Look skyward for a celestial 2004
By Mary-Kathryn Craft
Knight Ridder News Service
They are illusive and romantic. For thousands of years, the stars have captivated imaginations around the globe. No longer a necessary tool for navigation, they still draw gazers young and old.
Associated Press
Yes, modern technology has taken us closer to faraway planets, moons and stars, but mystery still exists.
The rings of Saturn, photographed by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope last spring, at their maximum tilt of 26 degrees toward us. Saturn experiences seasonal tilts toward the sun, much the same as the Earth's.
Maybe that's why in our busy lives of overflowing e-mail inboxes, constant cell phone rings and beeping text messages we turn to the stars.
"There's a certain calming effect, I think, to stargazing," said Rik Zawadzki, associate director of the
Ingram Planetarium in Sunset Beach, N.C. "They are visible but unreachable. It feels like they are in grasp, but we're talking about hundreds of light years away for some of these objects."
Now is an excellent time to turn your attention skyward with so many significant celestial events on tap this year.
You can see four of the nine planets in the night sky — Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.
Here are some celestial events and dates this year: March 20 — Vernal equinox April 3 — Venus crosses the Pleiades April 22 — Lyrids meteor shower peak May 25 — Mars passes 1.6 degrees from Saturn June 8 — Venus transits (passes in front of) the sun June 21 — Summer solstice June 26 — Mercury passes 2.1 degrees from Saturn July 1 — Cassini mission begins orbit of Saturn July 29 — Delta Aquarids meteor shower peak Aug. 12 — Perseids meteor shower peak Sept. 22 — Autumn equinox Oct. 9 — Draconids meteor shower peak Oct. 14 — Partial solar eclipse visible from Russia, Alaska and the Pacific Ocean Oct. 26 — First targeted flyby of Titan by Cassini mission Oct. 28 — Lunar eclipse Nov. 3 — Taurids meteor shower peak Nov. 17 — Leonids meteor shower peak Dec. 13 — Second Titan flyby by Cassini Dec. 13 — Geminids meteor shower peak Dec. 21 — Winter solstice Dec. 22 — Ursids meteor shower peak Dec. 25 — Huygens probe scheduled for deployment onto Titan Sources: NASA space calendar, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory at California Institute of Technology
Saturn is still visible and bright as it travels away from earth after reaching its closest point in 29 years on Dec. 31, 2003. The rings can be seen with a telescope during the early part of the evening.
Events for stargazers
In March, Jupiter will be at its closest approach to earth, and the solar system's largest planet and four of its moons will be visible with binoculars.
On June 8, Venus will move across the face of the sun. "It's like the equivalent to a Venus eclipse," Zawadzki said. This event will be seen from Europe, Africa and the eastern United States. The last time such an alignment happened was 1882.
In July, the Cassini-Huygens mission will reach Saturn, orbit the planet and release a probe onto the largest moon, Titan. The mission left earth in October 1997.
"It's really a great time for astronomy," said astrophysicist Dennis Dinge, an assistant professor in Coastal Carolina University's department of chemistry and physics. "It's the first time in the history of mankind we can actually get instruments above the atmosphere. ... That's part of the reason you see all these brand-new discoveries in astronomy."
You don't have to be a science expert to appreciate and understand the stars, but you should at least start out with a map, Zawadzki said.
"There are no signs on the stars or planets. You need someone to point them out," he said.
Light pollution can be a obstacle to stargazing in some areas. Many people can't see the Milky Way because light obscures the dusty-looking streak that runs across the sky.
Zawadzki has scouted out his own dark, out-of-the way place where he can see the Milky Way clearly, and just about any constellation he wants. But he won't reveal his secret stargazing spot.
"People ask me all the time. I say, 'I'm not going to tell you. Find your own dark spot,' " he said.
He offers only one hint.
"It's on the back roads, of course."
Just remember that no matter how dark the sky is or how powerful your telescope, you will always peer at the stars from far, far away.
The more you gaze at these mysterious, nebulous objects, the more you dream. The temptation grows.
"You really want to go there but know you can't," Zawadzki said.
