Mon June 10, 2013
MOON, VENUS AND MERCURY
The moon is a slender crescent, low in the west after sunset today. As darkness sets in, you should notice two stars off
to the right of the moon. The really bright one below and to the right of the moon is actually the planet Venus, while the
fainter of the two stars which is above and to the right of the moon is Mercury. Whenever two or more celestial objects
appear near each other in the sky, we call it a conjunction. Conjunctions give us the feeling that the moon and the
planets are very close to each other and might collide, but that’s only because our depth perception isn’t good enough
to see that the closeness is only an illusion: in reality these objects are separated by great distances. The moon is only a
couple of hundred thousand miles away, while Mercury and Venus are many tens of millions of miles farther out. And
two bright stars above the moon, Castor and Pollux in the constellation Gemini, are trillions of miles farther out!
Tue June 11, 2013
VEGA IN THE EAST – VULTUR CADENS
As darkness sets in this evening, look toward the east. There’s a bright star over there – its name is Vega, and it’s the
fifth brightest star in the night sky. The name of this star comes from the middle east, and translated it means, “falling,
(or “swooping,) eagle (or vulture)”. Vega and the stars around it form an ancient star
pattern known as vultur cadens, which also means, “falling vulture,” although the official constellation here is Lyra, the
Harp. On star charts you can sometimes see it pictured as a vulture with a harp inscribed within it. Above Vega are some
fainter stars which trace out a simple letter H. The H stands for Hercules, and for his sixth labor, this mythical Greek hero
fired arrows at this vulture, and also at two nearby constellations, Cygnus the Swan and Aquila the eagle, driving them
away from Lake Stymphalus, where they had picked up the unfortunate habit of swooping down and attacking any
unsuspecting people who wandered by.
Wed June 12, 2013
“THE PLANETS”
This weekend, “The Planets,” will be playing for the last time at the IRSC Hallstrom Planetarium. I wrote this popular
show a few years ago, and was able to get production funding from the Southeastern Planetarium Association. The show
is narrated by Kate Mulgrew, who portrayed Captain Janeway in the television series, Star Trek: Voyager. Since I wrote
the show, somebody found another moon orbiting Pluto, so with the marvelous editing talent of WQCS’s Master
Engineer Joe Lenartiene, I was able to make a small change to the soundtrack to reflect that recent discovery. This show
also features music from Gustav Holst’s “The Planets” suite, arranged as an electronic score by Jonn Serrie. And of
course we will show you some beautiful pictures of the solar system, even Pluto! Shows are on Friday night and Saturday
afternoon - call the IRSC Box office at 1-800-220-9915 to get tickets.
Thu June 13, 2013
IROQUOIS CREATION MYTH
In an old Iroquois story, the world began long ago when the great tree of light was plucked out of the ground of heaven,
and the sky woman, who was wife to earth-holder, came down to the world below. Now at that time there was no land,
only water as far as the eye could see. The birds of the air and the creatures of the water came together in council to
decide where sky woman would live. The mud turtle was the best of all the animals for supporting the woman above the
water, as he could swim without tiring, and sky woman was set down on his shell. The others brought gravel and mud up
from the bottom to place upon the turtle's back; and the land grew. Sky woman planted seeds from the great tree of
light, so that the earth became a green place too. Now sky woman’s daughter had two sons: the Great Spirit, Mannitto,
and the Evil Spirit. From his mother’s face the Great Spirit made the sun; and from her body he made the moon and
stars in the sky. And so it has been to this day.
Fri June 14, 2013
LAST SHOWING OF “THE PLANETS”
Tonight and tomorrow afternoon are the last presentations of the planetarium show, “The Planets,” which is narrated
by Kate Mulgrew, who portrayed Captain Janeway in the television series, Star Trek: Voyager. Mulgrew takes us on a
grand tour of our solar system, including the most up-to-date information about our neighbor worlds. See the Mariner
Valley, the “Grand Canyon” of Mars - stand at the edge of the 10 mile-high ice cliffs of Uranus' moon Miranda - and
travel to far-flung Pluto and beyond, where the sun is just a bright spot in the nighttime. And we’ll look for other solar
systems out there among the stars. Shows are tonight – Friday – at 7 or 8 pm, and on Saturday at 1 or 2 pm – call the
IRSC box office at 1 800-220-9915. If skies are clear this evening, the Treasure Coast Astronomical Society will be on
hand to provide telescopic views of the moon and planets in between shows.