APOD: A Zodiacal Skyscape (2012 Feb 23)

Comments and questions about the APOD on the main view screen.
User avatar
APOD Robot
Otto Posterman
Posts: 5345
Joined: Fri Dec 04, 2009 3:27 am
Contact:

APOD: A Zodiacal Skyscape (2012 Feb 23)

Post by APOD Robot » Thu Feb 23, 2012 5:07 am

Image A Zodiacal Skyscape

Explanation: Venus and Jupiter are this month's two brightest planets. Shortly after sunset on February 20, they dominate the sky above the western horizon and this snowy landscape. In clear and transparent skies over Cherry Springs State Park, Pennsylvania, USA, they are also seen immersed in Zodiacal light. The extended, diffuse, triangular glow is sunlight scattered by dust along the plane of the ecliptic. Brighter near the horizon, the Zodiacal glow angles upward, first to Venus and then to Jupiter hugging the ecliptic as they orbit the Sun. Fading even further, the glow stretches toward the lovely Pleiades star cluster near the top of the frame. Following their appearance in this Zodiacal skyscape, the coming days will see Venus and Jupiter sharing the early evening sky with a young crescent Moon. The two bright planets are even headed for a close pairing or conjunction, separated by about 3 degrees on March 13.

<< Previous APODDiscuss Any APOD Next APOD >>
[/b]

peejaytee

Re: APOD: A Zodiacal Skyscape (2012 Feb 23)

Post by peejaytee » Thu Feb 23, 2012 5:21 am

Beautiful photo. Also note a faint streak (satelitte?) passing through Pleides.

chaitanya kulkarni

Re: APOD: A Zodiacal Skyscape (2012 Feb 23)

Post by chaitanya kulkarni » Thu Feb 23, 2012 6:14 am

yes, I have also noted that faint line. what is that?

User avatar
orin stepanek
Plutopian
Posts: 8200
Joined: Wed Jul 27, 2005 3:41 pm
Location: Nebraska

Re: APOD: A Zodiacal Skyscape (2012 Feb 23)

Post by orin stepanek » Thu Feb 23, 2012 1:35 pm

Cool photo Jack! 8-) :D
Orin

Smile today; tomorrow's another day!

User avatar
Chris Peterson
Abominable Snowman
Posts: 18112
Joined: Wed Jan 31, 2007 11:13 pm
Location: Guffey, Colorado, USA
Contact:

Re: APOD: A Zodiacal Skyscape (2012 Feb 23)

Post by Chris Peterson » Thu Feb 23, 2012 2:06 pm

chaitanya kulkarni wrote:yes, I have also noted that faint line. what is that?
Probably a satellite. The trail length looks reasonable for a 25-second exposure.
Chris

*****************************************
Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
https://www.cloudbait.com

Strangerbarry

Re: APOD: A Zodiacal Skyscape (2012 Feb 23)

Post by Strangerbarry » Thu Feb 23, 2012 2:36 pm

Although I doubt you'd see it with the naked eye in the bright light cast by Venus, Uranus is also nearby (down a bit and to the right of Venus)

User avatar
Anthony Barreiro
Turtles all the way down
Posts: 793
Joined: Wed May 11, 2011 7:09 pm
Location: San Francisco, California, Turtle Island

clear sky! (Re: APOD: A Zodiacal Skyscape (2012 Feb 23))

Post by Anthony Barreiro » Thu Feb 23, 2012 5:38 pm

Thanks for this beautiful photo. I've only rarely seen the zodiacal light, and never during twilight. The air must have been exceptionally clear. (Another reminder that even when we are looking out into space, we're still standing on planet Earth.)
May all beings be happy, peaceful, and free.

Craig Willford

Re: APOD: A Zodiacal Skyscape (2012 Feb 23)

Post by Craig Willford » Fri Feb 24, 2012 12:40 am

I would presume that there have been studies of the spectrum reflecting back from the Zodiacal Dust to try to determine the size of the particles and maybe what the particles are made of. It would be fun to read about that. Perhaps a web search is in order. The "Cool Cosmos" hyperlink was interesting reading, but did not answer my question.

Craig Willford

Re: APOD: A Zodiacal Skyscape (2012 Feb 23)

Post by Craig Willford » Fri Feb 24, 2012 12:58 am

An interesting paper addressing the source of Zodiacal Dust, and in part addressing my question about the size and makeup of the dust particles, is found at http://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/0712/0712.2624.pdf Take a look at page 2 thereof, where they discuss some calculations of the size of dust particles if they are silicates and if they are water ice.

By the way, my last post prompted me, as the question to prevent spambots, to explain what the Asterisk is about. I sure didn't understand that one. Rearranging letters to form astronomy related words or phrases is easy by comparison.

jackfusco
Ensign
Posts: 16
Joined: Sun Jan 08, 2012 2:05 pm

Re: APOD: A Zodiacal Skyscape (2012 Feb 23)

Post by jackfusco » Fri Feb 24, 2012 2:07 am

Thank you everyone! I've said online already, but it's really an honor to have a second photo on APOD.That night in Cherry Springs was really incredible and I can't wait to go back. It made the 12 hours in the car well worth it. I wasn't positive if the trail near Pleiades was a meteor or from a satellite. I checked back on a few apps and didn't see anything show up for satellites that would be passing by at the time it was taken.

I think my next trip might actually be out to Spruce Knob in West Virginia. Has anyone here been there before? It's about an hour longer of a drive, but from what I hear it's a good deal better than even Cherry Springs.

TNT
Science Officer
Posts: 289
Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2011 1:57 am
Location: Heart of America

Re: APOD: A Zodiacal Skyscape (2012 Feb 23)

Post by TNT » Fri Feb 24, 2012 4:22 am

Great job, Jack! And congratulations for your second APOD! :ssmile:
The following statement is true.
The above statement is false.

jackfusco
Ensign
Posts: 16
Joined: Sun Jan 08, 2012 2:05 pm

Re: APOD: A Zodiacal Skyscape (2012 Feb 23)

Post by jackfusco » Fri Feb 24, 2012 7:56 pm

TNT wrote:Great job, Jack! And congratulations for your second APOD! :ssmile:
Thank you! Needless to say, I was very excited.

biljofila

Re: APOD: A Zodiacal Skyscape (2012 Feb 23)

Post by biljofila » Fri Feb 24, 2012 8:19 pm

Hi I am interested if anyone posted picture of Mercur that is now possible to be seen in the east Europe. Tnx!

User avatar
bystander
Apathetic Retiree
Posts: 21571
Joined: Mon Aug 28, 2006 2:06 pm
Location: Oklahoma

Re: APOD: A Zodiacal Skyscape (2012 Feb 23)

Post by bystander » Fri Feb 24, 2012 8:51 pm

biljofila wrote:Hi I am interested if anyone posted picture of Mercur that is now possible to be seen in the east Europe. Tnx!
http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sci ... llery_id=2
Know the quiet place within your heart and touch the rainbow of possibility; be
alive to the gentle breeze of communication, and please stop being such a jerk.
— Garrison Keillor

User avatar
DavidLeodis
Perceptatron
Posts: 1169
Joined: Mon May 01, 2006 1:00 pm

Re: APOD: A Zodiacal Skyscape (2012 Feb 23)

Post by DavidLeodis » Fri Feb 24, 2012 11:29 pm

I've noticed that in the explanation it uses Pleides. I have also very occasionally seen that spelling elsewhere. I wonder therefore if Pleides is an accepted alternative spelling of the much more commonly used Pleiades. :?:

User avatar
geckzilla
Ocular Digitator
Posts: 9180
Joined: Wed Sep 12, 2007 12:42 pm
Location: Modesto, CA
Contact:

Re: APOD: A Zodiacal Skyscape (2012 Feb 23)

Post by geckzilla » Sat Feb 25, 2012 1:55 am

I think it's just a common typographical error.
Just call me "geck" because "zilla" is like a last name.

User avatar
DavidLeodis
Perceptatron
Posts: 1169
Joined: Mon May 01, 2006 1:00 pm

Re: APOD: A Zodiacal Skyscape (2012 Feb 23)

Post by DavidLeodis » Sat Feb 25, 2012 10:40 am

Cheers geckzilla. I thought that was what it might be but I did wonder. Pleiades is not an easy name to spell. :)

jackfusco
Ensign
Posts: 16
Joined: Sun Jan 08, 2012 2:05 pm

Re: APOD: A Zodiacal Skyscape (2012 Feb 23)

Post by jackfusco » Sat Feb 25, 2012 3:09 pm

I've actually seen it spelled Pleiades more often than Pleiads. For what it's worth, the spell check on Chrome marks Pleiads incorrect.

User avatar
Chris Peterson
Abominable Snowman
Posts: 18112
Joined: Wed Jan 31, 2007 11:13 pm
Location: Guffey, Colorado, USA
Contact:

Re: APOD: A Zodiacal Skyscape (2012 Feb 23)

Post by Chris Peterson » Sat Feb 25, 2012 3:21 pm

jackfusco wrote:I've actually seen it spelled Pleiades more often than Pleiads. For what it's worth, the spell check on Chrome marks Pleiads incorrect.
The question was with respect to the spelling "Pleides", which is simply incorrect.

The asterism is named for the mythical seven sisters, the Pleiades. Singularly, they are called "Pleiads", so that spelling is correct so long as you are referring to the individual sisters, or to individual stars, and not to the asterism itself.
Chris

*****************************************
Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
https://www.cloudbait.com

User avatar
neufer
Vacationer at Tralfamadore
Posts: 18805
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 1:57 pm
Location: Alexandria, Virginia

Re: APOD: A Zodiacal Skyscape (2012 Feb 23)

Post by neufer » Sat Feb 25, 2012 4:24 pm

Click to play embedded YouTube video.
Chris Peterson wrote:
jackfusco wrote:
I've actually seen it spelled Pleiades more often than Pleiads. For what it's worth, the spell check on Chrome marks Pleiads incorrect.
The question was with respect to the spelling "Pleides", which is simply incorrect.

The asterism is named for the mythical seven sisters, the Pleiades. Singularly, they are called "Pleiads", so that spelling is correct so long as you are referring to the individual sisters, or to individual stars, and not to the asterism itself.
Art Neuendorffer

User avatar
Beyond
500 Gigaderps
Posts: 6889
Joined: Tue Aug 04, 2009 11:09 am
Location: BEYONDER LAND

Re: APOD: A Zodiacal Skyscape (2012 Feb 23)

Post by Beyond » Sat Feb 25, 2012 4:45 pm

Now wait a minute, a single star from the Pleiades is called a Pleiads? That seems to be plural to me. You sure a single star is not called a Pleiad? :?
To find the Truth, you must go Beyond.

User avatar
Chris Peterson
Abominable Snowman
Posts: 18112
Joined: Wed Jan 31, 2007 11:13 pm
Location: Guffey, Colorado, USA
Contact:

Re: APOD: A Zodiacal Skyscape (2012 Feb 23)

Post by Chris Peterson » Sat Feb 25, 2012 4:54 pm

Beyond wrote:Now wait a minute, a single star from the Pleiades is called a Pleiads? That seems to be plural to me. You sure a single star is not called a Pleiad? :?
Singularly they are called Pleiads. One is called a Pleiad. So the spelling "Pleiads" is correct for the case I gave- referring to the stars (plural).
Chris

*****************************************
Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
https://www.cloudbait.com

User avatar
neufer
Vacationer at Tralfamadore
Posts: 18805
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 1:57 pm
Location: Alexandria, Virginia

Re: APOD: A Zodiacal Skyscape (2012 Feb 23)

Post by neufer » Sat Feb 25, 2012 5:03 pm

Beyond wrote:
Now wait a minute, a single star from the Pleiades is called a Pleiads?
That seems to be plural to me. You sure a single star is not called a Pleiad? :?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleiades_in_folklore_and_literature wrote: <<The Lakota Tribe of North America had a legend that linked the origin of the Pleiades to Devils Tower. According to the Seris (of northwestern Mexico), these stars are seven women who are giving birth. The constellation is known as Cmaamc, which is apparently an archaic plural of the noun cmaam "woman".

In a Blackfoot legend, the Pleiades are orphans ("Lost Boys") :arrow:
that were not cared for by the people, so they became stars. Sun Man is angered by the mistreatment of the children and punishes the people with a drought, causing the buffalo to disappear, until the dogs, the only friends of the orphans, intercede on behalf of the people. Because the buffalo are not available while the Lost Boys are in the skies, the cosmical setting of the Pleaides was an assembly signal for Blackfoot hunter to travel to their hunting grounds to conduct the large-scale hunts, culminating in slaughters at buffalo jumps.

The Hopi built their underground kivas for multiple utilitarian uses, the most important of which was a ceremonial meeting place. Access was through a ladder in a small hole in the roof of the kiva, and during certain ceremonies, the night passage of the Pleiades over the center of the opening was a direct signal to begin a certain ceremony. Most of the cultures used the angle of the Pleiades in the night sky as a time telling device.

A Cheyenne myth "The Girl Who Married a Dog", states that the group of seven stars known as the Pleiades originated from seven puppies which a Cheyenne chief's daughter gave birth to after mysteriously being visited by a dog in human form to whom she vowed "Wherever you go, I go".

The Shasta people tell a story of the children of racoon killed by coyote avenging their father's death and then rising into the sky to form the Pleiades. The smallest star in the cluster is said to be coyote's youngest who aided the young racoons.

The Onondaga people's version of the story has lazy children who prefer to dance over their daily chores ingnoring the warnings of the Bright Shining Old Man. The Monache people tell of 6 wives who loved onions more than their husbands and now live happily in "sky country". The early Monte Alto Culture and others in Guatemala such as Ujuxte and Takalik Abaj, made its early observatories, using the Pleiades and Eta Draconis as reference, they were called the seven sisters, and thought to be their original land. In the ancient Andes, the Pleiades were associated with abundance, because they return to the Southern Hemisphere sky each year at harvest-time. In Quechua they are called collca' (storehouse). The ancient Aztecs of Mexico and Central America based their calendar upon the Pleiades. Their year began when priests first remarked the asterism heliacal rising in the east, immediately before the sun's dawn light obliterated the view of the stars. Aztecs called the Pleiades Tianquiztli (meaning "marketplace").>>
Art Neuendorffer

User avatar
Beyond
500 Gigaderps
Posts: 6889
Joined: Tue Aug 04, 2009 11:09 am
Location: BEYONDER LAND

Re: APOD: A Zodiacal Skyscape (2012 Feb 23)

Post by Beyond » Sat Feb 25, 2012 6:39 pm

Neufer, i would say that you have stretched Art about as far as Art can go, in the Asterisk*. :yes:
To find the Truth, you must go Beyond.

User avatar
Beyond
500 Gigaderps
Posts: 6889
Joined: Tue Aug 04, 2009 11:09 am
Location: BEYONDER LAND

Re: APOD: A Zodiacal Skyscape (2012 Feb 23)

Post by Beyond » Sat Feb 25, 2012 6:50 pm

Chris Peterson wrote:
Beyond wrote:Now wait a minute, a single star from the Pleiades is called a Pleiads? That seems to be plural to me. You sure a single star is not called a Pleiad? :?
Singularly they are called Pleiads. One is called a Pleiad. So the spelling "Pleiads" is correct for the case I gave- referring to the stars (plural).
Ok, lets see if i got this right. Pleiades is the whole thing, of which the seven sisters are part. Each sister is a Pleiad. If you are referring to more than one sister at a time, then they are called Pleiads, because you are referring to more than one one. I-Pleiad + 1-Pleiad = 2-Pleiads.
Ok, it wasn't the math, it was the english.
To find the Truth, you must go Beyond.

Post Reply