In 2009 we celebrate 400 years of Galileo's observations, the background theme for the International Year of Astronomy 2009.
One of Galileo's study objects was our star - the Sun, where he observed one of the first know types of solar activity - Sunspots. 400 years have past since Galileo's observations, but there are still a large number of people around the world that think the Sun is just a bright perfect yellow ball.
And this is where you come in!
"Dawn of the IYA2009" is a global, Sun observation campaign, proposed by Centro de Astrofísica da Universidade do Porto (CAUP) and the IYA2009's Solar Physics Group (SPG), which seeks not only to be the global teaser for the IYA2009 (a first calling card), but also to show to a larger, global public, what our star is all about.
For this activity we propose that, starting at local noon, 1st of January 2009, everyone with means to (safely) observe the Sun, gather outside science centers, town halls, shopping centers or simply your own street, and present the Sun and the IYA2009 to the world.
We call all professional and hobby astronomers to participate in what will be the largest Sun observation event in the world. Whether you have a telescope with a solar filter, an H-alpha telescope, a sunspotter or a simple pinhole projection system, you are the one we need.
All registered participants will download a set of instructions on how to safely observe the Sun, a IYA2009 logo to place on their equipment and/or a small poster presenting the IYA2009, which should be present during the activity.
Vesta swims with the Fishes
One of the sky's nicest gifts this month is an easy way to find and track the large asteroid 4 Vesta. This space rock remains within 1 binocular field of the 4th-magnitude star Alpha Piscium, which lies halfway up in the southeastern sky during early evening.
From a suburban backyard, you can spot the 7th-magnitude asteroid without much effort. Apart from Alpha, only three other stars in the area shine brighter than Vesta. From December 7 to 9, Vesta appears near the vertex of an equilateral triangle of these stars, the brightest of which is Alpha itself. Return every couple of evenings and you will notice one of the dots -- Vesta -- has shifted position.
Under a bright urban sky, however, you'll be challenged to spot Alpha with your naked eyes, and Vesta may even be out of binocular range, obscured by the veil of artificial light.
While you're in this area, point your scope to Alpha and crank up the magnification to 120x or more. This star is a binary system whose stars take about 930 years to orbit each other. The primary shines at magnitude 4.2 and the secondary a magnitude fainter. The stars lie 1.8" apart, near the limit of a 3-inch scope for a typical observer.
