Clear winter skies can provide breathtaking view of heavens

Many planets and constellations

will be visible during January.

See SKIES, page 6

Skies

By MIKE FORD

Special to The Capital-Journal

The cold weather, high winds, and snow hasn't made winter an ideal time for observing the skies, so far. But, when the clouds clear off and the winds die down, get ready for some spectacular sites. The cold weather has a positive effect to viewing the heavens. Arctic wind masses clear out the atmosphere of water vapor and dust, making the air drier. When stars twinkle, they are being viewed under rivers of air that distort them. However, when the air is drier and more stable, stars don't twinkle as much and the night is excellent for viewing.

During this time of the year, there will be planets galore visible after sunset. In the south-southwest, Venus dominates the sky. It is bright because of its close distance to Earth. Also, the sun is reflecting off the cloud tops of sulphuric acid. From studying Venus, there is evidence scientists are seeing Earth in its early stages of development. Eventually, Venus could form an atmosphere much like the Earth's, a process that would take millions of years to do!

Almost directly overhead are the two largest gas giants --- Jupiter and Saturn. Jupiter is the brightest of the two. On Dec. 30, the spaceprobe Cassini passed close to Jupiter on its way to Saturn, a trip which will take another three years. Observing Jupiter in a small telescope will show the belts, Great Red Spot, and the four satellites discovered by Galileo in 1610. The closest of the satellites is Io. It is one of the most interesting of the satellites because it has active volcanoes. In fact, Io is hot from Jupiter and the other 15 satellites tugging on it, causing it to be molten just under the crust. This tugging of Io is causing these volcanoes of sulphur to form and erupt constantly. The crust also moves rapidly. On Earth, our crust moves approximately one centimeter per year. The crust on Io moves 18 miles per year. So, if anyone was to live on Io, earthquake insurance definitely would be necessary.

The next satellite out from Io is Europa. This icy cue ball is also very interesting. It is covered in a thick crust made of ice, with a probable warm, salt water ocean beneath it. There is also a good possibility that some type of organic life exists in this ocean. Both planets are located in the constellation of Taurus, the bull. Taurus is easily found by looking for a "V"-shaped group of stars called the Hyades and a small dipper-shaped group of stars called the Pleiades. On the lower part of the "V" is a bright orange-red star. This is Aldebaran, a supergiant star that eventually will explode into a supernova. Those who are living on Earth thousands of years from now will see this star in the daytime.

In Egyptian mythology, Taurus was the symbol of Osiris and his sister, Isis, who were represented as a bull-god and cow-goddess, respectively. To the Greeks, Taurus is identified with the disguise adopted by Zeus in one of his adventures. On this occasion, Zeus had fallen in love with the beautiful Europa, daughter of King Agenor, as she walked with her friends along the seashore. He suddenly appeared to the group as a magnificent and gentle white bull. In fact, he was so gentle that no one was afraid of this beast. Europa and her maidens gathered flowers and made garlands, which they hung around the animal's neck. Europa then climbed on the back of this gentle giant, and the bull plunged into the sea and swam away furiously with the terrified girl. When they reached Crete, Zeus revealed his true identity and ravished her. She was to bear three sons, the first of which, Minos, introduced the bull cult to Crete.

At approximately 8 p.m., perhaps the most famous and brightest of the winter constellations rises. Orion, the hunter, is one of the more fascinating constellations visible this time of year. It is easily located in the east-southeast and appears as a large rectangle with three stars at a diagonal in the center. The upper left star, which appears red and bright, is Betelgeuse. It is another old supergiant star that eventually will explode as a supernova and become visible during the day in several thousand years. Betelgeuse is about 10,000 times as massive as our sun. These massive stars don't have a long life cycle because of their enormous size. They can't produce enough energy to shine on. When looking at Orion, there is a small group of stars just below the left star in the diagonal. This group will appear fuzzy because it is a large cloud of dust and gas called a diffuse nebula, a place where stars are born. In addition to stars, the Hubble Space Telescope has confirmed the formation of small solid spheres that could be planets.

The Orion Nebula is the brightest nebula in the sky. It is so big that if you were able to go from one side to the other at the speed of light, it would take you 1,500 years! The nebula that formed our solar system wasn't near that size. Greek mythology recorded Orion as a powerful figure; strong, handsome and having great experience as a hunter. While visiting the isle of Chios, he fell in love with Merope, a granddaughter of the god Dionysis. Her father, Oenopion, agreed to their marriage on the condition that Orion rid the island of all the dangerous beasts. Upon ridding the island of these beasts, Oenopion began to make excuses of why he thought the marriage shouldn't take place. An angry Orion began to drink very potent wine to the point of getting drunk and forced himself on Merope. Getting upset about the attack on his daughter, Oenopion blinded Orion. Orion then was told to travel east to seek the sun's morning rays. He finally met the sun god, Helios, and was given his sight back. Now wanting revenge, Orion went looking for Oenopion, but landed back in Crete instead. In Crete, he met the beautiful maiden Artimus, who also was a hunter. Because of his ability to kill all animals, the gods thought Orion was harmful to the ecology of the earth and produced a giant scorpion, Scorpius, to challenge Orion. Unable to pierce the armored skin of Scorpius, Orion finally was stung to death. To immortalize both Orion and Scorpius, they were placed in opposite positions in the sky. Orion is a winter constellation, whereas Scorpius is visible in the summer.

In addition to the bright winter constellations, there also are a couple of interesting groupings in the sky. On Friday and Saturday, Saturn is to the upper left of the Moon. On Sunday, Jupiter is to the upper right with the star Aldebaran just below it.

If you are interested in astronomy and want to learn more about it, consider joining the Northeast Kansas Amateur Astronomers League, which meets every fourth Thursday of the month at Stoffer Science Hall on the Washburn University campus in Topeka.

Moon phases this month: first quarter --- Jan. 2; full moon --- Jan. 9; last quarter --- Jan. 16; new moon --- Jan. 23; first quarter --- Jan. 30.

Mike Ford is an astronomy teacher at Holton High School.

Copyright 2001
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