[Planetarium] Planetarium E-news

[planetarium at lists.parkland.edu]

William M. Staerkel Planetarium
E-news
October 31, 2007

* Happy Halloween!   Halloween is on a "cross quarter day."  There are four of these situated halfway between the first days of each of the seasons.   Halloween is roughly halfway between the first day of fall and the first day of winter.   Can you name the other three cross quarter days?   You can find them here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-quarter_day or http://www.naic.edu/~gibson/cal/

* All the buzz lately has been regarding Comet Holmes.   Originally discovered by Edwin Holmes on November 6, 1892, the comet has an ellipitical orbit that brings it between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter at its closest point to the Sun.   The comet was a 17th magnitude fuzz ball in Perseus until October 24, when it brightened about a million fold!   No one is really sure what happened but the comet became visible to the unaided eye in a very short timespan.   The Staerkel Planetarium staff have all viewed the comet.   It's about halfway up in the sky in the northeast, just north of the bright stars in Perseus.   It will appear like a star to the unaided eye, but binoculars will show what looks like a cotton ball.   More info and finder charts can be found on the following web pages.   No tail has been seen so far.
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/home/10775326.html 
http://www.spaceweather.com/
http://cometography.com/pcomets/017p.html 
Why not try to find it on the next clear night!

* Thanks to all who participated in our 20th anniversary!   We had good crowds for all of our speakers, including Joe Tanner and Lynn Carter.  The "Universary" show will be presented through November 17.  Then we'll run our holiday special "Rites of the Season" through the end of December.   A full schedule can be found at www.parkland.edu/planetarium.  

* The planetarium continues to raise funds for our conversion to full-dome immersive video.   If you're interested in what's happening or you would like to make a contribution to the cause, see http://parkland.edu/planetarium/upgrade.html 

Happy November!