Public Stargazing

Public Stargazing

Where:
Frosty Drew Observatory
When:
Friday June 13, 2014 at 7:00 p.m.
Cost:
$1 Suggested Donation per Person

Tonight's forecast is calling for clouds and rain with a chance of t-storms. We may experience a period of broken clouds around sunset, offering us a chance to peak at the near full Moon through thinner clouds. We plan to open the Sky Theatre from 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. showcasing astro-photos taken at Frosty Drew Observatory with a commentary on some of the objects we would have seen tonight. We will keep the Observatory telescope on stand by in case the Friday the 13th full Strawberry Moon peeks through the clouds. Follow us on Twitter (@FrostyDrewOBSY) for updates from the Observatory.

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Weekly Happenings
Scott MacNeill

The morning, at 12:11 a.m. EDT, the full Strawberry Moon occurred, placing the full Moon on Friday the 13th. Aside from the notorious implications on ones luck combined with the full moon's reputation to bring out the “cray-cray” in people, today's occurrence is not all that uncommon. On average, the full Moon will occur on the 13th day of the month landing on a Friday once every 13 years, with the last occurrence happening on October 13, 2000. Though the next occurrence of the full Moon on Friday the 13th will not happen until August 13, 2049 (35 years). Traditionally, the June full Moon is called the “Strawberry Moon” as it coincides with the short strawberry harvesting season. Though the full June Moon for northern hemisphere observers is occasionally dubbed the “Honey Moon” likely because the Moon, with its orbital inclination keeping it relatively close to the ecliptic, will appear the lowest in the sky of all full phases this year when viewed from northern latitudes. When the Moon is on the horizon it appears yellow to red in color compared to the bright grey-white color when viewed high in the sky. Check it out, the Moon this morning and tonight could appear to shine with a yellowish hue longer than usual. Wait for a clearing in the sky and step out for a look. But don't fear the date, or the phase!

On Sunday June 8th, near-Earth asteroid 2014 HQ124 (nicknamed “The Beast”) safely zoomed passed Earth at 776,000 miles distant (3.25 lunar distances). The Beast measured in at 1300 feet wide and was clocked at speeds of 31,000mph. This close passing of a relatively large asteroid gave scientists at the Arecibo radio telescope an excellent opportunity to put their recent radar upgrades to work. The upgrades at Arecibo enable the radio telescope to receive the highest resolution signals from the Goldstone, California based Deep Space Network (DSN) antenna. Sending a radio signal from one telescope and receiving the reflected signal at another telescope significantly increases the amount of detail visible in radar images. DSN beamed a radio signal from the 230 foot Goldstone antenna to The Beast which reflected back and was received by the upgraded 1,000 foot Arecibo radio telescope as well as the DSN antenna at Goldstone. Well the upgrades to Arecibo sure paid off! Resolution of the resulting radar images is fantastic, with features not easily seen with the DSN antenna clearly visible from Arecibo. The resulting image reveals many interesting features including a protrusion along the asteroid's edge resembling a mountain, a potential crater wall, and possibly boulders on the asteroid's surface. Check out these images of The Beast. The top row of images were acquired by the Arecibo radio telescope with the remaining images captured by the Goldstone DSN antenna. Woot!

-Scott