Florida Atlantic University Astronomical Observatory

This is a very sad loss for me. I have used his most excellent star charts for years. Because the Earth's spin axis precesses over time, it causes our measurements of the stars' positions in the sky to shift. His charts can be used forwards for a while, but they will slowly become more and more out of date. I had already been looking forward to the next chart epoch publications of Uranometria 2050.0, but now?!?

Hopefully he has a protege that can pickup his work and carry it on.

Wil Tirion, 1943–2024 Dutch astrocartographer Wil Tirion will be remembered as the creator of the most beautiful star maps and atlases of our time.

2 things to tell about.
1.) The expected nova flash from T Corona Borealis has not arrived yet. The low pressure system off the coast of Florida right now is making the skies here overcast, so I'm unable to make any current observations of the system.

2.) The University seeks to improve security in its computer networks, so it now requires our webpages to be ported over into its standardized format. Some of my former pages have not transferred, I have lost some of my informational services and no longer have direct edit capabilities to the pages. Instead I have to "open tickets" with others to get them updated. I will continue to work to get what I can back and organize better, but must apologize for absence/loss of them. Note, this means that our web address has now changed to:

www.physics.fau.edu/observatory/

Clear, dark, starry night skies to you!

Astronomical Observatory - Home : Florida Atlantic University - Charles E. Schmidt College of Science Astronomical Observatory - Home

The June 26th Update: Well, to put it in a "badly Spanish and punny way": "La Nova es quedo un no va."

So, "the nova is still a no go", hasn't appeared yet, and the weather is making its search dicey. But when the clouds do move away, it's quite noticeable how clear the constellation is right above. My next goal is to get some pictures of the area, before it's flash arrives, to set up a before shot and be able to show the difference of when it does come. Just need the weather to help out with this. Stay tuned!

The Juneteenth Update: I wish all a Happy and safe Juneteenth!

The nova flash from T has still not arrived. I am still going out looking for it. There were a few nights of fully overcast weather during last week. Though lately, the clouds simply required more patience to wait for openings in them to reveal the absence of T. Its constellation now is nearly overhead at 10 pm. The amount of time that it is taking, means that it will appear further and further to the west when it does happen. Too much in that direction, could prevent us from seeing it in Observatory's main telescope. If that does become the case, then we would set something up outside with more mobile telescopes to view what we can of it.

The June 12th Update: Still no T. The weather has been irregular, requiring multiple checks on when to look for it every night. BUT NOW with this shift in the jet stream that is pulling in a lot of moisture from the Caribbean and the Gulf, we'll be clouded and rained out, practically for the remainder of the week and into next. Note that when T does go off, we'll only get about a week to actually see it. And then it will be finished for another 78 years. Hence, we could actually miss it!

So now I find myself hoping that T stays dormant a little while longer. But such hoping is really a silly thing, like "wishing on a star". After all, the stars are very far away. So that by the time your "wish" reaches the star, assuming it too travels at the speed of light, the Earth will have changed its position so much, that there is little likelihood that the star's "return granting of the wish" will be received correctly. So, if you are one who hopes that "stellar wishes" do work, then you'll have better luck to do so with the Sun, which is a poorly neglected entity for wish granting (so it has very little wish traffic to deal with) and is only 8.3 light minutes away!

The June 6th Update: T has not shown up. This past week, the Moon had been a waning crescent, and appeared ever dimmer and later after midnight. While a few overcast nights required using a timer to wake up and check on T, they were not too many. The other nights had clear enough skies to easily check on it. As it is later in the year, the Corona Borealis constellation is appearing higher in the sky. We now see it through less atmosphere, so its been clearer and more complete than I had seen it this year, even without optical aid, which was very nice.

If you have not looked for it, do so now. The constellation is easier to see and the Moon is new on the 6th, so it won't hinder your view much for the next week. To find the Corona, print out that image of the constellation's general region from the Observatory's webpage. After dark, go out with a red flashlight (red LED lights work best) to look at the page without damaging your night vision and try get away from any artificial lights as best you can. Find the Big Dipper in the sky and recall how the end stars in its "pot" point to the North Star, so you know which way north is. Follow the arc in the Dipper's handle to the bright orange star Arcturus, that's in the image. Hold the page above your head, oriented to match north and with its Arcturus appearing at the star's position. Arcturus is nearly overhead by 9 pm, and the Corona will reach the meridian at midnight. Then you can learn the Corona without T. So when it finally appears, you'll know it and can say to friends that's a new star in the sky!

The May 31st Update: Well, it seems that the April and May expected prediction for T CrB's nova flash was a washout. It has still not appeared. The weather has been quite uncooperative, especially as the nights had started. So that, in order to check on the system, I had been setting timers to wake me up after the expected clearing of the sky, which normally occurred after midnight. For the last three nights, I needed to wake up at 2, 3:30 and 1:30 am to do so. It is rather tiring, but what is nice is that when I am able to see the corona constellation, it appears high overhead and is clearly brighter, with its stars seemingly crisper than when it is lower near the horizon. We look at it through much less atmosphere then, so there is less blurring effects from the ever dynamic air upon its view. Newer projections have promised a certainty of the nova flash happening, by at least the end of the year.

I am very much hoping that when the nova flash does appear, that the weather will be clear in the early evening, so that people can come and see it. For we all know here in South Florida, that a new hurricane season is just starting tomorrow. As such, do consider what preparations that you need to do, such as trimming back tree branches that threaten your homes or making big purchases that you can put away for later. For the projections of this season promises to be one of the most active that we have ever seen.

The May 24th Update: So far, T CrB's nova flash is still a no show. This update is later than I would normally do, as I have needed to focus on my family's needs and took some time off to do so. The weather had been cloudy & somewhat rainy. So, waiting out the clouds to check on T, means that I am looking at it later & later in the night, and so its getting higher & higher in the sky then. And so the whole Corona constellation has been appearing brighter & crisper, though only its brightest star, Alphecca, is visible to my naked eye where I live. Corona Borealis is an example constellation that is being entirely erased from our skies by our artificial light pollution. Another is Hercules the hero and almost all of Bootes, too. Arcturus is the brightest star in the northern hemisphere & 4th brightest of any that we see, is still quite apparent, so its not endanger of being blurred away by our luminous fog of artificial light. But is by its location in a constellation that helps one recognize what star it is. Our artificial light has a profound effect on the nighttime environment, especially for half of all animals that start their daily existence at sunset, such as insects. For example, those who always live in a suburban bubble of artificial lights at night, try to recall when was the last time you actually had to scrap dead insects off of your car's windshield? Then head over to our page on Light Pollution vs Insects to understand better the vacuum cleaner effects of lights & realize that insects are the bottom level of a protein food pyramid that feeds so many other species of animals, which they in turn feed us. Rachel Carson once warned us about the dangers of DDT sprayings against mosquitos and how such chemical poisonings get concentrated back up the food chain to causing problems for top animal species that could lead to a silent spring. Know that there is more than 1 path to such a dismal end.

Dark nights are natural. Enjoy it.

The May 13th Update: Yes, we still are seeking the nova flash from T. The observer's reports from the AASVO show a variety of measured values of its brightness. Which could be due to differences in their locations' backgrounds, the observers's capabilities or their methods. While that may sound like a flaw in the data sets, it isn't really, as long as each observer stays consistent to their own methods of measurement. Then, changes in the light levels of white dwarf source, should be measured by each observer in their same way. And that is what the reports show. They all noisily show oscillations in the brightness of the white dwarf/red giant system that is a little bit shorter to the expected orbital period (from their current data, I'm reading the system orbits at 218 days compared to 227.8 days from a year 2000 report), and they are all in phase with each other. In that the peaks of the oscillations in each data set, are all occuring at the same time. That's good. Some sets show a decline in its overall brightness, others do not, but nothing too majorly different.

Lately, the weather is becoming a bit more cloudy here in South Florida, but it hasn't really been raining. It has been dry as the plants are parched, so they could use the rain. The rainy season here is supposed to start on the 15th, according to the NWS. However, with or with out rain, the clouds are still there and the past couple of nights, they seem to me to be obeying a "Murphy's Law" regarding clouds and astronomical observations. In that, whatever it is I am looking for in the sky, a cloud will not only quickly come and block my view, but it will be elongated in such as way, to maximize its coverage of what I'm seeking! I used to think that astronomy requires lots of patience when doing it, but I think that really its the weather that requires it. Anyway, I am still searching for this expected flash and will keep posting about it. Until then, clear, dark and starry night skies

The May 6th Update: Still awaiting for T's appearance. Its rise time keeps getting earlier, so it appears higher up in the sky when it gets dark. That makes its constellation clearer and brighter to see, as we're looking through less of our atmosphere that would blur its view. Do expect the same for yourselves, if you go out to look for it.

This weekend my autistic son saw me come back indoors from checking on T, and he wanted to go out and look through my binoculars, too. So we went out, with him wearing its strap, and me helping him focus it. When he used them to look down the road, he really seemed to understand its function better this time. So we started walking around our HOA neighborhood for different views, but then he loudly declared over and over how he "could see so far!" and that he was a "spy on people!" Where he got that line, I don't know. Whether any of the neighbors heard him, I don't know either, but be assured that we are not looking into people's homes!

Anyway, if you go out tonight, May 6th, do remember to also stay out and look towards Cape Canaveral at 10:34 p.m. ET for the ULA (United Launch Alliance) Atlas V rocket and Boeing Starliner spacecraft launch!

The April 31st Update: I am still checking, but T has not shown up yet. Each week that goes by, the constellation's rise time occurs about a half an hour earlier. So, while some students in Intro to Astronomy classes may not appreciate the effect, doing this watch makes it very apparent and real. When I started this, it was quite dark and the family was already in bed. Now, it rises when its time to clean up from dinner and get everyone to bed, and it is getting in the way of that domestic effort. So, by the end of May, its rise time will occur over 2.5 hours before the Sun sets. More about this difference on the Observatory's Front webpage.

Still checking on T, no change yet.

BUT as it keeps rising earlier every night, it's now doing so while neighbors are walking their dogs. Met a couple doing so last night, told them about it's potential appearance, and how to find it. They were quite interested in it.

If any of you are trying to check on T, as well, then do share what you know about it with others. That way they can share it's wonder and excitement, when it happens, too!

I changed the cover image to show where people can look to find where the expected NOVA will occur. If you don't know the constellations, start with the Big Dipper and follow its arc in its handle to the star Arcturus in the image shown. From there look eastwards. Corona Borealis is halfway between Arcturus and the keystone of Hercules. More details are at:
https://cescos.fau.edu/observatory/observatory.html -2024

Florida Atlantic University Astronomical Observatory updated their information in their About section.

Florida Atlantic University Astronomical Observatory updated their phone number.

Florida Atlantic University Astronomical Observatory updated their address.