars Movie. Note the distinguishing crater feature on both. The difference: Mimas does not have the capability of vaporizing planets. Too bad.
IMAGES TO ACCOMPANY: January 28, 2008: Beautiful Betelgeuse
Betelgeuse is the lovely red super-giant star marking Orion's eastern shoulder.
An enhanced image of the Red Super giant star.
Though the Sun seems large to us, it is puny compared to Betelgeuse. If this highly massive star were in the Sun's place, its outer layers would extend beyond Jupiter's orbit.
IMAGES TO ACCOMPANY: January 27, 2008: That's a Crab?
This inverted "y" constellation represents the crab sent by Hera to pester Hercules. This constellation was first cited by the Chaldeans (612-539 B.C.) It marks the position of the Sun in August. Its most prominent feature is Praesepe "the Beehive Cluster."
A detailed view of the crab with quite a few features included.
IMAGES TO ACCOMPANY: January 24,2008: Man on Mars Redux
We have had occasions to think that Mars once had or still may have life. In 1976, the Voyager probe captured an image of an eroded mesa that appeared to be a face on Mars. Experts in the field of extraterrestial archaeology (that's a new one) theorized that it was a temple that ancient Martians constructed to horrify future Earth watchers. The latest image is eerily reminiscent of the old Big Foot photos "captured" in the Northwest. Only, this Big Foot is on Mars...looking as though it is out for a merry stroll in a world woefully deficient in life-sustaine nutrients. NASA claims that it is merely an eroded rock....those spoil sports.
No, not human
No, not human
Well.....
IMAGES TO ACCOMPANY: January 23, 2008: The God of Good Beginnings
Janus: The Roman God of Good Beginnings, endings, and doorways. The god is depicted with two faces staring in opposite directions. One face reflects on the past; the other looks toward the future. Though an important god, mythologically, Janus was a minor character who rarely appears in any of the surviving tales.
Janus, the sixth Satellite of Saturn, discovered in 1966. Quite small and heavily cratered.
IMAGES TO ACCOMPANY: January 22, 2008: On the Sword of Orion
The "fuzzy star" at the center of Orion's sword is the Great Orion Nebula: an active region of starbirth. At this moment, stars are forming from the turbulent gases within the nebula. Stars embedded within the nebula excite the surrounding gases, making them glow in a variety of beautiful colours.
IMAGES TO ACCOMPANY: January 21, 2008: Thinking Ahead
The Great Spiral Galaxy in Andromeda (M31). This mammoth galaxy is 2.2 million light years away from our Milky Way Galaxy. Presently, the two galaxies are approaching each other at 300,000 miles per hour. Within 5 - 10 billion years, the two systems will merge. None of us will be present to observe this collision.
Edwin Booth (Yes, John Wilkes' older brother) as Hamlet (1870).
Now, this is unfortunate....
IMAGE ARCHIVE
January 20, 2008: Sunday Sun Talk
January 19, 2008: The Librarian Who Could
January 17, 2008: The Moon Meets the Pleiades
January 14, 2008: Sighing for the Summer Triangle
January 13, 2008: Sitting on a Sunspot
January 12, 2008: The Lions in Winter