Herald-Bobroff AstroatlasAstroatlas B Chart page for Grus and Telescopium, well below Capricornus and SagittariusNGC131 and 134 and a 5-spot of mag 10 starsNGC55 image by Morris Jones, used with permission š
While Mojo and I were observing at Amboy Crater on October 22, 2011, Cliff, another observer at the site pointed out the constellation Grus, The Crane, low on the southern horizon. Grus isn’t a constellation I’ve paid attention to before – you need to be able to see down to the southern horizon in the fall, and you need to be observing at +34N Latitude or further south. If you can see well below Capricornus, Sagittarius and Sculptor in the autumn, give it a try!
None of the star charts I brought on that occasion showed Grus, but I had just the startool at home for the following weekends (October 29) outing — the Herald-Bobroff Astroatlas! I hadn’t needed this lovely atlas since my 1999 Ayer’s Rock Australian observing trip with 20 other astronomers, and welcomed reacquainting myself with it. The atlas begins with the A Charts – wide swaths of the sky, showing several entire constellations. From there you are directed to the B Charts (image at your left), showing smaller segments of the sky and bright stars. The C Charts (9th mag stars and 14th mag. deep sky objects) are where I headed for this night’s observing, but in the past I have drilled down to the D (11th mag. stars and 15th mag deep sky objects), E and F charts for detail showing Coma and Virgo galaxy clusters and the Magellanic Clouds.
There aren’t any bright galaxies to hunt for in the constellation Grus, and observing low to the horizon doesn’t afford the best views, either. But even so, I quickly observed the top ten or so – including some lovely galaxy clusters. First I went for NGC7590 and 7599, a pretty pair of spiral galaxies discovered by John Herschel and Charles Dunlop. I didn’t see the distant Abell 1111 cluster, 2 billion light years away, just the two brighter galaxies.
Next I hunted down a group of galaxies near NGC7418 – a face-on spiral galaxy nestled in a pretty string just below Fomalhaut on the Grus Sculptor border. Here’s a photo of the galaxies I observed. 7418 was discovered by Sir John Herschel at the Cape of Good Hope with an 18-inch f/13 speculum telescope in 1847. A supernova erupted in this galaxy in 1983. And Allan Sandage (1975, Astrophysical Journal, 202, 563-582) notes that this galaxy is a member of the IC1459 Grus Group.
Well after midnight on this perfect observing night, our friend Dave came over and told me he had just observed some objects he had not logged before. “A pair of galaxies, with a little dice-shaped asterism of five stars next to it”. Soon I was on my own hunt for NGC131 and 134. It’s to the lower left of big open cluster Blanco 1 on the star chart. The smaller 131 was discovered by John Herschel in 1834, and the larger 134 was discovered in 1826 by James Dunlop in Australia. They are part of our local group of galaxies (LGG), and the galaxy group is also known as LGG-007 located 63 to 82 million lights years away. My sketch is to the left.
This part of the sky is littered with easy to find galaxies, and I spent several hours hopping from one to another. I was observing NGC55, an interesting barred irregular galaxy only 7 million light years away. It’s one of the closest galaxies to our own local group! I encouraged Mojo image it, even though it was low to the horizon. I love his image, and it looked a lot like this through the eyepiece, too. I made a rough sketch of the galaxy, and when I looked at Mojo’s image we both showed the pretty lineup of stars outlining the galaxy.
This is just a sample of the dozens of galaxies I looked at in the deep southern sky on a late October evening. Fall offers long nights of darkness for galaxy starved amateur astronomers tired of all the bright milky way objects of summer. So ladies and gentleman, start your telescopes, and point as low as you can go. Aim your telescopes where the wings of the southern birds Grus and Phoenix fly. If you can’t go that low, Sculptor offers dozens of amazing objects to view. Open your atlas to the constellations around the South Galactic Pole near Sculptor, and you’ll enjoy hours of surfing the southern skies.
Here are Mojo’s Astrophotos from October 29, 2011. I enjoyed visually observing these objects, and then seeing these postcards sent from the universe through Mojo’s astrophotography.
Comet/2010 G2 (HILL)NGC7380 emission nebula and clusterThe Great Galaxy in Andromeda, M31, with M32 and M110 nearbyThe Pegasus 1 galaxy cluster
I love to take my telescope out to observe the sky, and I find that the objects studied or discovered by scientists (from the past or the present) make for an even more rich observing (and learning) experience. Here are just a few observations from a fantastic night at Amboy Crater October 22, 2011. Amboy Crater is well worth a visit for daytime hikes as well as for spectacular stargazing at night.
IAU circular No. 9134, issued on 2010, April 11, announced the discovery by R. E. Hill of a new comet on Apr. 10, 2010, in the course of the Catalina Sky Survey. After posting on the Minor Planet Center’s NEOCP webpage, many observers checked out this 19.5 magnitude object, designated C/2010 G2 (HILL). (HILL) is well known and well respected Rik Hill of the Lunar and Planetary Lab at University of Arizona, Tuscon. He literally wrote the book about observing sunspots for the A.L.P.O. Sunspotter program. I used this book to sketch sunspots and complete the ALPO Sunspotter program last solar maximum in 2002, and I encourage you to complete this amazing program now, as solar maximum is coming up! I observed Rik’s comet on October 22, 2011, when it was magnitude 10.78 and 1.5 AU distant from Earth. It was small, the coma diameter was 6.2′ – and it was very hard to find! Here’s Mojo’s lovely image from that night. In the eyepiece the green color was absent, in fact it was nearly a no-see-um! Here’s a finder chart. Now, off to explore the Milky Way.
NGC7380 is an open cluster sometimes referred to as the Wizard Nebula located in the constellation Cepheus. It’s about 7,000 light-year away from Earth. The stars of NGC7380 have emerged from the star-forming region in the last 5 million years or so, making it a relatively young cluster. Here’s the image from NASA’s WISE Mission of NGC7380 in 2010. It’s a mosaic of images spanning an area on the sky of about 5 times the size of the full moon. Caroline Herschel discovered this cluster on August 7, 1787 when her brother William Herschel was away in London. She discovered many objects, include comets on the nights she was not recording William’s famous observations. Let’s check out a galaxy in our local group now.
Everyone with a telescope observes the great Andromeda Galaxy, M31 as soon as convenience and sky conditions allow. It’s the largest galaxy of our galactic family, the Local Group, which consists of not only the Andromeda Galaxy, and our own Milky Way galaxy, but also the Triangulum Galaxy, M33, and about 30 other smaller galaxies. It’s visible with the unaided eye if you know where to look from a dark sky. It’s magnificent in binoculars, and unsurpassed in a telescopic view, no matter how big or small the telescope might be. Here’s the image from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope which studied our neighbor galaxy. Mojo reprocessed this image a week later. Now let’s move out beyond our local group and check out something extragalactic.
Perseid 1 Galaxy Cluster is 250 million light years distant. It’s not in the local group! The brightest members are a pair of magnitude 11 elliptical galaxies — NGC7619 and NGC7626 — which you can see in Mojo’s first image from October 22. Here’s a fascinating (and local) report on NGC7619 by Mt. Wilson Observatory’s Milton Humason written in 1929. In the early twentieth century, the construction of big telescopes at Mount Wilson (the 60-inch and 100-inch) allowed astronomers to determine the motions of galaxies for the first time.
Milton Humason used the 100-inch telescope on Mt. Wilson. He writes “During the past year two spectrograms of N. G. C. 7619 were obtained with Cassegrain spectrograph VI attached to the 100-inch telescope. This spectrograph has a 24-inch collimating lens, two prisms, and a 3-inch camera, and gives a dispersion of 183 Angstroms per millimeter at 4500. We present new observational results of NGC 7619, an elliptical galaxy with a prominent X-ray tail and a dominant member of the Pegasus group”.
More recently, Chandra and XMM-Newton observations confirmed the presence of a long X-ray tail on NGC7619. I love seeing objects our space telescopes study and image! And I often spend many enjoyable hours learning the science behind my stargazing targets when I’m back at the armchair.
Here is Mojo’s blog + photos from October 22 at Amboy Crater.
Here is Mojo’s blog + photos from October 29 at Red Cloud Road.
My meteor shower first aid kitWaiting for moonset on Perseid night 2010, observing from Amboy Crater, CA Notice elevated rates from August 7th-15th, and a secondary peak on the 17th, and the 20th?
Here’s what you can expect to see from a dark sky observing for several hours like the 2010 Perseids which peaked on a moonless night like this year.
I enjoy observing meteor showers from the darkest sky I can drive to in one night. Here’s where I go, what I bring (and don’t bring), and how I observe.
You will want a comfy chair that supports your neck. I bring a clipboard with blank sheets of paper and Finnish Triangle limiting magnitude star charts to determine my limiting magnitude throughout the night.
I also pack binoculars, but not for observing meteors. I just like to have them with me to look at galaxies and star clusters when not counting meteors. I leave my telescope at home, too. I bring a digital clock that doesn’t emit any light, a red flashlight, pencils, an audio recorder, and a cooler full of snacks and water. I keep on hand layers of clothes, a blanket or sleeping bag, and hand-warmers for cool nights. For comfort, I carry a first aid kit including eye drops, chap stick, and sting-ease for bug bites. One more thing I keep handy – a piece of string, in case I want to trace a meteor to its radiant by holding it up to the streak of light.
I don’t keep any light emitting devices within eyesight – no cell phone, no interior car lights, no telescope mounts or cameras that emit or blink light. You don’t have to be that drastic about darkness, but I often drive a long way to a dark sky and want to see faint meteors. Any car or phone light will ruin my dark adaptation. It can take up to an hour for your eyes to adjust again. If a car or a friend stops by, I will just take a break, or shut my eyes until the light is gone.
Once I am ready to begin observing, I scan the area of the sky I plan to watch. Note! You don’t have to look in the direction of the radiant. The Perseids all appear to radiate from (fly out of) a point ā the radiant ā in the constellation Perseus, and so they will appear everywhere. That’s where the string or shoelace are helpful — to trace the meteor back to its point of origin. Then I memorize the magnitudes of familiar stars nearby so I can accurately note the meteor magnitudes on my observing paper – one sheet for every 15 minutes I plan to observe. The info all ends up on this visual observing form, prepared from all the raw data. Then I sit in my comfy chair, clipboard on my lap, and wait for that first meteor to streak across my viewing field.
The day before launch – Atlas V in 551 configuration (5-meter payload fairing, 5 solid rocket strap-ons). Under the fairing is a Centaur second stage and Juno.Launch 12:25 p.m. EDT August 5, 2011Bound for Jupiter – a plume sundial. You can tell the time of launch by the shadow of the plume – the sun is nearly overhead
Two weeks after I started work at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in late 2003 I was given my first ārealā assignment. I was asked to sit in on Mission Juno’s design meetings and write the E/PO (Education and Public Outreach) proposal outline for the mission, a page-and-a-half summary with a budget. It was exciting to delve into a new kind of out-of-this-world work and begin a dream-come-true job as the informal and public outreach person on the Cassini Mission, with occasional planetary mission proposal writing forays.
Fast forward nearly 8 years and I find myself sitting in the shadows of Kennedy Space Center writing a blog about my own adventures at the launch of the mission which launched my own career at JPL. There will be many blogs, photo essays, and tweets from the 150 Tweetup attendees and many other launch guests. Mojo was one of the lucky 150 attendees at the tweetup and his blog is here.
My job at the launch was threefold. My first role was at the NASA tweetup itself. I’ve been the @CassiniSaturn Twitter persona since June 2008, and so I was working the tweetup backing up my outer planetary mission buddy @NasaJuno on Twitter duty the hours leading up to, at and after launch. I was also on hand to talk about NASA’s Year of the Solar System and show my What’s Up podcast during the hour just before launch at the Tweetup.
My second job was to organize a “star party” for the launch guests and create a flyer for all the attendees. The guests included the Juno mission’s invited Goldstone Apple Valley Radio Telescope Program students and educators, who came out to my star party. Each of the several thousand launch goodie bags had that star chart flyer featuring Saturn, the moon, Jupiter and Vesta, with a link to my What’s Up for August 2011 podcast and to NASAās Year of the Solar System website outreach material. The podcast and website feature the Juno mission and planetary windy worlds like Saturn and Jupiter this month.
My third role was to participate in the Planetary Science Mission Directorateās āScientists in Actionā webcast, live-streamed to museum audiences remotely. Museum audiences all over the country, and probably the world, watched this and other Juno launch programming.
In addition to the āwork,ā I was also a starry-eyed space girl at the NASA Tweetup, and was beyond excited to see my first launch. Just like the others, I was lapping up all the speaker comments and tweeting from @jhjones like crazy, when I wasn’t tweeting from @CassiniSaturn or @NASAJuno. I was stunned at the amazing bus tour stops, in spite of the sweltering heat. And I soaked up the electric camaraderie and atmosphere of everyone at the Tweetup program.
Although it was a āyou had to be thereā kind of event, I hope these pictures and tales give you a taste of the magic that is NASA. I almost can’t believe I get to go to NASA planetary mission launches at Cape Canaveral/Kennedy Space Center for work! And share the excitement of Cassini, Juno, and next month, Grail with informal education outreach! I’m not on cloud nine, I’m above it!
A room with a view – overlooking beautiful Jones StreetChippewa Square, location of Forrest Gump's bench scenes
Back in November 2010 I took a micro-vacation to Savannah, Georgia. Even though my visit was less than 24 hours long, I packed a lot of sightseeing into my short visit. I was traveling from Atlanta, Georgia, to meet up with Mojo in Orlando, Florida, and took an extra day to see Savannah. As I left Decatur, Georgia, I was thinking of the Civil War and the destruction of Atlanta. When I crossed the Oconee River I realized I was following William Tecumseh Sherman’s March to the Sea in November and December 1864.
I arrived in Savannah at about 3 p.m. in the afternoon on a bitterly cold late November day. I meandered through the historic district to the Eliza Thompson House, an exquisite 1847 inn located on W. Jones Street. I settled into my room — the tiny but lovely Lee Room, with a 12-foot ceiling, plantation shutters and a bay window overlooking the beautiful oak trees on Jones Street. A charming exposed brick wall separated the bedroom and bath.
Then I set out for a pre-dinner walk through some of the famous squares of Savannah. As I walked down the Factors Walk, where cotton was bought and sold, I figured an early dinner was in order. I didn’t want to walk the mile back to my hotel, and it was about 20 degrees outside. As I wandered along River Street, I found just the restaurant and view I was looking for. And so I ended up having fried green tomatoes plus wild Georgia shrimp and grits at Vic’s on the River Restaurant and Bar, watching the sunset darken the skies over the Savannah River as I ate.
During my Wednesday afternoon, and Thursday morning walks the next morning, I visited half a dozen of Savannah’s famous squares, the Colonial Park Cemetery, the Savannah River, writer Flannery O’Connor’s childhood home, the birthplace of Girl Scouts of America founder Julia Gordon Low, and the Savannah College of Art and Design. Why not take a stroll through Savannah in my photo essay? I’m sure it will whet your appetite for a visit to this lovely city!
The moon's summer and winter path, courtesy NASA's Starchild websiteThe winter’s moon – a smiling crescent just after sunset Feb 5, 2011 (click to see moon upper center) Closeup of winter crescent moonThe summer's "backwards C" crescent moon at sunset, late June 2007 (click to see moon in lower right)Closeup of summer crescent moon
Have you ever wondered why the crescent moon looks like a smile in the winter and spring and like a backwards “C” in the summer and fall? It looked like a smile right now – below, next to and above Jupiter for several days after the February new moon. You can see the same waxing (getting bigger) crescent in early March 2011. Just look in the western sky after sunset beginning the day after new moon, on about March 5 or 6th. You’ll also see Jupiter and Mercury just above the horizon an hour after sunset.
Early birds can see a repeat of the waning (getting smaller) crescent moon phase a few days before the new moon, too. Look in east the last days of February up until new moon on March 4th. That bright object sharing the dawn skies with the crescent moon is the planet Venus! You can read more about moon phases here on the EarthSky website.
The best way to understand the reason why, is to look where the sun is, and how and where it shines on the moon. Draw an imaginary line connecting the setting sun, the moon, and any other planets that appear in the sky. That imaginary line is the ecliptic – the path the sun takes through the stars. It’s also the Earth and planets’ orbital plane. You can think of it as a projection of Earth’s plane on a sky sphere. The planets orbit the Sun, and the moon orbits the Earth and so you will always find the planetary lineup along the ecliptic.
In the winter and spring, the ecliptic appears almost vertical and arcs higher in the sky. The moons’ lit side faces the sun. That makes the waxing crescent moon look like a smile, or a boat, or the old moon in the new moons’ arms once light reflected off the Earth – called earthshine – reveals the unlit disk of the moon lit by reflected from Earth.
In the summer/fall, the ecliptic has a lower or shallower angle in the sky, and the lit crescent, as always, faces the sun, showing us a lit crescent facing the sun, which appears like a backwards “C”. I could write more, but instead, I’ll let you enjoy the images from our own observing sessions in the winter and the summer, and then get out and see the crescent moon for yourself soon.
Red Willow Dreamcatcher with Big Dipper and Milky WayThe Fisher Stars, painting courtesy of Edwin Bighetti, Mathais Colomb First NationWesakaychak Pointing – courtesy of Edwin Bighetti, Mathais Colomb First Nation
In March 2010, I was invited to be the keynote speaker at the Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Centre’s annual Science and Career Fair. Two participating schools from the Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation in Nelson House, Manitoba invited me to visit their community. So in November 2010 I spent two days with the students, teachers at the K-8th grade Otetiskiwin Kiskinwamahtowekamik School, and the 9-12th grade Nisichawayasihk Neyo Ohtinwak Collegiate.
After a day of school presentations in early November, I was invited to a community gathering of shared songs, the music of flute, hand and water drums, and stories from several storytellers. Joe Mercredi, a school cultural coordinator and a wonderful storyteller told several stories, after he played the flute – a six-hole flute made of mountain juniper by Navajo flute maker Jonah Thompson. Joe makes flutes, too, but he chose this one for this night because “it has a sweeter voice than his own,” he told me recently. Joe also helped me remember the stories he told that night two months ago. He told me that all stories are related to each other. How we remember them depends on what we need to learn at the time.
His first story is a variation of the Dakota Woodpecker Flute story. A poor young boy with no male relatives lived with his mother. He was friends with the chief’s daughter. They were good friends and spent much time together. When of age, he asked the chief for her hand. The chief questioned his ability to support his daughter. He was mortified and left the camp. After some days he fell asleep under an old cedar tree and was woken up by a woodpecker up in the tree. This being in the time when animals could speak to men, a conversation ensued and the young man was gifted with the first flute. In the end the two become a couple and the young man found fame and fortune as a flute maker. This story can be found in one of the Joseph Bruchac series “Keepers of the Earth/Sky/Night/Life” books.
Joe then held his Dreamcatcher, and told this story. Red Willow Woman was a woman who taught the children in her community until her death, and, when given the choice by the Great Mystery to be returned to her people, she chose to return as a red willow to demonstrate that every one has the ability to achieve greatness if one reaches beyond one’s limits. Red willow forms the frame of the Dreamcatcher.
You can see the big dipper stars (or Fisher stars) on the right side of the woven web within the red willow frame. And you can see a chaotic jumble of stars on the left. The legend of how Fisher became the Big Dipper and how animals of long ago decided to share summer and winter, and how the fisher came to be in the northern sky is told by Murdo Scribe, and is known as Murdo’s Story.
Long ago, in one part of the animal world and bird world it was always summer and in the other half of the world it was very cold with no warm weather. The northern animals and birds had to find summer. Fisher (a small wolverine) carried summer, and the summer animals chased him. They shot at him and an arrow hit Fisher and took him to the northern skies, with the summer. Fisher still lives in the northern sky, and summer is now shared with all animals and birds everywhere. Fisher can be found circling the North Star. Some people call him the big dipper.
The Dreamcatcher is formed from two willow branches depicting strength and softness intertwined — the need for give-and-take in a respectful loving relationship. Joe decided to map the Big and Little Dippers in the Dreamcatcher. But just like in the Wisakechak story of the Milky Way, he mapped the big dipper, but the trickster, Wisakechak decided to mess up some of the stars. You can see an extra star in the big dipper.
Legend tells that Wisakechak was meticulous in his placement of the stars, but Fox wanted Wisakechak to play with him, and got tired of waiting for him to finish so he grabbed the blanket of stars and scattered them all over the place. Those stars represent the Milky Way. If you look in the winter sky you will see Wisakechak (sometimes spelled Wesakaychak and many other ways, too) pointing to the Pleaides, which figure in many other legends. Wisakechak is represented by the constellation Orion.
You can see the big dipper stars in the web of the Dreamcatcher. The handle star, Alkaid is near the top of the Dreamcatcher , and you can see the bowl stars at 3 o’clock. There is one “extra” star woven into the web near the bowl, put there by the trickster, Wisakechak. And you also see the other stars from the blanket of stars Fox threw into the sky on the left side of the Dreamcatcher below the center hole. You’ll also see the thirteen tie-points, where the sinew is tied to the willow hoop. These thirteen ties represent the 13 new moons of a year.
After Joe finished his stories of Red Willow Woman, Wisakechak, the Fisher stars, and the Milky Way, he walked over to me and gave me his Dreamcatcher. As I look at my Dreamcatcher now, three months after my visit, I can still hear the drums, the flute and the stories of the stars I heard in Nelson House that snowy November night. Now, when I read Murdo’s Story I can see how all of these stories are related.
Murdo Scribe was born in Norway House, Manitoba and was a World War II veteran with the Canadian Army. After the war he returned to a life of fishing, trapping and seasonal work. In 1975, he was appointed coordinator of the Traditional Individualized Education Program with the Native Education Branch of the Manitoba Department of Education. He wrote many stories based on his own experiences and those of the elders he had known.
I thank Joe Mercredi, who is a master storyteller, maker of flutes, weaver of dreamcatchers for sharing these stories with me. I must also thank science educator Wilfred Buck, of the Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Centre, who I met two years ago at the NYAA (Ontario) Starfest when he gave a talk about Atchakosuk: The Spirit Lights Up Above . I have been slowly learning more about the spirit lights above. Two years ago, Wilfred ended his presentation with a quote from one elder, āWe are blessed to live under a blanket of stars.ā
Map of Manitoba showing Winnipeg, Nelson House and ChurchillRASC Ron Berard and Guy Westcott at speaker dinner before my RASC talkmy school talk at Otetiskiwin Kiskinwamahtowekamik K-8th school in Nelson HouseChurchill, Polar Bear Capital of the world, on Hudson Bay
In early November 2010, I embarked on a wonderful ten-day speaking tour of Manitoba. I’ll write some separate adventure blogs, but here is the itinerary.
November 2, 2010 – I flew from LAX to Duluth Minnesota, celebrated my cousin Kathy’s birthday, and (almost) finished my presentations, by working late into the night.
November 5th – I flew to Winnipeg from Duluth early in the morning, and RASC’s Ron Berard collected me at the airport, and whisked me to the Toastmaster’s Conference Hotel, The Marlborough. That night I gave a Cassini talk and handed out Saturn lithos, NASA decals and Titan bookmarks to the RASC-Winnipeg Centre members and University students and professors that night. Before my talk we went out to dinner with the club members. After my talk we headed for Glenlea Observatory for a spot of Jupiter viewing. And after observing, it was time for beer and pizza! This was a very very long day! My wake up call was 3 a.m. in Duluth that morning and didn’t get home from the pizza after-party until 1 a.m.
November 6th – Early the next morning, I gave an educational talk to the Winnipeg Toastmaster’s District 64 Fall Conference at 10 a.m. My talk was informal and about tips and tricks to public speaking: in other words, what to do if you have a MAC and your room has a PC. Or if your computer battery dies. Or if an asteroid hits your building. (just joking about the asteroid). After my talk, RASC’s Guy Westcott took me on a lovely afternoon driving and sightseeing tour of Winnipeg. I got back in time to hear a few of the toastmaster speaking contests, and clean up for the Toastmaster’s conference banquet, where I was the keynote after-dinner speaker. The conference theme was “Out of this World”, and the table decorations were constellations punched into coffee cans, Cassini and Saturn Trading Cards (which I mailed ahead of my visit) and some (ahem) Astrology sign placards, which you can see in the picture. After the dinner and the keynote talk, there was dancing and the hospitality suite, conveniently located right next to my own suite at the Marlborough. It was wonderful to wind down after speaking to the toastmasters. I was nervous in the morning, but bring-it-on-ready after dinner. Three talks down, eleven to go!
November 7th – At 10 a.m. Sunday morning, Guy Westcott collected me at the hotel and drove me to Union Station, Winnipeg’s beautiful train station. He also lent me a sleeping bag, as the overnight train would be cold. Actually it wasn’t cold, but I loved having a sleeping bag. Thanks to the wonderful Guy! We also traded NASA for Manitoba pins, but that’s another story. About 2:00 p.m. and two hours late, the 36-hour, 1000 mile or 1800 km long Winnipeg to Churchill VIA Rail Canadatrain departed. I continued working on my school talks on the train. My curious and friendly Economy-Class seatmates Carol (a Yosemite National Park interpreter), her husband John, and daughter Isabel were on a 3-month home-school rail trip, and I practiced my Solar System elementary school talk and High School Cassini Mission talk on them.
November 8th – At about 2 p.m. the train pulled into Thompson, the “Hub of the North”, 800 km from Winnipeg. I departed the train, and was greeted by the principal and Science Coordinator from the Otetiskiwin Kiskinwamahtowekamik (OK) K-8th grade and the Nisichawayasihk Neyo Ohtinwak Collegiate 9-12th grade schools in nearby Nelson House. Nelson House is home to the Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation. We drove the 80km to Nelson House, and by just a little after 3 p.m. I was greeted by a huge gathering of the high school students, who launched a rocket to greet me! I gave a talk to the high schoolers, and settled in for some moose stew and homemade potluck goodies with the assembled teachers. My day wasn’t done yet. After dinner I was treated to a community cultural night of story, song, flute and drum performances, which will be recalled in a separate blog. At about 10p.m. I finally unpacked by bags from the 24-hour train trip, soaked in the tub and fell asleep.
November 9 – a full day at school. At 8 a.m., I was meeting and greeting the elementary school teachers as they prepared for their day. At 9:00 a.m., I conducted a teacher workshop, handing out materials I had mailed to the schools – about 13 boxes worth. At 10 a.m. it was time for my talk in the auditorium. At noon, moose soup and bannock in the cafeteria. And after lunch, I visited about a dozen of the 20 or so elementary classrooms and met and had pictures taken with the students. At about 3 p.m. I was taken on a tour of the community, and at 6 p.m. I was off to a sweat lodge ceremony out of town. Back at midnight, I had a wonderful and leisurely home-cooked dinner with my hosts, and crawled into bed at about 3 a.m. Ten talks down, four to go!
November 10 – after about 3 hours sleep, I was up and packed for a ride to the airport in Thompson, for a 7:30 a.m. flight to Churchill, Polar Bear Capital of the world. The population of Churchill is 923 and the polar bear population is 900. I arrived at about 10 a.m. and was whisked to the Duke of Marlborough school for a slate of 4 afternoon talks. It was polar bear season, so all the hotel rooms in town were booked. I was given an overnight doctor and nurse residency apartment. After dropping off my things in the apartment, I headed over to the school, where I gave talks to the 10th-12th graders, the 4th-7th graders, the 8th -9th graders and finally the adorable 2nd-3rd graders — who asked the very best questions! I talked to nearly all the 180 students of the school, just missing the first grade, who were out of school already. At about 4 p.m. I headed out in a blizzard, and walked the streets to find a grocery store, buy my Tundra Buggy ticket for the next day and have dinner at one of the colorful local restaurants, the Reef Dining Room at the Seaport Hotel. By about 10 p.m. I braved the blizzard, and slipped and slided my way back to my room. My 14 talks in 6 days were over! Whew!
November 11 – I was collected at 8 a.m. by a Tundra Buggy bus, and for the next hour, picked up passengers for a full day polar bear sightseeing trip out on the tundra. We saw 27 polar bears, and I’ll write more about that in a separate blog. I took Michel, a cuddly stuffed Polar bear belonging to a colleague at work, with me on the trip. Here’s Michel’s Polar bear adventures! At 11:11 a.m. the Tundra Buggy stopped and observed a moment of silence for Remembrance Day. The tundra was windswept and snowy white, the fierce blizzardy wind shook the buggy, as we stopped and remembered those fallen armed forces. Then I gave a little impromptu talk (to a few people) on the buggy about Auroras on Earth and Auroras at Saturn. At 6:00 p.m. I was back on the Churchill to Winnipeg train, for a 36-hour trip back to Winnipeg.
November 12 – This was a day of rolling scenery, chatting with fellow travelers, meeting new people in the dining car. I managed to give my Solar System and Cassini talks to my new seatmates gathered in the dining car, tho. š
November 13 – We rolled into Winnipeg at about — I forget– but it was 4 p.m. or so. I walked Anne-Marie and her dad from Vancouver to their nearby –and haunted — Fort Garry Hotel. Then I continued on to my hotel for the night, the Marlborough. Two hours later I was on my way to dinner with University of Manitoba astronomer Jayanne English. After a lovely dinner with Jayanne (and a grad student), we headed over the the Garry Hotel’s Palm Court for a nitecap. What a lovely way to end my trip!
November 14 – My flight back to Los Angeles left too early for the famed Sunday Brunch at the Fort Garry Hotel. Guy Westcott (again) was pressed into service and drove me to the airport Sunday morning. Mojo and I were reunited after a long but rewarding and very memorable trip to Manitoba – my second of the year. And lucky me! I’ll be back in Winnipeg April 6 and 7 this year, to speak once again, and to be an honorary judge at the Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Centre’s annual Science and Career Fair.
I learned about an amazing partnership this week. A partnership connecting women who suffer from lymphedema (demystified below) with free compression sleeves (also demystified below)! This is cross-posted from my friend Susan’s TodĀdler Planet blog post “Canāt Afford Lymphedema Sleeves?”
Crickettās Answer, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization founded in memory of Crickett Julius, has just joined forces with LympheDIVAs to help other breast cancer survivors who fight not just the beast that is breast cancer but also the fallout of side effects that includes lymphedema, which may limit survivorsā activities.
Crickett’s Answer to Cancer provide wigs, mastectomy and lymphedema products, massage, facials, and other pampering services, as a way to help women feel feminine and beautiful despite losing their hair and/or breasts. “By providing no-cost products and services, we honor these courageous women with breast cancer, as well as the memory of Crickett Julius.”
LympheDIVAs began in Philadelphia when two young breast cancer survivors, Rachel Troxell and Robin Miller, developed lymphedema, a side effect of breast cancer treatment that can cause permanent swelling in the arms. Their physicians and lymphedema therapists recommended a compression sleeve as the most effective way of controlling the swelling. When they researched the options for the sleeve they found that the only ones available were rough textured, heavy, hot, beige, and bandage-like. Frustrated and dismayed over the lack of options they had for compression sleeves, Robin and Rachel met with Kristin Dudley, a fashion designer, to discuss their idea of creating a more elegant and comfortable compression sleeve.
My friend Susan, played matchmaker and connected these two amazing resources. Now, lymphdema sleeves in floral, lace, tattoo and other designs or skin tones are available–at no cost–to women who can’t afford them through Crickett’s Answer! All this culminated on the very week Susan learned she has a fourth cancer/recurrence in less that four years.
What is the lymphatic system and lymphedema?
The lymphatic system is structured like a web, occasionally draining into small lumps or nodes that filter the lymphatic fluid. The system works through the pumping power of the bodyās muscles. The muscles contract, increasing pressure within the lymph vessels, which causes the fluid to move. A series of one-way valves ensure that the fluid moves in the right direction. Lymphedema, the build up of protein rich fluid in the subcutaneous interstitial compartment occurs when either lymph fluid is impeded from flowing through the lymph vessels and lymphatic system or there is an excess of fluid that exceeds the carrying capacity of the lymph system. It collects in the subcutaneous and deep tissues causing swelling of the affected area and predisposes to chronic inflammation.
What are lymphedema armsleeves and gauntlets?
Lymphedema is managed and treated through a variety of therapies. Compression armsleeves and gauntlets are one such therapy. LympheDIVAs armsleeves and gauntlets are Class 1 (20-30mmHg) and Class 2 (30-40mmHg) medical devices. Like other armsleeves they utilize graduated compression, the highest pressure is at the wrist and acts as a pump to encourage the lymph vessels to push the lymph fluid toward the body.
Although lymphedema sleeves are medically necessary, they are not covered by Medicare OR most insurance plans under current law, and thousands of survivors go without the sleeves, needlessly suffering congestion, swelling, and pain that interferes with their normal activities.
To ask for help, please download and complete the forms at Crickettās Answer, writing in ālymphedema sleeve and gauntletā on page 2 of the application.
And please share, or recommend Lymphedivas products to your friends, physical therapists, doctors, nurses, mothers, sisters, daughters and wives, or send them a note of thanks for sharing their wonderful products with those in need.
To help or raise awareness, please feel free to copy, tweet, or link my post on your blog, Facebook page, email lists, or print it out, stick it into an envelope and mail it to a friend. Send it to your favorite local newspaper, journalist or social media outlet. And ongoing never-ending thanks to awesome Susan for connecting these resources to each other and once again, sharing news, hope and awareness with us!
Johann Bode's 1801 Uranographia, showing Quadrans Murales, Boƶtes and other constellationsBoƶtes, Canes Venatici, Coma Berenices and Quadrans MuralisThe Northeast sky Jan 4 at 1:00 a.m. PST. Look between Ursa Major and Minor, and the bright star Arcturus in Boƶtes for the location of Quadrans Muralis on the Boƶtes-Draco borderLooking Northeast before sunrise, chart courtesy of Spaceweather.com
Most meteor showers radiate from a recognizable constellation like Leo’s Leonids, Gemini’s Geminids and Orion’s Orionids. What’s up with the January Quadrantids? Where do you find their constellation? In Quadrans Muralis, a demoted constellation.
The first 60+ Roman constellations didn’t cover the sky south of the equator, so over the years, astronomers took up the task and filled in the empty spaces with new constellations, including some in the northern sky.
The International Astronomical Union divided up the sky into official constellations in 1930. 88 constellations remained, but over 30 constellations didn’t make the cut. Among those demoted was Quadrans Muralis, the location of January’s brilliant, but brief Quadrantid meteor shower. Apis, the bee, Felis, the cat, and Solarium the sundial were other constellations demoted into obsoleteness. One ancient constellation, Argo Navis, didn’t survive, either. It’s the only one of the 48 constellations listed by 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy no longer officially recognized as a constellation. Like other pieces of large real estate, it was subdivided into smaller segments in the 17th century, and those constellations — Carina the Keel, Vela the Sails, and Puppis the Poop Deck — survived demotion.
There were good reasons to define and standardize the constellation list, even if it meant losing some historic or whimsical constellations. One reason, according to the IAU was “to aid in the naming of new variable stars, which brighten and fade rather than shine steadily. Such stars are named for the constellation in which they reside, so it is important to agree where one constellation ends and the next begins.”
Quadrans Muralis was added to the constellations by Joseph J. de Lalande in 1795, to commemorate the quadrant he used to observe and measure stellar positions. The quadrant was an instrument very similar to today’s sextant. A few years later, in the early 1800’s a meteor shower was discovered to radiate from this constellation, and the meteor shower was named for the constellation.
Created from stars found to the north of Boƶtes, the herdsmen; Quadrans Muralis can be found in a rich area of the northern sky filled with pretty constellations. The big and little dippers (the most recognizable parts of Ursa Major and Ursa Minor) are the most familiar sights but you’ll also find the Northern Crown, Corona Borealis, Boƶtes and his two hunting dogs Asterion and Chara in Canes Venatici, and Coma Berenices, the hair of Bernice. Take a tour of the area through binoculars on January 3rd before midnight while waiting for the radiant to rise.
Update for 2012 for Southern California meteor observers: “The radiant rises at 1:00 am local time and the moon sets at 3:00 am. The predicted peak (2:30 am Eastern 11:30 PST (07:30 UT January 4, 2011).
The Quadrantids (QUA) or January Bootids are active from January 1st through the 10th. A sharp maximum is predicted to occur near 0730 Universal Time on the 4th. This corresponds to 02:30 EST and 23:30 PST (January 3rd). This is good timing for viewers located in eastern North America as the radiant will rising above the northeastern horizon. It would even be better if the maximum were a bit later as the radiant would be located higher in the sky, producing more activity.
Rates will depend on the exact time of maximum and whether the moon is still above the horizon. Assuming the 0730 UT timing is correct, the further one is located in North America, the better. Eastern observers may be able to see 60-75 Quadrantids per hour. If your skies are very clear and dark, allowing you to see faint meteors, your rates could top 100 per hour. Observers located in the western portions of North American will have lower rates but will also have the opportunity to see Quadrantid “earthgrazers”. Earthgrazers are meteors that skim the upper portion of the atmosphere therefore lasting much longer than normal and producing long trails in the sky. These meteors can only be seen when the radiant lies close to the horizon. As the radiant rises, the meteor paths
will become shorter with shorter durations. Observers in the northern hemisphere outside of North America can expect to see a maximum of 25 Quadrantids per hour between moon set and dawn.
At maximum the radiant is located at 15:21 (230) +49. This position lies in a barren region of extreme northern Bootes, ten degrees northeast of the fourth magnitude star Beta Bootis. At 42 km/sec. the Quadrantids produce meteors of medium velocity. During exceptional activity some Quadrantid fireballs may be witnessed. Courtesy Bob Lundsford posting on the MeteorObs Yahoo Group.
