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  • ASTRONOMY NOTES: JANUARY STAR…TS

    Better late than never, here is a round up of starry night sights for January:

         Welcome to another year of astronomical observing prompts and miscellany, which gets off to a cracking start with news of NASA’s Parker Solar Probe which has been steadily nearing the sun since 2018.  By the time you hear this, there should have been some news of its latest experiences.  Experiences which will have taken it 38 times closer to the Sun than we are and into temperatures around 900 degrees Centigrade, while travelling at 430,000 miles per hour.

         There are some alternative treats to the more often observed Orion.  Thanks to a storytelling session last month hosted by Devon storyteller, Janet Dowling, award-winning author of Folk Tales of the Cosmos, I gained inspiration for this month’s astronomy notes.  What is near the mighty Orion…his two hunting dogs of course.  So that is what I shall talk about this month.  This is not to neglect the annual enjoyment of the Orion nebula, but to explore other observing opportunities out there.

         The pair of stars, Sirius A and Sirius B, together make up the brightest star in the northern hemisphere and appear as the main or alpha star in Canis Majoris. The name Sirius is derived from the Greek meaning ‘scorching’. It is one of the nearest stars to us, at a distance of just 8.6 light years away, which is why it appears so bright – it is only twice the mass of the Sun. Sirius B takes 50 years to orbit Sirius A.  Representing one of the hunting dogs belonging to Orion, the common name for this star is, unsurprisingly, the Dog Star.  Mirzam is the second brightest star in the constellation and the name means

    ‘herald’. Mirzam precedes Sirius, thus acting as its herald. This blue star is

    nowhere near that star though, as it is around 492.5 light years away.

    Another bright star in the constellation is even further away, a whopping 1800

    light years away. This yellow-white supergiant star, Wezen, is at the tail end of

    the dog. It is 17 times as massive as the Sun yet does not appear as bright as

    Sirius due to its distance away.

         Below Sirius can be found the bright open cluster of stars of M41 which looks as though the stars are arranged in lines. 

         Canis Minor contains Procyon (one of the marker stars of the Winter Hexagon) but very few other stars, and nothing note-worthy. Procyon, which is comprised of a pair of stars, lies on the celestial equator which makes it a useful guidepost for locating that line. This yellow-white star is 11 light years away and around one and a half times the mass of the Sun.

         Once you have located these stars, you will then see Orion striding into view  as he follows his two hunting dogs.  Orion is a magnificent constellation and to see the distant star forming region of the nebula with the naked eye, albeit faintly, is a sight worth seeing time after time.

         Taurus and Auriga are a couple of other constellations you may wish to observe for a change.  Taurus contains the bright red ‘eye of the bull’ star Aldebaran, just in front of the pretty Hyades cluster.  The Hyades are 150 light years away, with Aldebaran much closer to us at half that distance.  It is an old red giant of a star, at 6.5 billion years old, while our Sun is a mere 4.6  billion years old.

         The Pleiades, commonly known as the Seven Sisters, although somewhat inevitably there are a quite a few more than 7 … around 750 stars comprise this group can be found to the right of the Hyades.  This is one of the brightest and youngest star clusters in the sky, having formed around 100 million years ago, about 444 light years from Earth.  From side to side the group spans 13 light years, or about halfway from Earth to the bright star of Vega.  Behaving rather like a school of fish, the stars move together as a gravitationally bound swarm through space.  It is easy to spot with the naked eye and a lovely object to view through binoculars or a telescope.  The more you look, the more you will see.

         The star, Alnath, at the tip of one the ‘horns’ of the bull, is shared with the constellation Auriga.  The name is derived from the Arabic for ‘butting’.   It is the second brightest star in Taurus and is 134 light years away, and obviously helpful for locating this other constellation.

         Auriga contains Capella, which, as one of the early stars to be seen as dusk falls, is one of the main navigation stars.  This star is also part of the Winter Hexagon asterism.  Being right overhead during winter, it is an easy star to spot.  Capella (alpha Aurigae) is the main star in the Auriga constellation and is the sixth brightest star in sky. It is actually a pair of yellow giant stars which are 42 light years away.

         There are some pretty star clusters within Auriga to look for.  M36 Open Cluster contains around 60 stars.  Visible in binoculars, this is a cluster similar to the Pleiades.  The cluster is 14 light years across and 40,000 light years away.

         M37 is a rich Open Cluster of about 150 stars, about 4,500 light years away.  The cluster is about 20 – 25 light years across. 

         And, finally, M38 is a scattered Open Cluster of about 100 stars, which is visible in binoculars.  It is 3,400 light years away and 25 light years across, similar to M37.

         Well, let’s hope for Clear Skies so we can enjoy all these wonderful stars in clusters and on their own during the proper dark nights of the northern hemisphere winter.

         Until next time, my best wishes to you all for a happy, healthy, and peaceful 2025.

    Karen Hedges January 2025

        

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  • Sunday 19 January

    The weeks are already going by at pace. Have been busy helping at some open events by explaining the history of the Lockyer telescope, even viewing Jupiter and some tiny moons through it, continuing with the research into Sir Norman, and managing to squeeze in a visit to hear Iryna Ilnytska perform in Dido and Aeneas at St Nicholas Priory, Exeter. Oh…and continuing with my project, will have an update soon 😉

  • New Year…

    What will the new year bring? Well…watch this ‘space’ for exciting news of my latest plans for the revised stargazing guide.

    Christmas happened as it always does, somehow providing a little bit of sparkle and hope amidst the strife that is around the world just now. For me, a walk along the seafront watching the little turnstones being busy on the rocks as well as also seeming to enjoy a little paddle as the waves broke upon the pebbles, brought joy to the day. Feeling a bit empty-nestish this year, I made a festive meringue garland filled with blackcurrant yogurt topped with sparkling pomegranate seeds and bright cranberries as a change from my usual Christmas pudding.

    A walk around a local nature reserve sounded just the thing for one of those dark days after Christmas. The mist did clear for a moment, with the sun showing as a pale disk in the sky, before the fog descended. It was a challenging walk. The nature reserve contained a short sign-posted walk for one and a half kilometres. Not far. But it was steep. It was muddy. There were steps. Ooh my ankles did not like the slippery slopes. My feet did not like plodging through the slippery muddy trails. My eyes loved the little ferns growing on lichen-covered branches, the tiny pink flower growing by the path, the bright patch of yellow gorse…and the sight of the end of the trail back at the car park. The views would be lovely and far reaching on a clear day so no doubt I will return.

    If you enjoy my blogs, try following me on Instagram, you can find me as KuiperbeltKaren and on Facebook as Karen Hedges. Wishing you all a great new year with lots of Clear Skies!

  • December Fun

    A weekend of pre-Christmas fun began with a Friday evening story telling session from Janet Dowling who explained the Greek myths around Orion and nearby constellations in a most entertaining and memorable way. This included expert interaction from the audience who had to act out certain parts as required. It was a great way to get to know people at the Norman Lockyer Observatory, although somewhat a baptism of fire for one or two new members!

    The following evening I was on duty as Telescope Presenter to the Lockyer Telescope. Although it was cold, windy, and cloudy, many people (40 or so) came along to learn about the Geminid meteor shower and to see around the Observatory. I love talking to such groups and they loved hearing about Sir Norman and the telescope. At the beginning a few lucky people did actually see the Moon close up through this magnificent telescope.

    Thankfully, Sunday lunch was provided by some close friends so we could sleep on and take it easy on the Sunday morning. After lunch, we played a game of Sherlock Holmes which the friends had given us on a previous Christmas but never played themselves. Will we ever see them again? I hope so!

  • Advent Sunday

    With candles warming our hands, our voices raised the church roof with our renditions of familiar Advent carols, and mulled apple juice to warm our insides afterwards, this was a great way to begin the season of Advent.

    Gardens and houses are ablaze with lights already. Perhaps it is because the season begins on a Sunday when people have time to do this.

  • Week of highlights

    Had a full day on Thursday with a visit to a friend whose mother recently passed away. She had been a great fan of my book and the Moon. Then it was onto the Library for a light lunch with Caroline and her father before viewing some of the best books from the Lady Lockyer Bequest. We were left alone with them…for 3 hours instead of the usual one. The time was well spent in enjoying the glorious and exquisite illustrations in the botanical and Japanese books, reading extracts, and just generally enjoying being allowed to handle and browse the collection.

    Iryna and Kara Malton gave a magnificent performance of a variety of songs and arias, with piano solos from Richard Lucas, who also accompanied them. The audience really lapped up the Cats’ Duet and, apparently, were still talking about that later in the day. I was just relieved that a reasonable number of people came and over £400 was raised for the church heating fund. With match funding, the total was well over £900. A great result.

    And, to round off the week, I took a walk in the pale autumn sunshine and kept on walking, up and up, until I reached the top of Roundball Hill. This is something I have not done for too long and was really pleased that all the exercises I have been doing targeting my legs has paid off. It was a tad difficult coming down though with my muddy gloves bearing witness to a rather slippery bit. But I did not slip over completely and used my walking pole to aid my descent. I was surprised as to where the path emerged….evidently a new route has been added since I last lived here, or I had been using a less amenable route back but, now I know, I can venture up either way to the top.

  • Inspirational…and excited

    Simon Reeve’s illustrated talk at Torquay Theatre went so quickly and I would have loved a conversation with him. He is inspirational and exhorted us all to invest in green ethical companies and to travel and meet people. The next day is was Robin Ince at Exeter Library…so excited as he has agreed to come to an event I am organising next year. Lovely man, approachable, inspirational, and held a question and answer session.

  • Poetry Prize!

    A poem I wrote about my grandfather won first prize in a local competition organised and sponsored by Shoobridge Funeral Directors – lovely, friendly people 🙂 And I was presented with the prize today and celebrated afterwards with cake and wine…

  • Sciency Fun

    What a brilliant day yesterday (Sunday 13 October) at the NLO for the Sidmouth Science Festival. I was impressed by the serious interest displayed by lots of young children – both girls and boys around age 5 and upwards – in the wind tunnel model of Blue Streak. We also got to see on a big screen the launch in real time of the Spacex rocket and recapture. Emotional! There was a wonderful buzz around the site.

  • Harvest

    What a wonderful weekend full of harvest celebrations, pasties (yes, at church :-)) and lots of communal hearty singing of old harvest favourites. Brings back memories of my dear Dad who loved singing ‘We plough the seeds…’ Miss him very much. Harvest is certainly a time to make sure we are winter ready in respect of our health, our larders – in case of another Beast from the East, power cuts and shortages – and praying for peace before the worst of the winter weather in Ukraine. If you can get to a fundraising concert given by and sung in by Iryna Ilnytska, then do so, you will not be disappointed, as well as raising money for the good cause, she deserves a wider audience.

    Autumn leaves are great for rustling through and seeking out bright delights in the hedgerow such as those pixie toadstools or spotting squirrels scurrying away with acorns. Bright jumpers and scarves will brighten your day and bring cheer to those around you. And you will be spotted more easily by those hasty cars in the narrow lanes.

    Happy Harvest!