Last month our daughter, Lisa, and I had the pleasure and great
opportunity to witness the Annular Eclipse that occurred down in
Panama. We had a wonderful time and enjoyed the trip immensely, and
had the chance to meet up with some nice people that were on the
same eclipse tour that we were on.
By David Baumgartner
Last month our daughter, Lisa, and I had the pleasure and great opportunity to witness the Annular Eclipse that occurred down in Panama. We had a wonderful time and enjoyed the trip immensely, and had the chance to meet up with some nice people that were on the same eclipse tour that we were on.
Our week-long trip included not only the eclipse, but a canoe ride up the river to an Indian village, where they fed us, entertained us, and showed us their way of living. We also went on a trip into the rain forest to see the wildlife at its best, and had the chance to float through the Panama Canal – what an experience that was. I would recommend it to anyone.
When we went down to Panama, I was hopping to view parts of the nightly Southern Hemisphere skies that I have never seen before. But unfortunately, the skies were cloudy the whole time we were down there.
We were very lucky, though, that on the day of the eclipse, the clouds did part enough so we could see a portion of the eclipse. (See pictures) We were excited and pleased to see what we did.
Last week, I made my second visit to Ms. Carpenter’s 4th and 5th grade class out at the Tres Pinos School. I have such a good time with them.
I must admit that I’m sure that I was more nervous than they were. These children are like little sponges, absorbing everything they hear. They do know enough not to ask me questions that I don’t know the answers to.
After I finished my lecture inside about our Sun, we all went outside just as the clouds opened up to take a look at the Sun with specially made solar glasses. They all got to keep the glasses to take home and share with their families. Fun was had by all.
Next we will schedule a date when the whole class, and their families, can come out to my back yard in the evening to do a little star gazing, and learn more about the night skies.
This month of May we have one of the famous “Friday-the-13ths.” Friday the 13th is supposed to be very unlucky because both the day and the number are unlucky. In South America the unlucky day is Tuesday and in Italy the unlucky number is 17. In Iran, women stay outdoors on the 13th day of the year to avoid bad luck. This year has only one Friday the 13th. They occur every year, either once, twice or three times. Friday falls on the 13th more often than any other weekday does.
Jupiter and Saturn put on great shows in May. Both planets are ready for viewing just as the sky darkens, and are first to show up, except for the Moon, of course. Saturn’s rings can be seen even with a smaller telescope.
I was looking at Saturn just the other night, and it reminded me of a while back when I had some people over and one of the kids looked at Saturn and said “look at that, it almost looks real.” Sometimes we get a little confused with what is real in the telescope and what we see in the magazines.
Saturn will slowly dip down into the western sky and leave us for a while, and reappear in the morning sky. But Jupiter will be at its best for a few more months. Once again, even with a small telescope, you can enjoy Jupiter with its four largest moons running around with a different look each night.
If you are interested in viewing Neptune, Uranus, Mars and Mercury you will either have to stay up late that night until at least 3am, or get up early and watch them the next morning.
How about staying up until 1am on the evening – or, I should say the morning – of the 24th. On the 23rd at 11:50pm, the Moon will occult (cover) the large star Antares.
And if you are patient enough, watch it reappear at 1:06am. Just a little over an hour of your time to watch yet another unusual event the sky can put on for us.
Well, it looks like spring might just get here after all. This last winter wasn’t the best for viewing the heavens. So dust off your scopes, binoculars or just acclimate your eyes to the darkness and see what is out there. There is always something to enjoy.
Clear skies.
May Sky Watch
May 1 Moon at last quarter
• May 2 Moon passes 5 degrees south of Neptune
May 3 Moon passes 3 degrees south of Uranus
• May 4 Eta Aquarid meteor shower peaks
May 6 Moon passes 3 degrees north of Mercury
• May 8 New Moon
May 13 Moon passes 5 degrees north of Saturn
• May 14 Moon is farthest away from Earth (apogee-251,407 mi)
May 14 Mars passes 1.2 degrees south of Uranus
• May 16 Moon at first quarter
May 19 Moon passes 0.4 degrees south of Jupiter
• May 23 Full Moon
May 24 Moon occults Antares
• May 26 Moon is closest to Earth (perigee-226,329 mi)
May 28 Moon passes 5 degrees south of Neptune
• May 30 Moon at last quarter
May 30 Moon passes 3 degrees south of Uranus
• May 31 Moon passes 0.5 degrees south of Mars
