Theatre of the Mind: The Mission of the Vega

February 23, 24, and 25 at 7:30 PM
February 26 at 2:00 PM (this performance will be in German)

Tickets: $6.00

“The Mission of the Vega” (“Das Unternehmen der Wega”) is a Theatre of the Mind production presented by the Planetarium and Stage III Theater. This is an old-style radio play written by Swiss playwright Friedrich Durrenmatt. The production will use sound effects similar to radio productions. The Feb 26th performance will be presented in German by a student cast. For times and more information, call 234-0946 or 577-0310.

Plot: It’s the eve of war on Earth.  A diplomatic delegation goes to the penal colony on Venus in order to enlist the help of its inhabitants.  In return, the criminals would be allowed to return to Earth…but do they agree?

February is not the best month to go out with a telescope. This has less to do with the temperature and more to do with the atmosphere. Between the howling wind and the turbulence caused by temperature variation, the atmosphere is chaos, even if the sky is perfectly clear. However, while this makes telescope observing impractical, it does not hinder naked eye observing. Only the most jaded skywatcher will say there is nothing to see with the naked eye. In reality we can learn a lot about the nature of stars just by looking at their color. February offers a great chance to do this by turning south and looking for a very large asterism known as the Winter Hexagon. An asterism is a group of stars that is easy to recognize but is not really a constellation.

Begin by looking for the constellation Orion the Hunter. The bright star at Orion’s lower right is the star Rigel. Rigel appears a bright blue-white color. This tells us that Rigel is very hot. The hottest stars appear bright blue. Think of a light bulb on a dimmer switch. When the light is dim it appears red or orange, but when it is brightest it appears blue white. From Rigel look down and to the East for Sirius in Canis Major. Sirius is not as hot as Rigel so it appears more white than blue. However, Sirius appears brighter in our sky than Rigel because Sirius is much closer to our solar system than Rigel. Sirius is less than ten light years away while Rigel is more than 700 light years away.

Moving higher in the sky we find the star Procyon in Canis Minor. Procyon is cooler still, appearing yellow-white. Moving still higher we find the star Pollux in Gemini the Twins. Pollux is very cool and appears orange. Its nearby neighbor, Castor is hotter and appears white like Sirius. Almost directly overhead is the star Capella in Auriga. Capella is a star much like our own sun and appears yellow. Stars like Capella and the Sun are very average in temperature, mass, diameter and life expectancy. From Capella we move down and to the West to find Aldebaran, in Taurus the Bull. Aldebaran is cool like Pollux, and so appears orange. In the center of the Winter Hexagon is the star Betelgeuse in the shoulder of Orion. Betelgeuse represents the coolest type of star, appearing red in color.

The colors of stars depend on their temperatures, and astronomers use this to classify stars into what are known as Spectral Classes. The modern classification scheme has seven classes each class representing a different temperature range of stars. The classes are O, B, A, F, G, K, and M. Type M stars are the coolest, and appear red. Type K stars are orange, type G stars are yellow, type F are yellow-white, type A are white, type B are blue-white and type O are bright blue. The coolest stars are typically less than 2,500 degrees Kelvin while the hottest stars are more than 30,000 degrees Kelvin. So why do we call this scheme a Spectral Classification? Objects that are hot give of most of their energy in different wavelengths of light depending on their temperature. Hot stars like Rigel will give off most of their energy in the UV wavelength, while cool stars like Betelgeuse give off most of their energy in the Infrared. This means that the naked eye color of a star can tell us something about the wavelengths of energy it gives off.

While February may not be the best month to get out and use a telescope, it is a great month to get out and view the sky with the original observing tool, the human eye. Simply looking at the stars tells us about their temperature, their energy output, their size, their age and in many cases their eventual deaths.

February 2012 Chart

While on a routine fossil-hunting expedition, The Zula Patrol turns up evidence that the villainous Deliria Delight has been travelling back in time to Earth’s prehistoric past to illegally dump her company’s toxic trash. The Zula Patrollers must find and catch her, before her actions cause catastrophic consequences. In the process, our heroes learn all about the formation and development of Earth, and the life forms who call it home.

Zula Patrol: Down to Earth from Channel 17.12 on Vimeo.

Recommended for ages 4-12.

Admission is $2.50 per person.

Schedule:

• 4-5 Years; June 18-22, 1:00-2:00, “Astro-tots,” $30.00
• 6-7 Years; June 25-29, 1:00-2:00, “Oh, Mr. Sun!” $30.00
• 8-9 Years; June 4-8, 1:00-2:30, “3, 2, 1, Blastoff!”  $35.00
• 10-11 Years; June 11-15, 1:00-3:00, “Practical Astronomy.” $40.00
• 12+ Years; May 29 – June 2, 1:00-4:00, “3D Modeling with Blender,” $40.00

You can download and complete the registration form below and bring it to the Planetarium M-F, 9-5.  Call us for more information: 577-0310.

Registration Form 2012

Hear the Greek mythology surrounding several well-known constellations: Perseus, Andromeda, Cepheus, Cassiopeia, Cetus, and more.  Andromeda, a beautiful princess, finds herself in harm’s way as a result of her parents’ foolishness.  Can the demigod, Perseus, save her in time?  Find out in this humorous animated program, which is fun for the whole family!

Recommended for audiences ages 5+.
Run time is approximately 20 minutes.
Admission is $2.50 per person.

No show February 25 due to Stage III, Mission of the Vega

The Ott Planetarium at Weber State University is pleased to announce Expanded View. This fulldome planetarium program features some of the most beautiful deep space objects, seen through the eyes of the Hubble, Spitzer, and Chandra space telescopes.

Recommended for audiences ages 8+.
Run time is approximately 25 minutes.
Admission is $2.50 per person.

No show February 25 due to Stage III, Mission of the Vega

Two eyes and two pieces of glass revolutionized human understanding 400 years ago. The eyes belonged to Galileo Galilei, and the curved pieces of glass were the lenses of his telescope. In Galileo: The Power of the Telescope – a Daniel M. Soref Planetarium original production – you’ll learn Galileo’s personal and powerful story, and explore how his discoveries displaced long-held views about the universe.

Travel back in time to Pisa, Italy, to experience Galileo’s early experiments with gravity and the laws of motion, his advocacy of the idea that the Earth revolves around the sun (still an absurd notion to many in the 1600’s), and his work with early telescopes. Learn how his keen observations culminated in The Starry Messenger, an early masterpiece in which Galileo described all his dazzling discoveries in a straightforward, easy to understand way. Narrated by Dava Sobel, author of the award-winning biography Galileo’s Daughter.

Admission: $2.50 per person per program
Run time is approximately 30 minutes.
Recommended for audiences ages 9+.

Happy New Year fellow sky-watchers.  Time to start planning another year of observing, and 2012 holds some of the most spectacular events imaginable.  One event won’t be seen again within our lifetime.  So without further ado, grab your calendar and start penciling in the following events.

January 3,4: Annual Quadrantids Meteor Shower.  This is an average meteor shower best viewed after midnight.  The radiant is in the constellation Boötes the Herdsman.
February 20 through March 12: Best time to observe Mercury.  Mercury is far enough from the sun’s glare to be visible in the evening sky.  As February turns to March, Mercury will rise higher in the sky.
March  3 – 5: Mercury, Venus and Jupiter all visible in the evening sky.  The planets are not especially close, but they are all visible along a line extending up from the southwestern horizon.  Mars will also be visible rising in the East.  These are four of the five classical or “naked eye” planets known to ancient observers. Mars is at opposition (directly opposite the sun in the sky) on March 3.
April 15: Saturn at Opposition.  This is the best time to observe Saturn, but to the naked eye Saturn will appear as a cream colored light in the Eastern sky.  Telescopes will be needed for capturing photographs.
May 20: Annular Solar Eclipse.  Because the Moon’s orbit around the Earth is not a perfect circle, the Moon’s distance changes slightly over a month.  When the moon passes in front of the sun at its furthest, “aphelion,” it cannot completely cover the disk of the sun.  This is an Annular Solar eclipse.  This eclipse won’t be visible from Wyoming. However a short jaunt to Albuquerque, New Mexico, will give you a front row seat to this rare and wonderful event.
June 5 – 6: Transit of Venus.  When the Moon passes directly in front of the sun it is an eclipse.  When either Mercury or Venus passes in front of the sun it is called a Transit. However, because the orbit of Venus is slightly inclined relative to that of Earth, the planet does not always pass directly in front of the Sun’s disk.  In fact, this event is so rare, another transit won’t happen again until the year 2117.
August 12 – 13: Perseids Meteor Shower.  A crowd favorite, the Perseids is one of the best meteor showers of the year.  A good year can produce more than 60 meteors per hour, and since August is the height of summer, temperatures are perfect for a long evening looking up.
November 27: Conjunction of Venus & Saturn.  The two planets will slowly draw closer together from the beginning of the month to the end.  By the 27th the two planets are less than one degree apart in the pre-dawn sky.  Mercury will also be visible, closer to the horizon.
Dec 3: Jupiter at Opposition.  While Venus and Mercury constantly alternate between morning and evening skies, the outer planets such as Jupiter remain visible in the sky most of the night for several months.  Jupiter, due to its huge size, is a bright beacon in the darkest of months.

While some people have come to see 2012 as a year to fear, the year to come holds a variety of astronomical events that will delight and amaze.  No need to let the fears of some spoil a year of excellent observing.  Get out there and enjoy the sights!

January 2012 Chart

In this issue:
-Astronomy Camp Information
-Stage III Production of  Mission of the Vega
-Spring Program Schedule
-Transit of Venus and Sun-Earth Day Celebration

Spring 2012 Newsletter