Each month, GuelphToday will share a Star Gazing Guide presented and organized by The Great Orbax, a science communicator from the University of Guelph's Department of Physics and local science education advocate.
Greetings Star Gazers!
Orbax here.
I’m a Science Communicator from the Department of Physics at the University of Guelph and I’m here to
fill you in on what our May night skies hold for the Astro-curious out there, young and old.
April 8 was the celestial event of the year. The solar eclipse was omnipresent in our media. While many in our community drove the few short kilometres to regions of totality, the Department of Physics was able to facilitate a safe viewing experience on campus for the 150 astro-curious who joined us in our observatory and the 2,500 who joined our team of volunteers and their solar filtered telescopes and eclipse viewers on Johnston Green.
Now while the hype surrounding the eclipse has died down there are still exciting things happening in our sky this month! Most notably on the evening of May 6 into the morning of May 7 our sky will host the Eta Aquariids meteor shower as the Earth moves into a region of space dust left by Halley’s Comet nearly 200 years ago. Details about this and other May astronomy events can be found in this month’s video Star Gazing Guide.
This month’s guide also takes a deep dive into a curious phenomenon known as the aurora borealis. You may remember news reports last year about the aurora being visible in the Guelph-Waterloo region. This rare event is due to the fact that we’re approaching what’s known as a solar maximum. The aurora borealis is caused by ejected charged particles from the sun that get deflected by Earth’s magnetic field and are then deposited at the north and south magnetic poles. These charged particles (electrons, protons, alpha particles) interact with the gases in our atmosphere and exchange energy which we see in the form of light, mainly green light due to low altitude oxygen. Now, as I mentioned, a solar maximum will be occurring over the next few years meaning that the amount, and frequency, of these particles (known collectively as solar wind) will be increasing along with it. This could result in more and further reaching auroras than we’ve seen in over a decade.
If you’re an aurora chaser, or just want to learn more, check out the Space Weather Prediction Center of America’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. They have the most accurate aurora tracker on the internet that I’ve been able to find.
The only caveat is that it’s actually SO accurate that they can give you a prediction to within a few minutes but only a couple days in advance, so check often!
I hope you enjoy this month’s Star Gazing Guide. If you want to learn more, check out the May Star Gazing Guide video on the Guelph Physics YouTube channel. Not only is star gazing a great way to learn about space, planets and the stars but it’s also a great way to spend time with other curious minds.
Until next month I wish you clear skies and I hope you take some time… to look up.
