Mt. Shasta Chamber Weblog

Sunday May 20th: Annular Solar Eclipse over Mount Shasta

The eclipse begins at approximately 5:10pm, reaches maximum at about 6:27pm, and ends at 7:35pm.

Make sure to observe safely

Never look directly at the Sun! Never look at the Sun through binoculars or a telescope unless you have approved solar filters! Sunglasses are NOT adequate! We caution everyone to be very careful. Do not try to view the sun directly with the naked eye or through any optical equipment such as a camera, binoculars or telescope. The sunlight will be bright enough to permanently damage your eyes, even causing complete blindness. Sun glasses, even a stack of sun glasses, and polarizing filters are not safe. These glasses pass harmful ultraviolet rays that can cause irreversible damage. The eye does not feel pain from exposure to intense light. The damage is almost instantaneous and irreversible.

Mt. Shasta Eclipse Concert a celebration of life, love, music and Mt. Shasta

Sunday May 20, 2012 12 noon-8 PM • www.EclipseConcert.com

Marc Cooper & CoopDeVille; Paula Reynolds & the Groove Perpetrators; Dr Scott Durbin & Densa w/Connie Croad; DoubleChief; Ryan Marchand; Anna Repetto & Blue Relish; Wild Blues Yonder; The Mountain Gypsies; Genny Axtman & 3 on a Match; “Queen of Harps” Patricia Hill; Jimmy Limo; Djin Aquarian.

Bring blankets & lawn chairs to Hoy Park at Lake Shastina in Weed California

Live Music • Free Admission

Special eclipse glasses available that will allow you to view the eclipse safely without damage to your eyes.

Mt. Shasta Star Gazers

The Mt. Shasta Star Gazers invite everyone to a viewing of the annular eclipse of the sun on Sunday May 20th. An annular eclipse occurs when the Sun and Moon are exactly in line, but the apparent size of the Moon is smaller than that of the Sun. Hence, the Sun appears as a very bright ring surrounding the outline of the Moon. Mt. Shasta is in a nearly ideal location to observe this eclipse. Meeting on Spring Hill Road just north of Mt. Shasta City at the white cross about 1/2 mile south of Les Schwab Tires. We will have a special eclipse glasses available that will allow you to view the eclipse safely without damage to your eyes.

The eclipse will be followed the same evening by a star party at the same location, beginning at about 9 PM. Several telescopes will be available for public viewing of stars, star clusters, Mars, Saturn, and nebulas.  Please, no white lights in the viewing area after 9 PM. Park your car on the Spring Hill Dr. and do not pull into the viewing area.

Everyone is invited and the event is free. Please no dogs. Children must be carefully supervised by parents.

What’s Up May 2012

A Total Solar Eclipse over Turkey; Credit & Copyright: Stefan Seip, astromeeting.de

The big news this month is an annular solar eclipse on May 20, and Mt. Shasta is prime eclipse-viewing territory! Contact the Chamber for information on eclipse happenings in the area, and make sure to observe safely.

Low in the west you’ll find brilliant Venus sandwiched between Betelgeuse to its lower left and Capella to its upper right. All three are slipping deeper into the twilight with each passing night.

Follow the imaginary line from the just-set Sun through Venus and sweep up to the left until you run into bright, ruddy Mars. Not far away is the bright star Regulus.

Keep following that line eastward until you run into Saturn over in the east. Just beneath it is the star Spica. Although nearly equal in brightness, Saturn is creamy colored while Spica is icy white.
— Sky and Telescope

The next Full Moon is on the 6th, and the next New Moon is on the 20th.

The International Space Station and various satellites can be tracked and viewed at Heavens-Above.com (link is set for Mt. Shasta’s location and elevation.)

For a full list of sky happenings this month, as well as a handy printable map, download The Evening Sky Map. (Translations to other languages are not currently supported, but they hope to have them back sometime in 2012.)

Greetings! I’m Danielle Signor, MSCoC’s webmaster. I witnessed two out of three of the last space shuttle launches in the program: Discovery in February 2011, as part of the STS-133 NASA Tweetup event; and Atlantis in July 2011 (STS-135). Get your space fix at my blog, Silver-Rockets.com, and follow me on Twitter at @silverrockets.

What’s Up April 2012

Image Credit & Copyright: M. Taha Ghouchkanlu

There’s plenty of planets to see after sunset; this month, Saturn joins the party!

Venus and Jupiter are no longer as close as they were in early March, but seeing them both in the western sky after sunset is still a treat.

Meanwhile, the red planet Mars is unmistakably bright, high up in the southeast at nightfall. To its upper right are Regulus and the stars of Leo.

Even farther to the left, just above the eastern horizon, you’ll find two bright stars side by side. The slightly brighter one on the left is the planet Saturn. To its right is the star Spica. They are nearly equal in brightness, but Saturn is creamy colored while Spica is icy white.
— Sky and Telescope

The next Full Moon is on the 6th, and the next New Moon is on the 21st.

The International Space Station and various satellites can be tracked and viewed at Heavens-Above.com (link is set for Mt. Shasta’s location and elevation.)

For a full list of sky happenings this month, as well as a handy printable map, download The Evening Sky Map. (Translations to other languages are not currently supported, but they hope to have them back sometime in 2012.)

Hi! I’m Danielle Signor, MSCoC’s webmaster. I witnessed two out of three of the last space shuttle launches in the program: Discovery in February 2011, as part of the STS-133 NASA Tweetup event; and Atlantis in July 2011 (STS-135). Find me on Twitter at @silverrockets, and check out my blog at Silver-Rockets.com.

What’s Up March 2012

See five naked-eye planets in early March, for the first time since 2004. Optimal viewing lasts through March 7, so get out while the skies are clear!

The classical naked-eye planets—Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn—can be seen easily without optical aids and so have been known since ancient times.

But the quintet hasn’t appeared together during a single night since 2004.

What’s more, this week’s parade of planets will be joined in the nighttime skies by the waxing crescent to waxing gibbous moon and the superbright stars Sirius and Canopus.

The best time to catch sight of the cosmic parade will be between February 28 and March 7. This is when the more elusive planets Mercury and Mars will be at their brightest in the evening sky for 2012, and when the moon will be above the horizon for many hours before setting.
— National Geographic

As soon as the Sun sets, you’ll be drawn to a pair of unmistakably bright beacons that dominate the early-evening scene. Venus and Jupiter have been edging closer for many weeks, and their celestial dance culminates in mid-March.

Meanwhile, over in the east, Mars enters the evening sky as darkness falls. Above it are Regulus and the stars of Leo.

In between these planetary beacons are Orion and, to his left, Sirius.
— Sky and Telescope

The next Full Moon is on the 8th, and the next New Moon is on the 22nd.

The International Space Station and various satellites can be tracked and viewed at Heavens-Above.com (link is set for Mt. Shasta’s location and elevation.)

For a full list of sky happenings this month, as well as a handy printable map, download The Evening Sky Map. (Translations to other languages are not currently supported, but they hope to have them back sometime in 2012.)

Hi! I’m Danielle Signor, MSCoC’s webmaster. I witnessed two out of three of the last space shuttle launches in the program: Discovery in February 2011, as part of the STS-133 NASA Tweetup event; and Atlantis in July 2011 (STS-135). Find me on Twitter at @silverrockets, and check out my blog at Silver-Rockets.com.

What’s Up February 2012

Lacking a relevant space picture for this month’s post, I present instead a recently released “Blue Marble” photo, one of the more detailed images of Earth ever seen. Click the link for a bigger version, and more information.

This month, look for Venus and Jupiter at twilight!

As soon as the Sun sets, you’ll be drawn to a pair of unmistakably bright beacons that dominate the early-evening scene. Over in the southwest is dazzling Venus — a planet is so bright that you might try locating it even before the Sun slips away for the evening.

Shift your gaze to the upper left until you come to Jupiter, which is also really bright — but no match for Venus. Later in the evening, look for Mars rising in the east and, above it, the stars of Leo. Orion and his easy-to-spot three-star belt is striding high in the south. At upper left is slightly reddish Betelgeuse and at lower right ir icy-white Rigel.

Betelgeuse is at the center of what stargazers call the Winter hexagon, a broad six-sided pattern tipped by Rigel, Sirius, Procyon, Pollux, Capella, and Aldebaran.
— Sky and Telescope

The next Full Moon is on the 7th, and the next New Moon is on the 21st.

The International Space Station and various satellites can be tracked and viewed at Heavens-Above.com (link is set for Mt. Shasta’s location and elevation.)

For a full list of sky happenings this month, as well as a handy printable map, download The Evening Sky Map. (Translations to other languages are not currently supported, but they hope to have them back sometime in 2012.)

Hi! I’m Danielle Signor, MSCoC’s webmaster. I witnessed two out of three of the last space shuttle launches in the program: Discovery in February 2011, as part of the STS-133 NASA Tweetup event; and Atlantis in July 2011 (STS-135). Find me on Twitter at @silverrockets, and check out my blog at Silver-Rockets.com.

What’s Up January 2012

Quadrantid meteor shower 2011. Image credit/copyright to Jeff Berkes, all rights reserved.

The big news this month is tonight: head out in the wee hours to see the Quadrantids… for a limited time only!

The 2012 Quadrantids, a little-known meteor shower named after an extinct constellation, will present an excellent chance for hardy souls to start the year off with some late-night meteor watching.

Peaking in the wee morning hours of Jan. 4, the Quadrantids have a maximum rate of about 100 per hour, varying between 60-200. The waxing gibbous moon will set around 3 a.m. local time, leaving about two hours of excellent meteor observing before dawn. It’s a good thing, too, because unlike the more famous Perseid and Geminid meteor showers, the Quadrantids only last a few hours — it’s the morning of Jan. 4, or nothing.
— NASA

The month starts off with a bang, celestially speaking, as the annual Quadrantid meteor shower peaks on the morning of January 4th. This year’s edition favors North America, but to see these “shooting stars” you’ll need to be up well past midnight — or get up a couple of hours before dawn.

The early evening sky is anchored by dazzling Venus low in the west and very bright Jupiter high in the southeast. These are the two brightest planets, and it’s a visual treat to have them both in the sky at once.

Spend some quality time with Cassiopeia, queen of the northern sky. Nearly overhead right now, this constellation looks more like a squashed “M” than a feminine figure. But its five bright stars are still easily recognized.
— Sky and Telescope

The next Full Moon is on the 9th, and the next New Moon is on the 23rd.

The International Space Station and various satellites can be tracked and viewed at Heavens-Above.com (link is set for Mt. Shasta’s location and elevation.)

For a full list of sky happenings this month, as well as a handy printable map, download The Evening Sky Map. (Translations to other languages are not currently supported, but they hope to have them back sometime in 2012.)

Hi! I’m Danielle Signor, MSCoC’s webmaster. I witnessed two out of three of the last space shuttle launches in the program: Discovery in February 2011, as part of the STS-133 NASA Tweetup event; and Atlantis in July 2011 (STS-135). Find me on Twitter at @silverrockets, and check out my blog at Silver-Rockets.com.

What’s Up December 2011

Image Credit & Copyright: Javier Algarra

Get ready for a total lunar eclipse on the 10th (coinciding with the full moon), and the Geminid meteor shower on the 14th!

December is the month of the solstice, when the Sun appears farthest south in the sky. That means winter for us and summer for Australians. This year the December solstice comes at 12:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on the 22nd — and late on the 21st for those farther west.

Venus lurks low in the southwestern twilight after sunset. You’ll need an unobstructed horizon to see it.

But after it gets good and dark, swing around to the east to see dazzling Jupiter, the King of Planets, amid a tower of brilliant early-winter stars that extends from the horizon to overhead. Start with Orion low down, the climb upward through Taurus, Auriga, Perseus, and Andromeda.
— Sky and Telescope

The mid-December night sky hosts a lovely meteor shower. From December 13th to 14th, the bright and fast Geminids will skip across the upper atmosphere. Watch for meteors zipping away from the constellation Gemini after midnight.

Many skywatchers will enjoy a lunar eclipse on December 10. This happens when the Moon passes through Earth’s shadow. The Moon does not quite disappear but turns a coppery red. Viewers in North America will see the eclipsed Moon sink into the western horizon before dawn.
— HubbleSite – Tonight’s Sky

The next Full Moon is on the 10th, and the next New Moon is on the 24th.

The International Space Station and various satellites can be tracked and viewed at Heavens-Above.com (link is set for Mt. Shasta’s location and elevation.)

For a full list of sky happenings this month, as well as a handy printable map, download The Evening Sky Map. (Translations to other languages are not currently supported, but they hope to have them back sometime in 2012.)

Hi! I’m Danielle Signor, MSCoC’s webmaster. I witnessed two out of three of the last space shuttle launches in the program: Discovery in February, as part of the STS-133 NASA Tweetup event; and Atlantis in July (STS-135). Find me on Twitter at @silverrockets, and check out my blog at Silver-Rockets.com.

What’s Up November 2011

Photo © Masahiro Miyasaka, http://www.flickr.com/photos/43894176@N07/

Venus and Jupiter are planetary bookends at sunset, with Venus lurking low in the western twilight just as the King of Planets rises in the east.

High in the southeast, and galloping westward as the hours go by, is the easily recognized Great Square of Pegasus, the Winged Horse. In late evening look for the Circlet of Pisces, a lovely little pentagon of stars hanging directly under the Great Square. And just past Pegasus’s nose to the right is the little cluster of stars marking Delphinus, the Dolphin.
— Sky and Telescope

November boasts the Leonid meteor shower. Look for meteors after midnight when the peak occurs from November 17th to 18th. This shower is the result of Earth’s passage through the dust trails left by Comet Tempel-Tuttle, whose journey around the Sun returns it to the inner solar system every 33 years.
— HubbleSite – Tonight’s Sky

The next Full Moon is on the 10th, and the next New Moon is on the 25th.

The International Space Station and various satellites can be tracked and viewed at Heavens-Above.com (link is set for Mt. Shasta’s location and elevation.)

For a full list of sky happenings this month, as well as a handy printable map, download The Evening Sky Map (or click here for languages other than English.)

I was in Florida a year ago today, and again in February, to view the final launch of space shuttle Discovery as part of NASA’s STS-133 Tweetup event for Twitter users. I went back in July to see the final launch of the program, space shuttle Atlantis (STS-135). Find me on Twitter at @silverrockets, and check out my blog at Silver-Rockets.com.

What’s Up May 2011

Four planets bunch up low in the dawn for more than a week to come. This is the arrangement on Sunday morning May 8th. Bring binoculars; their visibility in the brightening sky is exaggerated here. (Sky & Telescope diagram)

There’s a pretty neat conjunction of planets happening this month! Above is a diagram demonstrating their positions on Mother’s Day (click on the image for weekly observing highlights.) Also coming up this month: the last launch of space shuttle Endeavour, which you will see in the night skies, once it gets into orbit (launch currently no earlier than May 10; view times will be available at Heavens-Above.com, see link below.)

You might want to make a habit of rising early this month. That’s because four planets — Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter — are clustered low in the east before dawn. It’s the most compact gathering of bright planets in decades.

Day by day throughout the month, this foursome will do a slow-motion shuffle to form different combinations. On May 11th, Jupiter and Venus sit just ½° apart. On the 12th, all four are within a space of 6°.

The only bright planet missing from the predawn pileup is Saturn, and it’s very easy to spot. Just watch where the Sun sets and then turn completely around to face east.

The next New Moon is tonight (May 3rd), and the next Full Moon is on the 17th.

The International Space Station and various satellites can be tracked and viewed at Heavens-Above.com (link is set for Mt. Shasta’s location and elevation.)

For a full list of sky happenings this month, as well as a handy printable map, download The Evening Sky Map (or click here for languages other than English.)

I was in Florida in November and February to view the final launch of space shuttle Discovery as part of NASA’s STS-133 Tweetup event for Twitter users. Click here for photos from my backstage NASA adventure! Find me on Twitter at @silverrockets, and check out my blog at Silver-Rockets.com.

What’s Up April 2011

Winter is over? Maybe? Maybe not? It’s so hard to say in Siskiyou County.

Northern winter is finally over, so don’t just sit there — head outside and do some stargazing.

Low in the west, Jupiter has disappeared from view and the celestial tableau of Orion, Taurus, and company will soon be gone for the season as well.

But turn around to the east, and you’ll be greeted by the steady light of Saturn, which will grace our evening skies for several months. All around and above Saturn are the constellations of spring, led by Leo, the Lion.

The next Full Moon is on the 18th.

The International Space Station and various satellites can be tracked and viewed at Heavens-Above.com (link is set for Mt. Shasta’s location and elevation.)

For a full list of sky happenings this month, as well as a handy printable map, download The Evening Sky Map (or click here for languages other than English.)

I urge you to check out this aurora video, for some absolutely spectacular night skies over Norway. (And some truly PHENOMENAL cinematography!)

I was in Florida in November and February to view the final launch of space shuttle Discovery as part of NASA’s STS-133 Tweetup event for Twitter users. If you’d like to see photos from my adventure, click here. Find me on Twitter at @silverrockets, or check out my blog at Silver-Rockets.com.