NATURE MONCTON NATURE INFORMATION LINE
Jan 7, 2022 (Friday)
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Edited by:
Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com
**Marco Vachon in Memramcook has a new yard bird visitor this winter, a Red-bellied Woodpecker female has arrived mid-December and she has been coming every day since. Yolande Leblanc was telling Marco that a male Red-Bellied Woodpecker is visiting her feeders, which is 2.05 km in a straight line from his place. Hopefully they meet come spring.
Marco also has a Chipping Sparrow visiting his feeder yard since the end of December coming regularly as well, along with the regular winter birds and a pair of Sharp-shinned Hawks coming almost daily. He got a photo of what he suspects to be the larger female on Thursday.
(Editors note: note Marco’s
interesting photo of the winter nonbreeding Chipping Sparrow’s very different
plumage from summer. Only a trace of dark remains on the upper surface of the
upper mandible and streaked crown instead of chestnut brown of summer. The dark
eyeline that runs through lores to base of the bill in all plumages is
diagnostic for the Chipping Sparrow. The Chipping Sparrow is uncommon at winter
feeders, but when they do appear are very faithful patrons)
**It’s Friday and time to
review what to expect next week’s night sky courtesy of Curt Nason and yes, we
will be up to 8 hours of daylight this coming week and it’s only going to get
better week by week!
This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2022 January 1 – January
8
With Orion’s hourglass figure now above the horizon after sunset, the giant
hunter waits an hour or so for his two dogs to get up before he starts hunting.
The first to greet the night is Canis Minor the Little Dog, a small
constellation highlighted by Procyon, the eighth brightest star. To identify
this star, Orion’s head and shoulders form an arrowhead, with orange Betelgeuse
at the apex, which points toward Procyon. Like Sirius in Canis Major, this star
is bright because it is in our celestial backyard, about 11 light years away.
The name Procyon means “before the dog,” indicating it is a harbinger of Sirius
the Dog Star which rises about 40 minutes later. Ancient Egyptian farmers
watched for the first visible rising of Sirius before sunrise, as experience
had taught them the Nile would soon flood its banks with fertile soil when this
occurred. In mythology the two dogs are sometimes depicted as Laelaps (Canis
Major), an extremely fast dog, and an equally fast fox (Canis Minor). The dog
was sent to hunt the fox but, after a long chase with no apparent end, Zeus
turned them both to stone and placed them in the sky.
I like to look at the dogs and their westerly neighbours, Orion the Hunter and
Lepus the Hare, in a more modern sense. The mighty demigod Orion becomes
everyone’s favourite hunter, Elmer Fudd, with that wascawwy wabbit bugging him
below his feet. The big and little dogs become Spike and Chester, who were also
part of the Looney Tunes gang. Just as Chester would bounce around in front of
his hero, the bulldog Spike, Canis Minor bounces up before Canis Major.
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 8:00 am and sunset will occur at 4:51 pm,
giving 8 hours, 51 minutes of daylight (8:02 am and 4:59 pm in Saint John).
Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 7:57 am and set at 5:00 pm, giving 9 hours,
3 minutes of daylight (7:59 am and 5:07 pm in Saint John).
The Moon is at first quarter on Sunday, giving great views for binocular and
telescope users this weekend and early in the week. Mercury works its way up to
the right of Saturn over the week, dimming to the brightness of the ringed
planet. Jupiter stands out well to their upper left and it is setting before 9
pm. Venus is at inferior conjunction this Saturday, moving quickly into the
morning sky where it rises an hour before sunrise next Saturday. Mars will be
rising an hour before Venus at that time, but the gap closes over the next five
weeks.
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.
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
