March 15, 2013

Starweek

commentary Tom Niemann

Tom Niemann

Starweek

Question of the week

What is the name of the great circle dividing the sky into northern and southern hemispheres?

The answer will be in next week's column.

LAST WEEK'S QUESTION: What did Queen Berenice II of Egypt, wife of Ptolemy III, do for the safe return of her husband from war?

ANSWER: She cut her hair. The cluster of stars - known as Berenice's Hair - is named for Queen Berenice II of Egypt, wife of Ptolemy III. In 243 B.C., Ptolemy went to war. His newlywed bride, Berenice, swore to the goddess Aphrodite to sacrifice her long, blonde hair, of which she was extremely proud, if her husband returned safely. He did, and she had her hair cut and placed it in the goddess' temple.

WINNER: Trish Mayo of Clarkston.

Answers may be emailed to starweek@lmtribune.com, dropped off at the Tribune or mailed to Lewiston Tribune, Starweek, 505 Capital St., Lewiston, ID 83501. Entries must be at the Tribune by noon Monday. Please include your mailing address. The winning entry is drawn from a pool of all correct answers and will receive a sky map for the current month.

TODAY - Swinging northward now, Comet PanSTARRS emerges above the western sunset horizon this week. Look due west about 30 to 45 minutes after sunset. Bring binoculars; the comet is about magnitude +1.5 but is low in the twilight: a fuzzy star with a short upward tail.

SATURDAY - The waxing crescent moon shines close to the Pleiades star cluster and the blazing planet Jupiter tonight. On a dark night, most people see the Pleiades cluster as a tiny dipper-shaped formation made of six little starlets. That lost seventh star - the missing Pleiad - is the stuff of myth and legend.

SUNDAY - Look first for the waxing crescent moon and you can't miss nearby Jupiter. Aldebaran, the brightest star in the constellation Taurus the Bull, might be hard to see in the lunar glare. The ruddy color of Aldebaran really stands out in a dark country sky or in binoculars. Any reddish star that you can see with the unaided eye is an old, bloated star in the autumn of its years.

MONDAY - The divided halves of a snake are moving into the evening sky. Known as Serpens, the serpent, they rise beginning in late evening. The constellation is split because the snake wraps around the intervening stars of Ophiuchus, the serpent-bearer.

TUESDAY - This bright star Sirius is highest in the south (on the meridian) after dark. Sirius is the closest naked-eye star that's ever visible from mid-northern latitudes, aside from the sun. It's only 8.6 light-years away. Using binoculars, look below Sirius by almost a binocular field-of-view for a dimly glowing patch among the stars. This is the open star cluster M41, 2,200 light-years away.

WEDNESDAY - It's equinox time. And this 2013 March equinox comes at precisely 11:02 Universal Time. That's the standard time in Greenwich, England, and 4:02 a.m. our time. The March equinox happens when the sun crosses the celestial equator - an imaginary line around the sky above Earth's equator moving south to north.

THURSDAY -The waxing gibbous moon and the Gemini stars Castor and Pollux shine way up high in the southern sky at nightfall and early evening. Castor and Pollux, the constellation Gemini the Twins' two brightest stars, shine to the north of tonight's moon.

International Space Station

SATURDAY

Appears at 4:57 a.m. 10 degrees above SSE

Disappears at 4:59 a.m. 10 degrees above ESE

Appears at 6:31 a.m. 10 degrees above SW

Disappears at 6:35 a.m. 58 degrees above E

SUNDAY

Appears at 5:41 a.m. 18 degrees above SSW

Disappears at 5:44 a.m. 32 degrees above E

MONDAY

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Appears at 4:52 a.m. 26 degrees above SE