Gheens Science Hall and Rauch Planetarium
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Exercise your inner geek and stay connected with the cosmos with the Gheens Science Hall and Rauch Planetarium.
10/16/2024
Snippet of Euclid Mission’s Cosmic Atlas Released by ESA With contributions from NASA, the mission will map a third of the sky in order to study a cosmic mystery called dark energy.
COMET TSUCHINSHAN-ATLAS HAS AN 'ANTI-TAIL': Today is a special day for Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS. Earth is passing through the comet's orbital plane, and this is causing the comet to sprout an 'anti-tail.' It's the spike coming out of the comet's head in this photo from Michael Jaeger of Martinsberg, Austria:
"Despite clouds and moonlight, the comet was a magnificent sight," says Jaeger. "The 10° tail was visible without any problem. "
https://spaceweather.com/
Anti-tails don't seem to make sense. Comet tails are supposed to blow away from the sun, yet, anti-tails point in the opposite direction. They appear when Earth passes through a comet's orbital plane, which, for Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, happens on Oct. 14th. At the moment of crossing, the sharp edge of the comet's fan-shaped dust tail appears to point toward the sun. The comet becomes a unicorn.
Sky watchers may be able to see this anti-tail with their unaided eyes. Cameras will certainly pick it up. Browse the gallery for examples:
Observing tips: The comet is a gorgeous sight in the evening sky. It pops out of the twilight about 40 minutes after sunset. To see it, you'll need a clear view of the western horizon. Find Venus and look to the right; Venus and the comet are at about the same altitude. Binoculars are highly recommended to fully enjoy the pinprick brightness of the comet's head and the flowing structure of its magnificent tail.
SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids Sunspot number: 95 What is the sunspot number? Updated 13 Oct 2024 Spotless Days Current Stretch: 0 days 2024 total: 0 days (0%) 2023 total: 0 days (0%) 2022 total: 1 day (
The Planetarium has been closed since the start of the pandemic. The provost is working with the academic units to determine its future. A decision is expected this summer.
10/06/2023
The planetarium will not be open as we will not get a total eclipse, just 98.3 percent. Completely different from seeing the totality from anywhere in the path. https://eclipse2024.org/eclipse_cities/statemap.html
Plan for your trip to see the total solar eclipse in April 2024. The closer you get to the blue line on this map the longer your eclipse experience. Click on the map for details about the locations you might travel to. Traffic afterwards may be bad to very bad. Many folks plan to stay the night or camp where they are so they can make a faster and safer drive home the next day.
If you want to do this start looking for hotel rooms, BnB rooms, camp sites now. It is getting late. Indiana state parks are very nearly booked everywhere in the path. Not sure about western KY so look around as soon as possible. Remember to get your eclipse glasses or eclipse viewers early too. I recommend you get a couple of extras in case you damage a pair or have some friends join you last minute. You must wear protection for all but the total eclipse portion of the event. Sunglasses, welding shields and other things simply are not good enough. Do not take a chance on looking at the Sun without proper eye protection. Try to make it into the eclipse path, you must see one of these in your lifetime. It is worth the day off from work or school.
Clear skies.
Interactive map for the 2024 Eclipse Simulator | Eclipse2024.org This map selection tool will allow you to quickly navigate to an eclipse information page for any given state, province, city, or custom location you choose! All you have to do is click on the location you’re interested in.
09/28/2023
Bullitt Lecture in Astronomy Oct 12th, 2023 at 7pm. Free and open to all. Hope to see you at the planetarium.
We are temporarily closed.
If you wish to inquire about a possible university-related event at the planetarium, please email [email protected].
What’s Up in August 2023 from the LAS
The highlight of the month is the annual Perseid meteor shower. This year it will peak around August 13, but is active from mid-July to late August. On August 13th the Moon will be approximately 10% illuminated and will rise around 4am so the night of the 12th is the preferred night. The Perseids are caused by Earth passing through debris — bits of ice and rock — left behind by Comet Swift-Tuttle which last passed close to Earth in 1992. The Perseids peak when Earth passes through the densest and dustiest area of debris. In outburst years (such as in 2016) the rate can be between 150-200 meteors an hour.
August will be a good month for observing the outer planets. At the beginning of the month Saturn rises around 10pm, Neptune around 11pm, Jupiter around 1am and Uranus around 1:30am. By the end of the month each rises about 2 hours earlier making this an excellent time to begin studying Saturn and Jupiter. Saturn is not as dramatic a sight as in previous years since the rings are closing, a consequence of the planet's 27° tilt and how our view of Saturn changes as it orbits the Sun.
Speaking of the Sun, activity is picking up quickly as we head towards the Solar maximum. You can enjoy the Sun with aperture as small as 30mm just make sure to use proper filtering. My favorite website is Spaceweather.com for all things Solar. It also covers interesting phenomena like noctilucent clouds, rainbows, auroras, and STEVE.
As we move towards the fall season, the nights start getting shorter which means that the Milky Way will be high in the sky after midnight. Galaxies become fewer in the skies replaced by globular clusters and star clouds. This is also a time when binoculars are all that is needed for a night’s viewing. Grab a blanket, get out the binoculars and check out the Milky Way (and watch for meteors and satellites).
Some of my favorites this time of the year are the globular clusters. There are around 150 globular clusters in our galaxy, mostly on the outskirts. Many of these are over 13 billion years old, making them some of the oldest objects in the known universe. The constellation Ophiuchus has several globular clusters in it including M10, M12, M14, M19, Palomar 15, NGC 6171, NGC 6218 and many more. For those with larger backyard telescopes we can observe globular cluster in M31 and Small Magellanic Cloud. The Astronomical League (in which all LAS members have membership) has an excellent but challenging Globular Cluster Observing Program.
This is also the time of the year when there is a wide variety of targets available to explore. Nebulas are bountiful ranging from the North American and Veil nebulas in Cygnus to the Trifid and Lagoon nebulas in Sagittarius. And let’s not forget the Ring nebula in Lyra, the great donut in space (that is my description when kids are seeing it for the first time!)
To close out August one of the crown jewels of the night sky is rising, the Double Cluster. This sparkling pair of open clusters is always a showstopper in a wide field scope and eyepiece. Aperture is not needed just a wide field of view and a clear sky.
Until next time, clear skies!
Louisville Astronomical Society
07/27/2023
NASA’s Juno Is Getting Ever Closer to Jupiter’s Moon Io The spinning, solar-powered spacecraft will take another look of the fiery Jovian moon on July 30.
07/19/2023
https://youtu.be/yI8RAejdtI0
Very cool place to live in while testing humans ability to be on the planet Mars for months at a time.
NASA's Mars Surface Simulated Habitat | 3D Printed by ICON, designed by BIG ICON 3D PRINTS THE FIRST SIMULATED MARS SURFACE HABITAT FOR NASA DESIGNED BY RENOWNED ARCHITECTURE FIRM, BIG-BJARKE INGELS GROUP Mars Dune Alpha, the 3D-prin...
02/15/2023
https://webbtelescope.org/contents/news-releases/2023/news-2023-107.html
Watch the video, it is truly amazing how many galaxies can be seen in this part of the sky because of the gravitational lensing from this cluster. Wow!
NASA’s Webb Uncovers New Details in Pandora’s Cluster The ancient Greek myth of Pandora, much adapted by different storytellers and cultures, is at its heart a story of human curiosity and uncovering paradigm-shifting knowledge. In modern astronomy, a region of space where multiple galaxy clusters are merging has been named for the myth and become a fa...
02/02/2023
It may take many, many, many years before any intelligent signals are detected. If ever. The universe is a very big place and everything is always moving.
Does Failing to Detect Aliens Mean We’ll Never Be Contacted? In a recent paper submitted to The Astronomical Journal in November 2022, a scientist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne quantifies how the Earth has not heard a radio signal from an extraterrestrial technological civilization over the course of approximately the last 60 years, wh...
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University Of Louisville, Belknap Campus
Louisville, KY
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