Spring 2012 Astronomy Course Mississippi Valley Night Sky Conservation The Sky Around Us

1. Spring 2012 Astronomy CourseMississippi Valley Night Sky ConservationThe Sky Around Us Program developed by Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority Royal Astronomical Society of Canada Ottawa Astronomy Friends Instructors: Pat Browne Stephen Collie Rick Scholes Earth Centered Universe software for illustrations – courtesy David Lane

2. III Star Clusters in and around our Galaxy WHERE Locating Star Clusters WHEN Are they Visible? WHAT Types of star clusters Open Clusters WHO Pioneers in star cluster analysis Helen Sawyer Hogg (Canadian Astronomer)

3. Introduction to Star Cluster Observing What’s up ? Is the Moon up? Where’s our meridian? What can we see when the Moon is up… For clusters of stars, or special nebulous stellar bodies, or galaxies, the moon , like light pollution obscures the photons emitted from these objects. Where’s our meridian? Galaxies galore coming up close to our local meridian… Open Clusters setting in the West… Globular Clusters in the East

4. Open Clusters looking West (setting)( Spring time Northern Hemisphere) M44 – ‘Beehive’ Modest neighbour M67 WHAT: Open clusters: Widely-spaced groupings of easily resolvable stars Also called Galactic Clusters because they lie i Observing Spring Open Clusters Monoceros: M46, M47 Cancer : M44, M67 Auriga: Clusters,M38,M36, M37 (West) Auriga cluster M38, M36,M37 Meridian Monoceros Cluster M46, M47

5. Winter (west) Milky Way From a true, dark sky, nothing can compare to a naked eye view of the Milky Way. During the winter months in the Northern Hemisphere, we face away from the furiously busy core of our home galaxy and look outward, through its more tenuous periphery. Despite being more delicate, this slice of the Milky Way is still rich with structure. http://www.perezmedia.net/beltofvenus/archives/001397.html

6. Open Clusters and Nebulous Regions in Constellation Auriga Auriga Auriga contains an nteresting variety: many open clusters and nebulous regions simply because the Milky Way runs through it. 3 Open clusters in/out of pentagon of Constellation Auriga south of Capella. M37 the richest cluster containing over 500 stars spread across 20 arcminutes and is the brightest of the three with an apparent magnitude +5.6. M36 - 60 stars with an angular width of 12 arcminutes.M38 100stars and is the dimmest of the three at magnitude+6.4. All three of these clusters, 4000 light-years away, can be seen with a small telescope. Courtesy - Dave Garner teaches astronomy at Conestoga

7. Observing Log Book Suggesteed Recording Format (Do what’s comfortable for you) Header: Observation Number Observation Date and Time Observing Instrument Telescope/EyePiece Combination Observing Conditions – Temperature, Wind, moon phase References – Books, Sky Charts,etc Body: Guests or observing companions Each object – Designations commonly include those found in in the RASC Observers Handbook : Messier NGC David Levy Gems Methodology for Finding the Object Impressions of the object This log book won the RASC Ottawa Center Observer of the Year Award 2004 . Lack of neatness is forgiven in favour of persistence in recording (even after a long night).

8. First Quarter Moon in the West – Waxing Crescent – sets after midnight! When the Moon is UP!

9. Night Sky Conservation – Impact of Lighting Up the Night Sky Accessibility to darkness of the night sky Milky way only visible wth moderately dark skies Faint objects like clusters of stars, ane even galaxies an be naked eye objects with very dark skies not even visible in a telescope from moderately dark skies When we are in the phase of the moon from First Quarter to Full moon, we can see how much light (even natural light) can obscure the fainter celestial objects Fred Lossing Observatory Operated in the area by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) 16” telescope with research grade optics produced by NRC The only observatory in Canada to boast the discovery of 5 Comets Good Neighbour Lighting Shielded lighting directing light towards buildings and ground Reduced glare means more effective security Light goes where it is needed reducing electricity by 30% for the same results Mississippi Mills By-law for Outdoor Illumination Light pollution abatement Conservation of the night sky This is a video on the need to reduce light ing up the night. You can download this: http://www.millstonenews.com/2012/03/the-mississippi-valley-conservation-authority-will-once-again-be-offering-its-astronomy-course-at-the-mill-of-kintail-on-fri.html

10. Sky measuring: Brightness and Size of objects: Given a dark location reasonably free of unshielded lighting (referred to as "light pollution"), this scale describes what is shown when you query ECU about Magnitudes: http://www.mpas.asn.au/MembersInfo/viewing/smohr/ApparentMag/ApparentMag.htm

11. Magnitudes on a Sky Chart and in the sky… So that when we see Mars is at magnitude -0.2 with an angular width of 10.7” we know, it’s bright, and can be seenin binoculars , but better yet in a telescope.

12. Observing naked eye and with optical aids… Compare the size and magnitude of the Beehive cluster vs. the other Open Cluster in Cancer: M67 (much smaller, fainter, and one of the oldest star clusters known… Now go do the OpenCluster exercise! Beehive Cluster – Praesepe – size 95’ (> deg) Magnitude 3.1 M67: size 29 ‘ (1/3 deg) Magnitude 6.9