THE SOUTHWORTH PLANETARIUM 207-780-4249 www.usm.maine.edu/planet 70 Falmouth Street Portland, Maine 04103 43.6667° N, 70.2667° W Founded January 1970 "2016: What Dreams may come!" THE DAILY ASTRONOMER Thursday, December 31, 2015 January 2016 Night Sky Calendar Part I -------------------------------------------------- NEW YEAR'S PLANETARIUM Thursday, December 31, 2015 6:30 p.m. - midnight See our new shows. Tour the winter night sky Watch the ball drop in Times Square from the comfort of our star dome theater. Admission by donation. Call 207-780-4249, e-mail [log in to unmask] or consult our web-site: http://usm.maine.edu/planet/new-years-planetarium-2016 for more information -------------------------------------------------------- We're not going to make a habit of dividing our Night Sky Calendar. However, presently, we're preparing for the NEW YEAR'S PLANETARIUM (see above), and time is limited. We thank you for your understanding. The quiz posts tomorrow and the second part of the Night Sky Calendar arrives fresh and enfolded in news print on Monday. At this very moment, the Earth turns rapidly into 2016's enveloping embrace. The new year has already started in Sydney, Wellington, Tokyo and other remote points. Eventually, 2016 will crash headlong into the eastern seaboard, leaving this aging and venerable year in a torrent of smoldering cinders. As for now, 2015 remains with us as we prepare for another Sun-centered go around. We know that the planets still linger around the morning sky. Jupiter, however, now rises before midnight. Venus and Saturn appear to almost collide. Orion and its attendant retinue of bestial constellations ascends in the early evening, reaching center stage before midnight. The Milky Way light bridge and its river spirit tributaries traverse the sky from east to west after sunset. We'll see meteors appearing to emerge from an extinct constellation. And, quite importantly, the duration of daylight slowly, but inexorably, increases. SATURDAY, JANUARY 2: LAST QUARTER MOON The very first astronomical event of the year is a rather prosaic one. The moon reaches the last quarter point today. Remember that the last quarter moon rises around midnight and sets around noon. These times vary slightly throughout the year. SATURDAY, JANUARY 2: EARTH AT PERIHELION A planet's distance from the Sun varies continuously: veering from the minimum distance of perihelion to the maximum of aphelion. Today, Earth reaches perihelion and will be 91.45 million miles from the Sun. (Earth next reaches aphelion on July 4). While our closeness to the Sun exerts a negligible effect on our weather, it does affect the length of the seasons. These seasonal variations result from Earth's 23.5 degree tilt (obliquity.) In winter, Earth's northern hemisphere is directed away from the Sun and in summer, it is aligned toward it. Were Earth's orbit circular, each season would be of equal duration. However, as Earth is closest to the Sun during our winter, it is moving fastest in its orbit. (Remember: the closer a planet is to the Sun, the faster it moves). The current duration of the seasons: spring 92.76 days ; summer 93.65 days; autumn 89.84 days; winter 88.99 days. (Note: we used the word "current" because perihelion will not always occur in early January. Over a 21,600 year period, the perihelion shifts along Earth's orbital path, so that perihelion will occur progressively later in the year throughout this period.) SUNDAY, JANUARY 3: MOON 1.4 DEGREES NNE OF MARS Mars is growing ever brighter as it approaches its May 22 opposition. Nevertheless, having the moon close to Mars will still help observers find the red planet. Though technically a waning crescent, the moon still looks quite similar to a quarter moon. MONDAY, JANUARY 4: QUADRANTID METEOR SHOWER PEAKS Meteor showers are named for the constellation or star from which the meteors appear to originate. The year's first meteor shower is named for an "extinct" constellation, defined as one that is no longer officially recognized. That constellation was called "Quadrans Muralis." Invented by French astronomer Jerome LaLande (1732-1807), Quadrans Muralis represented a mural quadrant, a large device used to measure a star's position. Lalande first included Quadrans Muralis in his 1795 edition of the Fortin's Celestial Atlas. The pattern soon lapsed into obscurity as only faint stars comprised it. Those stars are now shared by the constellation Bootes and Ursa Major. This shower can produce 30 - 60 meteors an hour. This year is somewhat favorable for the meteor shower as the moon is in the crescent phase and won't produce excessive light obscuration. ON MONDAY, WE'LL POST THE REST. HAVE A WONDERFUL NEW YEAR. SEE YOU IN 2016 WITH A NEW QUIZ.