The Lucknow Sentinel, 2016-10-05, Page 11Star Column: Mars atop Teapot
John Hlynialuk
Bluewater Astronomical
Society
The famous Teapot of Sag-
ittarius has an ornament for
a few days around Oct 6.
A distinctly reddish Mars
has been slipping across the
Milky Way this fall and it
passes just below the top-
most Teapot star from Oct
5-7.
The official name of the top
star of the Teapot is lambda-
Sagittarii (X -Sag) and though
it has a common name, Kaus
Borealis, the meaning has
been lost in history. At one
time, it was associated with a
group of stars called the
"Going Ostriches
These should not to be
confused with the "Returning
Ostriches, which are those
coming back from taking a
drink in the Celestial River,
i.e. the Milky Way, which is
nearby. There are no
ostriches in modern constel-
lations, but a related bird, an
emu, can be found in the
Milky Way of the southern
hemisphere as a dark rift (not
an official stick figure like star
patterns of the north).
Mars left Saturn and
Antares in the stellar dust of
Scorpius this summer and
has trekked eastwards across
the Milky Way and into less
star -cluttered regions of the
sky. Its eastward motion
counter -acts normal Earth
rotation carrying constella-
tions and planets to the west,
so Mars will be visible in the
SW sky until late spring next
year. Enjoy it now because
Mars will eventually leave our
evening sky and re -appear
next fall before morning sun-
rise. But then it will be a dis-
tant planet with a disk too
small to make out any surface
features. It will not be much
of an attraction in the pre-
dawn hours, which are not a
favourite time for this star-
gazer, anyway.
On Oct 6, by the time it is
dark enough to see Mars and
Kaus Borealis, there will be a
scant 12 minutes of arc sepa-
rating them. That is 1/5th of
a degree: -the thickness of a
loonie pinched between
your fingers at arm's length.
(For you math types, work
out the angle whose tangent
is 2 mm divided by 700 mm,
the ratio of a typical loonie
thickness to an average eye -
to -finger distance).
So, go out in the first week
of October and watch the
motion of Mars for a few
nights. It is an ideal
Wednesday, October 5, 2016 • Lucknow Sentinel 11
Looking to the southwest, planets can currently be seen in the night sky.
opportunity to see planetary
motion in real time. And
take a glance to the right
(west) for the crescent Moon
as it slips past above Saturn.
Don't worry, though, if you
miss the Mars close
approach Oct. 6 (technically
called an appulse), -an even
brighter planet, Venus is
heading exactly the same
way and will pass k -Sag in
mid November. That event
will be even more interesting
because Venus gets even
closer to Kaus Borealis than
Mars does and its a lot
brighter!
More details about the
motions of Mars and Venus
can be found at www.blue-
waterastronomy.com on the
SKY SIGHTS page.
Happy planet watching!
Award-winning harmonica player
Carlos Del Junco coming to Kincardine
Kincardine Summer
Music Festival continues to
celebrate its 25th Anniver-
sary with an expanded Con-
cert series this autumn.
Multi -award-winning,
JUNO-nominated virtuoso
harmonica player CARLOS
DEL JUNCO will perform
with Mark Sepic, guitar on
Thursday Nov 20, 8pm at the
Best Western Plus Gover-
nor's Inn.
To say he plays the har-
monica is like saying "Jimi
Hendrix plays guitar':
Tickets are $25 and availa-
ble at Jerome Flowers and
Gifts, Kincardine's Scottish
Shop, Ralph's Hi -Way Shop-
ette, Port Elgin, online at
TicketScene.
For dinner reservations
call 519-396-8242.
A fascinating flight with the Monarch
butterfly at Bruce County Museum
On the trail of the Mon-
arch Butterfly will be pre-
sented at the Bruce County
Museum & Cultural Centre
Oct. 1 to Nov 30.
The exhibit comes alive at
the Museum with a terrar-
ium of caterpillars beginning
their transformation to
Chrysalids and finally,
Butterflies.
Children and adults alike
will marvel in the beauty of
nature. Finally, we'll release
the butterflies in time to
make their journey south.
In August 2005, Mexican
filmmaker and pilot
Francisco Gutierrez took off
in his ultralight aircraft from
Montreal to follow the mon-
arch butterflies on their
6,000 km migration from
Canada to the mountains of
central Mexico, in a bid to
raise awareness of the
importance of preserving the
butterflies' habitat.
In collaboration with the
Embassy of Mexico, the Can-
ada Aviation and Space
Museum has produced an
exhibition from the material
recorded by Mr. Gutierrez on
his journey aboard the
Papalotzin - the nickname of
his ultralight aircraft, which
means small butterfly in the
Aztec language.
Museum guests are
invited to 'spread their wings
and spread the word' with
our own Monarch Mural and
'selfie' opportunity. By post-
ing their monarch selfie and
the tagging the Museum,
participants will be entered
into a random draw to win a
prize pack with two passes to
the Cambridge Butterfly
Conservatory and a $50 gift
certificate to Boston Pizza.
The draw takes place on
Dec. 1 and details can be
found at brucemuseum.ca/
butterflies.
FOR MOVIE INFORMATION...
www, rnovieIilnks.c.e «,Y dd,..ii co1-800-2 5-3438
Diagram care of Starry Night Education
SUDOKU
THIS WEEK'S PUZZLE SPONSORED BY
Mitchell Twolan,
Broker of Record
Lake Range Realty Ltd. Brokerage
3430 Concession 2, Point Clark Office:519-395-3959
R.R.1 Kincardine, Ontario N2Z 2X3 Toll tLine-519-955-3959
Direct Line: 519-955-0664
www. Iakerangerealty.ca
ANSWER
Z
L
8
5
9
9
9£
3
6
5
L
8
9
17
L
4
9
9
9
b
L£
Z
9
8
7
L
9
8
Z
1
L
9
17
9
9
1
9£
b
3
L
L
Z
5
L
Z
9
L
2
8
8
7
9
6
2
Z
L£
9
5
219L€96
8
7
9
4
3
9
6
6
9
17
L
2
ANSWER
Z
L
8
L
9
6
9£
F
6
E
L
8
9
17
L
Z
9
9
9
b
L£
Z
6
8
L
L
8£
Z
6
L
9
17
9
9
6
9£
b
8
L
L
Z
17
L
Z
9
L
9
8
6£
L
9
6
17
Z
L£
9
8
219L€96
£
3
9
6
8
9
17
L
L
Level: Intermediate
To solve
a Sudoku puzzle, every number
from 1 to 9 must appear in:
• Each of the nine vertical columns
• Each of the nine horizontal rows
• Each of the nine 3 x 3 boxes
• Remember, no number can occur
more than once in any row, column
or box