Morning Open Thread is a daily, copyrighted post, from a host of editors and guest writers. We support our community, invite and share ideas, and encourage thoughtful, respectful dialogue in an open forum. This series was conceived as a haven where folks can drop in to share conversation, ideas, weather reports, and music. Feel free to leave a note, comment, picture, or tune. As always the diarist gets to sleep in, and may show up long after the post is published. Or not. So you know, it's a feature, not a bug.
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It's been said that astronomy is a humbling and, I might add, a character-building experience.
- Carl Sagan
I have been thinking about writing a bit on astronomy for some time. Part of the impetus for this is the fact I have to keep moving the reflector telescope in the kitchen in order to get to the laundry room and stove.
Go ahead and ask, I know you want to.
“Why is that telescope in the kitchen?”
Well, it’s like this. The back door is in the kitchen, and it is easier to get the telescope out the door if I don’t have to drag it out of the workshop or down from upstairs.
It’s sister telescope, a refractor type, is out in the workshop, where it is in the way as well.
Why write about this today. The impetus is the fact it is the first of October, always a good skywatching month. The air is beginning to clear of the humid haze of summer, making it easier to see faint objects in the night sky. The idea for this specific MOT hit me when I clicked on a Weather Channel video just posted today. It is about the three meteor showers coming our way this October. It will not embed, but you can see it here at this link.
For those who have trouble with the link, the meteor shows are as follows:
Draconids — October 8-9 (8-10 meteors an hour are predicted)
Souhern Taurids — October 9-10 (about the same as Draconids; 8-10 per hour)
Orionds — October 21-22 (about 25 per hour)
The biggest meteor show I ever saw was the 1946 Draconid meteor shower. It was what is called an “outburst” and there were hundreds of meteors per hour. I stayed up far beyond my bedtime, watching in fascination. While this is supposed to be an outburst year, there will be so much moonlight it may wash out smaller meteors, making all but the brightest streaks visible.
Sirius is the brightest star in the evening sky, being visible in the southwest sky after mid-October. Did you know Sirius is not a single star? It’s not. It is a binary star; that is, two stars circling close to each other. Polaris, the North Star, is also a binary. One can see the individual stars of Polaris and Sirius with even a small hobbyist telescope.
This year, International Observe the Moon Night is on October 5, next Saturday night. The moon will be at first quarter, which is a good time for moonwatching, even if you only have binoculars or a camera with telephoto lens. Because sunlight will strike the moon’s surface at an oblique angle, it will make the craters and plains of the moon stand out in sharp relief. Here is a cool video from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA.
Now, for some appropriate music.
Recorded when Tina S was sixteen years old. Guitarists all over the world built bonfires and burned their guitars after seeing this.
Does it get any better than Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck on the same stage, playing Moon River?
Willie Nelson interprets Moonlight in Vermont.
Moon song for all the tribe of DKos Deadheads.
Neil Young does Harvest Moon.
This is an open thread.
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