I tried to look for Mars in it's retrograde motion today, but from the information I found on the internet, the event has already passed. Peak times to see the retrograde was from Nov 07 - Jan 08. I did find this cool video demonstrating the event.



http://

Cassiopeia

I found Cassiopeia by looking north along the horizon. Cassiopeia forms a W. Ptolemy charted this constellation and it is still considered one of the 88 modern constellations. The ancient Greeks told the story of the vain queen Cassiopeia who thought she and her daughter Andromeda were the most beautiful on Earth. She was ultimately punished by Poseidon by being placed in the Heavens in a place where through half of the year she was upside-down.

Yes, I'm SIRIUS and don't call me Shirley...

I found Sirius tonight by looking in the Southern Sky. Through binoculars I could see it very brightly. Sirius is the brightest star in the sky (-1.47 mag)and is in the constellation Canis Major. It's nickname is the Dog Star.

Winter Triangle

Tonight I decided to try to find the Winter Triangle which contains Betelgeuse, Procyon, and Sirius. Facing south with my handy Star Wheel, I could see Procyon slightly to my left, Sirius more left and lower, and finally Betelgeus (in the constellation Orion) stright up.

Today on the Internet I read about the Cassini Satellite and it's current mission to test moon dust and photograph Saturn's moon Enceladus. In two days the satellite will pass close enough to caputre and test particles from the moon to determine which elements are present. It is known that ice and water exsist, but it will be new to find out what is mixed with them.

Earth from Mars

While searching NASA's webpage today I found this amazing photo of Earth taken from Mars via the HiRISE telescope currently at Mars on the Mars Orbiter. The only photos I've seen up to this point have been taken from space shuttles or Earth's satellites.

Lab Night

It was cloudy again. BOO! So instead of spending time outside, we were given sky maps for the month of March. I have already purchased a sky chart that looks like a wheel inside a card board frame. I have been using it when I look at the stars to familiarize myself with the constellations.

Cloudy again...

Viewing the BIG DIPPER

Tonight was a very clear, crisp night so I spend some time outside after class. I looked in the north sky and was able to see the asterism Big Dipper slightly to the left of center. I was only able to see three stars in the dipper handle. I could not notice a difference between Mizar and Alcor. I used the "pointer stars" in the bowl of the Big Dipper to find Polaris, the North Star.

I found this picture on the following site, which I found very helpful. It describes the polar constellations in clear, simple language:
http://my.execpc.com/60/B3/culp/astronomy/Spring/Polar.html

Viewing Orion

I volunteered for my lab group to view the constellation Orion and report in to the national survey being done called GLOBE at Night. I had taken a drive up to Green Bay and on the way home, noticed clear skies. I pulled the car over outside of Green Bay near Denmark (N44.385 W-87.872) From this vantage point I was able to see four stars in Orion's belt and I could see his sword. According to the handout, this was a level 5.
After I entered my data in on the site, I was able to see this map which indicates all of the individual entries.