Born in June? Here’s your birthstone

Photo via Valentyn Volkov/Shutterstock

Pearl

Unlike most gemstones that are found within the Earth, pearls have an organic origin. They are created inside the shells of certain species of oysters and clams. Some pearls are found naturally in mollusks that inhabit the sea or freshwater settings such as rivers. However, many pearls today are cultured-raised in oyster farms that sustain a thriving pearl industry. Pearls are made mostly of aragonite, a relatively soft carbonate mineral (CaCO3) that also makes up the shells of mollusks.

A pearl is created when a very small fragment of rock, a sand grain, or a parasite enters the mollusk’s shell. It irritates the oyster or clam, who responds by coating the foreign material with layer upon layer of shell material. Pearls formed on the inside of the shell are usually irregular in shape and have little commercial value. However, those formed within the tissue of the mollusk are either spherical or pear-shaped, and are highly sought out for jewelry.

Pearls possess a uniquely delicate translucence and luster that place them among the most highly valued of gemstones. The color of the pearl depends very much on the species of mollusk that produced it, and its environment. White is perhaps the best-known and most common color. However, pearls also come in delicate shades of black, cream, gray, blue, yellow, lavender, green, and mauve. Black pearls can be found in the Gulf of Mexico and waters off some islands in the Pacific Ocean. The Persian Gulf and Sri Lanka are well-known for exquisite cream-colored pearls called Orientals. Other localities for natural seawater pearls include the waters off the Celebes in Indonesia, the Gulf of California, and the Pacific coast of Mexico. The Mississippi River and forest streams of Bavaria, Germany, contain pearl-producing freshwater mussels.

Japan is famous for its cultured pearls. Everyone familiar with jewelry has heard of Mikimoto pearls, named after the creator of the industry, Kokichi Mikimoto. Cultured pearls are bred in large oyster beds in Japanese waters. An “irritant,” such as a tiny fragment of mother-of-pearl, is introduced into the fleshy part of two- to three-year-old oysters. The oysters are then grown in mesh bags submerged beneath the water and regularly fed for as long as seven to nine years before being harvested to remove their pearls. Cultured pearl industries are also carried out in Australia and equatorial islands of the Pacific.

The largest pearl in the world is believed to be about three inches long and two inches across, weighing one-third of a pound. Called the Pearl of Asia, it was a gift from Shah Jahan of India to his favorite wife, Mumtaz, for whom he also built the Taj Mahal.

La Peregrina (the Wanderer) is considered by many experts to be the most beautiful pearl. It was said to be originally found by a slave in Panama in the 1500s, who gave it up in return for his freedom. In 1570, the conquistador ruler of the area sent the pearl to King Philip II of Spain. This pear-shaped white pearl, one and a half inches in length, hangs from a platinum mount studded with diamonds. The pearl was passed to Mary I of England, then to Prince Louis Napoleon of France. He sold it to the British Marquis of Abercorn, whose family kept the pearl until 1969, when they offered it for sale at Sotheby’s. Actor Richard Burton bought it for his wife, Elizabeth Taylor.

Pearls, according to South Asian mythology, were dewdrops from heaven that fell into the sea. They were caught by shellfish under the first rays of the rising sun, during a period of full moon. In India, warriors encrusted their swords with pearls to symbolize the tears and sorrow that a sword brings.

Pearls were also widely used as medicine in Europe until the 17th century. Arabs and Persians believed it was a cure for various kinds of diseases, including insanity. Pearls have also been used as medicine as early as 2000 BC in China, where they were believed to represent wealth, power and longevity. Even to this day, lowest-grade pearls are ground for use as medicine in Asia.

Moonstone. Image via Wikipedia

Moonstone
June’s second birthstone is the moonstone. Moonstones are believed to be named for the bluish white spots within them, that when held up to light project a silvery play of color very much like moonlight. When the stone is moved back and forth, the brilliant silvery rays appear to move about, like moonbeams playing over water.

This gemstone belongs to the family of minerals called feldspars, an important group of silicate minerals commonly formed in rocks. About half the Earth’s crust is composed of feldspar. This mineral occurs in many igneous and metamorphic rocks, and also constitutes a large percentage of soils and marine clays.

Rare geologic conditions produce gem varieties of feldspar such as moonstone, labradorite, amazonite, and sunstone. They appear as large clean mineral grains, found in pegmatites (coarse-grained igneous rock) and ancient deep crustal rocks. Feldspars of gem quality are aluminosilicates (minerals containing aluminum, silicon and oxygen), that are mixed with sodium and potassium. The best moonstones are from Sri Lanka. They are also found in the Alps, Madagascar, Myanmar (Burma), and India.

The ancient Roman natural historian, Pliny, said that the moonstone changed in appearance with the phases of the moon, a belief that persisted until the sixteenth century. The ancient Romans also believed that the image of Diana, goddess of the moon, was enclosed within the stone. Moonstones were believed to have the power to bring victory, health, and wisdom to those who wore it.

In India, the moonstone is considered a sacred stone and often displayed on a yellow cloth – yellow being considered a sacred color. The stone is believed to bring good fortune, brought on by a spirit that lives within the stone.

Alexandrite. Image via Wikipedia.

Alexandrite
June’s third birthstone is the alexandrite. Alexandrite possesses an enchanting chameleon-like personality. In daylight, it appears as a beautiful green, sometimes with a bluish cast or a brownish tint. However, under artificial lighting, the stone turns reddish-violet or violet.

Alexandrite belongs to the chrysoberyl family, a mineral called beryllium aluminum oxide in chemistry jargon, that contains the elements beryllium, aluminum and oxygen (BeAl2O4). It is a hard mineral, only surpassed in hardness by diamonds and corundum (sapphires and rubies). The unusual colors in alexandrite are attributed to the presence of chromium in the mineral. Chrysoberyl is found to crystallize in pegmatites (very coarse-grained igneous rock, crystallized from magma) rich in beryllium. They are also found in alluvial deposits – weathered pegmatites, containing the gemstones, that are carried by rivers and streams.

Alexandrite is an uncommon stone, and therefore very expensive. Sri Lanka is the main source of alexandrite today, and the stones have also been found in Brazil, Madagascar, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, and Myanmar (Burma). Synthetic alexandrite, resembling a reddish-hued amethyst with a tinge of green, has been manufactured but the color change seen from natural to artificial lighting cannot be reproduced. Such stones have met with only marginal market success in the United States.

The stone is named after Prince Alexander of Russia, who was to become Czar Alexander II in 1855. Discovered in 1839 on the prince’s birthday, alexandrite was found in an emerald mine in the Ural Mountains of Russia.

Because it is a relatively recent discovery, there has been little time for myth and superstition to build around this unusual stone. In Russia, the stone was also popular because it reflected the Russian national colors, green and red, and was believed to bring good luck.

Enjoying EarthSky so far? Sign up for our free daily newsletter today!

Find out about the birthstones for the other months of the year.
January birthstone
February birthstone
March birthstone
April birthstone
May birthstone
July birthstone
August birthstone
September birthstone
October birthstone
November birthstone
December birthstone

Bottom line: The month of June has 3 birthstones: Pearl, moonstone, and Alexandrite.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2AxIRJZ

Photo via Valentyn Volkov/Shutterstock

Pearl

Unlike most gemstones that are found within the Earth, pearls have an organic origin. They are created inside the shells of certain species of oysters and clams. Some pearls are found naturally in mollusks that inhabit the sea or freshwater settings such as rivers. However, many pearls today are cultured-raised in oyster farms that sustain a thriving pearl industry. Pearls are made mostly of aragonite, a relatively soft carbonate mineral (CaCO3) that also makes up the shells of mollusks.

A pearl is created when a very small fragment of rock, a sand grain, or a parasite enters the mollusk’s shell. It irritates the oyster or clam, who responds by coating the foreign material with layer upon layer of shell material. Pearls formed on the inside of the shell are usually irregular in shape and have little commercial value. However, those formed within the tissue of the mollusk are either spherical or pear-shaped, and are highly sought out for jewelry.

Pearls possess a uniquely delicate translucence and luster that place them among the most highly valued of gemstones. The color of the pearl depends very much on the species of mollusk that produced it, and its environment. White is perhaps the best-known and most common color. However, pearls also come in delicate shades of black, cream, gray, blue, yellow, lavender, green, and mauve. Black pearls can be found in the Gulf of Mexico and waters off some islands in the Pacific Ocean. The Persian Gulf and Sri Lanka are well-known for exquisite cream-colored pearls called Orientals. Other localities for natural seawater pearls include the waters off the Celebes in Indonesia, the Gulf of California, and the Pacific coast of Mexico. The Mississippi River and forest streams of Bavaria, Germany, contain pearl-producing freshwater mussels.

Japan is famous for its cultured pearls. Everyone familiar with jewelry has heard of Mikimoto pearls, named after the creator of the industry, Kokichi Mikimoto. Cultured pearls are bred in large oyster beds in Japanese waters. An “irritant,” such as a tiny fragment of mother-of-pearl, is introduced into the fleshy part of two- to three-year-old oysters. The oysters are then grown in mesh bags submerged beneath the water and regularly fed for as long as seven to nine years before being harvested to remove their pearls. Cultured pearl industries are also carried out in Australia and equatorial islands of the Pacific.

The largest pearl in the world is believed to be about three inches long and two inches across, weighing one-third of a pound. Called the Pearl of Asia, it was a gift from Shah Jahan of India to his favorite wife, Mumtaz, for whom he also built the Taj Mahal.

La Peregrina (the Wanderer) is considered by many experts to be the most beautiful pearl. It was said to be originally found by a slave in Panama in the 1500s, who gave it up in return for his freedom. In 1570, the conquistador ruler of the area sent the pearl to King Philip II of Spain. This pear-shaped white pearl, one and a half inches in length, hangs from a platinum mount studded with diamonds. The pearl was passed to Mary I of England, then to Prince Louis Napoleon of France. He sold it to the British Marquis of Abercorn, whose family kept the pearl until 1969, when they offered it for sale at Sotheby’s. Actor Richard Burton bought it for his wife, Elizabeth Taylor.

Pearls, according to South Asian mythology, were dewdrops from heaven that fell into the sea. They were caught by shellfish under the first rays of the rising sun, during a period of full moon. In India, warriors encrusted their swords with pearls to symbolize the tears and sorrow that a sword brings.

Pearls were also widely used as medicine in Europe until the 17th century. Arabs and Persians believed it was a cure for various kinds of diseases, including insanity. Pearls have also been used as medicine as early as 2000 BC in China, where they were believed to represent wealth, power and longevity. Even to this day, lowest-grade pearls are ground for use as medicine in Asia.

Moonstone. Image via Wikipedia

Moonstone
June’s second birthstone is the moonstone. Moonstones are believed to be named for the bluish white spots within them, that when held up to light project a silvery play of color very much like moonlight. When the stone is moved back and forth, the brilliant silvery rays appear to move about, like moonbeams playing over water.

This gemstone belongs to the family of minerals called feldspars, an important group of silicate minerals commonly formed in rocks. About half the Earth’s crust is composed of feldspar. This mineral occurs in many igneous and metamorphic rocks, and also constitutes a large percentage of soils and marine clays.

Rare geologic conditions produce gem varieties of feldspar such as moonstone, labradorite, amazonite, and sunstone. They appear as large clean mineral grains, found in pegmatites (coarse-grained igneous rock) and ancient deep crustal rocks. Feldspars of gem quality are aluminosilicates (minerals containing aluminum, silicon and oxygen), that are mixed with sodium and potassium. The best moonstones are from Sri Lanka. They are also found in the Alps, Madagascar, Myanmar (Burma), and India.

The ancient Roman natural historian, Pliny, said that the moonstone changed in appearance with the phases of the moon, a belief that persisted until the sixteenth century. The ancient Romans also believed that the image of Diana, goddess of the moon, was enclosed within the stone. Moonstones were believed to have the power to bring victory, health, and wisdom to those who wore it.

In India, the moonstone is considered a sacred stone and often displayed on a yellow cloth – yellow being considered a sacred color. The stone is believed to bring good fortune, brought on by a spirit that lives within the stone.

Alexandrite. Image via Wikipedia.

Alexandrite
June’s third birthstone is the alexandrite. Alexandrite possesses an enchanting chameleon-like personality. In daylight, it appears as a beautiful green, sometimes with a bluish cast or a brownish tint. However, under artificial lighting, the stone turns reddish-violet or violet.

Alexandrite belongs to the chrysoberyl family, a mineral called beryllium aluminum oxide in chemistry jargon, that contains the elements beryllium, aluminum and oxygen (BeAl2O4). It is a hard mineral, only surpassed in hardness by diamonds and corundum (sapphires and rubies). The unusual colors in alexandrite are attributed to the presence of chromium in the mineral. Chrysoberyl is found to crystallize in pegmatites (very coarse-grained igneous rock, crystallized from magma) rich in beryllium. They are also found in alluvial deposits – weathered pegmatites, containing the gemstones, that are carried by rivers and streams.

Alexandrite is an uncommon stone, and therefore very expensive. Sri Lanka is the main source of alexandrite today, and the stones have also been found in Brazil, Madagascar, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, and Myanmar (Burma). Synthetic alexandrite, resembling a reddish-hued amethyst with a tinge of green, has been manufactured but the color change seen from natural to artificial lighting cannot be reproduced. Such stones have met with only marginal market success in the United States.

The stone is named after Prince Alexander of Russia, who was to become Czar Alexander II in 1855. Discovered in 1839 on the prince’s birthday, alexandrite was found in an emerald mine in the Ural Mountains of Russia.

Because it is a relatively recent discovery, there has been little time for myth and superstition to build around this unusual stone. In Russia, the stone was also popular because it reflected the Russian national colors, green and red, and was believed to bring good luck.

Enjoying EarthSky so far? Sign up for our free daily newsletter today!

Find out about the birthstones for the other months of the year.
January birthstone
February birthstone
March birthstone
April birthstone
May birthstone
July birthstone
August birthstone
September birthstone
October birthstone
November birthstone
December birthstone

Bottom line: The month of June has 3 birthstones: Pearl, moonstone, and Alexandrite.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2AxIRJZ

How often are there 3 eclipses in a month?

People watch a partial eclipse in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on March 20, 2015. Image via NASA/ Robin Cordiner.

In 2020, we’ll have three eclipses in one lunar month – the period of time between successive new moons or full moons – in June and July 2020. This time period during which eclipses are possible is also called an eclipse season. We won’t have three eclipses in one eclipse season again until the year 2029.

The year 2020:

June 5, 2020: Penumbral lunar eclipse
June 21, 2020: Annular solar eclipse
July 5, 2020: Penumbral lunar eclipse

The last time we actually had three eclipses in the span of one lunar month (the time period between successive new moons or full moons) was in the year 2018. It started with the Friday the 13th supermoon solar eclipse on July 13, 2018, and concluded with the solar eclipse of August 11, 2018:

July 13, 2018: Partial solar eclipse
July 27, 2018: Total lunar eclipse
August 11, 2018: Partial solar eclipse

So how often do we get three eclipses in one month? Let the investigation begin …

Partial solar eclipse photo by Fred Espenak.

Three eclipses in one calendar month. Every calendar year has at least four eclipses – two solar and two lunar. More rarely, we have five, six or even seven eclipses in a single year. But four eclipses per calendar year is the most common number. A solar eclipse always comes within approximately two weeks of a lunar eclipse, and usually in a single pair (one solar and one lunar). Then, generally, another pair of eclipses (one solar and one lunar) comes some six months later.

According to NASA eclipse expert Fred Espenak, three eclipses fall in the same calendar month only 12 times during the five-century span from 1801-2300. Six times there are two solar eclipses and one lunar eclipse in one calendar month. Six times there are two penumbral lunar eclipses and a total (or annular) solar eclipse in one calendar month.

The last time we had three eclipses in a calendar month was in July 2000, when two partial solar eclipses bracketed a total lunar eclipse:

July 1, 2000: Partial solar eclipse
July 16, 2000: Total lunar eclipse
July 31, 2000: Partial solar eclipse

(We wish to state parenthetically that these three eclipses happened exactly one Saros period – or exactly 223 lunar months – before the eclipses of July 13, 27, and August 11, 2018.)

Previous to July 2000, the last time three eclipses took place in one calendar month was in March 1904, when two penumbral lunar eclipses bracketed an annular solar eclipse.

March 2, 1904: Penumbral lunar eclipse
March 17, 1904: Annular solar eclipse
March 31, 1904: Penumbral lunar eclipse

After July 2000, three eclipses will next occur within one calendar month in December 2206:

December 01, 2206: Partial solar eclipse
December 16, 2206: Total lunar eclipse
December 30, 2206: Partial solar eclipse

Total lunar eclipse photo by Fred Espenak.

Three eclipses in one lunar month. Some might argue that the calendar month is an artificial constraint. It might be more appropriate to use a lunar (or synodic) month, which is a natural unit of time. A lunar month refers to the time period between successive new moons, or successive full moons.

Although it is rare for three eclipses to happen in the same calendar month, it’s not that uncommon for three eclipses to occur in one lunar month. In fact, from the years 2000-2050, the three-eclipses-in-one-month phenomenon takes place a total of fourteen times. Six times, the lunar month features two solar eclipses and one lunar eclipse (2000, 2011, 2018, 2029, 2036 and 2047). Eight times, the lunar month presents two lunar eclipses and one solar eclipse (2002, 2009, 2013, 2020, 2027, 2031, 2038 and 2049).

Lunar month of 3 eclipses means 7 eclipses in one year’s time

Three eclipses last took place in one lunar month in the year 2018:

July 13, 2018: Partial solar eclipse
July 27, 2018: Total lunar eclipse
August 11, 2018: Partial solar eclipse

Previous to 2018, three eclipses last took place in one lunar month in 2013:

April 25, 2013: Partial lunar eclipse
May 10, 2013: Annular solar eclipse
May 25, 2013: Penumbral lunar eclipse

After 2018, three eclipses in one lunar month will next occur in 2020:

June 5, 2020: Penumbral lunar eclipse
June 21, 2020: Annular solar eclipse
July 05, 2020: Penumbral lunar eclipse

Sources:
Catalog of lunar eclipses 2001-2100

Catalog of solar eclipses 2001-2100

Bottom line: In one calendar month, three eclipses are rare. But in one lunar month, three eclipses are more common. From 2000-2050, it happens 14 times.

Is it possible to have only two full moons in a single season?

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/1hXqx7r

People watch a partial eclipse in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on March 20, 2015. Image via NASA/ Robin Cordiner.

In 2020, we’ll have three eclipses in one lunar month – the period of time between successive new moons or full moons – in June and July 2020. This time period during which eclipses are possible is also called an eclipse season. We won’t have three eclipses in one eclipse season again until the year 2029.

The year 2020:

June 5, 2020: Penumbral lunar eclipse
June 21, 2020: Annular solar eclipse
July 5, 2020: Penumbral lunar eclipse

The last time we actually had three eclipses in the span of one lunar month (the time period between successive new moons or full moons) was in the year 2018. It started with the Friday the 13th supermoon solar eclipse on July 13, 2018, and concluded with the solar eclipse of August 11, 2018:

July 13, 2018: Partial solar eclipse
July 27, 2018: Total lunar eclipse
August 11, 2018: Partial solar eclipse

So how often do we get three eclipses in one month? Let the investigation begin …

Partial solar eclipse photo by Fred Espenak.

Three eclipses in one calendar month. Every calendar year has at least four eclipses – two solar and two lunar. More rarely, we have five, six or even seven eclipses in a single year. But four eclipses per calendar year is the most common number. A solar eclipse always comes within approximately two weeks of a lunar eclipse, and usually in a single pair (one solar and one lunar). Then, generally, another pair of eclipses (one solar and one lunar) comes some six months later.

According to NASA eclipse expert Fred Espenak, three eclipses fall in the same calendar month only 12 times during the five-century span from 1801-2300. Six times there are two solar eclipses and one lunar eclipse in one calendar month. Six times there are two penumbral lunar eclipses and a total (or annular) solar eclipse in one calendar month.

The last time we had three eclipses in a calendar month was in July 2000, when two partial solar eclipses bracketed a total lunar eclipse:

July 1, 2000: Partial solar eclipse
July 16, 2000: Total lunar eclipse
July 31, 2000: Partial solar eclipse

(We wish to state parenthetically that these three eclipses happened exactly one Saros period – or exactly 223 lunar months – before the eclipses of July 13, 27, and August 11, 2018.)

Previous to July 2000, the last time three eclipses took place in one calendar month was in March 1904, when two penumbral lunar eclipses bracketed an annular solar eclipse.

March 2, 1904: Penumbral lunar eclipse
March 17, 1904: Annular solar eclipse
March 31, 1904: Penumbral lunar eclipse

After July 2000, three eclipses will next occur within one calendar month in December 2206:

December 01, 2206: Partial solar eclipse
December 16, 2206: Total lunar eclipse
December 30, 2206: Partial solar eclipse

Total lunar eclipse photo by Fred Espenak.

Three eclipses in one lunar month. Some might argue that the calendar month is an artificial constraint. It might be more appropriate to use a lunar (or synodic) month, which is a natural unit of time. A lunar month refers to the time period between successive new moons, or successive full moons.

Although it is rare for three eclipses to happen in the same calendar month, it’s not that uncommon for three eclipses to occur in one lunar month. In fact, from the years 2000-2050, the three-eclipses-in-one-month phenomenon takes place a total of fourteen times. Six times, the lunar month features two solar eclipses and one lunar eclipse (2000, 2011, 2018, 2029, 2036 and 2047). Eight times, the lunar month presents two lunar eclipses and one solar eclipse (2002, 2009, 2013, 2020, 2027, 2031, 2038 and 2049).

Lunar month of 3 eclipses means 7 eclipses in one year’s time

Three eclipses last took place in one lunar month in the year 2018:

July 13, 2018: Partial solar eclipse
July 27, 2018: Total lunar eclipse
August 11, 2018: Partial solar eclipse

Previous to 2018, three eclipses last took place in one lunar month in 2013:

April 25, 2013: Partial lunar eclipse
May 10, 2013: Annular solar eclipse
May 25, 2013: Penumbral lunar eclipse

After 2018, three eclipses in one lunar month will next occur in 2020:

June 5, 2020: Penumbral lunar eclipse
June 21, 2020: Annular solar eclipse
July 05, 2020: Penumbral lunar eclipse

Sources:
Catalog of lunar eclipses 2001-2100

Catalog of solar eclipses 2001-2100

Bottom line: In one calendar month, three eclipses are rare. But in one lunar month, three eclipses are more common. From 2000-2050, it happens 14 times.

Is it possible to have only two full moons in a single season?

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/1hXqx7r

This month’s full moon comes on June 5

A full moon is opposite the sun. We see all of its dayside. Illustration via Bob King.

The moon appears full to the eye for two to three nights. However, astronomers regard the moon as full at a precisely defined instant, when the moon is exactly 180 degrees opposite the sun in ecliptic longitude. This month, the instant of full moon happens Friday, June 5, at 20:13 UTC (3:13 p.m. CDT). Translate UTC to your time.

It’s that feature of a full moon – the fact that it’s opposite the sun as viewed from Earth – that causes a full moon to look full.

A kiss under the full moon of November 3, 2017, via our friend Steven Sweet of Lunar 101-Moon Book. He was at Port Credit, a neighborhood in the city of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada … at the mouth of the Credit River on the north shore of Lake Ontario.

Why does a full moon look full? Remember that half the moon is always illuminated by the sun. That lighted half is the moon’s day side. In order to appear full to us on Earth, we have to see the entire day side of the moon. That happens only when the moon is opposite the sun in our sky. So a full moon looks full because it’s opposite the sun.

That’s also why every full moon rises in the east around sunset – climbs highest up for the night midway between sunset and sunrise (around midnight) – and sets around sunrise. Stand outside tonight around sunset and look for the moon. Sun going down while the moon is coming up? That’s a full moon, or close to one.

Just be aware that the moon will look full for at least a couple of night around the instant of full moon.

Read more: What are the full moon names?

Often, you’ll find two different dates on calendars for the date of full moon. That’s because some calendars list moon phases in Coordinated Universal Time, also called Universal Time Coordinated (UTC). And other calendars list moon phases in local time, a clock time of a specific place, usually the place that made and distributed the calendars. Translate UTC to your local time.

Want to know the instant of full moon in your part of the world, as well as the moonrise and moonset times? Visit Sunrise Sunset Calendars, remembering to check the moon phases plus moonrise and moonset boxes.

If a full moon is opposite the sun, why doesn’t Earth’s shadow fall on the moon at every full moon? The reason is that the moon’s orbit is tilted by 5.1 degrees with respect to Earth’s orbit around the sun. At every full moon, Earth’s shadow sweeps near the moon. But, in most months, there’s no eclipse.

A full moon normally passes above or below Earth’s shadow, with no eclipse. Illustration by Bob King.

As the moon orbits Earth, it changes phase in an orderly way. Follow these links to understand the various phases of the moon.

New moon
Waxing crescent moon
First quarter moon
Waxing gibbous moon
Full moon
Waning gibbous moon
Last quarter moon
Waning crescent moon

Bottom line: A full moon looks full because it’s opposite the sun. Its lighted face is turned entirely in Earth’s direction. The next full moon is Friday, June 5, at 20:13 UTC.

Read more: Top 4 keys to understanding moon phases

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2CEamRl

A full moon is opposite the sun. We see all of its dayside. Illustration via Bob King.

The moon appears full to the eye for two to three nights. However, astronomers regard the moon as full at a precisely defined instant, when the moon is exactly 180 degrees opposite the sun in ecliptic longitude. This month, the instant of full moon happens Friday, June 5, at 20:13 UTC (3:13 p.m. CDT). Translate UTC to your time.

It’s that feature of a full moon – the fact that it’s opposite the sun as viewed from Earth – that causes a full moon to look full.

A kiss under the full moon of November 3, 2017, via our friend Steven Sweet of Lunar 101-Moon Book. He was at Port Credit, a neighborhood in the city of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada … at the mouth of the Credit River on the north shore of Lake Ontario.

Why does a full moon look full? Remember that half the moon is always illuminated by the sun. That lighted half is the moon’s day side. In order to appear full to us on Earth, we have to see the entire day side of the moon. That happens only when the moon is opposite the sun in our sky. So a full moon looks full because it’s opposite the sun.

That’s also why every full moon rises in the east around sunset – climbs highest up for the night midway between sunset and sunrise (around midnight) – and sets around sunrise. Stand outside tonight around sunset and look for the moon. Sun going down while the moon is coming up? That’s a full moon, or close to one.

Just be aware that the moon will look full for at least a couple of night around the instant of full moon.

Read more: What are the full moon names?

Often, you’ll find two different dates on calendars for the date of full moon. That’s because some calendars list moon phases in Coordinated Universal Time, also called Universal Time Coordinated (UTC). And other calendars list moon phases in local time, a clock time of a specific place, usually the place that made and distributed the calendars. Translate UTC to your local time.

Want to know the instant of full moon in your part of the world, as well as the moonrise and moonset times? Visit Sunrise Sunset Calendars, remembering to check the moon phases plus moonrise and moonset boxes.

If a full moon is opposite the sun, why doesn’t Earth’s shadow fall on the moon at every full moon? The reason is that the moon’s orbit is tilted by 5.1 degrees with respect to Earth’s orbit around the sun. At every full moon, Earth’s shadow sweeps near the moon. But, in most months, there’s no eclipse.

A full moon normally passes above or below Earth’s shadow, with no eclipse. Illustration by Bob King.

As the moon orbits Earth, it changes phase in an orderly way. Follow these links to understand the various phases of the moon.

New moon
Waxing crescent moon
First quarter moon
Waxing gibbous moon
Full moon
Waning gibbous moon
Last quarter moon
Waning crescent moon

Bottom line: A full moon looks full because it’s opposite the sun. Its lighted face is turned entirely in Earth’s direction. The next full moon is Friday, June 5, at 20:13 UTC.

Read more: Top 4 keys to understanding moon phases

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2CEamRl

Has mystery of universe’s missing matter been solved?

Diligence, technological progress and a little luck have together solved a 20 year mystery of the cosmos. Image via CSIRO/ Alex Cherney/ The Conversation.

By J. Xavier Prochaska, University of California, Santa Cruz and Jean-Pierre Macquart, Curtin University

In the late 1990s, cosmologists made a prediction about how much ordinary matter there should be in the universe. About 5%, they estimated, should be regular stuff with the rest a mixture of dark matter and dark energy. But when cosmologists counted up everything they could see or measure at the time, they came up short. By a lot.

The sum of all the ordinary matter that cosmologists measured only added up to about half of the 5% what was supposed to be in the universe.

This is known as the “missing baryon problem” and for over 20 years, cosmologists like us looked hard for this matter without success.

It took the discovery of a new celestial phenomenon and entirely new telescope technology, but earlier this year, our team finally found the missing matter.

Origin of the problem

Baryon is a classification for types of particles – sort of an umbrella term – that encompasses protons and neutrons, the building blocks of all the ordinary matter in the universe. Everything on the periodic table and pretty much anything that you think of as “stuff” is made of baryons.

Since the late 1970s, cosmologists have suspected that dark matter – an as of yet unknown type of matter that must exist to explain the gravitational patterns in space – makes up most of the matter of the universe with the rest being baryonic matter, but they didn’t know the exact ratios. In 1997, three scientists from the University of California, San Diego, used the ratio of heavy hydrogen nuclei – hydrogen with an extra neutron – to normal hydrogen to estimate that baryons should make up about 5% of the mass-energy budget of the universe.

Yet while the ink was still drying on the publication, another trio of cosmologists raised a bright red flag. They reported that a direct measure of baryons in our present universe – determined through a census of stars, galaxies, and the gas within and around them – added up to only half of the predicted 5%.

This sparked the missing baryon problem. Provided the law of nature held that matter can be neither created nor destroyed, there were two possible explanations: Either the matter didn’t exist and the math was wrong, or, the matter was out there hiding somewhere.

Remnants of the conditions in the early universe, like cosmic microwave background radiation, gave scientists a precise measure of the unverse’s mass in baryons. Image via NASA.

Unsuccessful search

Astronomers across the globe took up the search and the first clue came a year later from theoretical cosmologists. Their computer simulations predicted that the majority of the missing matter was hiding in a low-density, million-degree hot plasma that permeated the universe. This was termed the “warm-hot intergalactic medium” and nicknamed “the WHIM.” The WHIM, if it existed, would solve the missing baryon problem but at the time there was no way to confirm its existence.

In 2001, another piece of evidence in favor of the WHIM emerged. A second team confirmed the initial prediction of baryons making up 5% of the universe by looking at tiny temperature fluctuations in the universe’s cosmic microwave background – essentially the leftover radiation from the Big Bang. With two separate confirmations of this number, the math had to be right and the WHIM seemed to be the answer. Now cosmologists just had to find this invisible plasma.

Over the past 20 years, we and many other teams of cosmologists and astronomers have brought nearly all of the Earth’s greatest observatories to the hunt. There were some false alarms and tentative detections of warm-hot gas, but one of our teams eventually linked those to gas around galaxies. If the WHIM existed, it was too faint and diffuse to detect.

The red circle marks the exact spot that produced a fast radio burst in a galaxy billions of light-years away. Image via J. Xavier Prochaska (UC Santa Cruz)/ Jay Chittidi (Maria Mitchell Observatory)/ Alexandra Mannings (UC Santa Cruz).

An unexpected solution in fast radio bursts

In 2007, an entirely unanticipated opportunity appeared. Duncan Lorimer, an astronomer at the University of West Virginia, reported the serendipitous discovery of a cosmological phenomenon known as a fast radio burst (FRB). FRBs are extremely brief, highly energetic pulses of radio emissions. Cosmologists and astronomers still don’t know what creates them, but they seem to come from galaxies far, far away.

As these bursts of radiation traverse the universe and pass through gasses and the theorized WHIM, they undergo something called dispersion.

The initial mysterious cause of these FRBs lasts for less a thousandth of a second and all the wavelengths start out in a tight clump. If someone was lucky enough – or unlucky enough – to be near the spot where an FRB was produced, all the wavelengths would hit them simultaneously.

But when radio waves pass through matter, they are briefly slowed down. The longer the wavelength, the more a radio wave “feels” the matter. Think of it like wind resistance. A bigger car feels more wind resistance than a smaller car.

The “wind resistance” effect on radio waves is incredibly small, but space is big. By the time an FRB has traveled millions or billions of light-years to reach Earth, dispersion has slowed the longer wavelengths so much that they arrive nearly a second later than the shorter wavelengths.

Fast radio bursts originate from galaxies millions and billions of light-years away and that distance is one of the reasons we can use them to find the missing baryons. Image via ICRAR.

Therein lay the potential of FRBs to weigh the universe’s baryons, an opportunity we recognized on the spot. By measuring the spread of different wavelengths within one FRB, we could calculate exactly how much matter – how many baryons – the radio waves passed through on their way to Earth.

At this point we were so close, but there was one final piece of information we needed. To precisely measure the baryon density, we needed to know where in the sky an FRB came from. If we knew the source galaxy, we would know how far the radio waves traveled. With that and the amount of dispersion they experienced, perhaps we could calculate how much matter they passed through on the way to Earth?

Unfortunately, the telescopes in 2007 weren’t good enough to pinpoint exactly which galaxy – and therefore how far away – an FRB came from.

We knew what information would allow us to solve the problem, now we just had to wait for technology to develop enough to give us that data.

Technical innovation

It was 11 years until we were able to place – or localize – our first FRB. In August 2018, our collaborative project called CRAFT began using the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) radio telescope in the outback of Western Australia to look for FRBs. This new telescope – which is run by Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO – can watch huge portions of the sky, about 60 times the size of a full moon, and it can simultaneously detect FRBs and pinpoint where in the sky they come from.

ASKAP captured its first FRB one month later. Once we knew the precise part of the sky the radio waves came from, we quickly used the Keck telescope in Hawaii to identify which galaxy the FRB came from and how far away that galaxy was. The first FRB we detected came from a galaxy named DES J214425.25–405400.81 that is about 4 billion light-years away from Earth, in case you were wondering.

The technology and technique worked. We had measured the dispersion from an FRB and knew where it came from. But we needed to catch a few more of them in order to attain a statistically significant count of the baryons. So we waited and hoped space would send us some more FRBs.

By mid-July 2019, we had detected five more events – enough to perform the first search for the missing matter. Using the dispersion measures of these six FRBs, we were able to make a rough calculation of how much matter the radio waves passed through before reaching earth.

We were overcome by both amazement and reassurance the moment we saw the data fall right on the curve predicted by the 5% estimate. We had detected the missing baryons in full, solving this cosmological riddle and putting to rest two decades of searching.

Sketch of the dispersion measure relation measured from FRBs (points) compared to the prediction from cosmology (black curve). The excellent correspondence confirms the detection of all the missing matter. Image via Hannah Bish (University of Washington).

This result, however, is only the first step. We were able to estimate the amount of baryons, but with only six data points, we can’t yet build a comprehensive map of the missing baryons. We have proof the WHIM likely exists and have confirmed how much there is, but we don’t know exactly how it is distributed. It is believed to be part of a vast filamentary network of gas that connects galaxies termed “the cosmic web,” but with about 100 fast radio bursts cosmologists could start building an accurate map of this web.

J. Xavier Prochaska, Professor of Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz and Jean-Pierre Macquart, Associate Professor of Astrophysics, Curtin University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Bottom line: Half the matter in the universe was missing. Researchers say they have found it hiding in the cosmos.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2MjTu5F

Diligence, technological progress and a little luck have together solved a 20 year mystery of the cosmos. Image via CSIRO/ Alex Cherney/ The Conversation.

By J. Xavier Prochaska, University of California, Santa Cruz and Jean-Pierre Macquart, Curtin University

In the late 1990s, cosmologists made a prediction about how much ordinary matter there should be in the universe. About 5%, they estimated, should be regular stuff with the rest a mixture of dark matter and dark energy. But when cosmologists counted up everything they could see or measure at the time, they came up short. By a lot.

The sum of all the ordinary matter that cosmologists measured only added up to about half of the 5% what was supposed to be in the universe.

This is known as the “missing baryon problem” and for over 20 years, cosmologists like us looked hard for this matter without success.

It took the discovery of a new celestial phenomenon and entirely new telescope technology, but earlier this year, our team finally found the missing matter.

Origin of the problem

Baryon is a classification for types of particles – sort of an umbrella term – that encompasses protons and neutrons, the building blocks of all the ordinary matter in the universe. Everything on the periodic table and pretty much anything that you think of as “stuff” is made of baryons.

Since the late 1970s, cosmologists have suspected that dark matter – an as of yet unknown type of matter that must exist to explain the gravitational patterns in space – makes up most of the matter of the universe with the rest being baryonic matter, but they didn’t know the exact ratios. In 1997, three scientists from the University of California, San Diego, used the ratio of heavy hydrogen nuclei – hydrogen with an extra neutron – to normal hydrogen to estimate that baryons should make up about 5% of the mass-energy budget of the universe.

Yet while the ink was still drying on the publication, another trio of cosmologists raised a bright red flag. They reported that a direct measure of baryons in our present universe – determined through a census of stars, galaxies, and the gas within and around them – added up to only half of the predicted 5%.

This sparked the missing baryon problem. Provided the law of nature held that matter can be neither created nor destroyed, there were two possible explanations: Either the matter didn’t exist and the math was wrong, or, the matter was out there hiding somewhere.

Remnants of the conditions in the early universe, like cosmic microwave background radiation, gave scientists a precise measure of the unverse’s mass in baryons. Image via NASA.

Unsuccessful search

Astronomers across the globe took up the search and the first clue came a year later from theoretical cosmologists. Their computer simulations predicted that the majority of the missing matter was hiding in a low-density, million-degree hot plasma that permeated the universe. This was termed the “warm-hot intergalactic medium” and nicknamed “the WHIM.” The WHIM, if it existed, would solve the missing baryon problem but at the time there was no way to confirm its existence.

In 2001, another piece of evidence in favor of the WHIM emerged. A second team confirmed the initial prediction of baryons making up 5% of the universe by looking at tiny temperature fluctuations in the universe’s cosmic microwave background – essentially the leftover radiation from the Big Bang. With two separate confirmations of this number, the math had to be right and the WHIM seemed to be the answer. Now cosmologists just had to find this invisible plasma.

Over the past 20 years, we and many other teams of cosmologists and astronomers have brought nearly all of the Earth’s greatest observatories to the hunt. There were some false alarms and tentative detections of warm-hot gas, but one of our teams eventually linked those to gas around galaxies. If the WHIM existed, it was too faint and diffuse to detect.

The red circle marks the exact spot that produced a fast radio burst in a galaxy billions of light-years away. Image via J. Xavier Prochaska (UC Santa Cruz)/ Jay Chittidi (Maria Mitchell Observatory)/ Alexandra Mannings (UC Santa Cruz).

An unexpected solution in fast radio bursts

In 2007, an entirely unanticipated opportunity appeared. Duncan Lorimer, an astronomer at the University of West Virginia, reported the serendipitous discovery of a cosmological phenomenon known as a fast radio burst (FRB). FRBs are extremely brief, highly energetic pulses of radio emissions. Cosmologists and astronomers still don’t know what creates them, but they seem to come from galaxies far, far away.

As these bursts of radiation traverse the universe and pass through gasses and the theorized WHIM, they undergo something called dispersion.

The initial mysterious cause of these FRBs lasts for less a thousandth of a second and all the wavelengths start out in a tight clump. If someone was lucky enough – or unlucky enough – to be near the spot where an FRB was produced, all the wavelengths would hit them simultaneously.

But when radio waves pass through matter, they are briefly slowed down. The longer the wavelength, the more a radio wave “feels” the matter. Think of it like wind resistance. A bigger car feels more wind resistance than a smaller car.

The “wind resistance” effect on radio waves is incredibly small, but space is big. By the time an FRB has traveled millions or billions of light-years to reach Earth, dispersion has slowed the longer wavelengths so much that they arrive nearly a second later than the shorter wavelengths.

Fast radio bursts originate from galaxies millions and billions of light-years away and that distance is one of the reasons we can use them to find the missing baryons. Image via ICRAR.

Therein lay the potential of FRBs to weigh the universe’s baryons, an opportunity we recognized on the spot. By measuring the spread of different wavelengths within one FRB, we could calculate exactly how much matter – how many baryons – the radio waves passed through on their way to Earth.

At this point we were so close, but there was one final piece of information we needed. To precisely measure the baryon density, we needed to know where in the sky an FRB came from. If we knew the source galaxy, we would know how far the radio waves traveled. With that and the amount of dispersion they experienced, perhaps we could calculate how much matter they passed through on the way to Earth?

Unfortunately, the telescopes in 2007 weren’t good enough to pinpoint exactly which galaxy – and therefore how far away – an FRB came from.

We knew what information would allow us to solve the problem, now we just had to wait for technology to develop enough to give us that data.

Technical innovation

It was 11 years until we were able to place – or localize – our first FRB. In August 2018, our collaborative project called CRAFT began using the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) radio telescope in the outback of Western Australia to look for FRBs. This new telescope – which is run by Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO – can watch huge portions of the sky, about 60 times the size of a full moon, and it can simultaneously detect FRBs and pinpoint where in the sky they come from.

ASKAP captured its first FRB one month later. Once we knew the precise part of the sky the radio waves came from, we quickly used the Keck telescope in Hawaii to identify which galaxy the FRB came from and how far away that galaxy was. The first FRB we detected came from a galaxy named DES J214425.25–405400.81 that is about 4 billion light-years away from Earth, in case you were wondering.

The technology and technique worked. We had measured the dispersion from an FRB and knew where it came from. But we needed to catch a few more of them in order to attain a statistically significant count of the baryons. So we waited and hoped space would send us some more FRBs.

By mid-July 2019, we had detected five more events – enough to perform the first search for the missing matter. Using the dispersion measures of these six FRBs, we were able to make a rough calculation of how much matter the radio waves passed through before reaching earth.

We were overcome by both amazement and reassurance the moment we saw the data fall right on the curve predicted by the 5% estimate. We had detected the missing baryons in full, solving this cosmological riddle and putting to rest two decades of searching.

Sketch of the dispersion measure relation measured from FRBs (points) compared to the prediction from cosmology (black curve). The excellent correspondence confirms the detection of all the missing matter. Image via Hannah Bish (University of Washington).

This result, however, is only the first step. We were able to estimate the amount of baryons, but with only six data points, we can’t yet build a comprehensive map of the missing baryons. We have proof the WHIM likely exists and have confirmed how much there is, but we don’t know exactly how it is distributed. It is believed to be part of a vast filamentary network of gas that connects galaxies termed “the cosmic web,” but with about 100 fast radio bursts cosmologists could start building an accurate map of this web.

J. Xavier Prochaska, Professor of Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz and Jean-Pierre Macquart, Associate Professor of Astrophysics, Curtin University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Bottom line: Half the matter in the universe was missing. Researchers say they have found it hiding in the cosmos.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2MjTu5F

What’s a penumbral eclipse of the moon?

April 2013 penumbral eclipse by Stanislaus Ronny Terrance. See the dark shading on one edge of the moon?

Next penumbral lunar eclipse: June 5, 2020

An eclipse of the moon can only happen at full moon, when the sun, Earth and moon line up in space, with Earth in the middle. At such times, Earth’s shadow falls on the moon, creating a lunar eclipse. Lunar eclipses happen a minimum of two times to a maximum of five times a year. There are three kinds of lunar eclipses: total, partial and penumbral.

In a total eclipse of the moon, the inner part of Earth’s shadow, called the umbra, falls on the moon’s face. At mid-eclipse, the entire moon is in shadow, which may appear blood red.

In a partial lunar eclipse, the umbra takes a bite out of only a fraction of the moon. The dark bite grows larger, and then recedes, never reaching the total phase.

In a penumbral lunar eclipse, only the more diffuse outer shadow of Earth – the penumbra – falls on the moon’s face. This third kind of lunar eclipse is much more subtle, and much more difficult to observe, than either a total or partial eclipse of the moon. There is never a dark bite taken out of the moon, as in a partial eclipse. The eclipse never progresses to reach the dramatic minutes of totality. At best, at mid-eclipse, very observant people will notice a dark shading on the moon’s face. Others will look and notice nothing at all.

According to eclipse expert Fred Espenak, about 35% of all eclipses are penumbral. Another 30% are partial eclipses, where it appears as if a dark bite has been taken out of the moon. And the final 35% go all the way to becoming total eclipses of the moon, a beautiful natural event.

View larger. | Left, an ordinary full moon with no eclipse. Right, full moon in penumbral eclipse on November 20, 2002. Master eclipse photographer Fred Espenak took this photo when the moon was 88.9% immersed in Earth’s penumbral shadow. There’s no dark bite taken out of the moon. A penumbral eclipse creates only a dark shading on the moon’s face.

In a lunar eclipse, Earth’s shadow falls on the moon. If the moon passes through the dark central shadow of Earth – the umbra – a partial or total lunar eclipse takes place. If the moon only passes through the outer part of the shadow (the penumbra), a subtle penumbral eclipse occurs. Diagram via Fred Espenak’s Lunar Eclipses for Beginners.

Here’s what a partial lunar eclipse looks like. Astronomer Alan Dyer caught it from his home in southern Alberta, Canada, in June 2012. It was pre-dawn, near moonset. Image copyright Alan Dyer. Used with permission.

This is what a total eclipse looks like. This is the total eclipse of October 27, 2004, via Fred Espenak of NASA, otherwise known as Mr. Eclipse. Visit Fred’s page here.

Bottom line: There are three kinds of lunar eclipses: total, partial and penumbral. A penumbral eclipse is very subtle. At no time does a dark bite appear to be taken out of the moon. Instead, at mid-eclipse, observant people will notice a shading on the moon’s face.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2rMqzRl

April 2013 penumbral eclipse by Stanislaus Ronny Terrance. See the dark shading on one edge of the moon?

Next penumbral lunar eclipse: June 5, 2020

An eclipse of the moon can only happen at full moon, when the sun, Earth and moon line up in space, with Earth in the middle. At such times, Earth’s shadow falls on the moon, creating a lunar eclipse. Lunar eclipses happen a minimum of two times to a maximum of five times a year. There are three kinds of lunar eclipses: total, partial and penumbral.

In a total eclipse of the moon, the inner part of Earth’s shadow, called the umbra, falls on the moon’s face. At mid-eclipse, the entire moon is in shadow, which may appear blood red.

In a partial lunar eclipse, the umbra takes a bite out of only a fraction of the moon. The dark bite grows larger, and then recedes, never reaching the total phase.

In a penumbral lunar eclipse, only the more diffuse outer shadow of Earth – the penumbra – falls on the moon’s face. This third kind of lunar eclipse is much more subtle, and much more difficult to observe, than either a total or partial eclipse of the moon. There is never a dark bite taken out of the moon, as in a partial eclipse. The eclipse never progresses to reach the dramatic minutes of totality. At best, at mid-eclipse, very observant people will notice a dark shading on the moon’s face. Others will look and notice nothing at all.

According to eclipse expert Fred Espenak, about 35% of all eclipses are penumbral. Another 30% are partial eclipses, where it appears as if a dark bite has been taken out of the moon. And the final 35% go all the way to becoming total eclipses of the moon, a beautiful natural event.

View larger. | Left, an ordinary full moon with no eclipse. Right, full moon in penumbral eclipse on November 20, 2002. Master eclipse photographer Fred Espenak took this photo when the moon was 88.9% immersed in Earth’s penumbral shadow. There’s no dark bite taken out of the moon. A penumbral eclipse creates only a dark shading on the moon’s face.

In a lunar eclipse, Earth’s shadow falls on the moon. If the moon passes through the dark central shadow of Earth – the umbra – a partial or total lunar eclipse takes place. If the moon only passes through the outer part of the shadow (the penumbra), a subtle penumbral eclipse occurs. Diagram via Fred Espenak’s Lunar Eclipses for Beginners.

Here’s what a partial lunar eclipse looks like. Astronomer Alan Dyer caught it from his home in southern Alberta, Canada, in June 2012. It was pre-dawn, near moonset. Image copyright Alan Dyer. Used with permission.

This is what a total eclipse looks like. This is the total eclipse of October 27, 2004, via Fred Espenak of NASA, otherwise known as Mr. Eclipse. Visit Fred’s page here.

Bottom line: There are three kinds of lunar eclipses: total, partial and penumbral. A penumbral eclipse is very subtle. At no time does a dark bite appear to be taken out of the moon. Instead, at mid-eclipse, observant people will notice a shading on the moon’s face.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2rMqzRl

June 2020 guide to the bright planets

Click the name of a planet to learn more about its visibility in June 2020.

Evening planets: Mercury (dusk), Jupiter and Saturn (rise at mid-to-late evening)

Morning planets: Venus (dawn), Jupiter, Saturn and Mars (predawn/dawn sky).

Try Stellarium for a precise view of the planets from your location.

Want precise planet rise and set times? Click here for recommended almanacs

Mercury reaches its greatest evening elongation on June 4, 2020. Read more.

On June 7 and 8, at mid-to-late evening, look for the waning gibbous moon to rise in your southeast sky. The moon will be near the planets Jupiter and Saturn. Read more.

At mid-northern latitudes, you’ll have to get up mighty early to catch the moon and the red planet Mars in the predawn sky! Read more.

The lit side of the waning crescent moon points to the planet Venus on June 17 and 18, 2020. If you live at the right spot worldwide, you can watch the lunar occultation of Venus on June 19, 2020. Read more.

Venus – the brightest planet – is lost in the sun’s glare for the first week or two in June 2020. Venus swings in front of the sun (at inferior conjunction) on June 3, 2020, to transition out of the evening sky and into the morning sky. Look for Venus to reappear in the eastern dawn by around mid-June.

Inferior conjunction – when Venus sweeps between the sun and Earth – happens on June 3, 2020. Just before inferior conjunction, we see Venus as a thin waning crescent in the evening sky; and just after inferior conjunction, we see Venus as a thin waxing crescent in the morning sky. Image via UCLA.

Around the world, Venus pretty much rises and sets with the sun in early June 2020.

At mid-northern latitudes, Venus rises about an hour before the sun in mid-June, increasing to about 2 hours by the month’s end.

At and near the equator, Venus rises about 1 1/4 hours before the sun in mid-June, increasing to about 2 1/3 hours near the month’s end.

At temperate latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere, Venus rises about 1 1/3 hours before the sun in mid-June, increasing to about 2 2/3 hours by the month’s end.

After Venus swings over into the morning sky in early June, Venus in its faster orbit around the sun will be going farther and farther away from Earth. As viewed through the telescope, Venus’ waxing crescent phase will widen, yet its overall disk size will shrink. Venus’ disk is 0% illuminated on June 3, and about 18% illuminated by the month’s end; Venus’ angular diameter, on the other hand, will shrink to 3/4th the size by the month’s end.

All the same, Venus will brighten throughout the month and into July. Look for Venus to beam at its brightest in the morning sky on or around July 10, 2020, when Venus displays its greatest illuminated extent on the sky’s dome. Venus always beams at its brightest best when its disk is about one-quarter illuminated by sunshine.

Look for the waning crescent moon in the vicinity of Venus for several days, starting on or near June 17. In fact, if you live at the right spot on Earth, you can watch the moon occult (cover over) Venus on June 19, 2020.

The swath of the globe to the north of, or above, the dotted curve (Greenland, northwestern Europe and northern Asia) has the June 19th occultation of Venus in a daytime sky. At the far west (left) of the occultation viewing area (northeast North America), the occultation takes place at dawn June 19. Worldwide map via the International Occultation Timing Association (IOTA). Read more.

Mercury reaches its greatest eastern (evening) elongation from the setting sun on June 4, 2020. Have binoculars handy, however, for Mercury has to compete with the glow of evening twilight. Given an unobstructed horizon in the direction of sunset, you have a reasonably good chance of catching Mercury during the first week of June. This world is dimming daily, though, and by mid-June, Mercury will be about four times fainter. In other words, early June presents your best shot for catching Mercury after sunset.

At mid-northern latitudes, Mercury sets about 1 5/6 hours after the sun in early June, tapering to 1 1/4 hours by mid-month.

At or near the equator, Mercury sets about 1 2/3 hours after the sun in early June, tapering to 1 1/3 hours by mid-month.

At temperate latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere, Mercury sets about 1 1/2 hours after sunset throughout the the first half of June.

Mercury transitions out of the evening sky and into the morning sky on July 1, and then reaches its greatest elongation in the morning sky on July 22, 2020.

Jupiter and Saturn are near one another on the sky’s dome, with Saturn following Jupiter westward across the sky from mid-to-late evening till dawn. Look first for brilliant Jupiter and you’ll find Saturn a short hop to the east of the king planet. Remember, east is in the direction of sunrise. Although Saturn is easily as bright as a 1st-magnitude star, the ringed planet pales next the the king planet Jupiter, which outshines Saturn by some 15 times.

At mid-northern latitudes, Jupiter and nearby Saturn rise at late evening in early June and by the month’s end at nightfall.

At temperate latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere, Jupiter and Saturn rise at mid-evening in early June, and by nightfall at the month’s end.

Mars, which is a bit brighter than Saturn, more or less aligns with Jupiter and Saturn in the predawn/dawn sky. However, standoffish Mars is a long jump to the east of Jupiter and Saturn. Saturn shines between Jupiter and Mars, though much closer to Jupiter.

Watch for the moon in the vicinity of Jupiter and Saturn for several days, centered on or near June 8.

Are you an early riser? In June 2020, Jupiter and Saturn climb up highest for the night just before dawn. If you’re not one to get up early, try catching the planets Jupiter and Saturn low in the southeast sky before your bedtime. Read more.

Mars is the last of the three bright morning planets to rise in June 2020. Jupiter rises first, closely followed by Saturn, and then a few to several hours later by Mars. Whereas Jupiter and Saturn almost rise in tandem, Mars is off by itself in a rather dim section of sky.

At mid-northern latitudes, Mars rises about an hour after midnight in early June, and near the midnight hour by the month’s end. By midnight, we mean midway between sunset and sunrise.

At temperate latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere, Mars comes up at or near the midnight hour throughout the month.

Let the waning crescent moon help guide your eye to Mars for several mornings, centered around June 13.

In June 2020 … you’ll find Mars respectably bright – easily as brilliant as a 1st-magnitude star – before dawn. Earth will be rushing along in its smaller, faster orbit, gaining on Mars, the fourth planet outward from the sun. Throughout the next several months, watch for Mars to brighten dramatically as Earth closes in on Mars. The red planet will appear brightest in our sky and fiery red – around the time of its opposition – when Earth passes between Mars and the sun on October 13, 2020. At that wondrous time, Mars will actually supplant Jupiter as the sky’s fourth-brightest celestial body, after the sun, moon, and the planet Venus, respectively.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | From Paul Armstrong, who took this photo of Mars, Saturn and Jupiter on the morning of April 15, 2020, from Exmoor, U.K. Jupiter is at the upper right, Mars at center left, with Saturn between them. In May 2020, Jupiter and Saturn were closer together, whereas Mars was farther away from Jupiter and Saturn. Thanks, Paul!

What do we mean by bright planet? By bright planet, we mean any solar system planet that is easily visible without an optical aid and that has been watched by our ancestors since time immemorial. In their outward order from the sun, the five bright planets are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. These planets actually do appear bright in our sky. They are typically as bright as – or brighter than – the brightest stars. Plus, these relatively nearby worlds tend to shine with a steadier light than the distant, twinkling stars. You can spot them, and come to know them as faithful friends, if you try.

Skywatcher, by Predrag Agatonovic.

Bottom line: June 2020 presents all 5 bright solar system planets. Catch Mercury at dusk in early June, and Venus at dawn in the second half of the month. Jupiter and Saturn are rising earlier in the evening each day, and may be up before bedtime by mid-month. Look for Mars in the predawn/dawn sky, a long way to the east of Jupiter and Saturn.

Don’t miss anything. Subscribe to EarthSky News by email

Visit EarthSky’s Best Places to Stargaze, and recommend a place we can all enjoy.

Help EarthSky keep going! Donate now.

Post your planet photos at EarthSky Community Photos

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/1YD00CF

Click the name of a planet to learn more about its visibility in June 2020.

Evening planets: Mercury (dusk), Jupiter and Saturn (rise at mid-to-late evening)

Morning planets: Venus (dawn), Jupiter, Saturn and Mars (predawn/dawn sky).

Try Stellarium for a precise view of the planets from your location.

Want precise planet rise and set times? Click here for recommended almanacs

Mercury reaches its greatest evening elongation on June 4, 2020. Read more.

On June 7 and 8, at mid-to-late evening, look for the waning gibbous moon to rise in your southeast sky. The moon will be near the planets Jupiter and Saturn. Read more.

At mid-northern latitudes, you’ll have to get up mighty early to catch the moon and the red planet Mars in the predawn sky! Read more.

The lit side of the waning crescent moon points to the planet Venus on June 17 and 18, 2020. If you live at the right spot worldwide, you can watch the lunar occultation of Venus on June 19, 2020. Read more.

Venus – the brightest planet – is lost in the sun’s glare for the first week or two in June 2020. Venus swings in front of the sun (at inferior conjunction) on June 3, 2020, to transition out of the evening sky and into the morning sky. Look for Venus to reappear in the eastern dawn by around mid-June.

Inferior conjunction – when Venus sweeps between the sun and Earth – happens on June 3, 2020. Just before inferior conjunction, we see Venus as a thin waning crescent in the evening sky; and just after inferior conjunction, we see Venus as a thin waxing crescent in the morning sky. Image via UCLA.

Around the world, Venus pretty much rises and sets with the sun in early June 2020.

At mid-northern latitudes, Venus rises about an hour before the sun in mid-June, increasing to about 2 hours by the month’s end.

At and near the equator, Venus rises about 1 1/4 hours before the sun in mid-June, increasing to about 2 1/3 hours near the month’s end.

At temperate latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere, Venus rises about 1 1/3 hours before the sun in mid-June, increasing to about 2 2/3 hours by the month’s end.

After Venus swings over into the morning sky in early June, Venus in its faster orbit around the sun will be going farther and farther away from Earth. As viewed through the telescope, Venus’ waxing crescent phase will widen, yet its overall disk size will shrink. Venus’ disk is 0% illuminated on June 3, and about 18% illuminated by the month’s end; Venus’ angular diameter, on the other hand, will shrink to 3/4th the size by the month’s end.

All the same, Venus will brighten throughout the month and into July. Look for Venus to beam at its brightest in the morning sky on or around July 10, 2020, when Venus displays its greatest illuminated extent on the sky’s dome. Venus always beams at its brightest best when its disk is about one-quarter illuminated by sunshine.

Look for the waning crescent moon in the vicinity of Venus for several days, starting on or near June 17. In fact, if you live at the right spot on Earth, you can watch the moon occult (cover over) Venus on June 19, 2020.

The swath of the globe to the north of, or above, the dotted curve (Greenland, northwestern Europe and northern Asia) has the June 19th occultation of Venus in a daytime sky. At the far west (left) of the occultation viewing area (northeast North America), the occultation takes place at dawn June 19. Worldwide map via the International Occultation Timing Association (IOTA). Read more.

Mercury reaches its greatest eastern (evening) elongation from the setting sun on June 4, 2020. Have binoculars handy, however, for Mercury has to compete with the glow of evening twilight. Given an unobstructed horizon in the direction of sunset, you have a reasonably good chance of catching Mercury during the first week of June. This world is dimming daily, though, and by mid-June, Mercury will be about four times fainter. In other words, early June presents your best shot for catching Mercury after sunset.

At mid-northern latitudes, Mercury sets about 1 5/6 hours after the sun in early June, tapering to 1 1/4 hours by mid-month.

At or near the equator, Mercury sets about 1 2/3 hours after the sun in early June, tapering to 1 1/3 hours by mid-month.

At temperate latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere, Mercury sets about 1 1/2 hours after sunset throughout the the first half of June.

Mercury transitions out of the evening sky and into the morning sky on July 1, and then reaches its greatest elongation in the morning sky on July 22, 2020.

Jupiter and Saturn are near one another on the sky’s dome, with Saturn following Jupiter westward across the sky from mid-to-late evening till dawn. Look first for brilliant Jupiter and you’ll find Saturn a short hop to the east of the king planet. Remember, east is in the direction of sunrise. Although Saturn is easily as bright as a 1st-magnitude star, the ringed planet pales next the the king planet Jupiter, which outshines Saturn by some 15 times.

At mid-northern latitudes, Jupiter and nearby Saturn rise at late evening in early June and by the month’s end at nightfall.

At temperate latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere, Jupiter and Saturn rise at mid-evening in early June, and by nightfall at the month’s end.

Mars, which is a bit brighter than Saturn, more or less aligns with Jupiter and Saturn in the predawn/dawn sky. However, standoffish Mars is a long jump to the east of Jupiter and Saturn. Saturn shines between Jupiter and Mars, though much closer to Jupiter.

Watch for the moon in the vicinity of Jupiter and Saturn for several days, centered on or near June 8.

Are you an early riser? In June 2020, Jupiter and Saturn climb up highest for the night just before dawn. If you’re not one to get up early, try catching the planets Jupiter and Saturn low in the southeast sky before your bedtime. Read more.

Mars is the last of the three bright morning planets to rise in June 2020. Jupiter rises first, closely followed by Saturn, and then a few to several hours later by Mars. Whereas Jupiter and Saturn almost rise in tandem, Mars is off by itself in a rather dim section of sky.

At mid-northern latitudes, Mars rises about an hour after midnight in early June, and near the midnight hour by the month’s end. By midnight, we mean midway between sunset and sunrise.

At temperate latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere, Mars comes up at or near the midnight hour throughout the month.

Let the waning crescent moon help guide your eye to Mars for several mornings, centered around June 13.

In June 2020 … you’ll find Mars respectably bright – easily as brilliant as a 1st-magnitude star – before dawn. Earth will be rushing along in its smaller, faster orbit, gaining on Mars, the fourth planet outward from the sun. Throughout the next several months, watch for Mars to brighten dramatically as Earth closes in on Mars. The red planet will appear brightest in our sky and fiery red – around the time of its opposition – when Earth passes between Mars and the sun on October 13, 2020. At that wondrous time, Mars will actually supplant Jupiter as the sky’s fourth-brightest celestial body, after the sun, moon, and the planet Venus, respectively.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | From Paul Armstrong, who took this photo of Mars, Saturn and Jupiter on the morning of April 15, 2020, from Exmoor, U.K. Jupiter is at the upper right, Mars at center left, with Saturn between them. In May 2020, Jupiter and Saturn were closer together, whereas Mars was farther away from Jupiter and Saturn. Thanks, Paul!

What do we mean by bright planet? By bright planet, we mean any solar system planet that is easily visible without an optical aid and that has been watched by our ancestors since time immemorial. In their outward order from the sun, the five bright planets are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. These planets actually do appear bright in our sky. They are typically as bright as – or brighter than – the brightest stars. Plus, these relatively nearby worlds tend to shine with a steadier light than the distant, twinkling stars. You can spot them, and come to know them as faithful friends, if you try.

Skywatcher, by Predrag Agatonovic.

Bottom line: June 2020 presents all 5 bright solar system planets. Catch Mercury at dusk in early June, and Venus at dawn in the second half of the month. Jupiter and Saturn are rising earlier in the evening each day, and may be up before bedtime by mid-month. Look for Mars in the predawn/dawn sky, a long way to the east of Jupiter and Saturn.

Don’t miss anything. Subscribe to EarthSky News by email

Visit EarthSky’s Best Places to Stargaze, and recommend a place we can all enjoy.

Help EarthSky keep going! Donate now.

Post your planet photos at EarthSky Community Photos

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/1YD00CF

First-year students' stories of a pandemic: Study seeks data to help them flourish

The data gathered from student stories "may help us to create interventions to support students who may be struggling as they navigate disruptive and stressful events," says Emory psychologist Robyn Fivush.

By Carol Clark

The Silent Generation grew up dealing with the Great Depression and World War II. Now the first-year college students of Generation Z are coming of age amid climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The whole world was opening up to students that started college last fall,” says Robyn Fivush, an Emory professor of psychology and director of the Institute for the Liberal Arts. “They reached the threshold of adulthood. And then the pandemic hit, pulling the rug out from under them. What does it mean for their dreams of research, of travel, of what they want to do with their lives? It creates an even more uncertain future at a point when they were just starting to home in on their passions and form their adult identities.”

Emory University is one of five universities across the country collaborating on a study focused on narratives written by first-year college students from last fall about their experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic. The longitudinal study will follow the students for a year or more to track their psychological well-being and academic performance. The goal of the study is to determine whether the self-narratives can predict better outcomes for the students, and to gather data for any interventions that may be needed to help students to have more rewarding and successful academic experiences.

Fivush, director of the Family Narratives Lab in Emory’s Department of Psychology, is a leader in the field of narrative identity — how we use stories to understand ourselves and to make sense of the world and our place within it. She launched the student narratives study in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Kansas, the University of Missouri, the University of Utah and Western Washington University.

“I’ve become particularly interested in college-age individuals because it’s such an important time in the formation of identity,” Fivush says. “Even though the majority of Americans do not go away to college, the ones that do are living away from home for the first time, learning time management, how to feed themselves, how to interact with peers and how to make their own decisions.”

The researchers are recruiting students from all five of the universities now for the study. They hope to enroll between 600 and 1,000 participants to write two detailed narratives. The first narrative asks them to describe an event that best captures the challenges they have faced as a result of COVID-19. The second narrative focuses on an event that best captures what they have learned about themselves as a result of COVID-19.

Participants will also fill out questionnaires at the start of the study, and at periodic intervals during the course of it. The questions cover the participants’ living situations and their physical health. They also aim at assessing the participants’ levels of anxiety, stress and depression, whether they are flourishing, and whether they are experiencing positive personal growth and making academic progress.

The hypothesis is that more coherent, positive narratives will be predictive of better mental health, more effective identity processing and better academic progress. “The data may help us create interventions to support students who may be struggling as they navigate disruptive and stressful events,” Fivush says.

Students from lower-income families and first-generation college attendees were already more at risk for not making it to graduation so the fallout from the pandemic may be especially difficult for them to navigate, Fivush says. “If we don’t get some really deep data about what they are experiencing and how they are making decisions we are not going to be able to help them to stay the course and graduate,” she says. “It’s vital to understand and support them. Education remains the single most important path to upward mobility and for resolving inequalities.”

The researchers launched the study with available funds as a year-long project, and they will release useful data as it becomes available. They are currently writing grants to secure funding to extend the study for longer.

Fivush has served in administrative roles at Emory designed to create more integrated and reflective experiences for undergraduates. “I really enjoy administrative work because it’s a chance to think strategically about education and what it is that we’re trying to accomplish,” she says. “Emory is well-situated in terms of its resources and its commitment to the undergraduate experience. We are teaching the change agents and the leaders of tomorrow. The role we play as educators is critical for the future of the world.”

Generation Z, or those born from around the mid-1990s to early 2010s, now make up the largest segment of the population and are the first true “digital natives” — those who have never known the world without the Internet.

“Every college student has a smart phone and is continuously flooded with information,” Fivush says. “That has broken down and fractured shared social narratives. It may give you more leeway to create your own story. On the other hand, it makes the world more complicated, more ambiguous and uncertain. And all of those things can make the identity journey more challenging.”

Related:
How family stories help children weather hard times
Psychologists document the age our earliest memories fade

from eScienceCommons https://ift.tt/2AoBLrb

The data gathered from student stories "may help us to create interventions to support students who may be struggling as they navigate disruptive and stressful events," says Emory psychologist Robyn Fivush.

By Carol Clark

The Silent Generation grew up dealing with the Great Depression and World War II. Now the first-year college students of Generation Z are coming of age amid climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The whole world was opening up to students that started college last fall,” says Robyn Fivush, an Emory professor of psychology and director of the Institute for the Liberal Arts. “They reached the threshold of adulthood. And then the pandemic hit, pulling the rug out from under them. What does it mean for their dreams of research, of travel, of what they want to do with their lives? It creates an even more uncertain future at a point when they were just starting to home in on their passions and form their adult identities.”

Emory University is one of five universities across the country collaborating on a study focused on narratives written by first-year college students from last fall about their experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic. The longitudinal study will follow the students for a year or more to track their psychological well-being and academic performance. The goal of the study is to determine whether the self-narratives can predict better outcomes for the students, and to gather data for any interventions that may be needed to help students to have more rewarding and successful academic experiences.

Fivush, director of the Family Narratives Lab in Emory’s Department of Psychology, is a leader in the field of narrative identity — how we use stories to understand ourselves and to make sense of the world and our place within it. She launched the student narratives study in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Kansas, the University of Missouri, the University of Utah and Western Washington University.

“I’ve become particularly interested in college-age individuals because it’s such an important time in the formation of identity,” Fivush says. “Even though the majority of Americans do not go away to college, the ones that do are living away from home for the first time, learning time management, how to feed themselves, how to interact with peers and how to make their own decisions.”

The researchers are recruiting students from all five of the universities now for the study. They hope to enroll between 600 and 1,000 participants to write two detailed narratives. The first narrative asks them to describe an event that best captures the challenges they have faced as a result of COVID-19. The second narrative focuses on an event that best captures what they have learned about themselves as a result of COVID-19.

Participants will also fill out questionnaires at the start of the study, and at periodic intervals during the course of it. The questions cover the participants’ living situations and their physical health. They also aim at assessing the participants’ levels of anxiety, stress and depression, whether they are flourishing, and whether they are experiencing positive personal growth and making academic progress.

The hypothesis is that more coherent, positive narratives will be predictive of better mental health, more effective identity processing and better academic progress. “The data may help us create interventions to support students who may be struggling as they navigate disruptive and stressful events,” Fivush says.

Students from lower-income families and first-generation college attendees were already more at risk for not making it to graduation so the fallout from the pandemic may be especially difficult for them to navigate, Fivush says. “If we don’t get some really deep data about what they are experiencing and how they are making decisions we are not going to be able to help them to stay the course and graduate,” she says. “It’s vital to understand and support them. Education remains the single most important path to upward mobility and for resolving inequalities.”

The researchers launched the study with available funds as a year-long project, and they will release useful data as it becomes available. They are currently writing grants to secure funding to extend the study for longer.

Fivush has served in administrative roles at Emory designed to create more integrated and reflective experiences for undergraduates. “I really enjoy administrative work because it’s a chance to think strategically about education and what it is that we’re trying to accomplish,” she says. “Emory is well-situated in terms of its resources and its commitment to the undergraduate experience. We are teaching the change agents and the leaders of tomorrow. The role we play as educators is critical for the future of the world.”

Generation Z, or those born from around the mid-1990s to early 2010s, now make up the largest segment of the population and are the first true “digital natives” — those who have never known the world without the Internet.

“Every college student has a smart phone and is continuously flooded with information,” Fivush says. “That has broken down and fractured shared social narratives. It may give you more leeway to create your own story. On the other hand, it makes the world more complicated, more ambiguous and uncertain. And all of those things can make the identity journey more challenging.”

Related:
How family stories help children weather hard times
Psychologists document the age our earliest memories fade

from eScienceCommons https://ift.tt/2AoBLrb