Night Sky Photography -- 03-29/30-2023 -- Venus & Uranus An Hour After Sunset

Good evening fellow stargazers!

Well, I can't think of any better way to end this month out than with some photographs that I was able to take over the course of two days about an hour after sunset showing the bright planet Venus in conjunction with the dim gas giant planet Uranus in the western sky dome. I was truly blessed with cloudless skies on both nights in order to bring y'all this night sky photographic offering.

I took two photos each evening of the two planets. One a wide shot as it appears in the western sky, and the other a close-up of the two planets together. As you can see, Uranus was just above and to the left of Venus on Wednesday the 29th, and the next evening on Thursday the 30th, Venus had moved just above and to the right of Uranus.

The planet Venus is the brightest object in the night sky after our own Moon and the second planet in our Solar System is nearly as big around as our Earth at about 7,520 miles (or 12,104 kilometers) across, compared to our planet which is about 7,926 miles (or 12,756 kilometers) wide. Venus is about 67 million miles (or 180 million km) from the Sun -- roughly 0.7 astronomical units (AUs). Due to its proximity to the Sun, it only takes Venus approximately 225 of our Earth days to circle our star.

Though it appears much smaller and very much dimmer to the naked eye, the gas giant planet Uranus -- the seventh planet in our Solar System -- is actually much bigger with a radius of 15,759.2 miles (or 25,362 kilometers), making Uranus about four times wider than our Earth. Uranus is much farther away from the Sun with an average distance of 1.8 billion miles (or 2.9 billion kilometers) making Uranus about 19.8 AUs away from the Sun. Because of its greater distance, Uranus takes about 84 Earth years to travel once around the sun.

I hope y'all enjoyed my planetary photographs and as always have a wonderful Dixie Day and be sure to keep your eyes to the evening skies, y'all hear.

Night Sky Photography -- 03-28-2023 -- How To Use The Constellation Orion As An Astronomical Signpost

Good Evening, fellow stargazers!

One of the coolest things about certain star constellations and asterisms that make up our evening sky dome is that they can be used to locate other nearby constellations and asterisms.

For example, in a previous post, I showed how one can use the Big Dipper to locate two of the major stars in the Spring Triangle and the Great Diamond asterisms.

This evening I took a few great photos of the major stars of the Constellation Orion the Hunter and his two dogs -- the constellations Canis Major The Greater Dog and Canis Minor The Lesser Dog.

Three of the major stars of these three separate constellations -- Betelgeuse in Orion, Procyon in Canis Minor, and Sirius in Canis Major -- form an equilateral triangle asterism in the evening sky called the Winter Triangle.

The Constellation Orion is the key to locating not only two dogs, but also the constellations Taurus The Bull and Gemini The Twins; as well as the Pleiades Star Cluster by following a series of lines using Orion as a starting point.

When you locate the asterism "Orion's Belt" in the sky dome, picture Orion The Hunter standing upright, with the stars Betelgeuse and Bellatrix marking out Orion's left and right shoulders, and Saiph and Rigel marking out his left and right feet.

Follow the three stars of Orion’s Belt down and to the left and draw line to find the bright star Sirius --The Dog Star -- in the Constellation Canis Major The Greater Dog.

Draw a line from Betelgeuse -- Orion's left shoulder -- and keep going to find a solitary bright star, Procyon in the Constellation Canis Minor The Lesser Dog. This line also serves as one of the three triangular lines of The Winter Triangle.

Draw a line from Rigel -- Orion's right foot -- up past Betelgeuse and keep going until you reach the two bright stars Castor and Pollux in the Constellation Gemini The Twins.

Going back to Orion’s Belt, your next target lies up and to the right, following the line of the belt to the bright reddish star Aldebaran in the Constellation Taurus the Bull. If you keep on following this line past Aldebaran, a short distance later you’ll reach the Pleiades Star Cluster (also known as the "Seven Sisters").

If you remember these easy steps, then finding all the major constellations and asterisms near Orion in the evening sky is simple.

Be sure to try it out and please let me know what y'all thought of this little presentation in the comments section below. As always have a wonderful evening and be sure to keep your eyes to the night skies, y'all hear.

Night Sky Photography -- 03-25-2023 -- Luna & The Seven Sisters Meet In The West

Greetings and Salutations fellow stargazers!

I was a bit worried that I wouldn't be able to present this evening's night sky photographic presentation because of the frequent spring showers and cloudy skies that bless South Carolina this time of year.

In fact, it did rain earlier in the day, but thankfully cleared up by mid-afternoon and giving us some blessedly clear evening skies so that I was able to capture a few beautiful shots of our lovely Luna in her Crescent Moon form sharing the heavens with the equally stunning "Seven Sisters" of the Pleiades Star Cluster.

The Pleiades Star Cluster (also known as the "Seven Sisters" or Messier 45) is an open star cluster containing middle-aged, hot B-type blue-white stars to the north-west of the constellation Taurus. The beautiful stars of the Pleiades are among the nearest star clusters to Earth located at a distance of about 444 light-years (or 136.1 parsecs) from our Sun.

Night Sky Photography -- 03-20-2023 -- The March Equinox & Locating The Spring Triangle & Great Diamond Constellations

Happy Spring Equinox, Y'all!

Today is the first official day of spring equinox 2023 here in the Northern Hemisphere. Goodbye to those long, cold winter nights and hello to longer daytime hours and warmer weather.

The equinox refers to the moment when Earth's rotation axis is directly perpendicular to the Sun, or from our perspective here on Earth when the Sun travels just over the Earth's equator. This occurs twice a year in March and September when the axis of the Earth tilts and turns one hemisphere of the Earth towards the sun in our orbit.

In the Northern Hemisphere this is referred to as the March Vernal Equinox (or spring equinox). In the Southern Hemisphere below the equator this is actually the first day of autumn.

For us amateur stargazers, it also means that the constellations of the Winter Circle (Winter Hexagon) will be setting in the west earlier after dark and new constellations will begin to appear in our evening sky dome.

The first day of spring and the next few months will be the perfect opportunity to see the amazing stars of the Spring Triangle asterism and its spring time constellations in the evening sky.

The Spring Triangle connects three major stars: Arcturus, Spica, and Regulus -- as well as their constellations: Bootes The Heardsman, Virgo The Virgin, and Leo The Lion  -- into a sort of isosceles triangle. A smaller and more equilateral Spring Triangle can also be formed using the star Denebola which is also a part of the Constellation Leo.

The following photos were taken in the late evening after midnight on Monday, March 20th and in the late evening before midnight of the same day of the Spring Triangle stars and their respective constellations.

The first star in the Spring Triangle is the large, orange-colored red giant star, Arcturus (or Alpha Bootes), the third-brightest star in the night sky visible in the Northern Hemisphere, and the brightest star in the Constellation Bootes The Heardsman. Arcturus is relatively the closest to us at about 36.7 light-years (or 11.2 parsecs) from the Sun.

The next is the binary star Spica (or Alpha Virginis) the brightest star in the Constellation Virgo The Virgin (or Virgo The Maiden). The brightest of these binaries is a blue giant star located about 261 light-years (or 80 parsecs) from the Sun. Spica is the 16th brightest star in the night sky.

The third star in the Spring Triangle is Regulus (or Alpha Leonis) the brightest star in the Constellation Leo The Lion, which is in reality a quadruple star system composed of four stars that are organized into two pairs. This system lies approximately 79 light-years (or 24.2 parsecs) from the Sun. Regulus is also known as the "Heart of the Lion" and is the 21st brightest star in the night sky.

The fourth star which comprises the smaller triangle is Denebola (or Beta Leonis), a A-type main sequence dwarf star and the second brightest star in Leo. The star is located at a distance of 36 light-years (or 11 parsecs) from the Sun -- also pretty close to us astronomically speaking.

Locating each of the Spring Triangle stars and their respective constellations is actually not all that hard even for those starting out learning about astronomy. In fact, its quite easy if you can locate the Big Dipper asterism in the evening sky.

The Big Dipper (or Plough) is an asterism of seven bright stars in the larger Constellation Ursa Major The Great Bear and its located near the Spring Triangle stars.

Using the Big Dipper as a guide to the Spring Triangle, you just need to remember three classical mnemonic phrases to navigate your way to their location:

(1) Using the bottom of the Big Dipper below the handle, draw a straight line in the sky using the two stars as a guide to "Make A Reach To Regulus."

(2) Use the end of the handle of the Big Dipper and draw another straight line to "Make An Arc To Arcturus." 
 
(3) Finally, make another straight line using Arcturus to "Drive A Spike To Spica." 

The smaller Spring Triangle stars are also included by a fourth star Cor Caroli in the small Constellation Canes Venatici to form yet another asterism known as the Great Diamond of Virgo -- Or Great Diamond. The Great Diamond connects four constellations and is slightly large than the nearby Big Dipper itself.

That is my presentation and photographic offerings for the beginning of the 2023 spring season. More will be coming soon. Until then, have a wonderful Dixie Day and keep your eyes to the night skies, y'all hear!

A Southern Soldier's Prayer

 A SOUTHERN SOLDIERS PRAYER

I asked God for strength, that I might achieve;
I was made weak, that I might learn to humbly obey.
I asked for health, that I might do greater things;
I was given infirmity, that I might do better things.

I asked for riches, that I might be happy;
I was given poverty, that I might be wise.

I asked for power, that I might have the praise of men;
I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God.

I asked for all things that I might enjoy life;
I was given life, that I might enjoy all things.

I got nothing I asked for but everything I had hoped for.
Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered.

I am, among men, most richly blessed.

Discovered on a folded sheet of paper in the coat pocket of a fallen Confederate Soldier after battle sometime in the spring of 1864 before his burial -- the author known but to God.

Happy March 15th!

The Life And Death Of Brigadier General States Rights Gist C.S.A. (1831 - 1864)

Brigadier General States Rights Gist.
(September 3, 1831 - November 30, 1864)

 

States Rights Gist was born on Saturday, September 3, 1831 at the family home, Wyoming Plantation, near the town of Jonesville in Union County, South Carolina, the sixth of seven children to Mr. Nathaniel Gist (1776-1861) and Elizabeth Lewis McDaniel Gist (1796-1859).

He was distantly related to Mordecai Gist (1743-1792), a Maryland-born Brigadier General in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783). States was the great-grandson of William Gist Sr. (1711-1794), Mordecai Gist's uncle. 

Known to his parents and siblings as "States" his name was based on the Southern states’ rights political doctrine of nullification politics of his father. Nathaniel Gist, a lawyer and noted disciple of United States Senator and Vice President of the United States, John Caldwell Calhoun, chose his son's unique name to reflect his own political sentiments.

Schooled at Mount Zion Institute in Winnsboro, South Carolina, States was admitted to South Carolina College, now the University of South Carolina, as a sophomore in 1847, graduating in 1850. He returned home and began to read law. The following year in 1851, he attended Harvard Law School (HLS) in Cambridge, Massachusetts although he didn't formally graduate. After leaving Harvard, States moved home to Union, read the law with a local established firm and passed the South Carolina Bar in 1853. He set up a law practice becoming a local attorney.

Soon after his return to South Carolina in 1853, Gist served in the South Carolina State Militia as captain of a local volunteer company the Johnson Rifles. He became aide-de-camp with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel to South Carolina Governor James Hopkins Adams from 1854 to 1856 when he was then appointed a Brigadier General commanding the SC State Militia at age 24. One of his many roles was to train fellow militia members for war.

Later in 1863, States Rights Gist would marry Governor Adams' daughter, Jane Margaret "Janie" Adams (1841-1911). Sadly, the couple would only be married a year and have no children before States would be killed during the War Between The States (American Civil War 1861-1865).

In April of 1860, Gist was appointed aide-de-camp and military advisor to Governor William Henry Gist (1807-1874) -- his older cousin. Knowing that war was on the horizon, he prepared South Carolina for war. In October of 1860, Governor Gist sent States to six other governors of Southern states to seek their support for possible secession due to the likely election of Abraham Lincoln as the next President of the United States.

States Gist was then appointed State Adjutant and Inspector General by Governor Francis Pickens after South Carolina seceded from the United States on Thursday, December 20, 1860. In that role he acquired military arms for the newly independent State of South Carolina and later, along with Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard, oversaw the bombardment of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor on Friday, April 12, 1861, which formally began the War.

Gist went to Virginia and served as a volunteer aide on the staff of Brigadier General Bernard Elliott Bee.

At the Battle of First Manassas (Bull Run Creek) on Sunday, July 21, 1861, Bee was mortally wounded and Gist was given temporary command of the remnants of Bee's Brigade defending Henry House Hill. He too was wounded in the battle, but only lightly. Gist recovered and soon returned to South Carolina to resume his duties as Adjutant and Inspector General to prepare state forces to defend Port Royal in the fall of 1861 and to be absorbed into the Confederate Army in the early months of 1862.

States Rights Gist received his formal appointment as a Confederate Brigadier General on Thursday, March 20, 1862 at the age of 30. He was assigned to the Charleston area and was sent to oversee state coastal defenses commanded at the time by Major General John C. Pemberton.

With the exception of a brief assignment in North Carolina, General Gist served in the defense of the city commanding the James Island military district and a brigade in the coastal defenses between May of 1862 through May of 1863.

During that time he took part in the Battle of Secessionville (First Battle of James Island) on Monday, June 16, 1862 and commanded Confederate troops sent to successfully oppose a landing by raiding Union forces at Pocotaligo, South Carolina in October of 1862. General Gist led a small division of reinforcements in North Carolina between December of 1862 and January of 1863, and was also present during the major Union naval attack on the city of Charleston on Tuesday, April 7, 1863.

In May 1863, Gist was transferred to the western theater and given command of an infantry brigade along with Brigadier General William H. T. Walker also leading a brigade to reinforce Confederate forces under General Joseph E. Johnston. They were trying to relieve Confederate forces under attack at Vicksburg by Union Army forces commanded by Major General Ulysses S. Grant in a push to take the fortress city to gain control of the Mississippi River. Walker was promoted to major general and Gist's brigade was placed in Walker's division.
 

Just before leaving for Mississippi, States married Janie Adams (as previously mentioned) and he spent just two days with his new wife before heading west.

General Gist saw limited action in the Vicksburg campaign, notibly at the Battle of Jackson, Mississippi on Thursday, May 14, 1863 before the surrender of Vicksburg's defenses on Saturday, July 4, 1863. 

In August 1863 Walker's division was sent to Chattanooga, Tennessee to reinforce General Braxton Bragg's Confederate Army of Tennessee in northern Georgia. Gist's brigade was first stationed at Rome, Georgia, but on Thursday, September 17, 1863, Gist was ordered to return with his brigade to Walker's division and took part in the second day of the Battle of Chickamauga on Sunday, September 20, 1863.

During the battle, Gist had to take command of Walker's division because Walker was put in temporary command of a corps. Gist's brigade alone lost 170 men in 45 minutes as they tried to plug a hole in the line of Major General John C. Breckinridge.

Gist would again command Walker's division during the disastrous  Chattanooga Campaign in November of 1863. The division served as the rear guard for the retreat of Breckinridge's corps from Missionary Ridge on Wednesday, November 25, 1863.

At the battles of Chickamauga and Chattanooga, and throughout the subsequent Atlanta Campaign, despite having no formal military training prior to the war, Gist proved a reliably competent and respected commander.

During the Battle of Atlanta on Wednesday, July 22, 1864, General Walker was killed and Gist was wounded in a hand. On Friday, July 24, 1864, Walker's division was broken up and Gist's brigade was assigned to the division of Major General Benjamin F. Cheatham. Gist returned to duty a month later after going home on leave and recuperating from his wound.

Following the evacuation and fall of Atlanta on Friday, September 2, 1864, the Army of Tennessee, now under the command of Lieutenant General John Bell Hood, advanced north into Tennessee in November of 1864 to being the ill-fated Franklin and Nashville Campaign.

He commanded a brigade in Major General John C. Brown's division during the terrible Battle of Franklin on Wednesday, November 30, 1864 where the Confederate assault of six infantry divisions containing eighteen brigades with 100 regiments numbering almost 20,000 men (sometimes called the "Pickett's Charge of the West") resulted in devastating losses to the men and the leadership of the Army of Tennessee with 55 regimental commanders made casualties along with fourteen Confederate generals -- five killed during the battle, one mortally wounded who would die a week later, seven wounded, and one captured.

Brigadier General States Rights Gist was killed while leading his brigade in the charge against the Union center. He was shot twice: once in the thigh and then in the chest near his heart. He was carried off the battlefield and died in a field hospital sometime after 8 PM CST. He was 33 years old.

The body of General Gist was returned to South Carolina by his personal servant, a free man of color named Willie Howard, and was originally buried in a family cemetery. In 1866, his coffin was interred and reburied permanently in the historic Trinity Episcopal Cathedral cemetery in downtown Columbia, South Carolina across from the South Carolina State Capitol Building.

The grave of Brigadier General States Rights Gist at the historic
Trinity Episcopal Cathedral Cemetery in downtown Columbia, SC.

 

Sources for this article include:

​

States Rights Gist: A South Carolina General of the Civil War by Walter Brian Cisco. Ragged Edge Press; 1st edition (1991) ISBN-13: ‎ 978-0942597288.
The South Carolina Department of Archives and History. 
The members of the States Rights Gist Camp #1451 (Union County, South Carolina) Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV).  

​

Night Sky Photography -- 03-07-2023 -- The Full Worm Moon, The Hunter & His Dogs

This evening, I was blessed with clear skies and was able to capture some good shots of the March 2023 Full Moon -- or Full Worm Moon in North America -- in the evening just after 9 PM EST.

The title shot is the full moon with the foreground of the branches of the blossoming tree in my backyard. A nice little reminder that winter here in South Carolina is almost over (at least officially) and the spring equinox will be here in just two short weeks.

Here is a more clear shot of the full moon without any obstructions.

Now looking more towards the southern sky over the tree tops we can see three important winter constellations all connected by the Winter Triangle asterism: Orion The Hunter and his two dogs: "The Greater Dog" Canis Major and "The Lesser Dog" Canis Minor.

The Constellation Orion is easy to spot with the three stars of "Orion's Belt"  -- Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka -- forming the most easily recognizable asterism in the night sky. The Constellation Canis Major is probably the easiest to find because of the bright white star, Sirius -- the Dog Star -- shining brightly nearby.

Sirius and the star, Betelgeuse, that makes up Orion's shoulder, when joined by the other nearby bright star, Procyon, in the small Constellation Canis Minor, form a nearly perfect triangle-shaped asterism known as the Winter Triangle.

The Third Confederate National Flag Adopted March 4, 1865

March 4th is Confederate Flag Day in most Southern States in the United States of America.

It was on this day in Southern history, Saturday, March 4, 1865, the Third (and final) Confederate National Flag was adopted on this day by the Confederate Congress in Richmond, Virginia.

"The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That the flag of the Confederate States shall be as follows: The width two-thirds of its length, with the union (now used as the battle flag) to be in width three-fifths of the width of the flag, and so proportioned as to leave the length of the field on the side of the union twice the width of the field below it; to have the ground red and a broad blue saltier thereon, bordered with white and emblazoned with mullets or five pointed stars, corresponding in number to that of the Confederate States; the field to be white, except the outer half from the union to be a red bar extending the width of the flag."  -- Flag Act of 1865

This flag -- informally referred to by Confederate heritage promoters today as the "Blood Stained Banner" -- served as the national flag of the Confederate States of America until the government of that nation was formally dissolved by President Jefferson Davis and his cabinet on Friday, May 5, 1865 in Washington, Georgia -- only 63 days, making it the shortest serving flag of an American nation.

Few historical copies of this banner remain in existence today in museums and private collections.

Night Sky Photography -- 03-01-2023 -- Venus & Jupiter Conjunction In Western Sky

Good evening, fellow planet watchers!

Well, I was really worried that the skies tonight wouldn't clear up long enough for your favorite blogger to capture any good photos of the conjunction between Jupiter and Venus in the evening sky.

It was cloudy and even rained a little; more of the early spring that seems to be coming to South Carolina this year.

Fortunately, the weather seemed to clear about 7 PM EST and the clouds moved on giving a very good view of the two planets together in the sky dome.

I took three really good shots.

The first a wide shot giving the scale of the two planets as they appear in the night sky. Venus is the brightest planet in our night sky at a magnitude of 4.0, while Jupiter -- the largest planet in our Solar System and second brightest planet in Earth's sky dome -- appears half as bright at a magnitude of 2.1.

The second is a shot of the two planets next to my hanging U.S. Flag -- again for the sake of scale. As you can see the apparent distance between the two planets as seen from here on Earth, the two worlds appear about 0.5 degrees apart (about the width of the stars in my flag). In reality the two worlds are still 400 million miles (or 600 million kilometers) apart with our own Earth in the orbit between them.

The third, and final shot, is simply another close-up of the two planets together in the sky with the blooming tree branches in the foreground. I just took that one as my way of welcoming the month of March and the coming springtime (vernal equinox) to the Northern Hemisphere.

Well folks, I hope y'all enjoyed my photos for the evening, as I continue to enjoy presenting them for your enjoyment.

Night Sky Photography -- 02-31-2023 -- The Moon & Mars Inside The Winter Circle

Good evening, fellow stargazers!

For my last night sky offering for this month, I was able to capture a good shot of our planetary neighbor, Mars, with the Waxing Gibbous Moon inside the Winter Circle (or Winter Hexagon) asterism late in the evening as they began to set towards the west. I was unable to capture all of the stars of the Winter Circle because the bright, blue-white supergiant star, Rigel, in the Constellation Orion The Hunter, was already past the tree line and setting in the west; but I was able to get all the rest of the stars perfectly.

At present, Mars is fading in its brightness daily as it our Earth moves farther away from it in our closer orbit of the Sun. Soon the Red Planet will blend in with the other 1st-magnitude stars in the night sky. Mars will remain inside the Winter Circle for some time.

Our lovely Moon however, will continue to glow in brightness and continue its Waxing Gibbous phase until it becomes the Full Worm Moon (March Full Moon in the Northern Hemisphere) on Tuesday, March 7th. The Moon will also remain inside the Winter Circle for two more days, traveling higher until it meets with the star, Pollux in the Constellation Gemini The Twins on Thursday, March 2nd.