Tasty Niblets

Roundabout

Though the sun was born 4.6 billion years ago, such is its distance from the Milky Way's galactic center (roughly, 26,000 light-years!) that it has only orbited it around 27 times since then!!

That means the last time we were roughly at the spot in the aforementioned orbit, the first terrestrial dinossaurs were starting to take their first steps here on Earth, during the mid-to-late Triassic period - - some astonishingly distant 230 million years ago!

Sources: Sky & Telescope, March 2012, p. 35;

Wikipedia.org

Disclaimer

A Lil' Disclaimer Regarding the

Nomenclature of Some of the Objects in the Lists

 

Sometimes you may notice that a specific object has a different name under SkySafari from that of the piece of news it was based on/extracted from (pasted onto its "Notes" field):
that's totally normal, as no sky atlas software can keep up with all the existing catalogs out there, let alone new ones that pop out now and then! That's due, lately, to new space programs lauching new crafts - satellites, probes and the oncoming Webb space telescope and the like! 

Skysafari's 4.0 database is particular scant on extra-galactic objects's names (think the Magellanic clouds variable stars) and recently-detected new variable or double stars.

Regardless of that, rest assured that, unless stated otherwise, as it is the case with the Supernova Candidates list, objects, though with a totally different name from the list source (see my innitial post to learn more about them), had  their nomenclature throughly double-checked via Wikipedia, the Simbad database or, in the worst case scenarios (total lack of further information), looked at and having their 2000.0 epoch coordinates and position manually checked against Aladin Lite's or SkySafari's atlases.

Observing List #1 - In the News

Observing List #1 - In the News

 

Because Not All Astronomical Objects in the News are Necessarily Only "Hubble-Observable".

I don't know about you, but I do enjoy reading about the latest astronomical finds on the innitial pages of every new issue of Astronomy magazine I happen to lay my hands on or even the less generous space dedicated to such events on Sky & Telescope (though, from the obervational point of view, the latter cannot be seen as something negative - each of these publications, thankfully, seem to have character of their own) or even reading about said news on the pages of New Scientist or, when the event/object has caught enough attention, elsewhere - enough to be given coverage (usually exacerbated ones) by mass media.

Mind you, I don't mean the usual eclipse, new-kid-in-the-block comet of the year, blue moon (or worse: supermoon!): there's plenty of coverage for that, as we all know well. Besides said objects are either easily found, like the moon - not requiring therefore, an observing list to be pointed at - or have one or another chart made by the likes of S&T, plotting its recent whereabouts, as it is the case with comets.

Not your average object...

 

Nossir, most of the objects I refer to are usually outside the scope (almost a pun, eh?) of the average observer, whom usually content themselves with observing the moon and the most talked-about objects. I actually mean objects which maybe even us seasoned amateur astronomers read about but dismiss straight away as uninteresting or outside our league - ie., our scopes' reach. 

In fact, one or another object on the list can even be seen by naked eye (or almost that, as it is the case with 5.5-magnitude star 49 Cap, also on the list) - it's just that they would probably and simply be overlooked, had their acquaintance not popped out in the news.

So the reason for their listing is that, thanks to some interesting piece of news (from reliable sources only) pasted onto the "Notes" field for each entry of each list, I deemed them "somehow-worth-bothering-looking-at",  instead of dismissing them as uninteresting or not-easily reached by our backyard instruments.

If you positively identify yourself with the latter statement, the SkySafari observing list in question, offered for download at the end of this post, may be of some interest to you: though not claiming to be comprehensive, it aims to put in your observational spotlight, such less talked-about (though newsworthy) stars, novae and the like which, though usually not as pleasing  to the eye as nebulae and galaxies are, might still offer you that extra incentive to point your telescope at them.

Mind you, some objects in this list might be so unconspicuously pinned down against the Milky Way background stars, you will probably still have some minor star-hopping to do within your eyepiece's field of view, even after being dutifully taken there by your goto system, in order to be able to pinpoint them with certainty and tick them off your list!

 The List

So the not-so-long list is comprised, for starters, of the one star that has generated so much debate and incited so much curiosity from the astronomic community: Tabby's Star. An otherwise unintersting main-sequence star whose weird and unexplicable variations in brightness were speculated, among umpteen theories, to may be even the tell-tale sign of the presence of none other than a Dyson Sphere.
Isn't that reason enough to take a peek through a 4-to-6-inch aperture instrument (minimum) a this dim 12-magnitude star anyway!? As for the speculations, they have carried over well into 2017, and, as the Sky & Telescope editorial for June 2017 puts is rightly: "Who among among us Earthlings would not be fascinated to hear the solution to this celestial brainteaser, when and if it comes?"

Next on the list is equally dim KIC 9832227, at 12.3 magnitudes it's nothing less than the very first star to be predicted to go nova within a precise time frame in 2022! Just like still-to-be-published Supernova Candidates list, won't it be great to be able to, after you observe it back again in 2022, boast to your astronomy-loving peers, who didn't happen to stop by this blog: "I observe it BEFORE it went nova!"?

Steering clear off stars a bit, there is globular cluster NGC 6496, which, if goggled for, will show you that Hubble spotted metal-heavy, ancient stars pulsating in its entrails, a few years back.

Then, keeping up with the variety of phenomena typical of space events, star HD 172555 was detected to having debris around it, denouncing that two planets collided against each other not so long ago! 

As if knowing a star possesses a planetary system, weren't already reason enough for observing a star with interest, I believe knowing a moon-sized planet was totally obliterated in a collision around that apparently pacific star, puts said observation into a whole new perspective per se.

Unlike the previous objects, all star 49 Librae has to count under its belt in terms of curious news, is that, as was reported on Astronomy magazine (April 2017, page 13) it finally had its age precised from the previous estimated 2.3 billion years, to staggering 12 billion years for its age. A fact that deems it a rather geriatric star for one not belonging into any globular cluster.

Well, as you can imagine, though not that long, the list goes on. So do expect it to be updated now and then with whichever piece of news (ie., new objects) I happen to stumble upon and find worth taking a gander at.

Bear in mind all objects had said piece of news pasted into their respective "Notes" field, in the SkySafari list. Before anything, I apologize in advance for not bothering citing my sources for the earliest objects - the list was meant for personal use, innitially, - hence such appalling, though unintentional, negligence. But either googling for some excerpts from it or the object itself, will certainly take you to even more info or the source I drank from back then.

As for the notes themselves, you can try to scroll them down, and read them whilst observing the object, but the best approach I found was having it read out by Android text-to-speech feature (iOS also has it) but using an app which I'll be talking about in depth, in a post or two.

Suffice to say having said notes read out to you while observing is, at least for me, akin to having a fellow (usually more experienced) astronomer lecture you on them while you're at the eyepiece.

So, I do recommend that post read as soons as you can, or, for the early birds, as soon as I decide to publish it over here.

Clear Skies to all!

Nilson Bazana,

May 2017

Download the list:

In The News

First Things First

 

 The Purpose of This Blog...

 

"The more we know about these fascinating objects, the more enjoyment we will ultimately derive from actually viewing them firsthand with binoculars and telescopes"

 James Mullaney, "Double and Multiple Stars and How to Observe Them", 2005

 

First and foremost, this blog is and should always be about the sheer, unconditional love of amateur astronomy - observational astronomy, mostly.
It is obviously designed for those whom, like me, feel a rekindled interest for "the most ancient of sciences", whenever they look up their (usually suburban) night skies, thus feeling like they're partaking with millions of others at that precise moment, into the wonders of our adorable universe.
But, these amateur astronomers also want, at the same time, to keep the flame alive, by avoiding falling into the oblivion that almost certainly ensues after years of looking at the same objects, without any purpose or not quite knowing what they really are. So this is when observing lists should help us.

It's all about observing lists...

 

 Secondly, and this is probably the more obvious reason, this blog is centered, you'll notice, towards sharing, what I'd call "curated" observing lists - though their format will be exclusively for the most popular portable device's astronomy app: Skysafari.

Mind you, my making available observing lists exclusively for the afore-mentioned app, has nothing to do with my endorsing it as the only observing tool out there, but has indeed everything to do with my having using it, on a more or less constant basis for the last 7 years or so, and realizing, at least for me, it provided me with more hits than misses, such an empowerment it has provided me by the eyepiece. (did you catch this last one?)

I can already foresee those owning a copy of Skysafari 5 thinking "What? Hasn't this guy heard of the on-line observing lists repository made available since  this latest version?".
Yes, indeed I have. But, as I get to a point in my life when I feel compelled not to yield to that urge inherent to upgraditis (whose symptoms are similar to aperturitis), I just felt like the features shown in this latest upgrade weren't enough to convince me to upgrade from my beloved Skysafari Pro 4.
Though, as I remember well, there used to be a Yahoo! group (endorsed by Skysafari developers) who was made redundant after said repository's creation.

And that, for me non-upgrader at least, was a real shame! I even dare say that, though I cannot vouch for others, many of us must have felt left in the lurch by Simulation Curriculum (that's SS's distributor(?), by the way).

 

 

Curated lists

Anyway, I must say, I can't think of any reason why version 5 owners shouldn't find, as posts in this blog amount to half a dozen or more, some of the lists here worth their downloading. And this is down, I believe, to the sheer "curated" nature mentioned above:

Don't worry, the curator in question is not this unqualified (in astronomy degree terms) simpleton blogger who writes these lines at this very moment. It's not either a single, more qualified astronomer's either: it's from everybody and from everywhere! 

 

 

Outsourcing

 How? Well, the first couple of posts following this one may give you a clue - they were lists I created with no additional software, straight on Skysafari and, are lists that were gathered from places as diversified as Wikipedia, a book on astrophysics for newbies, astronomy magazine news and even Rod "Unk Rod" Molisse's blog!

Some among you may be already imagining said lists will unavoidably include Sky & Telescope's Sue French's Deep-sky Wonders or then Astronomy magazine's Michael Bakich's observing guides. They might! They might! But that's a mile away from "unavoidably" including them!


I will also be building lists thought out of, say, the Wikipedia entry for supernova Candidates (in fact I already have) and making it available here (actually within the next two posts) just so you can say after observing most of those objects "If any of them ever pop out in my lifetime, I can say I saw them as they were before!". So, to lists detractors, I ask:
Can't observing  lists change dramatically the way we look at most of those objects thanks to this extra bit of oomph? I know some lists who don't, but something like this certainly puts fun (along with ad hoc motivation) back into observing!

 You can also expect a ever-changing (for obvious reasons) In the News list, which would enable you to point your telescope at, say, that latest Dyson Sphere candidate of a star somewhere in the sky they have been talking about so much lately or then any other star or galaxy who made into the less obscure news section of specialized astropress in the last year or so.

Anyway, one thing you can rest assured is also that they won't be Southern or Nothern hemisphere-biased. They will be, as said before from all over the globe. So do expect some variety!

Finally... 

 

 So, this is specially for you who, just like me,are still content with previous SS versions but couldn't be bothered to invest into some 20 odd or 50 bucks (for the Plus and Pro versions of SS5, respectivelly) once again, for changes which aren't obviously bound to take your observational astronomy to another level any time soon!
But, as I said before, it can also cater for you who, though an active visitor of Skysafari 5's repository, is looking for lists less common-place and obvious (but not necessarily less demanding or interesting) than Herschel 400 or Spring Galaxies Galore! - either (quite probably) so abound in that hub or elsewhere online or offline.


Here's to you fellow list lover!


Nilson Bazana
Southern Brazil, May 2017