Dr.
Robert Agnew (shown above sitting atop an ancient Mayan observatory in Mexico)
is a Professor of
Music and Humanities at Edison State College in Piqua,
Ohio.
Born in Youngstown,
Ohio,
Robert has a
Masters Degree from Bowling
Green
State
University
and a Ph.D. from Michigan
State
University.
Ghost
of the Night
My
astronomical journal of April 3,
2005 reads:
“I
had two
rather remarkable observations. Observing a pair of faint galaxies, a
point of
light blinked briefly into existence, and just as quickly disappeared.
Approximately ten seconds later, it blinked again, and then never
reappeared!
Even more mysterious, with a slight haze of clouds building in the
south, just
below the galaxies I was viewing, I suddenly saw, with the naked eye, a
“V”
shaped cloud, about two or three times the apparent diameter of the
moon, move
quickly across the sky from directly south of my position to a point
east,
where it faded. I say cloud, but it appeared absolutely ghostly, as if
it were
a phantom stealth B2 bomber. There was no sound accompanying the
phenomenon.
Positively eerie!”
Almost
every amateur astronomer has witnessed an unexplainable phenomenon, but
the
explainable ones can be just as ghostly. Galaxies, nebulae, open
clusters, and
globular clusters can all appear as ghosts in the heavens. To give you
some
idea of what these objects are: galaxies are collections of billions of
stars
around a nucleus (usually with a black hole in the center). Nebulae are
of
three types: 1) Clouds of gas and dust coalescing together, sometimes
in the
formation of a star, 2) the outer gas shell of a dying star - known as
planetary nebulae, and 3) the remnants of supernova explosions. Open
clusters
are groups of young stars, still in the galactic nursery, and globular
clusters
are like miniature galaxies, with up to a million stars instead of
billions as
one finds in true galaxies.
Because
of
their great distances from us, these objects can appear very faint even
in
powerful backyard telescopes. My astronomical journal uses the word
“ghost” and
“ghostly” over a hundred times. When I feel like
I’ve overused the word, I rely
on synonyms like specter, apparition, phantasm, and spirit.
Take,
for
example, this observation from October
5, 2004:
“The
Great
Orion Nebula nearly filled the entire field of view of my telescope and
looked
like a great, phantasmic bird of prey, or perhaps a spectral starship,
flying
through the heavens. As I continued to observe it, some of the ghostly
strands
appeared to twist and turn.”<br>
Backyard
and dark sky observations will not reveal the colors one sees in a
professional
photograph, but phantom shapes, twisting and turning in the atmosphere,
are
just as interesting. Even the moon can reveal some ghostly phenomenon,
as this
observation from my night-sky journal of December
22, 2005
demonstrates:
“Within
the
lunar crater Ptolemaeus is the small crater Ptolemaeus A (9 kilometers
in
diameter) with a ghost crater (Ptolemaeus B) directly to its north. The
effect
is indeed ghostly, as the crater depends on good viewing to be seen,
and even
then it is difficult to make out
clearly.”<br><br>
Actually,
there are many lunar objects that appear as phantom shapes, and they
can be
just as compelling as galaxies, nebulae, and clusters. Too many would
be
astronomers give up after observing a few planets and a dozen craters
on the
moon. Get to know these specters of the night, and you will be
constantly
entertained!
When
children express a fear of the “ghosts” around
them, maybe it would be a good
idea to treat them to some of the friendly ghosts of the night sky. If
you
don’t have a telescope or binoculars, contact your local
astronomical
organization or planetarium. They’ll be happy to assist you
in finding those
ghouly shapes in the heavens.
©
Article &
image Dr. Robert Agnew 2008/2009