Practical Astronomy

JULY 2010

Total Solar Eclipse

Your Images

Ursa Major
Practical Astronomy July 2010

In this month’s issue..

First Light
Welcome to
the July
3 TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE 2010 issue of
How to enjoy a free eclipse trip to Argentina Practical
Astronomy

5 READERS’ IMAGE GALLERY It’s the

middle of
Your astronomical images summer in the northern
hemisphere.. and interest in
practical astronomy is
8 PRACTICAL CONSTELLATIONS probably waning somewhat.

Moving on to Ursa Major But stick with it!

The dark (and cold) nights will

9 SKY VIEW - JULY return soon and the night sky
will become so much more
Maps of the Night Sky - looking East, South, West, North attractive again.

For your sustenance in the

13 SOCIETY NEWS meantime, here is the July
issue.
News and events from your astro societies
Hope you like it. Perhaps
leave a comment on the
14 OBSERVERS’ DELIGHTS Feedback page?

Special observing sights not to miss this month Clear skies,

Kevin Brown

Cover design: Pixeljuice snc

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Practical Astronomy July 2010 Practical Astronomy magazine is published monthly

Editor: Kevin Brown FRAS
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©2010 All contents copyright. No reproduction
without express permission.

Practical Astronomy July 2010 2

Total Solar Eclipse 2010: Let’s Take A Special Trip
Together! By Elvio Alanis, Argentina

There’s a total solar eclipse this year, on July Following our expedition flying over the ocean,
11th 2010. we will pass another landmark, the equator,
which divides the terrestrial sphere into the
Let’s assume you are in the UK on that day and
north and south hemispheres.
the midday sun is high in the sky, heading
south. It's summer. Moving Into
You are close to Winter
geographical And passing to the
position: 50ºN south of the
latitude and 0º equator, we
longitude (the experience another
Greenwich sudden change...
Meridian) on the we are in winter.
English Channel Obviously we do
and unfortunately, not notice any
you are a long way immediate
away from a place difference, but as
where the eclipse we continue our
can be seen that journey south, the
day. The Total Solar Eclipse At The End Of This Imaginary Journey
weather will
Let’s Take An become colder and
Imaginary Journey colder.
Therefore, I propose you make a long journey There is another important landmark on the
to see this beautiful astronomical phenomenon. Earth we have to pass: the Tropic of Capricorn.
But to save time and make the journey safe, I Like the northern tropic, this parallel of 23º 30’S
suggest you use a very special ship; your mind indicates the largest incursion of the Sun above
and your imagination. the southern hemisphere. Today, only twenty
Gather Necessary Equipment, Then Fly days after winter solstice, the Sun is low in the
South... north, some 43º above horizon.
But we will need some navigational aids. For Now we are in the southern winter, we continue
example, Google Earth would be ideal, or any our educational, imaginary flight over the frigid
globe of the Earth that you have at home. and turbulent waters of the Atlantic Ocean, until
we arrive at a symmetrical position to where we
Then we take off, flying in a southerly direction began our adventure: the latitude 50ºS.
over such a famous meridian. We fly on over
Europe and then enter the exotic and huge Travelling West
continent: Africa. South of this point, except for the frozen
Soon we will pass above the Tropic of Cancer, continent of Antarctica, there is no continental
a mark on the Earth (parallel 23º 30’N) mass. Well almost none... only the tip of the
indicating the greatest excursion of the Sun American continent lies south of this parallel.
into the northern hemisphere, just as happened And that’s where we are heading, so let’s now
twenty days before (June 21). abandon the Greenwich meridian (0º longitude)
Right now, the Sun is almost over our heads. and head west, flying along the 50ºS parallel.
We continue our journey on the continent and We still have to describe an arc of 70º on the
the Sun is left behind, more and more to the surface of the ocean, to reach our destination
north. Below, we suddenly see the Atlantic (coordinates: 50ºS, 70ºW) on the southern tip of
Ocean. South America.

Practical Astronomy July 2010 3

Total Solar Eclipse 2010: Let’s Take A Special Trip
Together! (cont.) By Elvio Alanis, Argentina

Our Destination - El Calafate Sights Of The Southern Sky

We must now refine our direction of flight,
eventually landing near a beautiful resort town
of Argentina, El Calafate.
Surrounded by blue lakes, vast glaciers and
near the last, snowy foothills of the Andes, this
is a place where the eclipse will happen.
Due to astronomy and geometry, the morning is
just beginning at the end of our timeless flight...
it is 08:00am local time.
The Eclipse Happens At Sunset
The only drawback we face is that the total
solar eclipse will not begin until 3:51pm local
time, when the Sun will be setting behind the
Andes.
Although totality will last about three minutes,
will we see the Sun totally obscured by the
Moon for only a few moments, before they both
hide behind the mountains.
During that time, we can see the planets
Mercury, Venus, Mars and Saturn drawing
almost exactly the ecliptic across the sky, plus
some brilliant stars.
Light Levels Increase To Normal Twilight
After those three great minutes, the light will
start to increase up to the level that follows the
long twilight, that occurs in these high latitudes.
Later on, the true night will come. After
17:00pm, more and more stars will be seen in
the sky.
At this latitude, the south celestial pole is as
high in the sky as Polaris is, at our trip starting
point back in UK and a plethora of interesting
and beautiful circumpolar objects, will be
displayed simultaneously.
The Southern Cross will be near the zenith with
its neighbouring jewellery box.
You'll also see the nearest star to the Sun,
Alpha Centaurus, the Magellan Clouds, the
globular clusters Omega Centaurs and 47
Tucan, plus the Nebula of Eta Carina will also
be seen.. all the night.
This is the last opportunity to see the 2010 total
solar eclipse because a few kilometres due
east and a few minutes after now, the Moon
shadow will take-off definitively from the face of
the Earth.
Resources
I recommend the following links and/or
bibliography for more precise information about
this spectacular event.
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEmono/TSE2010/
TSE2010.html
Sky and Telescope magazine, January 2010
issue.
A planetarium computer utility, like as Starry
Night Backyard or Stellarium, etc.
Elvio has created a video simulation of this
total solar eclipse. Watch it online in the
Members’ Area

Have YOUR Articles Published In Practical Astronomy Magazine

The magazine is keen to publish articles on any aspect of astronomy,
written by the readers.
The ideal article will be 350 - 600 words, plus a couple of images. However ALL
astronomical contributions are welcome. Please send as a text file (.txt) with
separate images (.jpg or .png)

It’s easy! Just use the SUBMIT AN ARTICLE facility on our website.

Practical Astronomy July 2010 4

Readers Image Gallery (1)
We welcome your images for publication. Beginner, advanced or expert, just send to: editor@practicalastronomy.com

Coloured Moon by Philip Thompson, Bolsover UK

This image was taken in 2009 using a Nikon D40

DSLR at prime focus on a 6" F8 Newtonian.
The colours were brought out using Photoshop

The Summer Triangle by Amir Ali Nasiri

Camera : Canon 500D
Lens : 18 mm /F:4.5
Exposure : 30 seconds
ISO : 3200
Date the photo was taken: 2010/06/2
Location: Zanjan, Iran
Description of the photo's content:
The Summer Triangle, as they call it in
summer sky guides, is comprised of three
bright stars: Vega, Altair and Deneb, with
Vega the most outstanding.
Vega is a slightly variable star, its magnitude
changing over 0.19 of a day.
Altair or Alpha Aquilae, another member of
this triangle, is magnitude 0.93 and is 17 light
years from the Sun.
The last member of the trio is Deneb or
Alpha Cygni. It is also a variable star and
3299 light years from the Sun.
In the picture you can see the rise of the
summer triangle, over late spring mountain
flora.

Practical Astronomy July 2010 5

Readers Image Gallery (2)
We welcome your images for publication. Beginner, advanced or expert, just send to: editor@practicalastronomy.com

Solar Images by Simon Metcalf

Practical Astronomy July 2010 6

Readers Image Gallery (3)
We welcome your images for publication. Beginner, advanced or expert, just send to: editor@practicalastronomy.com

Andromeda Galaxy by Asadollah

Ghamarinezhad

The Andromeda Galaxy (M31) is the

nearest galaxy to us. It has 100 billion
stars and is 2 million light years distant
from our galaxy.

Photo detail: Megrez 72 FD Doublet

APO
350D Canon modified camera
8*pics with variable exposure times

Full Moon by D.Vijayakumar

Telescope: 6" reflector

Camera: Panasonic Lumix
Digital Camera FX36
Exposure: Single
Date: 27/05/2010 at 9.30pm
Location: Chennai
Latitude/Longitude: 13º 04' N
80º 17' E.

Practical Astronomy July 2010 7

Practical Constellations: Ursa Major
By Dr Firas Safadi, Syria

Today we will start our

trip with Ursa Major to
introduce you to the
main features of this
rich constellation.
Ursa Major is one of the
most famous
constellations of the
night sky. It is well-
known to many people
due to its clarity and
ease of identification, in
addition to its famous
relation with Polaris. It is
also one of the
constellations that can
be seen clearly from
most cities.
Located in the northern
sky, Ursa Major, like Ursa
Minor, never sets
completely below the
horizon for northern
hemisphere dwellers,
and it never even
touches the horizon in central Europe. famous and interesting among them. We talked
Other names for Ursa Major are Great Bear and about the story of Ursa Major in a previous
Big Dipper, and I have heard people calling it issue (Practical Astronomy, May 2010, page 9).
the Big "Pan", as opposed to Ursa Minor. Briefly, the Great Bear is Callisto, a maiden that
was loved by Jupiter, king of gods. She was
People also call it the "Plough" in the United changed into a bear by Juno, the very-jealous
Kingdom and other countries. You may find the wife of Jupiter. Jupiter later placed Callisto
name of Ursa Major abbreviated as UMa in a among stars, so that she could live peacefully. I
star atlas. will tell you more stories about this
As we stated above, Ursa Major is one of the constellation in later issues.
relatively bright constellations that can be Due to its clarity, Ursa Major is an excellent
easily seen from your balcony, even if you live starting point for practical astronomers to find
in a city. This is because the constellation has other constellations in the sky. If you are
seven main bright stars, although the other interested in teaching astronomy, you will rely
nearly one-hundred stars are fairly faint. heavily on this constellation to guide beginners
Like Ursa Minor, you may perceive the Great to many important adjacent constellations,
Bear as a dipper more than a real bear. All such as Ursa Minor, Draco, Leo and Bootes.
seven stars (which will be discussed in later In the next issue of Practical Astronomy we will
issues in more detail) seem equally bright, and continue our trip with a discussion of the seven
they all have proper names. main stars and more mythology of Ursa Major.
There are many interesting stories linked with Stay with us!
Ursa Major, the Roman myth being the most

Practical Astronomy July 2010 8

Sky View Mid-July 21:00 GMT (lat. 51N)

Looking East
These maps show the sky view looking in different directions at 21.00 GMT in mid-July, for an
observer at latitude 51 degrees North.
Further South? (but still in the northern hemisphere) Objects are higher above your local
southern horizon, but patterns are the same.
Local time zone not GMT? The view should be much the same at 9pm in your local time (10pm
with Daylight Saving). Maps generated with Stellarium

Practical Astronomy July 2010 9

Sky View Mid-July 21:00 GMT (lat. 51N)

Looking South
These maps show the sky view looking in different directions at 21.00 GMT in mid-July, for an
observer at latitude 51 degrees North.
Further South? (but still in the northern hemisphere) Objects are higher above your local
southern horizon, but patterns are the same.
Local time zone not GMT? The view should be much the same at 9pm in your local time (10pm
with Daylight Saving). Maps generated with Stellarium

Practical Astronomy July 2010 10

Sky View Mid-July 21:00 GMT (lat. 51N)

Looking West
These maps show the sky view looking in different directions at 21.00 GMT in mid-July, for an
observer at latitude 51 degrees North.
Further South? (but still in the northern hemisphere) Objects are higher above your local
southern horizon, but patterns are the same.
Local time zone not GMT? The view should be much the same at 9pm in your local time (10pm
with Daylight Saving). Maps generated with Stellarium

Practical Astronomy July 2010 11

Sky View Mid-July 21:00 GMT (lat. 51N)

Looking North

These maps show the sky view looking in different directions at 21.00 GMT in mid-July, for an
observer at latitude 51 degrees North.
Further South? (but still in the northern hemisphere) Objects are higher above your local
southern horizon, but patterns are the same.
Local time zone not GMT? The view should be much the same at 9pm in your local time (10pm
with Daylight Saving). Maps generated with Stellarium

Practical Astronomy July 2010 12

Society News

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Practical Astronomy July 2010 13

Observers’ Delights July 2010

MOON Full New Full

26th June 11th July 26th July

METEOR SHOWER Try the low ZHR Capricornids on 8th and 15th maxima,
when the Moon is not too bright

VENUS MARS JUPITER SATURN

In the twilight of the Getting closer to Rising now In a nice line with
western evening sky. Venus, but its before Venus and Mars,
brightness has faded midnight in the western
greatly twilight.

DEEP SKY Starts ~ Ends ~ Difficult in Northern

“WINDOW” 5th July 17th July hemisphere twilight

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Practical Astronomy July 2010 14