NATURE
MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, March 27, 2020 (Friday)
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For more information on Nature Moncton, check into the website at www.naturemoncton.com
For more information on Nature Moncton, check into the website at www.naturemoncton.com
Transcript by: Louise Nichols nicholsl@eastlink.ca
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** It’s great to welcome the EASTERN CHIPMUNKS [Suisse]
back from their underground winter burrows. Brian Stone had one enjoying sunflower chips
on his deck on Thursday. The Chipmunk is
a solitary animal except at breeding time which will take place in April with
litters born underground in May. Usually
two litters are produced per season.
** It’s a very slow day today with many of us
isolating. So it may be a good day to
take a look at what many of us looked like 22 years ago, on Feb. 14th
1998. On that date, there was a potluck
supper and get-together in celebration of 36 years of the anniversary of the
then called Moncton Naturalists’ Club.
There were many folk there and it turned out to be a major surprise to
only one person in the room as per the sheer guile of the organizers and secret
protected by the shenanigans of Chris Antle and Pat Poirier. It turned out to be a surprise roast of a
Moncton Naturalists’ Club member. It
turned out to be a very lively evening and most of it was taped on the then
state-of-the-art VHS video recorder by Clark Davis. The Nature Moncton Webmaster, Brian Stone,
has taken what he could of that now very outdated VHS tape and placed it on the
Nature Moncton website dropbox in 4 sections.
Some may want to join in on the laughter of the evening in the segmented
video with audio sometimes failing after 32 years on equipment that can’t even
be purchased today. Remember that this
is 32 years ago, and many of us have changed ‘slightly’, and some of the folks
in the video are no longer with us. But
this is a chance to fondly remember them.
The 4 sections run approximately one and a half hours in total. For those interested in checking into events
22 years ago, click on the links attached below that Brian Stone has put
together. For some, it is sure to be a
trip down memory lane on a day we may have a bit of extra time on our
hands. The 4 separate links of different
portions of the night are attached below.
** It’s Friday and this week’s Sky-at-a-Glance is
included, courtesy of sky-guru Curt Nason.
This
Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2020 March 28 – April 4
I regard Leo the Lion is as the signature constellation of spring, and it is not difficult to picture a lion in its distinctive pair of asterisms. A backwards question mark or a sickle represents its chest and mane, anchored by the bright star Regulus at its heart. To the east a triangle of stars forms the back leg and tail. Originally, a faint naked-eye cluster of stars represented a tuft at the end of the tail, but that now makes the tresses of Coma Berenices.
In mythology, the lion was a vicious creature that resided in the mountains of Nemea. Its hide was impenetrable to spears or arrows; the only thing sharp enough to penetrate the lion’s hide was its claws. The first of Hercules’s twelve labours was to kill this creature, which the legendary strongman did by strangulation. He then used the claws to cut off the lion’s hide for use as a shield. A friend of mine sees this constellation as a mouse, with the triangle as its head and the sickle as its tail. However, legends are not made by having a muscular demigod battle a mouse.
Amateur astronomers often point their telescopes at Leo for two trios of galaxies; one under the belly and the other by the back leg. Each trio can fit within the view through a wide-field eyepiece. Five of the six galaxies are Messier objects.
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 7:05 am and sunset will occur at 7:43 pm, giving 12 hours, 38 minutes of daylight (7:11 am and 7:47 pm in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 6:52 am and set at 7:52 pm, giving 13 hours of daylight (6:58 am and 7:56 pm in Saint John).
The crescent Moon is near Venus this Saturday and it is at first quarter phase on Wednesday. On Thursday evening the Moon approaches the Beehive star cluster. The highlight this week will be watching Venus approach the Pleiades, a star cluster we also call the Seven Sisters. They are a binocular view apart this weekend, with Venus passing in front of the cluster late in the week. Morning people can watch Mars slide below Saturn over the week, with bright Jupiter nearby to their upper right. Mercury rises about 40 minutes before sunrise and it can be seen with luck and some difficulty in binoculars.
All local public astronomy events are cancelled. However, you can catch the local Sunday Night Astronomy Show on YouTube at 9 pm this weekend, and watch previous shows, by going to:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAEHfOWyL-kNH7dBVHK8spg
Questions? Contact Curt Nason at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.
I regard Leo the Lion is as the signature constellation of spring, and it is not difficult to picture a lion in its distinctive pair of asterisms. A backwards question mark or a sickle represents its chest and mane, anchored by the bright star Regulus at its heart. To the east a triangle of stars forms the back leg and tail. Originally, a faint naked-eye cluster of stars represented a tuft at the end of the tail, but that now makes the tresses of Coma Berenices.
In mythology, the lion was a vicious creature that resided in the mountains of Nemea. Its hide was impenetrable to spears or arrows; the only thing sharp enough to penetrate the lion’s hide was its claws. The first of Hercules’s twelve labours was to kill this creature, which the legendary strongman did by strangulation. He then used the claws to cut off the lion’s hide for use as a shield. A friend of mine sees this constellation as a mouse, with the triangle as its head and the sickle as its tail. However, legends are not made by having a muscular demigod battle a mouse.
Amateur astronomers often point their telescopes at Leo for two trios of galaxies; one under the belly and the other by the back leg. Each trio can fit within the view through a wide-field eyepiece. Five of the six galaxies are Messier objects.
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 7:05 am and sunset will occur at 7:43 pm, giving 12 hours, 38 minutes of daylight (7:11 am and 7:47 pm in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 6:52 am and set at 7:52 pm, giving 13 hours of daylight (6:58 am and 7:56 pm in Saint John).
The crescent Moon is near Venus this Saturday and it is at first quarter phase on Wednesday. On Thursday evening the Moon approaches the Beehive star cluster. The highlight this week will be watching Venus approach the Pleiades, a star cluster we also call the Seven Sisters. They are a binocular view apart this weekend, with Venus passing in front of the cluster late in the week. Morning people can watch Mars slide below Saturn over the week, with bright Jupiter nearby to their upper right. Mercury rises about 40 minutes before sunrise and it can be seen with luck and some difficulty in binoculars.
All local public astronomy events are cancelled. However, you can catch the local Sunday Night Astronomy Show on YouTube at 9 pm this weekend, and watch previous shows, by going to:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAEHfOWyL-kNH7dBVHK8spg
Questions? Contact Curt Nason at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca.
nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com
Nelson Poirier,
Nature Moncton
EASTERN CHIPMUNK. MAR. 26, 2020.. BRIAN STONE
Leo_2018
