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The Family Tree
Thought for the Month The SunTree Traveler
We were hosted at the home of our Elephant Butte members for our 'between the holidays' club event again this year. This is a recovery from Thanksgiving and preparation for Christmas event. This year was a (as usual) fun event with a very good turnout, though most left right after the meal and gift exchange. That is not unexpected since many have lots of holiday plans that they have to prepare for during this time of the year. The weather was fantastic for this event. The weather prognosticators had attempted to scare us into thinking that there would be a combination of Hurricane and Blizzard scheduled for this event, but the sky was the normal deep blue with little wind. Most of us spent Saturday afternoon sitting outside enjoying the company of each other and munching on lots of snacks in order to prepare (and expand) our stomachs for the fantastic potluck meal later.
The "After Holidays" SunTree event in Alamogordo
If you wake up on the first day of the year and wonder why your head is pounding and you are uncomfortably hot, then rest assured that it is not really your fault. On New Year's Day, the Earth will be only 147,100,000 km from the Sun. This is the closest that the Earth ever gets to the Sun (perihelion). This has not happened in centuries (on New Year's day, that is. If you have had those head pounding, overheated feelings in years past, don't blame the Earth's orbit. It must be something else). As we mentioned last month, Saturn is still putting on a great performance this month. It will be bright all month (like last month) but it will reach its brightest on 13 January (wear your protective glasses on that night). If you want to know how to find Saturn, you have to find our old buddies, those wild twin brothers Castor and Pollux Gemini in the east. As I said last year, it is good to find them because they have been hanging out around all of the celestial action for the last few months. This month, I will attempt to give you a guide for finding these guys. As you are eating your evening meal, pick up your bowl of gruel and walk out into your yard (pick the side of the house which is the darkest and find a spot where you can see the eastern sky). Depending upon what time you eat your evening meal, you should see a fairly bright star near the horizon in the southeast. That is Fido the dog star (although, I have heard that some call it Sirius, but who would name a dog Sirius?). If you eat early, the dog will still be in his house, but look just above where he should be and you will see our old friend Orion with his fancy three star belt with the curved sword hanging from it. Orion will be especially easy to find this month. He will be very bright this month (after Sirius rises, that will be the brightest star in the night sky. Don't count the Moon in that census, we will get to the Moon later). The bright star in (near) that belt is Betelgeuse which had a movie named after it a couple of years ago. Keep moving your eyes up the sky to the next bright star. That is the red eye of Tarus (the bull) also known as Aldebaran. You probably will notice a smear of light just above that and recognize it as the "Seven Sisters". Some folks say that they can only see six of them. As for me, all I see is a smear of light. If I look through binoculars or a telescope, I see that there are many more than seven stars in that cloud. The name for them in the astronomy books is the Pleiades. Now, where was I? Oh yes, I was trying to find Pollux and his somewhat dim twin brother Castor. I guess that I passed them when I was looking for those illusive sisters. Sorry. Go back to those two bright stars that I mentioned earlier; the one in Orion (Betelgeuse) and the one in Tarus (Aldebaran). Over toward the left from the two of them (almost due east), you will find the twins. If my absolutely clear and concise directions leave you lost, then I suggest that you wait until 23 January when the Moon will settle in between the two brothers about an hour after sunset. I know, Saturn will be past its brightest by that time, but don't worry, it will still be very bright. On that day Saturn will be just below the moon (and those ski-fanatic brothers). Those of you who are asleep when you normally eat your evening meal can feel good about January anyway. When you are eating your morning porridge about an hour before sunrise, wander out into your east-facing, dark yard and look toward the east. You will find that the remaining bright planets have chosen to exhibit themselves for the "morning people". Venus and Mercury will be very close together 30 to 45 minutes before dawn in an exceptionally long-lived friendship best seen during the first half of the month. Hovering just above them is Mars, not quite as bright as nearby Antares. On the morning of 7 January, (again, about 45 minutes before sunrise) the crescent moon will be just above Antares. The next morning, the moon will be just to the right of the Venus/Mercury ménage. [FYI on 7 & 8 January, the sun should rise around 7:15 AM in Las Cruces. The Sun will rise little earlier the further north that you live, later if you live south of Las Cruces).
© 2004 SunTree Travel Club - Site updated Summer 2008 |
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Between the holidays at Elephant Butte
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