Trinidad & Tobago Astronomical Society

THE UNIVERSE –YOURS TO DISCOVER….. INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF ASTRONOMY 2009

IMPORTANT NOTE.  With regard to our Christmas dinner this year, some changes in the arrangements had to be made. Kindly note the following changes:

            Venue – Top of the Mount

            Time   - 7:00pm

            Date – Sunday December 13, 2009

            Contribution - $80.00 per member

            Guest contribution - $125.00 per person

The change of date was necessary due to CARINA’s Star Party at Chaguaramas which is carded for Saturday 12 December, the date originally set for our dinner.

Please contact the Secretary, Mona Rahamut (658-2527) or President Maura Imbert (645-7238) or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it no later than 30 November for bookings.

Please note that visiting Professors and students of Astronomy will be our guests at the dinner, all in celebration of International Year of Astronomy (IYA).

The year 2010 will be mainly focused on observing. As weather permits, members should start their viewing and log observations as these will come in handy for exercises planned in the coming year.

SKY PHENOMENA

December

6 Sun (23 UT)    Moon 5.1° SSW of Mars (about 116° from Sun in morning sky

7 Mon               Earliest sunset (4:35pm) at latitude 40°. Latest sunrise, Jan 6. Why do

                        Earliest sunrise and latest sunset no coincide with the longest day

                        Summer solstice, and the latest Sunrise earliest sunset with the

                        shortest day (winter solstice)? They do if we measure from true solar noon.

                        But our clocks use mean solar time (as if moons were a fixed distance

                        apart). The difference between the two is the ‘equation of time’.

10 Thu (5UT)     Moon 7.1° SSW of Saturn (75° from Sun in morning sky)

14 Mon              Geminid meteors. Very favourable year for this major shower.

18 Fri (17UT)     Mercury at greatest elongation east. 20.3° from Sun.

21 Mon (10UT)  Jupiter 0.53° SSE of Neptune 55° from Sun in evening sky (Mag -2.2 and 7.90

            (17:47) Winter solstice

22 Tue              Ursid meteors. Favourable year for this sometimes major shower.

25 Fri                About the date and the star that the wise men saw.

             (4UT)   The equation of time is 0.

31 Thu              Partial eclipse of the Moon is visible across the Eastern Hemisphere.

Constellations and Stars

Layers: Cassiopeia/Andromeda/Triangulum/Aries Magitudes 2,3,4. Cassiopeia along the Milky Way; Perseus down left from her; double cluster between them. Perseus’s helmet, also called the ‘Steeple’. Perseus like a twig forking at Mirfak. Shorter branch to Algol, the glaring eye of the Gorgon’s head held in Perseus’s hand. Other branch curves to the Pleiades, which are in Taurus. Andromeda’s foot points to Perseus, her rescuer; his foot points to the Pleiades. Curve in Eridanus ought to be completed by a star in the breast of Cetus, the Whale. Rana the ‘frog’ star sitting beside the river.  River Eridanus rises by Orion’s foot. Cursa means the ‘footstool’.

Best wishes for a Merry Christmas Season and an Astronomically Prosperous New Year!

Clear skies!!

Mona Rahamut

                                                                                                Secretary

                                                                                                274 Gopaul Circular Drive

                                                                                                Marabella

                                                                                                Tel 658-2527

Note: Information in the above SKY PHENOMENA is taken from Astronomical Calendar 2009 by Guy Ottewell. Printed in USA.

THE UNIVERSE – YOURS TO DISCOVER….. INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF ASTRONOMY 2009