Stargazing Live Calendar

8/13/2019 Stargazing Live Calendar

1/28

DISCOVER

THEWONDERSABOVESTARGAZINGLIVECALENDAR 2014

bbc.co.uk/stargazing


2/28

We hope you enjoy yourBBC Stargazing Live calendarthroughout the year. Each monthhas suggestions for what to lookfor in the night sky along withfantastic photographs and facts

to inspire you to fnd out more.Youll be able to see many of the features that we mention in thecalendar by looking up to the night sky. However, using binocularsor a telescope will often give you a better view and weve notedwhen theyre required.

Visit bbc.co.uk/stargazing to nd more guides and content tohelp you get started. We have also included links to further sourcesof information in the calendar. (Please note that the BBC is notresponsible for the content of external sites).

Happy stargazing for 2014!

DISCOVERTHEWONDERSABOVE

STARGAZINGLIVECALENDAR 2014


3/28

YOUR STARGAZINGLIVE TEAM

Professor Brian Cox

Dara O Briain

Liz Bonnin

Mark Thompson


4/28

H i , H e l

l o : B e n

C a n a l e s

, R

o y a l

O b s e r v a

t o r y

G r e e n w

i c h s

A s t r o n o m y

P h o t o g r a p h e r o

f t h e Y e a r .


5/28

MON TUES WED THURS FRI SAT SUN

1 2 3 4 5

Jupiter is currently oppositethe Sun so it appears largerand brighter than usual.

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16

Astronomy Photographer ofthe Year Competition opens.See Mark ThompsonsSpacePhotography Guide

17 18 19

20 21 22 23 24 25 26

27 28 29 30 31 1 2

JANUARY

Stargazing Live BBC Two 8pm

The Moon and Venus appear close together just before sunrise

bbc.co.uk/stargazing

Visit bbc.co.uk/stargazing to nd events near you.

is the hottest planet in our Solar System, withan average temperature of 462C. The surfacepressure on Venus is equal to what youdexperience 1km under the sea.

VENUS

ITS THEBESTMONTHto observe Jupiter this year

EARTHn early January, Earth will be nearly 5 million kilometresloser to the Sun than it will be in early July.

THEGAIA MISSIONwill help test theories about our galaxy, the Milky Way, bymeasuring around one billion of its stars. This is still lesshan 1% of all the stars in the Milky Way.

IRONThe iron in your blood comes from the stars. Iron (and otherheavy elements) are created and spread through space when

star dies in a supernova explosion.

THEUKS SPACE SECTORontributes 9.1 billion a year to the economy and directlymploys almost 29,000 people.
http://www.rmg.co.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/astronomy-photographer-of-the-year/http://www.rmg.co.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/astronomy-photographer-of-the-year/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00d1b8lhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00d1b8lhttp://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_6/bbc.co.uk/stargazinghttp://bbc.co.uk/stargazinghttp://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/solarsystem/sun_and_planets/venushttp://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/solarsystem/sun_and_planets/venushttp://sci.esa.int/gaia/http://www.bis.gov.uk/ukspaceagencyhttp://www.bis.gov.uk/ukspaceagencyhttp://sci.esa.int/gaia/http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/solarsystem/sun_and_planets/venushttp://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/solarsystem/sun_and_planets/venushttp://bbc.co.uk/stargazinghttp://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_6/bbc.co.uk/stargazinghttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00d1b8lhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00d1b8lhttp://www.rmg.co.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/astronomy-photographer-of-the-year/http://www.rmg.co.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/astronomy-photographer-of-the-year/


6/28

T h e

M i l k y

W a y o v e r

P a r a n a l : G

. H d e p o h

l ( a t a c a m a p

h o t o

. c o m

) / E S O

.
http://www.atacamaphoto.com/http://www.atacamaphoto.com/http://www.atacamaphoto.com/http://www.atacamaphoto.com/http://www.atacamaphoto.com/http://www.atacamaphoto.com/http://www.atacamaphoto.com/http://www.atacamaphoto.com/http://www.atacamaphoto.com/http://www.atacamaphoto.com/http://www.atacamaphoto.com/http://www.atacamaphoto.com/http://www.atacamaphoto.com/http://www.atacamaphoto.com/http://www.atacamaphoto.com/http://www.atacamaphoto.com/http://www.atacamaphoto.com/


7/28bbc.co.uk/stargazing

A N S W E R

B o t

h s p

i r a l g a l a x i e s w

i l l e v e n

t u a l

l y b e c o m e o n e g i a n

t e l l i p t

i c a l g a

l a x y

( n i c k n a m e d

M i l k d r o m e d a ) .

I n d i v i

d u a l s t a r c o l

l i s i o n s a r e u n

l i k e l y

d u e

t o t h e v a s t

d i s t a n c e s

b e t w e e n

t h e m .

1 SAT 2 SUN 3 MON

4 TUES 5 WED 6 THURS

7 FRI 8 SAT 9 SUN

10 MON 11 TUES 12 WED

13 THURS 14 FRI 15 SAT

16 SUN 17 MON 18 TUES

19 WED

The Moon, Mars and starSpica will form a triangle asthey rise tonight.

20 THURS 21 FRI

22 SAT 23 SUN 24 MON


28 FRI 1 SAT 2 SUN

Despite its thin atmosphere, Mars has dust devils,whirlwinds that can be 20km high and can circulatesand at speeds greater than 100km per hour. Watchthe Stargazing Live lm Short guide to Mars .

THE MILKY WAY GALAXYThe bright centre of the Milky Way galaxy is 27,000 light yearsaway. The best views of it are from the Southern Hemisphere.In the UK, the Milky Way is best seen during the winter andsummer when it passes high across the sky. Find the bestplace to stargaze near you using the Dark Sky Discovery sites.

ONE LIGHT YEARmeasures just under 10 million million km. Find out moreabout astronomical distances with BBC Science

WEIGHTLESS CONDITIONSaboard the International Space Station (ISS) occur becausethe station and astronauts are all falling towards Earth atthe same rate. The ISS doesnt hit the ground because, as ittravels forward, the Earths surface curves away below it.

Crescent Moon

FEBRUARYFind the thin crescentMoon low in the west-southwest at around

18:00 GMTand see if you canspot the elusive planetMercury below it.

QUESTIONIts predicted that in 4 billionyears our Milky Way galaxywill collide with the largerAndromeda galaxy. Whatdo you think will happen?
http://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_6/bbc.co.uk/stargazinghttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0169g4bhttp://www.darkskydiscovery.org.uk/http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/universe/questions_and_ideas/astronomical_distances#p00fzqv9http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html#.UqY1ptJdWSqhttp://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html#.UqY1ptJdWSqhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/universe/questions_and_ideas/astronomical_distances#p00fzqv9http://www.darkskydiscovery.org.uk/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0169g4bhttp://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_6/bbc.co.uk/stargazing


8/28

T h e

S u n



ENERGYhanges direction randomly for the rst part of its journey aftereaving the Suns core. Its estimated that it takes anywhererom tens to hundreds of thousands of years for it to nallymerge from the Suns surface.

THEORION SPACECRAFTwill be the rst since Apollo 17 in 1972 with the ability to carrystronauts beyond low Earth orbit. An uncrewed test ight is

planned this year.

STARSSome stars that we can see now may have already explodednd been destroyed, but they are so distant that the light fromhe explosion hasnt reached us yet. See the Stargazing LiveShort guide to the stars.

MARCH

SAT SUN MON TUES WED THURS FRI

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11Jupiter is at its highest point inthe night sky for many years. Ittakes 11.86 years to orbit theSun and it will be 2025 before itreaches this point again.

12 13 14National Science andEngineering Week14 - 23 March.

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

29 30 31 1 2 3 4

National Astronomy Week

Spring Equinox 16:57 GMT

The Sun moves from the southernto the northern half of the sky. Dayand night are of equal length severaldays before at the equilux.

EQUINOX

A N S W E R

T h e

M e t

h u s e

l a h S t a r (

H D 1 4 0 2 8 3 ) i s b e l i e v e

d t o b e 1 4

. 5 b i l l i o n y e a r s o

l d , a

l m o s

t 3 t i m e s

t h e a g e

o f t h e

S u n . T

h e s t a r

i s i n t h e c o n s t e l

l a t i o n o f

L i b r a

t h e

S c a

l e s a n

d y o u c a n s e e

i t w

i t h b i n o c u

l a r s .

QUESTION The Sun is believed tobe 4.5 billion years old.

How old do you think theoldest known star is?
http://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_6/bbc.co.uk/stargazinghttp://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/mpcv/#.UqY2ndJdWSohttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00zxy0thttp://www.britishscienceassociation.org/national-science-engineering-weekhttp://www.britishscienceassociation.org/national-science-engineering-weekhttp://www.astronomyweek.org.uk/http://www.astronomyweek.org.uk/http://www.britishscienceassociation.org/national-science-engineering-weekhttp://www.britishscienceassociation.org/national-science-engineering-weekhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00zxy0thttp://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/mpcv/#.UqY2ndJdWSohttp://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_6/bbc.co.uk/stargazing


10/28

H e b e s

C h a s m a

( M a r s ) : E S A / D L R / F U B e r

l i n ( G

. N e u

k u m

)



-248 CThe lowest recorded temperature in the Solar Systemis in the permanently shadowed regions of Hermite, a crateron the Moon.

SATELLITESThe night sky is constantly criss-crossed by articial satellites.They usually appear as single, moving dots of light without atrail. The International Space Station is one of the brightest.Find the location of the ISS using NASAs Spot the Station.

SAGITTARIUS A*

Its thought that a black hole , known as Sagittarius A*, lies atthe heart of our galaxy. Its estimated to be 44 million km wide,with a mass 4 million times greater than the Sun. A

N S W E R

I t s u s u a

l l y t h e s i z e o f a g r a i n o f s a n d . A

b r i g h t r e b a l

l w o u l

d t y p i c a

l l y

b e c a u s e d

b y a r o c k

t h e s i z e o f a g r a p e o r g o

l f b a l l .


4 FRI 5 SAT 6 SUN

The crescent Moon sits belowthe bright planet Jupiter thisevening.

7 MON 8 TUES

Mars is opposite the Sunso it will be visible all nightand at its highest, due south,around 01:00 BST.

9 WED



16 WED 17 THURS 18 FRI



Astronomy Photographer ofthe Year Competition closes.

25 FRI 26 SAT 27 SUN


MARSThrough a telescope its possible to seeMars frozen north polar cap, its brightdeserts and dark features caused byexposed rock.

Jupiters four largest moons canbe seen through a small telescopeor with binoculars, if you have asteady hand.

APRIL

QUESTION Whats the average size

of a rock that producesa meteor trail?

ITS THE BEST MONTHfor views of Mars
http://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_6/bbc.co.uk/stargazinghttp://spotthestation.nasa.gov/home.cfmhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/universe/sights/black_holes/http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/solarsystem/sun_and_planets/marshttp://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/solarsystem/sun_and_planets/marshttp://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/universe/sights/black_holes/http://spotthestation.nasa.gov/home.cfmhttp://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_6/bbc.co.uk/stargazing


12/28

T h e c r e s c e n t

M o o n a n

d e a r t

h s h i n e o v e r

E S O s P a r a n a l

O b s e r v a t o r y : E S O / B

. T a f r e s h

i ( t w a n

i g h t

. o r g

)
http://www.twanight.org/http://www.twanight.org/http://www.twanight.org/http://www.twanight.org/http://www.twanight.org/http://www.twanight.org/http://www.twanight.org/http://www.twanight.org/http://www.twanight.org/http://www.twanight.org/http://www.twanight.org/http://www.twanight.org/http://www.twanight.org/http://www.twanight.org/




28 29 30 1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10

Best time to view Saturnthis year. It lies due south at01:00 BST.

11

12 13 14 15 16 17 18

19 20 21 22 23 24 25

26 27 28 29 30 31 1

Evening Crescent Moon

Look at the crescent closely andyoull see a dimly lit outline ofthe Moons full disc. This effect,called earthshine, is caused bysunlight reecting off the Earthand back onto the Moon.

This year a new, and possiblyintense, meteor shower maybe visible, peaking towardsdawn. Its meteors will appearto come from the constellationCamelopardalis, the Giraffe.

A N S W E R

.

N e p

t u n e

i s a r o u n d

3 0 A U f r o m

t h e

S u n

Meteor Shower predicted

MAYLIGHTNING STORMSon Jupiter and Saturn create soot (carbon). As this fallshrough the planets atmosphere, it gets compressed intohailstones of diamond .

VOYAGER 1The planetary probe Voyager 1 , launched in 1977, is nowbeyond our Solar System and in interstellar space. Its theurthest manmade object from Earth.

GALAXIESLight from a distant galaxy can be bent by gravity from

foreground object such as another galaxy or cluster ofgalaxies. Called gravitational lensing, this can help improvemeasurements of the more distant galaxy. Find out how youan improve our knowledge of the universe by taking part initizen science projects .

EARTH AND MOONThe Earth and Moon orbit their common centre of gravity (orbarycentre) which is 1,707km below the Earths surface.

QUESTIONThe average Earth-Sundistance is called anAstronomical Unit (AU).How far away do youthink the Solar Systemsoutermost planet

Neptune is in AU?
http://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_6/bbc.co.uk/stargazinghttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24477667http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/voyager/#.UqbIydJdWSohttp://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/voyager/#.UqbIydJdWSohttps://www.zooniverse.org/projectshttps://www.zooniverse.org/projectshttp://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/voyager/#.UqbIydJdWSohttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24477667http://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_6/bbc.co.uk/stargazing


14/28

J u p i t e r



1 SUN

2 MON 3 TUES

Jupiter Triple ShadowTransit.

4 WED 5 THURS 6 FRI

7 SAT 8 SUN 9 MON


13 FRI 14 SAT 15 SUN




25 WED 26 THURS 27 FRI


JUPITERS GREAT RED SPOTis a giant oval storm several times the size of the Earth. Itsshrinking in width but not in height and by 2040 it may actuallybecome circular.

SUNJAMMERScientists are developing a new spacecraft called Sunjammer .It has a 38x38m solar sail which uses the pressure of sunlightto move through space.

DISTANT GALAXYZ8-GND-5296 is believed to be the most distant galaxy everfound. Its so far away that the light we get from it left thegalaxy just 700 million years after the Big Bang. Its creatingnew stars around 100 times faster than the Milky Way. Readthe BBCs guide to the Universe through time .

Gibbous Moon

June Solstice 11:51 BST

A N S W E R

A b o u t s e v e n a n

d a

h a l f m o n

t h s .

Gibbous Moon is the name given to the phase ofthe Moon between half illuminated and full. Thisevening you may be able to spot Mars just above theMoon in the southwest as the sky starts to get dark.Read the Stargazing Live Guide to the Moon .

Three of Jupiters moons will cast shadows ontothe planets disc at the same time.

JUPITER

20.00 BST

JUNEQUESTIONIf it takes a jetaeroplane 48 hours togo around the Earth,how long would it taketo go around the Sun?

SOLSTICEAt this moment the Suns apparent movementagainst the background stars reverses directionfrom north to south.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/stargazinghttp://www.sunjammermission.com/AboutSunjammerhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b019h4g8/features/starguideshttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b019h4g8/features/starguideshttp://downloads.bbc.co.uk/schools/teachers/stargazinglive/stargazing_moon_guide.pdfhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/solarsystem/sun_and_planets/jupiterhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/solarsystem/sun_and_planets/jupiterhttp://downloads.bbc.co.uk/schools/teachers/stargazinglive/stargazing_moon_guide.pdfhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b019h4g8/features/starguideshttp://www.sunjammermission.com/AboutSunjammerhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/stargazing


16/28

G a l a x y

N G C 4 4 4 9

. N A S A

, E S A

, A . A

l o i s i ( S T S c l

/ E S A ) , a n

d T h e

H u b

b l e H e r

i t a g e

( S T S c l

/ A U R A ) - E S A / H u b

b l e

C o

l l a b o r a

t i o n


17/28


18/28

P e r s e

i d M e t e o r : A l a n

T o u g

h , B B C S k y a t

N i g h t a n

d S t a r g a z

i n g

L i v e

F l i c k r g r o u p

S e e m o r e p

h o t o s a t

t h e

B B C S k y a t

N i g h t a n

d S t a r g a z

i n g

L i v e

F l i c k r g r o u p
http://www.flickr.com/groups/bbcskyatnight/http://www.flickr.com/groups/bbcskyatnight/http://www.flickr.com/groups/bbcskyatnight/http://www.flickr.com/groups/bbcskyatnight/http://www.flickr.com/groups/bbcskyatnight/http://www.flickr.com/groups/bbcskyatnight/http://www.flickr.com/groups/bbcskyatnight/http://www.flickr.com/groups/bbcskyatnight/http://www.flickr.com/groups/bbcskyatnight/http://www.flickr.com/groups/bbcskyatnight/http://www.flickr.com/groups/bbcskyatnight/http://www.flickr.com/groups/bbcskyatnight/http://www.flickr.com/groups/bbcskyatnight/http://www.flickr.com/groups/bbcskyatnight/http://www.flickr.com/groups/bbcskyatnight/http://www.flickr.com/groups/bbcskyatnight/http://www.flickr.com/groups/bbcskyatnight/http://www.flickr.com/groups/bbcskyatnight/http://www.flickr.com/groups/bbcskyatnight/http://www.flickr.com/groups/bbcskyatnight/http://www.flickr.com/groups/bbcskyatnight/http://www.flickr.com/groups/bbcskyatnight/http://www.flickr.com/groups/bbcskyatnight/http://www.flickr.com/groups/bbcskyatnight/http://www.flickr.com/groups/bbcskyatnight/http://www.flickr.com/groups/bbcskyatnight/http://www.flickr.com/groups/bbcskyatnight/http://www.flickr.com/groups/bbcskyatnight/http://www.flickr.com/groups/bbcskyatnight/http://www.flickr.com/groups/bbcskyatnight/http://www.flickr.com/groups/bbcskyatnight/http://www.flickr.com/groups/bbcskyatnight/http://www.flickr.com/groups/bbcskyatnight/http://www.flickr.com/groups/bbcskyatnight/http://www.flickr.com/groups/bbcskyatnight/http://www.flickr.com/groups/bbcskyatnight/http://www.flickr.com/groups/bbcskyatnight/http://www.flickr.com/groups/bbcskyatnight/http://www.flickr.com/groups/bbcskyatnight/http://www.flickr.com/groups/bbcskyatnight/http://www.flickr.com/groups/bbcskyatnight/http://www.flickr.com/groups/bbcskyatnight/



QUESTIONWhich astronomicalobjects can castnoticeable shadowson Earth?

A N S W E R

T h e

S u n , M

o o n a n

d V e n u s .

I n p l a c e s w

i t h r e a l

l y d a r k s k

i e s s u c h a s

d e s e r t s o r o n

m o u n t a i n

t o p s , J

u p i t e r a n d e v e n

t h e c o r e o f

t h e

M i l k y W a y c a n a l s o c a s t s h a d o w s .METEOR

SHOWERSoccur when Earth passesthrough streams of dust spreadaround the orbit of a comet.About 15,000 tonnes of spacedust enters Earths atmosphere

each year.

STARSThe furthest star just visibleto the naked eye is V762Cassiopeiae which is 16,308light years away. See the BBCguide to how telescopes work .

SPACESUITA spacesuit applies a constantpressure on an astronauts body.Without it, the vacuum of spacewould cause their blood to boil.

1 FRI

2 SAT 3 SUN 4 MON

5 TUES 6 WED 7 THURS 8 FRI

9 SAT 10 SUN 11 MON 12 TUES

Peak of the Perseids MeteorShower.

13 WED 14 THURS 15 FRI 16 SAT

Jupiter and Venus appear toline up in front of the BeehiveCluster in Cancer.

17 SUN 18 MON 19 TUES 20 WED

21 THURS 22 FRI 23 SAT 24 SUN

25 MON 26 TUES 27 WED 28 THURS

29 FRI 30 SAT 31 SUN 1 MON

AUGUST

The Beehive Cluster ofstars is approximately 6million times further awayfrom Earth than Jupiter.

This can produce more than 80meteors per hour. A bright Moon will

interfere with the display this year.Read more about asteroids, meteorsand meteorites in this BBC guide .
http://www.bbc.co.uk/stargazinghttp://www.bbc.co.uk/science/0/20937803http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/solarsystem/other_solar_system_bodies/asteroidhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/solarsystem/other_solar_system_bodies/asteroidhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/science/0/20937803http://www.bbc.co.uk/stargazing


20/28

M o o n

S i l h o u e t t e s : M a r

k G e e ,

R o y a l

O b s e r v a t o r y

G r e e n w

i c h s

A s t r o n o m y

P h o t o g r a p

h e r o f

t h e

Y e a r



THEMAVEN MISSIONims to discover why Mars has lost most of its atmosphere topace. Its expected to enter the orbit of Mars this month.

CASSINIThe Cassini spacecraft has provided amazingly detailedmages of a strange and constant hexagonal jetstream nearSaturns North Pole. Wind speeds on this gas giant planetan reach 1,800km per hour.

BILLIONS OF STARSOn average, every observable galaxy in the Universe containshundreds of billions of stars. If each galaxy were a grain ofalt, there would be enough grains to almost ll an Olympicized swimming pool.

SEPTEMBERQUESTION Which surface on Earthhas a similar reectivityto the Moon?


1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9

Harvest Moon.

10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

22 23

Autumn Equinox 03:29 BST.

24 25 26 27 28

29 30 1 2 3 4 5

A N S W E R

T h e

M o o n s a v e r a g e r e

e c t

i v i t y i s 1 2 % , a b o u

t t h e

s a m e a s a w o r n

t a r m a c r o a d .

The full Moon at this time ofyear rises at similar timesover several nights, givingmore light at the traditionaltime of the harvest.

Day has equal length tonight at the autumn equiluxwhich occurs a few daysafter the equinox.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/stargazinghttp://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/maven/main/#.UqY9YtJdWSphttp://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/maven/main/#.UqY9YtJdWSphttp://www.bbc.co.uk/stargazing


22/28

G r e e n

E n e r g y : F r e

d r i k B r o m s , R

o y a l

O b s e r v a

t o r y

G r e e n w

i c h s

A s t r o n o m y

P h o t o g r a p h e r o

f t h e Y e a r .



A N S W E R

D i s p l a y s o c c u r o n

J u p i

t e r ,

S a t u r n , U

r a n u s a n

d N e p

t u n e . W

e a k a u -

r o r a e

h a v e a l s o

b e e n

d e t e c t e

d o n

M a r s a n

d V e n u s .

An Orionid meteor is a small piece ofHalleys Comet vaporizing in Earthsatmosphere.

Comet 2013 A1 Siding Spring has a closeencounter with Mars, possibly passing lessthan 38,000km above its surface. It may bepossible to see this very low down in thesouthwest sky about 1.5 hours after sunset.


29 30 1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

20 21

Peak of Orionid MeteorShower.

22 23 24 25 26

27 28 29 30 31 1 2

OCTOBER

World Space Week

Comet near Mars

NORTHERN LIGHTSThe Sun releases streams of high-energy particles knowns solar wind. Under the right conditions, the solar wind canreate a spectacular aurora display when it interacts with

Earths magnetic eld.

MAGNETIC FIELDThe Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission scheduled to launchhis month will use four identical spacecraft to study thephysics of the Earths magnetic eld in space.

NEUTRON STARA neutron star is formed when a giant star collapses. Aeaspoon of super-dense neutron star matter would weigh

bout ten times more than all the people on Earth.

QUESTION Which other planetsexperience aurora?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/stargazinghttp://www.worldspaceweek.org/http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/solarsystem/solar_system_highlights/aurora_(astronomy)http://mms.gsfc.nasa.gov/about_mms.htmlhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/universe/sights/neutron_starshttp://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/universe/sights/neutron_starshttp://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/universe/sights/neutron_starshttp://mms.gsfc.nasa.gov/about_mms.htmlhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/solarsystem/solar_system_highlights/aurora_(astronomy)http://www.worldspaceweek.org/http://www.bbc.co.uk/stargazing


24/28

R a d

i o G a l a x y

C e n t a u r u s

A : E S O

.




27 28 29 30 31 1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

10 11 12 13 14

The last quarter Moon is closeto brilliant Jupiter. Both canbe seen rising in the east justafter midnight on the 13th.

15 16

17 18 19 20 21 22 23

24 25 26 27 28 29 30

Peak of Leonid Meteor Shower

The air temperature in frontof a meteor particle can riseto more than

4,000 C A N S W E R

B e c a u s e s o m e o f

t h e

l i g h t c o m

i n g

f r o m

t h e m

i s d i s t u r

b e d a s

i t

p a s s e s

t h r o u g

h t h e

E a r

t h s t u r b u l e n

t a t m o s p h e r e .

NOVEMBER

A BLACK HOLE s an object so massive that not even light can escape itsgravity. A black hole 10 times as massive as our Sun wouldhave a radius of just 30km.

ROSETTA MISSIONThis month the Rosetta Mission will attempt to place a landeron the surface of a comet (67/P Churyumov-Gerasimenko).Earlier this year the spacecraft was woken from a 957 dayhibernation in deep space in preparation for the attempt.

LARGEST GALAXYThe elliptical galaxy IC 1101 is the largest currently known,estimated to be 6 million light years across and containing

100 trillion stars. It lies in the constellation of Virgo.

QUESTION Why do stars twinkle?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/stargazinghttp://sci.esa.int/rosetta/http://sci.esa.int/rosetta/http://www.bbc.co.uk/stargazing


26/28

N o r t h

A f r i c a a n

d E u r o p e

f r o m

S u o m

i N P P : N o r m a n

K u r

i n g ,

N A S A G S F C

, u s i n g

d a t a

f r o m

t h e

V I I R S i n s t r u m e n

t a b o a r

d S u o m

i N P P .



QUESTIONYou can use the PoleStar, Polaris, to determinewhich way is north. Whatelse can it tell you aboutyour location?

A N S W E R

T h e

h e i g h t o f

P o l a r i s a b o v e y o u r

h o r i z o n

i n d e g r e e s

i s e q u a

l t o y o u r

l a t i t u d e o n

E a r

t h . I

f y o u

w e r e a t

t h e

N o r

t h P o l e

, P o l a r

i s w o u

l d b e o v e r

h e a d

( h e i g h

t = 9 0 , l a t i t u d e =

9 0 ) a n

d a t

t h e

e q u a

t o r i

t w o u

l d b e o n

t h e h o r

i z o n

( h e i g h

t = 0

, l a t

i t u d e =

0 ) .

COLDEST PLANETAt -224C Uranus is the coldest planet in our SolarSystem. Although Neptune is further away from the Sunt generates 2.61 times more energy than it receives,keeping it slightly warmer.

DAWNNASAs Dawn spacecraft, launched in 2007, is scheduledo reach dwarf planet Ceres in 2015. Ceres is in thesteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

EARTHThe rate that the Earth spins slows by a tiny amount eachyear. Around 900 million years ago, an Earth day was 18hours long and there were 486 of them in a year.

DECEMBER


1 2

See if you can spot the dimplanet Uranus immediately tothe lower left of the Moonsdisc at 00:40 GMT.

3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

December Solstice 23:03GMT.

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

29 30 31 1 2 3 4

The Geminidscome from anasteroid called3200 Phaethon.Most meteorshowers originatefrom comets.

At this time, the Sunsapparent motion southagainst the backgroundstars comes to a halt and itstarts moving north again. InAustralia, the Sun reachesits highest point in the sky atthe December solstice.

Peak of the Geminid Meteor Shower
http://www.bbc.co.uk/stargazinghttp://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/solarsystem/sun_and_planets/uranushttp://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/solarsystem/sun_and_planets/uranushttp://www.bbc.co.uk/stargazing


28/28

STARGAZINGLIVECALENDAR 2014

Documents

Stargazing Live Calendar