2019 MOUNTAINEER SKIES - planetarium.wvu.edu · was set to take off a few months later in July. The spacecraft orbited the moon and returned the crew back to Earth safely. However,

Department of Physics and Astronomy

Magnitude

MOUNTAINEER SKIES

Inside This Issue 1. Coming Soon/In The Sky This Quarter

2. “Snoopy Lost in Space”

3. Planetarium Show Schedule

4. Monthly Sky Chart—July

5. Monthly Sky Chart—August

6. Monthly Sky Chart—September

Coming Soon

On July 20th, the planetarium will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the moon landing! Join us for children’s shows in the morning and then a special showing of the Katherine Johnson film Outlier at 7 PM and Dawn of the Space Age at 8 PM! The planetarium has a new show! On August 16th we will be premiering Dynamic Earth, a film that is intended to get the conversation going about climate change!

Constellation Rise Set Magnitude Mercury Cancer 7:57 AM 10:04 PM 1.3 Venus Taurus 5:07 AM 7:54 PM -3.8 Mars Cancer 7:34 AM 10:05 PM 1.8

Jupiter Ophiuchus 7:02 PM 4:27 AM -2.4 Saturn Sagittarius 9:14 PM 6:41 AM 0.1

In The Sky This Quarter

July 1, 2019

Constellation Rise Set Magnitude Mercury Gemini 5:19 AM 7:21 PM 1.8 Venus Cancer 6:02 AM 8:22 PM -3.8 Mars Leo 7:13 AM 9:03 PM 1.8

Jupiter Ophiuchus 4:50 PM 2:15 AM -2.3 Saturn Sagittarius 7:04 PM 4:28 AM 0.2

August 1, 2019

Constellation Rise Set Magnitude Mercury Leo 6:35 AM 7:49 PM -1.7 Venus Leo 7:14 AM 8:05 PM -3.8 Mars Leo 6:51 AM 7:52 PM 1.7

Jupiter Ophiuchus 2:51 PM 12:15 AM -2.1 Saturn Sagittarius 4:57 AM 2:19 AM 0.3

Volume 19, Issue 3 planetarium.wvu.edu July — August —September 2019

September 1, 2019

*Note: all magnitude values are taken to be a 9:00 PM

Volume 19, Issue 3 Edited by Haley and Bella


Snoopy Lost in Space

In May of 1969, NASA launched the Apollo 10 mission, with lunar module “Snoopy” and command module “Charlie Brown”, as a dress rehearsal for the Apollo 11 mission that was set to take off a few months later in July. The spacecraft orbited the moon and returned the crew back to Earth safely. However, Snoopy would not make it home.

Snoopy was lowered by the crew to about 50,000 feet above the lunar surface to survey the Sea of Tranquility, which would become the site for the infamous moon landing shortly after. Snoopy was divided into two separate pieces after its test flight, and each piece was jettisoned. The descent stage crashed into the moon and the ascent stage, which included the crew’s original cockpit, was marooned into space such that it entered into an orbit around the Sun, making the Apollo 10 module the only U.S. manned spacecraft still in space.

Nick Howes from the Royal Astronomical Society is “98% sure” he and his team of observers have located the lost module. By using online orbital calculators to predict the module’s orbit, the search for Snoopy was launched in 2011.

In January 2018, the Mount Lemmon Sky Survey team picked up a detection that seemed promising. Howes said that it “quickly became obvious that the size and orbit were very much like the calculations we made in 2011 and

2012 for Snoopy.” However, Howes has stated that

there is a small chance this isn’t Snoopy at all. According to Howes, the only way to be certain is to get “really close to it and get a detailed radar profile.” This is a difficult task, as the module is headed away from us and is not due to come back around for another 18 years. In addition, the brightness of the module is too low for a telescope to capture.

If the object in question is later confirmed to be the long lost Snoopy, Howes believes that we should intercept it and image it. Howes and his team believe none other than SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is the person for the task. Though SpaceX is very busy, we can only hope Musk finds time for a side project to bring Snoopy home.

Sources: https://sservi.nasa.gov/articles/astronomers-and-students-look-lost-apollo-10-module/ https://www.geek.com/news/long-lost-apollo-10-lunar-module-may-have-been-found-1791589/ https://gizmodo.com/astronomers-think-they-ve-finally-found-the-lost-lunar-1835422156

Lunar module “Snoopy” during its orbit. Credit: NASA Archives

NASA astronaut Thomas Stafford touches Snoopy’s nose for good luck. Credit: NASA Archives

Edited by Haley and Bella Volume 19, Issue 3


*Note: moon set times can be the next day

July 5th: 7:00 PM: From Earth to the Universe 8:00 PM: Ultimate Universe July 20th: Children’s Day: 11:00 AM: Larry Cat in Space 12:00 PM: Accidental Astronauts 1:00 PM: Earth Moon Sun Moon Landing Anniversary: 7:00 PM: Outlier 8:00 PM: Dawn of the Space Age

August 2nd: 7:00 PM: Tales of the Maya Skies 8:00 PM: Stars of the Pharaohs August 16th: 7:00 PM: Dynamic Earth 8:00 PM: The Dark Matter Mystery August 30th: 6:00 PM: Children’s Show: Secrets of Gravity 7:00 PM: Children’s Show: Earth Moon Sun

September 14th: 2:00 PM: Children’s Show:Two Small Pieces of Glass Fall Family Weekend: September 27th: 6:00 PM: Dynamic Earth 7:00 PM: Dynamic Earth 8:00 PM: Dynamic Earth September 28th: 6:00 PM: Einstein’s Gravity Playlist 7:00 PM: Einstein’s Gravity Playlist 8:00 PM: Einstein’s Gravity Playlist

7:00 PM: Tales of the Maya Skies

For regularly-scheduled evening shows, visit our website http://planetarium.wvu.edu/shows to check show times. If you have a group of 10 or more and would like to make a reservation for a public show, please email us For those who are interested in bringing a group such as schools or scouts, please visit our field trips page on the website and send us an email: http://planetarium.wvu.edu/fieldtrips

Date Sunrise Sunset Moon Rise Moon Set Moon Phase July 4th 5:57 AM 8:50 PM 7:51 AM 10:43 PM Waxing Crescent

July 20th 6:08 AM 8:43 PM 11:10 PM 9:30 AM Waning Gibbous August 18th 6:34 AM 8:11 PM 10:06 PM 9:17 AM Waning Gibbous August 30th 6:45 AM 7:54 PM 6:44 AM 8:29 PM New Moon

September 6th 6:52 AM 7:43 PM 2:57 PM 12:00 AM Waxing Crescent September 15th 7:00 AM 7:28 PM 8:35 PM 8:09 AM Full Moon

September 29th 7:13 AM 7:05 PM 8:03 AM 8:05 PM New Moon

Selected Sunrise/Sunset and Moon Rise/Moon Set Times

Full Moon: New Moon: July 16th, August 15th, September 14th July 2nd, August 1st , August 30th, September 28th

Planetarium Shows ~Admission to all planetarium shows is free~



July 2019 Sky Chart* for:10:00 PM at the beginning of the month

9:00 PM in the middle of the month 8:00 PM at the end of the month

The WVU Planetarium is for the educational benefit of WVU students, staff, and faculty members, as well as the local community. Should you wish to make a contribution to the planetarium, it can be made through the WVU Planetarium Project at the WVU Foundation, Inc., through methods available on our website at http://planetarium.wvu.edu/give. Thank you.

*Sky Chart used with the kind permission of Heavens-Above at http://www.heavens-above.com/



August 2019 Sky Chart* for:10:00 PM at the beginning of the month






Volume 18, Issue 2

Volume 19, Issue 2

September 2019 Sky Chart* for:10:00 PM at the beginning of the month




Volume 19, Issue 2 Edited by Haley and Belinda

Edited by Haley and Belinda Volume 19, Issue 3 Edited by Haley and Bella

Documents

2019 MOUNTAINEER SKIES - planetarium.wvu.edu · was set to take off a few months later in July. The spacecraft orbited the moon and returned the crew back to Earth safely. However,