Crescent Moon and Two Planets

If your skies are clear and you have a good view of the western horizon, you're in for a special celestial sight on the evening of March 29, 2017. Just after sunset (which will occur approximately between 7:00 and 8:00 p.m. depending on your location) look for the moon's thin first crescent.

As the sky continues to darken and the stars pop out, look diagonally down to the right (toward the horizon). You should be able to find the planet Mercury. Because the planet will appear low in the sky, you'll have an easier time locating it if your view is unobstructed, such as across an open field or large body of water.

Above the moon (see image below), you'll be able to spot the reddish glow of Mars. Connecting the dots, the slender crescent moon, Mars, and Mercury will form a triangle. If you consider the line created by Mercury and Mars to be the baseline, the moon will be to the left. If you extend the baseline up father in the sky, about half way to overhead, you'll arrive at another reddish spot. This is the star Aldebaran, the eye of Taurus the bull.

But don't wait too long. Mercury will set less than an hour and a half after the sun, the moon less than a half an hour after that, followed an hour later by the setting of Mars.

Once you know the relative positions of these celestial points, you can watch as they change over the course of the next few days and weeks. On March 30, the moon will appear higher in the sky than Mars, and by March 31, the moon will approach the star Aldebaran. By about April 10, Mercury will become lost in twilight glow, and by mid-month it will sink below the horizon. Relative to the background stars, Mars will travel approximately toward Aldebaran. On April 22, Mars will be just to the left of the Pleiades cluster, and on May 1, Mars will appear to the right of Aldebaran.

Pier Press seeks to facilitate informed conversation at the intersection of science and spirit by promoting Biblical and scientific literacy. This article appeared in the March 28, 2017 issue of Observations: A Pier Press® Newsletter. Subscribe today to have future issues delivered directly to your inbox.

Snakes

What do you experience when you think of snakes? Fear? Fascination? Ever since the biblical serpent led Eve into temptation, humankind has had an ambivalent relationship with snakes.

In some cultures, snakes have been venerated. Nag Panchami is a Hindi holiday honoring a serpent deity. In other cultures, the snake's behavior of periodically shedding its skin is linked to medicine. For example, the Rod of Asclepius is a staff with a single snake coiled about it, the symbol of a Greek deity associated with healing. The caduceus, a rod with wings and two intertwined snakes, is associated with the Greek/Roman god Hermes/Mercury and is also sometimes used as a medical emblem.

On the other hand, some people associate snakes with poison and death. Ophidiophobia (fear of snakes) is among the most commonly reported phobias, affecting an estimated one out of every three people.

But what exactly are snakes?

Snakes are legless, scale-covered reptiles with unblinking eyes and forked tongues. Some have fangs. They play an important role in maintaining healthy, biologically diverse ecosystems. Snakes eat a variety of animals, including rodents, reptiles, birds, and frogs, and they serve as natural pest control agents by feeding on squirrels, mice, and rats. In addition, snakes are prey for other predators, including eagles and hawks.

Worldwide, there are approximately 3,000 species of snakes. The vast majority are harmless. In the United States, rattlesnakes, copperheads, coral snakes, and cottonmouths (also called water moccasins) are the four primary types of venomous snakes. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 7,000 to 8,000 people in the U.S. are bitten by venomous snakes annually. The bites result in approximately five deaths per year. For people who have been bitten by a snake, seeking immediate medical care is vital.

Learn More

If you're in central Virginia, consider attending a free presentation to be held at the Farmville-Prince Edward Community Library on Wednesday, March 15, 2017 beginning at 6:00 p.m.
Mike Clifford, co-author of Snakes of Virginia and educational committee chairman and past-president of the Virginia Herpetological Society, will present "Snakes in the Heart of Virginia." His talk will include live specimens, replicas, and other visual material. The evening's goal is to help people better understand these important, albeit often misunderstood, members of healthy ecosystems.

About Pier Press

Pier Press seeks to facilitate informed conversation at the intersection of science and spirit by promoting Biblical and scientific literacy. This article, along with additional links to resources for learning more, appeared in the March 10, 2017 issue of Observations: A Pier Press® Newsletter. Subscribe today to have future issues delivered directly to your inbox.

Orion's Belt

Look Up: Orion's Belt

February evenings provide an ideal time for observing the sky's great hunter, Orion. As winter opens and the summer constellations drift out of the night sky, Orion rises in the east appearing higher and higher after nightfall as the months move forward. During the evenings in February, he stands tall in the southern sky. Throughout the night, the constellation will slide toward the west and set after midnight.

Even without optical aid, and under moderately light-polluted skies, the main stars that form the constellation are easy to locate. Three stars that appear equally spaced with a similar appearance form a belt at the figure's waist: Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka. Above them (at least from the perspective of a viewer in the northern hemisphere; in the southern hemisphere, the figure appears inverted) are two "shoulder stars," Betelgeuse and Bellatrix. The two stars at Orion's feet are Saiph and Rigel.

This seemingly simple stick figure includes a vast array of other stars, patterns, and deep sky objects. One beautiful sight that can be discovered using just a pair of binoculars is an open star cluster cataloged as Collinder 70. This group incorporates the three belt stars and contains more than 100 stars.

Orion's Belt, approximately as it appears through 9x63 binoculars (Image by Karen Bellenir based on a star field generated with (Stellarium 0.13.2) with permission made available under the GNU General Public License.)

Pier Press seeks to facilitate informed conversation at the intersection of science and spirit by promoting Biblical and scientific literacy. This article, along with links to resources for learning more, appeared in the February 17, 2017 issue of Observations: A Pier Press® newsletter. Subscribe today to have future issues delivered directly to your inbox.