“Keep Looking up”, the famous saying by astronomer Jack Horkheimer, the notorious “Star Hustler” has unfortunately died. The “Star Hustler” programme which when Googled, brought up some more than nefarious websites had to be changed in the later 90’s due to sensitivity with the word “hustler”. With his famous delivery and style, Mr. Horkheimer inspired us to be astronomers muck like our Canadian celeb astronomers Terence Dickinson and David Levy or your favourite sci-fi character. So join us in remembering Mr. Horkheimer and “Keep Looking up”…Thanks Jack, for your inspiration.
Jack Horkheimer, who called himself a science dramatist, is credited with bringing wider audiences to planetarium shows. 2006 Associated Press file
August is well known as the month where the evenings start getting a little longer, a little cooler (one hopes!) in the evenings and a time to enjoy that one last month at the cottage or familiar events such as the CNE as we start the slow transition from the summer to fall. Of course, and unbeknown to many, there is a regular visitor in August. The Perseid Meteor Shower!
They are caused by the interaction of Earth’s atmosphere and the trail of debris caused by Comet Swift-Tuttle. Every year in August, Earth passes through an area of debris long left by the comet. Most of this material or “dust” is about a thousand years old. For more information on the meteor shower, check out what Wikipedia has to say.
When going out to observe the Perseids, you want to look towards the “radiant” or where the meteors “appear to come from”. That radiant is in the direction of the constellation Perseus, hence the name of the meteor shower. If you are unfamiliar with the night sky, a planisphere or “star wheel” is very helpful to guide you to Perseus which is rising in the Northeast just east, or below the familiar constellation, Cassiopeia. Planispheres are inexpensive star charts that cost around fifteen to twenty dollars. We offer such a product such as the Firefly Planisphere, a necessary tool to learn the night sky.
The best time to view the meteor shower is after midnight local time. Perseus will be higher in the sky towards 1:00am. Optical aid is not required to view the meteor shower, but if you do have a pair of 50mm or larger binoculars, you also might want to look for the Perseus Double Cluster (NGC 884 and NGC 869) just below Cassiopeia. A wonderful sight in any binocular or small telescope!
Looks like the weather for this year’s NYAA Starfest is going to be perfect. Sure, this is the 15 day forecast and anything could happen but so far so good. Marc Fitkin, one of our Astronomy Sales Reps, will be doing a talk at 4pm on August 12th about “On the Right Foot: Starting out in Backyard Astronomy”. Marc has been heading up our Cosmic Connections Observing Sessions so he knows all about Backyard astronomy — both in rural and urban locations. Come out to one of our sessions!
Friends of EfstonScience enjoy sharing the night sky!
This is the 15th year EfstonScience has been having group observing nights where anyone can join in on the fun!
Make sure you’re on the mailing list to receive the latest updates and when we will be going up the our observing site at the Palgrave Conservation Area to experience all the celestial wonders since we’re just outside of the brightness of major city lights!
