It won’t be long after the start of a new year when astronomy buffs can enjoy the first of a few special events that will take place in the sky.
In the early morning hours of Saturday, January 4, the Quadrantid meteors may be seen in the northeastern sky. The radiant, or general point of origin from where most of the meteors will fall, is near the handle of the Big Dipper. This annual meteor shower has been known to produce up to 100 meteors per hour, but viewers are more likely to catch 15 to 25 per hour. The Quadrantid peak is limited, only an estimated six hours before and after its maximum.
There are several celestial events that will be viewable from Western New York in 2020. Some may be seen from the naked eye but others, including a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in December, will be better enjoyed with a telescope. CREDIT MICHAEL MROZIAK, WBFO
Two more meteor showers known for their frequency will return in the second half of the year, with the Perseids peaking around August 12 and the Geminids peaking between December 13 and 14.
In March, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn may be seen in the eastern sky, not long before sunrise.
“They’ll all be clustered in the east-southeast,” said Tim Collins, observatory astronomer at the Buffalo Museum of Science, who told WBFO this grouping will begin around St. Patrick’s Day. “It would help to have a clear horizon to see it, but on (March) 18 the waning crescent Moon is going to join the pack and you’ll have four objects just sitting right there for you to stare at.”
A “supermoon,” when the Moon will be at its closest point to the Earth, will occur April 7. While the variation of the Moon’s distance won’t seem as apparent to most viewers, Earth’s natural satellite will be at a perigee distance of 221,772 miles.
Mars will again offer a treat to sky watchers in October, when it reaches opposition to the Sun on the 13th of that month. It will be viewable from dusk to dawn and at a magnitude rivaling Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, and planet Jupiter.
With larger telescopes, such as the Lundin telescope at the Buffalo Museum of Science’s Kellogg Observatory, one may be able to see some Martian surface features. Collins is hopeful the weather, both on Earth and on Mars, will be cooperative this time.
“The last time this happened, about two years back, we ran into a global dust storm on Mars and it blocked all the surface features,” he said. “Hopefully we don’t have that happen again, and we’ll be able to identify polar ice caps, maybe some of the features like the Valles Marineris as well.”
One of the most special events viewable from Western New York will occur shortly after sundown on December 21. Jupiter and Saturn will slowly appear to close in on each other during evenings throughout the autumn but on the first day of winter, they’ll be at their closest from Earth’s vantage point. They’ll be within one degree.
“For those not familiar with what one degree of separation really means, it’s a fancy way of saying it’s going to fit in the same field of view in a 40-millimeter eyepiece on your telescope,” Collins said. “You can actually look into a telescope and see two planets at the same time.”
Collins added if you can get your hands on a larger telescope, you’ll be able to view not only Jupiter’s Galilean moons but also some of Saturn’s larger moons, and they will appear as though it will be hard to tell which moon belongs to which planet.
There are some other sky events happening in 2020 but to see those, you’ll need to travel. On February 18, Mars will pass behind the Moon but you’ll need to be in the western half of North America, where it will be seen shortly before sunrise.
If you’ve got some vacation time and some money to spend, there’s an annular solar eclipse happening on June 21 that can be viewed in parts of Africa, Arabia, southern Asia and the southwestern Pacific. The moon will pass in front of the sun but will be too far from Earth to cover the sun entirely. What you’ll get is what looks like a brilliant ring.
A second solar eclipse, this one a total eclipse, will occur December 14 but will only be seen in the lower two-thirds of South America and a very limited portion of southwest Africa.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
