Document text
0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories App Finder: Best vintage shopping apps The sweet smell of soap-selling success Ashland: Food vendor tax tabled to next meeting Acting without a net Ashland: Police department hires from within to fill slot left vacant by soon-to-be new county sheriff Falls Education In Portland, mindfulness classes ease stress of high school Student beats the odds AHS students form ribbon for AIDS awareness Kiwanis, Lions team up to help Nature Center Teacher's Tips: College not the end-all for every student Environment ‘Tis the season — for wild mushrooms Don't like weather where you are? Move a mile or two Salmon: A force of nature can be restored Students nurturing nature SOU eyes burning biomass instead of gas Business The sweet smell of soap-selling success Ashland: Food vendor tax tabled to next meeting The Haven Ride & Drive: Ford Transit Ride & Drive: Canyon 2015 GMC Politics and elections Kent Bush: First Amendment doesn’t mean what you think it means Miller write-in campaign lands Ashland Parks and Rec seat Granlund cartoon: GOP wrecking balls State News In Portland, mindfulness classes ease stress of high school GMO label measure, losing by 809 votes, headed for recount Resent ballots, late results likely to trigger GMO recount Nation - World Grand jury won't indict Ferguson cop in shooting Obituaries Marie B. (Aiken) Stella Demo Death Notices Cynthia �Cyna� Ann Death Notices Sports Latest Stories Ashland: Police department hires from within to fill slot left vacant by soon-to-be new county sheriff Falls Oregon State's Mike Riley leaves for Huskers SOU volleyball team's season ends with loss to Vanguard at nationals Raiders brace for dangerous Saint Xavier pass rush It all comes down to this for Ducks and rest of Pac-12 High school SOU volleyball team's season ends with loss to Vanguard at nationals Southern Oregon roughed up by defending champs Six Grizzlies voted MWL first-teamers Grizzlies roughed up at Silverton Upset-minded Grizzlies brace for undefeated Foxes Southern Oregon University Oregon State's Mike Riley leaves for Huskers SOU volleyball team's season ends with loss to Vanguard at nationals Raiders brace for dangerous Saint Xavier pass rush It all comes down to this for Ducks and rest of Pac-12 Southern Oregon roughed up by defending champs Opinion Latest Stories Our View: Celebrating more students Guest Opinion: Ashland feeds them, we deal with them Letters to the Editor, Dec. 5 Granlund cartoon: Justice and Eric Garner Kent Bush: Do you want fries with that sermon? Editorial Our View: Celebrating more students Our View: A morning well spent Other Views: Tax reform won't be easy Our View: Give market vendors a break Our View: Gray, Black and Cyber Letters Letters to the Editor, Dec. 5 Letters to the Editor, Dec. 4 Letters to the Editor, Dec. 3 Letters to the Editor, Dec. 2 Letters to the Editor, Nov. 28 Guest opinions Guest Opinion: Ashland feeds them, we deal with them Guest Opinion: It's time to put a price on carbon Guest Opinion: The Keystone XL pipeline — a quixotic objection Herb Rothschild Jr.: Congress won't stand up Herb Rothschild Jr.: Greed, love and the Shmoo Revels Latest Stories 4 Things to do this Weekend At the movies SOU presents all-percussion concert Best Bets: Dec. 4-11 Ashland's First Friday Art Walk showcases new exhiits by regional artists Theater Meet the real Jacob Marley New design for Bricks takes shape Hard to keep a straight face with 'Red Noses' 'Red Noses' is a romp through slapstick and pathos 'The Drunken City': Bachelorettes meet bar-crawlers Music Peter Chianca: Top 40 songs even a dad could love The Farr Side: Different artists, common songs Longtime area musician Steve Read, 64, dies The Farr Side: CMA telecast was a disappointment Visual Art Ashland's First Friday Art Walk showcases new exhibits by regional artists Movies At the movies Interview: Benedict Cumberbatch on playing ‘The Imitation Game’ Interview: Reese Witherspoon experiences life in 'The Wild' Listings for Varsity Theatre and Ashland Street Cinemas 'Citizenfour' is a matter-of-fact bore Food and Drink Blue bows out of Granite Street site, Agave moving in Chef count up at feast for the senses Cruelest Month: Poetry Blog Lifestyle Latest Stories Looking Up: The Man in the Moon looks your way Acting without a net Kent Bush: Do you want fries with that sermon? In Good Faith: Advent explosion Dr. Murray Feingold: Say it like you mean it Aging Happens Inner Peace Column Inner Peace Blog Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » Obituaries Photos Videos Blogs NEWS NOW Our View: Celebrating more students ... Ashland Calendar ... Guest Opinion: Ashland feeds them, we deal with them ... Our View: Celebrating more students ... Ashland Calendar ... Guest Opinion: Ashland feeds them, we deal with them ... Looking Up: Looking for the Double Cluster By Peter Becker More Content Now DailyTidings.com By Peter Becker More Content Now Posted Nov. 21, 2014 @ 9:47 am By Peter Becker More Content Now Posted Nov. 21, 2014 @ 9:47 am » Social News This is a great time to see the Double Cluster. It is near the marvelous “M” shape of Cassiopeia in the northern sky and can be seen with just your eyes. If the sky is sufficiently free of light pollution and there is no moon, you should be able to see a “fuzzy patch.” Whether you find it or not with eyes alone, grab a pair of binoculars and have a look. Remarkable about the stars of the Double Cluster is not their brilliance to unaided eyes but their unusual pairing, appearing like nearly identical twins next to one another. Binoculars will show them plainly, as a pair of compact bursts of stars. A small telescope at low magnification offers a stunning view. The stars will appear brighter and you will see more of them. With a telescope, you can closely inspect and count the cluster stars, enjoy tracing their patterns and look for colors (a few of the faint stars are red). Higher magnification may show one cluster at a time; a slight nudge will take your telescope to the other cluster. The two star clusters are approximately 7,500 light years away (one is 7,600 and the other 6,800); that's how many years it takes for their light to reach us traveling in excess of 186,000 miles a second. (The Pleiades are only about 450 light years away.) These clusters are within the bounds of the constellation Perseus, an ancient Greek folk hero situated between the constellation Andromeda, Perseus’ mythological lover, and the constellation Cassiopeia, representing Andromeda's royal mother. The Double Cluster, to the Greeks, represents the jeweled handle of Perseus’s sword. Observed from antiquity as a curious patch of light, its true nature as a double assembly of stars was not revealed until William Herschel first examined it with a telescope in the early 19th century. To find the Double Cluster, first locate Cassiopeia. The five brightest stars form an unmistakable "M" which appears to be tipping, balancing on one end, at around 8 p.m. in mid-November. Binoculars will help you find the Double Cluster as you slowly scan to the right of the lower portion of the "M." The clusters are only a little farther from the "M" as it is between any of two stars marking the four "legs" of Cassiopeia's "M." Star clusters abound in the galaxy. A small telescope will help you locate scores of them along the star-studded Milky Way band. No optical aid is needed at all to see the beautiful Pleiades star cluster, its six or seven brightest stars easily seen, compacted close together. The Pleiades may be seen high in the east on autumn evenings. Lower left of the Pleiades is an even larger but dimmer star, the Hyades. This group traces a "V" shape but on its side when seen in the east. Astronomers list the two members of the Double Cluster as NGC 884 and NGC 869. The New General Catalog, one of several databases, identifies and locates thousands of star clusters, galaxies and nebulous patches found among the constellations. There ought to be a common name for the Double Cluster. After all, we don't call the Pleiades “Cluster” or “Single Cluster”! Maybe you would like to think of a name and share it with me. Your suggestions may be included in the next column; who knows, one may catch on! Send your suggestion to [email protected]. Let me know if you've seen the Double Cluster and what you thought! New moon is on November 22. Keep looking up! By Peter Becker More Content Now DailyTidings.com By Peter Becker More Content Now Posted Nov. 21, 2014 @ 9:47 am » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with DailyTidings.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Alerts Email alerts RSS feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2014 Local Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Local Media Group Publications Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted. DailyTidings.com | P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501