Night Sky Photography -- 05-06-2019 -- Young Moon, Mars, & Constellations Orion & Taurus

Good evening y'all!

This evening at dusk I captured an amazing display in the western sky of the Young Moon with Mars and several of the largest stars of the constellations Orion the Hunter and Taurus the Bull. 

These pictures were taken at the site of an abandoned textile mill on SC Highway 72 in Chester, with the lone standing smokestack in the foreground. Also included is the contrail of a high-flying passenger jet crossing the path between Luna and Mars across the line of the constellation Taurus.

In the second photo I outlined the constellations as they appear in the eastern sky following the sunset. 

At this time you can also catch the earthshine lighting up the nighttime side of the Waxing Crescent Moon, with either the naked eye, or a good pair of binoculars. Tomorrow on Tuesday, May 7th, Luna will pair up with Mars and continue to rise higher up at sunset. 

Mars is faint in the sky because it has moved away from Earth in its orbit. Back in July and August of 2018 it was the fourth-brightest celestial body to light up the heavens, after the sun, moon and Venus. In late July 2018, Earth was passing between Mars and the sun. At that time Mars was six times closer to Earth and shone about 60 times brighter in our sky than it does at present. Now that Earth has pulled far ahead of Mars in orbit, so that the red planet has dimmed in our sky. It will fade out of view into the sunset glare by this summer and  won’t be bright in Earth's sky again until around October 2020.

Because Mars is currently appears faint in the skydome, it might be easy to mistake the Red Planet with Elnath (or El Nath), the second-brightest star in the constellation Taurus the Bull. Both heavenly bodies now shine at nearly the same brightness, but can be distinguished by their color. Mars is slightly ruddy than the blue-white of Elnath. 

Elnath is also about 130 light-years away from our solar system.

Right beneath Luna is Aldebaran, Taurus' brightest star and is known as the "Eye of Taurus." The name "Aldebaran" is Arabic, which means "The Follower" because it appears to follow the Hyades star cluster that forms the head of the bull. Aldebaran is a K giant star slightly larger than our own Sun and glows red similar to Mars, which it often passes in the night sky.

On the other side of the smoke stack in the photo in the upper left is the bright star, Betelgeuse. Also called Alpha Orionis, Betelgeuse is the  second brightest star in the constellation Orion the Hunter, marking the eastern shoulder of the hunter. Betelgeuse is close to our solar system at 65 light-years away -- practically a neighbor in astronomical terms. Its apparent magnitude is about 0.85 making it the 14th brightest star in the night sky.

The star's name is derived from the Arabic word bat al-jawzāʾ, which means "the giant’s shoulder." Betelgeuse is one of the most luminous evening stars and is easily discernible to even the casual observer, not only because of its brightness and position in Orion, but also because of its deep reddish color. Aldebaran is approximately 640 light-years from Earth. Betelgeuse is a red supergiant star roughly 950 times as large as our own Sun, making it one of the largest known stars. To give you an idea of how big that is, if it replaced out own solar system's star, Betelgeuse could easily swallow all of the inner planets and both of the giant planets Jupiter and Saturn!

Orion's other bright stay, Bellatrix, is located approximately 240 light-years away and is thought to have six times the radius of the Sun. Bellatrix is the 3rd brightest in its home constellation and 27th brightest overall in the night sky. Bellatrix is also one of the four stars that are primarily used in celestial navigation.

The constellation Orion stands out because of the three bright stars (Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka)  that make up the famous "Orion's Belt". Locating these three stars helps make finding the rest of the constellation fairly easy.  

Well, I hope y'all enjoyed my photos. Be sure to drop a comment. Have a wonderful evening and keep looking to the night skies, y'all!

The Star-Spangled Cross And The Pure Field Of White

The 2nd Confederate National Flag "Stainless Banner" over
Fort Sumter, October 20, 1863.
Oil painting done from a sketch made by Conrad Wise Chapman.

The Star-Spangled Cross and the
Pure Field of White

 

The Star-Spangled Cross and the pure field of white,
Is the banner we give to the breeze, 

'This an emblem of Freedom unfurled in the right,

O'er our home and our lands and our seas.

Chorus: 

We'll stand by the Cross
And the pure field of white,
While a shred's left to float on the air:

Our trust is in God, who can help us in fight,
And defend those who ask Him in prayer. 

For years we have cringed to the uplifted rod,

For years have demanded our right,

Our voice shouts defiance, our trust is in God,

And the strong arm that gives us our might.

Chorus

Our hills and our values with the death shriek may right,

And our forest may swarm with the foe,

But still to the breeze our proud banner we'll fling,

And to Vict'ry or Death we will go.

Chorus 

Composed by Subaltern
Created & Published by
Geo. Dunn & Company, Richmond, VA. 1864

The Second National Flag was approved by both houses of the Confederate Congress and became official on May 1, 1863. It was first used to cover the coffin of the beloved Lieutenant General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, who had been badly wounded at the Battle of Chancellorsville on May 2nd and later died of pneumonia on May 10th. His coffin was draped with the new Second National Flag and lay in state in the chamber of the House of Representatives on May 12th. As a result of this connection, as well as due to the fact that both this flag and Jackson's picture appeared on the Confederate $2 dollar bill of the February 2, 1864 issue, the Second National Banner was often called the "Jackson Flag". The pure white field also led to the Second National Flag being nicknamed the "Stainless Banner". 

Attending Tartan Day South 2019 In Cayce, South Carolina

On Saturday, April 6th, National Tartan Day, my travels took me south to the town of Cayce, South Carolina to attend the 9th annual Tartan Day South Highland Games and Celtic cultural festival. The event was held at the Historic Columbia Speedway, and was the third day of the four day festival honoring Southern Celtic Heritage.
  
The Tartan Day South Celebration is a four day event honoring Celtic heritage in South Carolina. The festival is an array of different events at many different venues featuring unique sports, incredible music, great foods and interactive as well as interesting exhibitions.  The event is one of a kind in the midlands. Nearly 72,500 patrons have attended Tartan Day South events since 2011.

In addition to the traditional Scottish Highland Games, Tartan Day South provided a number of outstanding activities, including: Celtic Dancers, Celtic and Bluegrass music, Birds of Prey demonstrations, games for kids and adults alike, Scottish Border Collie demonstrations, a classic car show featuring many European cars, traditional Scottish food, vendors of all sorts and...Quidditch?! Yep, even a pair of local college teams playing the famous Harry Potter sport.

The following photos were taken by me at Tartan Day South. Enjoy. 

Well folks, I hope y'all enjoyed my photos. It truly was an amazing time honoring National Tartan Day and my Celtic cultural heritage. Have a wonderful Dixie Day, and y'all come back now, ya hear?