THE SOUTHWORTH PLANETARIUM
207-780-4249   www.usm.maine.edu/planet
<http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.usm.maine.edu%2Fplanet&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNHulkHuLP13bOG2PkNrPazsGWFs2A>
70 Falmouth Street   Portland, Maine 04103
43.6667° N                   70.2667° W
Altitude:  10 feet below sea level
Founded January 1970
Julian Date: 245939.16
2019-2020:  CXV
             "You're alive.    You want to be more alive."
                             -G.B. Shaw

THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
Monday, March 30, 2020
The Remote Planetarium:
The Absurd Act of Astronomy

Welcome!
During this period of quarantine and self-isolation, we decided to offer a
free, introductory astronomy class.  Each day a new section.  Our aim is to
cumulatively send as much basic astronomy as can be encapsulated within a
series of brief articles.         The DA will remain focused on this series
of "remote planetarium" articles, as opposed to bouncing haphazardly from
one topic to another as it generally does.
We sincerely hope you'll find these articles useful.  If they are worthy of
it, feel free to forward these articles to anyone at all, even if you
merely harbor an unhealthy antipathy toward them.

Also, please send any questions or concerns you have.      We will truly
try to answer them in a timely fashion.

[image: G01609-FR-01_uxga.jpg]


*PREFACE:   The Absurd Act of Astronomy*
Or, unnecessary introduction by a blowhard who likes the sound of his own
voice

Does that photo seem out of place?   Perhaps you were expecting tree tops
silhouetted against a rising moon or a resplendent, vibrantly colored
nebula or even the arc of Saturn's rings.    A photo of a gorgeous tropical
beach taken in the time prior to obligatory social distancing seems
incongruous.   How could such a scene be related to astronomy, the darkest
of all sciences?    Well, examine the image closely.  What do you observe?
 Yes, precisely.   You see humans scattered along the beach luxuriating in
the onslaughts of Sun fire, and congregating along the edge of globe-wide
water body from which our long-dead forbearers emerged hundreds of millions
of years ago.  Whether crouching in the shade of palm fronds or riding the
ceaseless waves, humans abound in all directions.    Contained within each
one of those specimens one could find the most magnificent object in the
known Universe:  the human brain.

[image: ohLu8d7AGQb7XLzQ6UhWVb-320-80.jpg]
We won't bother attempting to describe the brain as its powers transcend
even its own fathoming. From the regulation of eye blinks to the
development of the profoundest philosophy, the human brain is a
self-contained Universe of seemingly unlimited potential.   (That most of
us are burdened by the self-defeating notion of an inferior brain is an
atrocious consequence of social conditioning.)   It is also within the
human brain that one would encounter astronomy.    You'll find no astronomy
in the Sun's core, a lunar mountain or within any globular cluster
congregating around the galactic halo.     Astronomy is an all too human
endeavor. It is your endeavor.

We won't insult you by instructing you on why you want to learn astronomy.
 We can never know and  besides it is none of our concern.   Studying the
cosmos could just as easily resonate with that part of your supernatural
mind that yearns to scrutinize ancient manuscripts as it could appeal to
that part of you that wants to embark on a mad pursuit of malicious white
whales.    Yes, both notions are likely embedded in there somewhere.  Like
an intricately designed series of catacombs, your brain has room for
everything.   It is as capable of deep contemplation as it is inclined
toward absurd activities.

Astronomy is absurd.
It is the ascent of the mind toward unattainable summits far beyond its
range of influence.  The infiltration of impertinent mortals into a
rarefied realm they strove in vain to comprehend.     The old Uranographers
acknowledged the loftiness of these Olympian heights by including cherubs
and other mythological entities onto their maps and diagrams.

To engage in astronomy was to find oneself in the immutable play fields of
ageless immortals.   The messy terrestrial beings clumsily crashing about
the pristine celestial spheres and pressing muddy footprints onto the
crystalline membranes.   It was a place we humans didn't belong.
[image: il_fullxfull.954955882_pbrg.jpg]

Humans ventured there, anyway, and in so doing discovered a Universe so
vast in proportion and so varied in its constructs that our imaginations
are staggered.   Through the depthless darkness astronomers uncovered a
cosmos populated by more than 400 billion galaxies spread over a rapidly
expanding volume.    Each second this cosmos spawns 20,000 stars and likely
an equal number of planets.  Planets revolving around stars and those cast
adrift in interstellar and intergalactic space.    Add to that
ultra-energetic stellar nurseries such as that in the Orion Nebula and the
dissipating remains of exploded stars such as the Crab Nebula in Taurus.
What exists in this nearly 14 billion year old cosmos is even more
variegated than what one will find on this four billion year old planet.

Over the next few weeks we will explore as much of this cosmos as we
possibly can.     We'll find much to engage us: from the moon phases to the
complex planetary motions to the formation of galaxies.     Along the way
we'll discover that the celestial realm and terrestrial world are
inextricably linked, for the former gave rise to the latter and, of course,
to us, as well.
Fortunately, the celestial cherubs will permit us unfettered access to
these remote reaches.   After all, like astronomy, the cherubs are,
themselves, only human.

This week's schedule
Tuesday, March 31
*RP 2: *  *A Slice of Sky for Walt Whitman*
How learned astronomers outraged nature by carving up a beautiful sky.
 [Topics: Celestial Spheres and associated constructs.]

Wednesday, April 1
*RP 3:  Gliding Along the Zodiac*
How we're going to make the learned astronomers weep by using the term
"Zodiac," and why the ZODIAC is so immensely important to those who want to
track celestial motions.  [Topics: the thirteen constellations of the
zodiac and their association with lunar and solar motions.]

Thursday, April 2
*RP 4:  *
*A Falling and Phasing Moon*Lunar myths, misconceptions and facts that will
keep you up at night. [Topics:  Well, the moon, actually, and its
associated phases and motions.]

Friday, April 3
*RP 5:   Quiz 1*
A review quiz about the first week's topics.  The sort of quiz we all
wanted in school.  Plenty of notice and no grading.



To subscribe or unsubscribe from the Daily Astronomer:
https://lists.maine.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=DAILY-ASTRONOMER&A=1