Ernie Jacobs

The Weirdest Sunrise EVER!

Posted on by Ernie Jacobs

!!! NEVER LOOK AT THE SUN DIRECTLY WITHOUT APPROVED SOLAR GLASSES OR FILTERS FOR TELESCOPES/BINOCULARS !!!

The Weirdest Sunrise Ever!

BAA Members Tim Collins and Mark Percy have recently made the rounds on local TV to talk about the upcoming Partial Solar Eclipse. On June 10th There will be an Annular Solar Eclipse. Western New York will wake up to a Partial Eclipse at sunrise (5:36 AM). The Sun will be about 80% covered by the Moon. Max Eclipse occurs at 5:39 AM and the Eclipse ends at 6:36 AM. You’ll need an unobstructed view to the Northeastern horizon.

In the first video BAA member Tim collins is interviewed on WGRZ-TV’s Monday Town Hall. You can view it here.:

In the second video BAA Members Mark Percy and Tim Collins are interviewed but the team on WIVB-TV. You can view the Vide by clicking on the link below.

https://www.wivb.com/news/get-ready-for-a-strange-looking-sunrise-next-month-when-a-partial-solar-eclipse-happens-at-dawn/

Those of you familiar with our Looking Up! Virtual Stargazing events will recognize Mark and Tim, as they are frequent contributors.

Mark Percy is the Director of the Williamsville Space Lab Planetarium.

Tim Collins is manager of the Kellogg Observatory at the Buffalo Museum of Science, a presenter at the Whitworth Ferguson Planetarium at Buffalo State College and the Williamsville Space Lab Planetarium.

Clear Skies!

Ernie Jacobs

#LookingUpWiththeBAA – What’s up May/June 2021

Posted on by Ernie Jacobs
As Seen on 5/22/21 Looking Up!
Sun and Moon:
  • Sun
    • Tonight (5/22) the Sun sets at 8:38 PM and rises on tomorrow morning (5/23) at 5:45 AM (Astronomical Dark 9:54 PM – 4:30 AM)
    • On 6/19 the Sun sets at 8:56 PM and rises the following morning (6/20) at 5:37 AM (Astronomical Dark 10:17 PM – 4:17 AM)
  • Moon
    • Full: 5/26 – Lunar Eclipse, Flower Moon, Moon near Perigee (Supermoon)
    • Last Quarter: 6/2
    • New: 6/10 – Annular Solar Eclipse, 18-hour crescent at sunset (challenging)
    • First Quarter: 6/17

The Planets:

Table of Rise/Set Times, Distance from Earth, and Equatorial Diameter for the planets 5/22/21 through 6/19/21. Click on photo to view it larger.
Club Events:
  • June General Meeting (members) – Friday 6/11 7:00 PM Zoom
  • Looking Up! Virtual Star Party – 6/19 8:30 PM
Special Celestial Events:
  • May 26th – Lunar Eclipse at Moonset (Spoiler – not for us)
  • May 29th – Mercury 1° below Venus after Sunset
  • May 31st – The Moon near Saturn (before dawn)
  • June 1st – The Moon near Jupiter (before dawn)
  • June 10th – Partial Annular Solar Eclipse at Sunrise
  • June 12th – Moon 3° from Venus (Sunset)
  • June 13th – Moon ~3° from Mars (after Sunset)
Lunar Eclipse – 5/26/2021:
  • Only Penumbral Eclipse (and less than 3 minutes of Partial) visible from Western New York
  • Penumbral Begins 4:47:39 AM
  • Partial Begins 5:44:58 AM
  • Moonset at 5:47:08 AM
Annular Solar Eclipse – 6/10/2021

!!! NEVER LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN WITHOUT PROPER EQUIPMENT !!!

  • Only Partial Eclipse visible in Western New York
  • ”Devil Horns” at Sunrise 🤘
  • Need unobstructed eastern horizon
  • Sunrise at 5:36:30 AM
  • Max Eclipse 5:39:57 AM
  • Eclipse Ends 6:36:30 AM

Clear Skies!

Ernie Jacobs

Look Up with the BAA – April / May 2021

Posted on by Ernie Jacobs

As seen on our April 17th Looking up! Spring into Galaxies

Sun and Moon:
  • Sun
    • Tonight (4/16) the Sun sets at 7:58 PM and rises on tomorrow morning (4/17) at 6:30 AM
    • On May 21st the Sun sets at 8:37 PM and rises the following morning (5/22) at 5:46 AM
  • Moon
    • First Quarter: 4/20
    • Full: 4/26 – Pink Moon, Moon near Perigee (Supermoon)
    • Last Quarter: 5/3
    • New: 5/11
    • Lunar X & V: 5/18 7:41 PM
    • First Quarter: 5/19
Lunar X & V captured with an iPhone through an 8″ telescope.
Lunar X & V, indicated by the white circles, captured with iPhone thru an 8″ telescope.

The Planets:

Click on image for larger view. Table of Rise/Set times, Distance from Earth, and Equatorial Diameter 4/16 thru 5/21.

Club Events:

  • Looking Up! Virtual Star Party – Spring into Galaxies – 4/17 8:30 PM (Facebook & YouTube)
  • May General Meeting (members) – Friday 5/14 7:00 PM Zoom
  • Looking Up! Virtual Star Party – 5/22 8:30 PM

Click here for more info on our upcoming events.

Special Celestial Events:

  • April 17th – Moon close to M35
  • April 22nd – Lyrid Meteor Shower Peak
  • April 25th – 28th – Mars Passes by M35
  • May 4th – Moon, Jupiter, & Saturn form a large Triangle in pre-dawn sky
  • May 5th – Eta Aquariid Meteor Shower Peak
  • May 12th – A very thin Moon will be close to Venus in the west at evening twilight
  • May 13th – Moon close to Mercury (Evening in the west)
  • May 16th – Moon near Mars in the evening
  • May 17th – Mercury at Greatest Elongation (22º East)

Featured Event: April 25th – 28th – Mars passes by M35

View looking WSW 4/25 – 4/28 as Mars makes a close pass of the open star cluster M35.
A close up view of mars passing by M35 showing Mars Orbital Path.

Meteor Showers:

  • Lyrid Meteor Shower
    • Peak on 4/22
    • Moon is not favorable (sets at 4:23 am)
    • Low hourly rate
  • Eta Aquariids
    • Peak on 5/5
    • Moon is favorable (Waning Crescent rises at 3:27 am)
    • Higher hourly rate than Lyrids (rate higher in Southern US)
  • General Tips for Meteor Showers:
    • Typically best after Midnight and before dawn
    • Dark Skies improve chances
    • Try to avoid Moon. If you can’t try to position Moon at your back.
    • Avoid Radiant Fixation!!!!!
    • Try to view as much of the sky as possible

Clear Skies!

Ernie Jacobs

The Great Conjunction of December 2020

Posted on by Ernie Jacobs

Have you been watching Jupiter and Saturn? If you have, you probably noticed they appear to be getting closer to one another. From our vantage point here on Earth, they are. Both planets are heading towards the Great Conjunction on December 21st, when they will appear closest to each other. Many of our members are genuinely excited about this special and rare event. BAA member Patrick Crants discussed the Great Conjunction during the November 21st “Looking UP!” virtual star gazing event (click here to view the video on our Facebook page: https://fb.watch/22lkkJo-rW/ ). The following was assembled from his presentation.

Live Event Alert: The BAA is planning on sharing this event live on Facebook, weather depending, between December 18 – 23. You can find out more on information about this live event on our Website (https://www.buffaloastronomy.com/events/) as the date approaches. All our videos and Facebook events can be accessed here https://www.facebook.com/BuffaloAstronomy/videos/?ref=page_internal.

The Jovian and Saturnian Systems as they will appear during the Great Conjunction on December 21, 2020. Image created using Sky Safari 6 Pro for Mac.

What is a Conjunction?

  • A conjunction is simply an optical alignment of two celestial bodies (normally solar system objects – planets, moon, comet, asteroids, etc.) as seen from our perspective on Earth.
  • Jupiter/Saturn conjunctions are called “Great Conjunctions” by astronomers.
  • A conjunction is only an optical alignment. It does not imply any proximity between the two bodies. (See Figure 1)
  • During the great conjunction of December 21, Jupiter will be 5.927 AU’s from Earth (555 Million miles) while Saturn will be 10.829 AU’s (1 Billion miles), meaning Saturn will still be in excess of 400 million miles from Jupiter.
Figure 1 – From our view here on Earth, both planets will appear to be very close to one another even though they will be hundreds of millions of miles apart.

How often do Great Conjunctions Occur?

  • A conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Saturn occurs once every 19.6 years on average.
  • Due to the nuances of planetary orbits, not every conjunction reaches the same degree of separation. The conjunction of 12/21/2020 will be the closest great conjunction witnessed in the last 400 years (1623).
  • Oddly enough, this degree of separation will be repeated in just another 60 years (in 2080)

How close will they appear to be?

  • At its closest conjunction (appulse), Jupiter and Saturn will be separated by an angle of just over 6 arc-minutes. An arc-minute is one 60th of a degree.
  • For comparison, the full moon has an angular size of 30 arc-minutes, 5 times greater than the separation we will see between Jupiter and Saturn.
  • This means that both planets and many of their respective moons will be visible (see figure 2) within the eyepiece of a medium length telescope at a medium magnification (1-150x). To the naked eye, the two planets may be difficult to “split”. Note: Magnification may be limited by atmospheric conditions as both planets will be very close to the horizon.
Figure 2 – A simulation of the view through a telescope on December 21st. Image created with Stellarium.

When and how can this be viewed?

  • Jupiter and Saturn will be closely spaced for several days before and after minimum conjunction of 12/21.
  • They will be low in the Southwest at dusk.
  • They will set within 90 minutes of sunset.
  • The conjunction can be viewed naked eye, using binoculars, or with a telescope.
  • Weather permitting, the BAA will be providing a “Looking Up!” live stream of the conjunction on at least one evening between 12/18 and 12/23. For more details, check out out our website and Facebook Page as the date approaches.

Clear Skies!