Nature Moncton Nature News: Nov 11 2022

NATURE MONCTON NATURE NEWS

November 10, 2022

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Edited by Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com

**Heads up on the Nature Moncton field trip scheduled for this Saturday. It is definitely postponed for the moment with a decision of the Activities Committee to be announced on the Saturday Nature News edition if Sunday’s weather forecast permits it as a go then. Stay tuned!

All details will be repeated Saturday if weather permits it to go ahead on Sunday.

**John Inman had a visit to his yard by a Yellow-breasted Chat on Friday.

John was able to get a documentary photo through a window, but the bird was very skulky and secretive in true, Yellow-breasted Chat style.

**Nelson Poirier and his dog Sadie were travelling between Borden and Charlottetown, PEI Wednesday when Sadie chose the right spot at the right time to have a pee break on a dirt side road. Sadie flushed a Gray Partridge that flew to a nearby grass field. The bird sank into the grass just barely showing its head. The scenario that followed was very interesting.

It very slowly raised up to become erect and get a good look at its admirers constantly flicking its tailfeathers.

The Grey Partridge was introduced into the Maritimes many years ago. The New Brunswick population is thought to be extirpated with only a few remnant sites known in Nova Scotia. The PEI population has done better but not commonly encountered. We considered ourselves very fortunate to have a pleasant 5-minute audience with this special bird. They are approximately 5 in. smaller than a Ruffed Grouse.

**It’s Friday and time to get a preview of next week’s night sky courtesy of sky guru Curt Nason. Nicole may prevent us from seeing it for a few nights which will make the calm after the storm all the more rewarding!

This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2022 November 12 – November 19
Orion can be seen getting out of bed around 8 pm now, preparing for a night of hunting. Being a giant and very old, it takes an hour and a half for his hourglass shape to clear the horizon. He rises on his side and stands upright when he is in the south. The celestial equator, an imaginary line in the sky directly above our equator, runs very near Mintaka, the star at the right of Orion’s Belt. Therefore, Mintaka rises due east. Notice how huge Orion appears as he rises, bigger than he appears a few hours later in the southeast. This is the same optical illusion that makes the Moon appear larger when it is rising or setting. The twins Castor and Pollux of the constellation Gemini rise on their side at the same time as Orion, just to his left.

If you are into genealogy, Orion, as a son of Poseidon, was a cousin to Pollux, a son of Zeus. Castor had the same mother as Pollux but a mortal father, King Tyndareus of Sparta. Even stranger, Perseus was the great-grandfather of his half-brother Heracles (Hercules to the Romans); thanks, twice again, to randy old Zeus. Genealogy is more complicated when immortals are involved.

This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 7:15 am and sunset will occur at 4:50 pm, giving 9 hours, 35 minutes of daylight (7:18 am and 4:57 pm in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 7:25 am and set at 4:43 pm, giving 9 hours, 18 minutes of daylight (7:28 am and 4:50 pm in Saint John).

The Moon is near Pollux, the brighter of the Twin stars in Gemini, on Sunday evening, and it is at third quarter on Wednesday. Saturn sets around 10:45 this week so it is at its best to observe in early evening. During the 20-minute span before midnight Wednesday evening telescope users might see Jupiter’s moons Europa and Ganymede on opposite sides of the atmosphere, with Europa’s shadow entering before Ganymede and Io emerging from the planet’s shadow on that same side. Mars forms a red triangle with similarly-coloured stars Betelgeuse in Orion and Aldebaran in Taurus. The North Taurid meteor shower peaks this weekend and the Leonids peak over Thursday evening into Friday morning. Both showers are expected to be minor, but some astronomers predict a brief Leonid outburst around 2 am next Saturday as Earth passes through denser debris from the 1733 passage of the shower’s parent comet.

On Sunday evening at 8 pm, tune in to the Sunday Night Astronomy Show via the Facebook page or YouTube channel of Astronomy by the Bay.

Questions? Contact Curt Nason at nasonc@nbnet.nb.ca