Hello!
This week was pretty uneventful at the farm. Not much to update on. I am working on creating a survey to present to you. Starting to brain storm about how to make the most of this coming year. We would love all the input and ideas we can get! Keep an eye out for that.
Tea Time will be this Friday at 10:30. We will be learning about the first types of plants. All are welcome.
Astronomy
A new term has been coined called "Noctalgia" which mean sky grief. This word refers to the loss of dark skies with the increase of light pollution. If we continue to pollute the air and shine our lights so brightly, our access to Astronomical observations become very limited. I encourage you to read this short letter about the subject. Also check out DarkSky Maine to learn more about what you can do.
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2308.14685.pdf
-Monday, the 2nd view Astroid 29 Amphitrite in the Pices Constellation with a scope or binoculars around 3:00 am. The Pleiades cluster will be just north of the waxing gibbous moon when it rises late in the evening in the constellation Taurus.
-Tuesday, the 3rd Look above the moon after it rises around 10:00pm. There you will see the star Algol, the Demon star. This star changes brightness due what’s called Eclipsing Binary System. This is where stars are close to each other and block the light when moving in front of the other. Over the span of 3 nights compare it with surrounding stars Gamma Andromedae (similar shine to Algol) and Epsilon Persei (shine of Algol when eclipsed).
-Venus can be seen an hour before sunrise just above the horizon. Mercury can also be see briefly before being shined out by the sun. View through a telescope to compare their illumination.
-Thursday, the 5th set your telescope on Jupiter as soon as it rises, 8:30/9:00 pm. Witness the moons Ganymede and Io pass over the planet. This will happen through 11:00ish pm.
-Friday, the 6th is Last Quarter Moon. Great time for deep sky observing. On clear crisp nights look to the Northern sky to find the Andromeda galaxy. The Andromeda constellation can be found northwest of Taurus and the Pleiades and northeast of Pegasus.
-Saturday, the 7th will be the peak viewing night for the Draconids Meteor Shower. After the sun set will be the best time to see a meteor. They can be seen all over the sky. The constellation Draco (The dragon) is the meteor showers radiant point. The stars Eltanin and Rastaban can be found in the head of the Dragon, the best point of the constellation to focus on. They sit high in the sky making it easier to view the shower in the evening rather than in the pre dawn hours. The meteors are a product of the comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner. The comet was first observed in France at the Nice Observatory by Michel Giacobini in 1900. Discovered again in 1913 by Ernest Zinner in Germany.
Space Flight News
-October 4/5 Arianespace scheduled to launch their Vega rocket out of French Guiana with 12 satellites aboard, most for various Asian countries for Earth Observations to help with forecasting. SpaceX plans to launch a Falcon 9 rocket out of Case Canveral carrying a batch of Starlink sats.
-October 6 Atlas 5 Rocket to launch demonstrations for Amazon’s Project Kuiper broadband constellation.
www.astronomy.com
spaceflightnow.com