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The 50 Best Sights in Astronomy and How to See Them: Observing Eclipses, Bright Comets, Meteor Showers, and Other Celestial Wonders PDF

297 Pages·2007·8.17 MB·English
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ffirs.qxp 6/5/07 7:35 AM Page i THE 50 BEST SIGHTS IN ASTRONOMY AND HOW TO SEE THEM Observing Eclipses, Bright Comets, Meteor Showers, and Other Celestial Wonders Fred Schaaf John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ffirs.qxp 6/5/07 7:35 AM Page ii Dedicated with love and gratitude to my sisters, Pat and Joanne, and my brother, Bob. This book is printed on acid-free paper. Copyright © 2007 by Fred Schaaf. All rights reserved Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey Published simultaneously in Canada Wiley Bicentennial Logo: Richard J. Pacifico Credits appear on page 273. Design and composition by Navta Associates, Inc. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copy- right Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600, or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions. Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and the author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically dis- claim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages. For general information about our other products and services, please contact our Cus- tomer Care Department within the United States at (800) 762-2974, outside the United States at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. For more information about Wiley products, visit our web site at www.wiley.com. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: Schaaf, Fred. The 50 best sights in astronomy and how to see them : observing eclipses, bright comets, meteor showers, and other celestial wonders / Fred Schaaf. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-471-69657-5 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Astronomy—Observer’s manual. 2. Astronomy—Amateurs’ manual. I. Title. II. Title: Fifty best sights in astronomy and how to see them. QB63.S389 2007 520—dc22 2006036221 Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ftoc.qxp 6/5/07 7:35 AM Page iii CONTENTS Acknowledgments vii Introduction 1 Basic Information for Astronomical Observers 5 Field of View 180° (the Whole Sky) to 100° (Naked-Eye Scan) Sight 1 The Starry Sky 13 Sight 2 Total Eclipse of the Sun 18 Sight 3 Meteor Shower or Storm 22 Sight 4 Fireball Meteor 28 Sight 5 The Northern Lights, or Aurora 32 Sight 6 Bright Satellite or Spacecraft 36 Sight 7 The Milky Way 40 Field of View 100° to 50° (the Widest Fixed Naked-Eye Field) Sight 8 The Big Dipper and the North Star 47 Sight 9 The Orion Group of Constellations 51 Sight 10 The Summer Triangle Region 54 Field of View 50° to 15° (Moderately Wide Naked-Eye Field) Sight 11 Venus and Mercury at Greatest Elongation 61 Sight 12 Venus, Jupiter, and Mars at Brightest 65 Sight 13 Bright Comet with Long Tail 69 | iii ftoc.qxp 6/5/07 7:35 AM Page iv Sight 14 Sirius, the Brightest Star 77 Sight 15 Other Bright Stars 81 Sight 16 Orion 86 Sight 17 Other Prominent Constellations 92 Field of View 15° to 1° (Narrow Naked-Eye Field, Binoculars Field, and Wide-Telescopic Field) Sight 18 Total Eclipse of the Moon 101 Sight 19 Total Eclipse of the Sun Close-Up 108 Sight 20 The Moon at Full and Other Phases 111 Sight 21 Very Thin Crescent Moon 114 Sight 22 Lunar Conjunctions and Occultations 120 Sight 23 Planetary Conjunctions 127 Sight 24 Bright Comet Close-Up 134 Sight 25 The Hyades Star Cluster and Aldebaran 136 Sight 26 The Pleiades 139 Sight 27 Other Very Bright Large Open-Star Clusters 143 Sight 28 Orion’s Belt and Sword 146 Sight 29 Algol, Mira, and Other Dramatic Variable Stars 151 Sight 30 Novae, Supernovae, and Supernova Remnants 156 Sight 31 Starriest Fields 162 Sight 32 The Sagittarius Milky Way Region 165 Sight 33 The Great Andromeda Galaxy 170 Sight 34 The Realm of the Galaxies 175 Field of View 1° to 0.1° or Less (Medium to Narrow Telescopic Field) Sight 35 Overall Telescopic Views of the Moon 181 Sight 36 Close-Up Views of Lunar Craters and Other Features of the Moon 185 Sight 37 Sunspots and Other Solar Features 190 iv | Contents ftoc.qxp 6/5/07 7:35 AM Page v Sight 38 Partial Eclipses of the Sun 195 Sight 39 Transits of Mercury and Venus 199 Sight 40 Venus Near Inferior Conjunction 202 Sight 41 Jupiter and Its Moons 207 Sight 42 Saturn and Its Rings and Moons 213 Sight 43 Mars at Closest in a Telescope 219 Sight 44 Uranus, Neptune, and Other Dim but Important Worlds 226 Sight 45 A Colorful or Otherwise Striking Double Star 230 Sight 46 The Great Orion Nebula 237 Sight 47 A Rich Open Cluster 243 Sight 48 A Bright Globular Cluster 249 Sight 49 A Bright Planetary Nebula 254 Sight 50 A Bright and Structured Galaxy 258 Appendix A Total Solar Eclipses, 2008–2024 262 Appendix B Major Meteor Showers 263 Appendix C Total and Partial Lunar Eclipses, 2007–2017 264 Appendix D The Brightest Stars 265 Appendix E Transits of Venus and Mercury 266 Glossary 267 Sources 271 Photo Credits 273 Index 274 Contents | v ftoc.qxp 6/5/07 7:35 AM Page vi flast.qxp 6/5/07 7:36 AM Page vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Wiley published four of my books. Now this book marks a return for me to Wiley. Kate Bradford is the editor whom I worked with on several of the past books and the person who acquired this book and my next, The Brightest Stars(due out from Wiley next year). I wish to thank Kate so much for playing this role and for being continually support- ive and helpful over the years. In the first phase of working on The 50 Best Sights in Astronomy, my editor was the congenial Teryn Johnson. In the next stage, my editor was Christel Winkler, who was patient and understanding under trying circumstances. I wish to give my deepest thanks to her for her tremendous and conscientious efforts to keep this book on schedule. Another person I want to thank for her hard and vital work on this book is editorial assistant Juliet Grames. The photographers and artists who have contributed to this book are many, and their additions have been crucial. The largest number of diagrams and maps were supplied by two old friends of mine: Guy Ottewell and Doug Myers. Their work is always unique and brilliant. Vital maps were also provided by Robert C. Victor and D. David Batch, who produce the Abrams Planetarium Sky Calendar. The Sky Calendar is a wonderful resource for all knowledge levels of skywatchers as well as for teachers. It is available from the Abrams Planetarium, Michigan State Uni- versity, East Lansing, Michigan 48824. You can also check out the associated Skywatcher’s Diary at www.pa.msu.edu/abrams/diary.html. The largest number of photographs by far were provided by Johnny Horne. I’ve enjoyed the originality of Johnny’s amazing work for many years and relied on him for some comet images a decade ago. But it was this current book—and the 2004 transit of Venus—that got me back in touch with him. An old friend who provided both photos and sketches was Ray Maher. Other good friends who were photo contributors include Steve Albers, Nel- son J. Biggs Sr., and Chuck Fuller. Akira Fujii, Richard Yandrick, and Shahriar Davoodian supplied several of this book’s most stunning images, for which I thank them. | vii flast.qxp 6/5/07 7:36 AM Page viii cintro01.qxp 6/5/07 7:37 AM Page 1 Introduction The idea of this book is really quite simple. I’ve chosen the fifty best sights based on my own lifetime of passionately seeking astronomical wonders. I try to present them here through vivid detail and concise observ- ing instructions. Nothing could be more clear and simple, nor, if you wish to seek the very heart of astronomy, any more desirable. This book offers to those seeking the thrills of the heavens the most instant and immediately powerful gratification of that desire possible from pages. It is, after all, astronomy honed down to the most exciting experiences. Armchair astronomers will find all they need to enjoy the heavens. Most people, however, will be motivated to action. They will, I hope, be inspired, more electrifyingly than would otherwise be possi- ble, to get out and experience these wonders for themselves. A remarkable thing about The 50 Best Sights in Astronomyis that no one seems to have ever had this idea for a book before. Why did I stumble on the idea when other people didn’t? I’ll offer my explanation in a moment. First, I’d like to mention something else about this book that I think is original and that you may find interesting. I’m talking about the criterion I’ve used for determining the order in which the sights should be discussed. My criterion is the width of the field of view necessary to enjoy the sight best. The order is from the widest to the narrowest view. The first sight is that of the entire starry sky on a clear night, preferably with no interfering moon- light or city light pollution. This is a scene at least 180° wide—the angular span of the entire dome of the sky. Of course, it’s not really possible to be so precise as to determine that a slightly larger field of view is needed for enjoy- ing a bright star in its stellar setting as compared to a bright planet in its own setting. So the book is divided into sections by width of field. The first section includes sights that require a field ranging from that of the entire sky down to 100° wide—a broad naked-eye scan. Each succeeding section zooms far- ther in until we start looking at the magnified but also much narrower views available through binoculars. And then the final section contains sights that are the most magnified and narrow of all the ones viewed through telescopes. Introduction | 1

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"Fred Schaaf is one of the most experienced astronomical observers of our time. For more than two decades, his view of the sky--what will be visible, when it will be visible, and what it will look like--has encouraged tens of thousands of people to turn their eyes skyward."--David H. Levy, Science E
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