Annnd just like that, it’s Friday again!
We’ve got storm reporting, an observation of Jupiter, and Beethoven. And, dig the voiceover feature. Let’s see if this works…
The wind is in the East, and that’s not just an obscure reference to Bleak House. Hurricane Ian is sending advance greetings, and a steady headwind slowed the morning jog.
A few crows cawed, a low gray sky closed in over long mountain, and a woodpecker, attempting to fly east, gave it the ol’ college try, and then decided that westbound was nice, too.
A piece of siding has already blown off (and been reattached), and my thoughts are with the struggling folks in harm’s way.
News reports aside, you could read it in the stars that there was something big on the way. But before I get to that, here’s a quick story.
Press Passes
Forget a key to the city - a press pass is where it’s at. I’m on assignment for Astronomy magazine to write an online piece about the new Webb telescope sonifications (conversions of images into sound.) Wednesday found me on a call with Christine Malec, a consultant for the project. Her role is to make sure the pieces make sense to her fellow blind and low-vision astronomy buffs. She provided all sorts of fascinating quotes, but…stay tuned for the article, out in a few weeks.
The call also resulted in a new idea: what about harnessing the backyard astronomy community’s observations to present to the blind community?
The Internet is choked with reports of minor wonders. Each clear night, a small army of amateur astronomers turn their telescopes skywards, and share bland reports with each other. (I’m guilty as charged when it comes to making the sky boring in an email report.)
Then, on the other side, there’s enthusiasts like Christine, who would love to hear a detailed description, but perhaps didn’t even know this “small army of telescope nerds” exists. (I use the term endearingly. Put the light sabers down, fellas.)
So, I’m going to see about connecting everyone. If you’re reading this and would like to be involved, please let me know.
In particular, readers and observers are needed.
How To
I asked her how to best do this. She told me that first, “alt-text” (descriptions of a photo) should be clear, simple, and composed of short sentences. This is important if people are using a screen reader. The timing and delivery counts. A period adds a pause to the audio, and is especially helpful if the subject is complicated.
Oral speech is different than the written word. It’s more linear, while writing lets the reader circle back easier. I’m guessing the experience of a screen reader is like this (although please correct me if I’m wrong.)
Then, make sure the access to the truth is there. (My phrase.) “Editorializing” is fine, as long as it’s presented as a compliment to the facts of the matter. Is the star a white dot on a black background? Say that. Don’t start with “a handful of diamonds was scattered across the heavens, as if God was Marie Antoinette. ‘Let them buy telescopes!”
“Oh, I get it! I hate it when people tell me what to think!” I told her.
I’ll attempt to log an observation of Jupiter at opposition below. Let’s see how this goes.
Jupiter at Opposition - Wednesday evening, September 28th, 2022
Factual description:
The evening sky was partially cloudy. Jupiter still shone through a slight haze with a bright and steady light. It was at Opposition. This is when the Earth is directly between Jupiter and the Sun, and ideal for observation. Jupiter is also close it’s perihelion, the closest point to Earth. Right now, it’s “only” 367 million miles away.
This doesn’t mean that Jupiter is as big as the moon or anything like that. Astronomers are a sentimental bunch, and like to remind everyone that it’s the closest opposition since 1963, and won’t happen again until 2129.
However, for the average person, it looks only slightly brighter than normal, a remarkable star, but no cause for alarm.
I set my telescope up in the driveway, and excitedly aimed. On a good night, I can see Jupiter as a slightly oblate disc (saggy circle). Depending on the telescope and the magnification, it looks about the size of a pea. It’s slightly off-white, and has two brownish stripes running across it in parallel, like a double belt. These are the main cloud bands. Occasionally, one of the bands is slightly interrupted by pale red dot. It’s like it has a skin condition! Ha! That’s the Great Red Spot, a giant hurricane that could swallow two Earths, and come back for more.
Now, tonight happened to be a bad night. Hurricane Ian, hundreds of miles south, was making the air turbulent. Planetary observing depends on the air being steady. This is called good seeing. If it’s windy on the ground, chances are the seeing is bad. Even high-altitude winds mess things up. I was looking at Jupiter the other night, and a plane flew directly in front of it. The exhaust from the jets scrambled things for a minute.
Back to tonight: I’ve never seen the air so unsteady. Jupiter looked like it was under running water. I couldn’t even seen it’s belts. It was a white, boiling blob. The four largest moons were there, looking like shaky stars.
Turning the telescope towards a star cluster in the constellation Perseus, I was amazed to see the normally steady stars trembling ever so slightly, too. The whole sky was unsettled. The engine of the unseen storm hundreds of miles away was making things boil.
Although I would have loved a night of good seeing, and catching glimpses of cloud detail on Jupiter, this was cool, too. Something was up!
And a quick bit of editorializing: The mighty Jupiter glared down at the feeble Earthlings. His light was turbulent, distorted as though viewed through the diesel exhaust of a chaotic dynamo.
(Perhaps I should take to writing emo songs.)
Treasures of Earth
It seems like Friday is an excellent day to feature an observation, and it fits in with the existing theme of Treasures of Earth. In light of the storm, Jupiter’s opposition, and mighty things, here’s Beethoven’s 5th Symphony. Note the knocking of Fate in the opening. Knock knock knock KNOCK.
Herbert Von Karijan leads the Berlin Philharmonic in Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony no. 5 in C minor, op. 67. Crank it UP!
Josh