COLD WEATHER, CLEAR SKIES FOR ASTRONOMERS

If you were lucky enough to get a telescope for Christmas here are some tips you should know about using it. I still remember the Christmas when I got my first telescope -- a small 60 mm refractor. It was cold outside so I decided make my first viewing session out my bedroom window. I had already read my golden book of astronomy and was ready to go. My first target was a bright star and when I looked through the telescope I was so surprised. I had found a double star on my first attempt! Knowing that bright double stars were somewhat rare, I thought to myself this must be a sign. So on I went to my next bright star and guess what: it was a double also! I could count that Nobel prize money already.

It was not until the third and fourth bright star also turned out to be double that I started to question my own fortune. After some thinking I discovered that the window pane was causing multiple reflections of the starlight producing ghost images. I then got my coat on and went to brave the cold world of reality.

Here are some other tips for using your new telescopes:

Another problem to watch out for is when you bring your telescope back inside after being out in the cold. The lenses will fog over. Do not try to remove the moisture, it will evaporate when the lenses warm up. In general you will never have to clean your lenses if you take care of them. Keep the covers on when not in use.

It may have been clear a few nights during the month of December, but I would not know. It was far too cold to venture out even for a quick look at the magnificent planets. Even when I caught a glimpse of the partial solar eclipse on Christmas day I thought to myself, 'We need every bit of that sun to shine, please hurry up!' At these temperatures motors, gears, grease, and knees do not seem to understand movement. I must be getting older.

No doubt about it, cabin fever has set in. The Earth reached its closest distance from the sun on Thursday but you could not tell it from the temperature. Actually the change of the Earth's distance from the sun, because our orbit is not circular, makes very little difference in the temperature. The tilt of the Earth's axis has a much bigger affect and right now we are definitely pointed away from the sun.

The weatherman predicts January will be a warmer month. We will finally have a chance to view the planets once again. Venus still outshines all others in the south southwest at sunset. Venus reaches its greatest distance from the sun on Jan. 16. Through a telescope it should appear only half lit. On the other side of the sky, Jupiter and Saturn strut their stuff. Even though they are fainter than Venus, a small telescope will reveal the rings of Saturn and the cloud bands and moons of Jupiter.

Following close behind Jupiter and Saturn are the constellations of Taurus and mighty Orion. The bright star low in the southeast is Sirius, one of the brightest stars in the sky. The winter Milky Way stretches from the northwest to the southeast. The winter Milky Way if fainter than the summer Milky Way so you will need a good dark site to see it well.

Polaris, the north star, is directly above the north celestial pole early in the evening. Thus if you align your telescope, barn, or pyramid with the north star now you will be pointing them perfectly north. The Big Dipper is standing on its handle in the northeast waiting to return to our view. The constellation Cassiopeia is on the opposite side of the north star from the Big Dipper and is almost overhead. The two bright stars Castor and Pollux, also known as the twins, are part of the constellation Gemini, which is half way up in the east.

I just wish that when astronomers get the longest nights of the year they were not also some of the coldest.

Mike Cobb is a professor in the physics department at Southeast Missouri State University and can be reached at 651-2172.