Stargazing at its best!

Recently I was able to observe stars, a galaxy and a planet at Three College Observatory near Greensboro. We had an incredibly clear night for observation and it was a new moon which meant no light interference from our near neighbor.

We saw Jupiter and four of the moons. These are the Galilean moons; Io, Callisto, Ganymede, and Europa.  We could see the cream and brown colored stripes in Jupiter and these 4 of over 60 moons that revolve around the largest planet in our solar system. If you can hold your binoculars very still or even have just a small telescope at home, you can see these moons. Jupiter is high overhead now, found in the constellation Gemini, just beside Orion. Since Jupiter is a planet, a wanderer, its position in months to come will change and it will be associated with a different constellation. This link shows Jupiter's path from 2012 - July 2014. You can see that its motion through the constellations has changed.

There was a supernova that was recently observed and is now fading.  It is in a galaxy that is seen on edge, M82, and has a star in it that recently exploded. Here is more information about how the galaxy looked before and after the supernova.

A star cluster, NGC 2539 On this link you can see this star cluster and many more. Clusters contain hundreds of millions of stars.

Cassiopeia was beautiful when we went outside to look at constellations. Tonight it looked like a backwards 3. Depending on what part of the year you are observing in the early evening, it may be below Polaris and look like a W, or if east of Polaris will look like a 3, and if above Polaris will look like an M. It is a circumpolar constellation, so we see it all year. One of the stars in Cassiopeia also exploded in a supernova in the 1660's. The images of Cassiopeia a from the Spitzer Space Telescope are beautiful.

Orion shines brilliantly in winter. The name of one of his stars was well known as a character in the Harry Potter books, Bellatrix. Orion is a large constellation and the three stars in the belt are readily recognized. With binoculars you can see a really beautiful nebula in the sword below the belt.

This is an image of the Trapezium, a group of stars in the nebula in Orion's sword below his belt. The three stars you see to the right are not Orion's belt, it would be above this.











Every season brings new sights to see in the sky. Take a moment to look up and you'll be amazed at what you see! Even better, take a drive away from the city lights--you'll see even more!

Astronomy videos - engaging and educational!

Since astronomy tells us that the universe is expanding, it is time to expand our minds--OK, funny Ha, Ha. Seriously, there are some very interesting videos to watch and some I have seen are listed below. The first three were found in the public library.

The first two are NOVA productions:

The Elegant Universe - a video based on a book by the same title, author Brian Greene. Greene presents very complex ideas in a way that the non-physicist can understand. His book and the video are very engaging.

The Fabric of the Cosmos - also based on a book by the same title by Brian Greene. Here he uses vivid illustrations to describe space-time and quantum mechanics, heady stuff for the average person, but very understandable.

Inside the Milky Way is a production of National Geographic. Here you learn about the parts of our galaxy, the Milky Way, how stars are born and die and hunt for black holes.

Some excitement in the months to come:

In Saturn's Rings is a movie that will be released sometime later this year. The movie is  the creation of a Greensboro resident, Stephen Van Vuuren. Click the link to read more!

Cosmos is a reboot of the 1980's series by Carl Sagan. The first episode will air March 9th and there will be 13 episodes. Neil  deGrasse Tyson will be narrating the series.

Eclipses, planets and comets- oh my!

Recently I thought about the interesting celestial events I have been fortunate enough to see and decided to make a list of them. Stargazing has been a passion of mine for some time and it started a number of years ago.

The first event I remember was an annular solar eclipse in 1984. It was May 30, and Josh, Jon and I went out to the old airport in Greensboro to see it. Of course we cautioned the older children like Josh, age 7 not to look at the sun except through special lenses on the telescopes. Jon was a baby and I just positioned his stroller facing away from the eclipse. Since it was an annular eclipse we didn't see the 'diamond ring' or Bailey's beads, but it was spectacular anyway.

Solar eclipse May 30, 1984     
Solar Eclipse Greensboro NC

Next was the Comet Hale-Bopp in 1997. This comet was unique because it was visible for quite a long time and was easily visible with naked eye observing. It wasn't just a fuzzy ball in the sky, you could actually see the tail. It really did look like this picture.

Comet Hale-Bopp             

Even more rare than a solar eclipse is the transit of Venus. In 2004 I went to Atlanta to the Fernbank Museum to see the transit of Venus. It was actually an image that was transmitted from Europe and projected on the dome of the planetarium of the museum. The image was enormous and we didn't even have to wear protective lenses! Astronomers use the event to calculate the distance to the sun by taking 5 readings as the planet Venus moves across the face of the sun. We had to get up way before dawn to drive into Atlanta to see it. Afterwards they did give us a pair of the special dark glasses that were labeled 'Safe for Solar Viewing'. In 2004, no one alive had seen a transit of Venus. The next one after this was in 2012 and the next one will be December 12, 2017. Mark your calendar and don't miss this event!

Transit of Venus

Last summer Don and I traveled to the south west visiting Arizona and New Mexico as well as Colorado. While at the eastern end of the Grand Canyon on the South Rim we found a park service volunteer who had a telescope set up to observe the sun. We saw some amazing images of the sun, solar prominences, and sun spots.  I couldn't take any pictures of this with my camera but here is a picture from Google that shows sunspots like those we saw.

Lunar eclipses are more frequent and we have had several on clear nights. The next one is in soon, April 14-15, 2014. You'll have to set your clock to get up at 3:30 am, get that cup of coffee and be ready for the 3:46 am event on the morning of April 15th!
For Lunar Eclipses, no special lenses are needed, not even a telescope. Just go outside, hope for a clear night, and wait for the action. The links below have more information.

Total Lunar Eclipse in April 2014

Solar and Lunar Eclipses

Seeing the sky in a location with really dark skies is really spectacular. Last summer we visited the Great Sand Dunes National Park in southern Colorado. For the first time on our trip, on August 29, 2013, we had clear skies. At midnight I went outside and was treated to an incredible view of the Milky Way, unlike I had ever seen it in North Carolina. At about 4:30am I went back outside and saw all of the winter constellations, Orion, Canis Major, Auriga, Taurus and the Pleiades, rising in the east.

When it is really dark, you can see lots more stars and the Milky Way is much more spectacular.












Right now there is lots to see in the night sky. Orion is one of my favorites.

Orion

Orion the hunter has some impressive stars. The 'orange' star on his upper left shoulder is Betelgeuse. Diagonally opposite on the lower right is Rigel. All of these stars are not the same size or distance away from Earth.














The chart below shows the relative sizes of planets, our sun and other stars. Follow the pictures beginning from 1 - 6 to see the relative sizes of these bodies.

Below is a diagram with Orion's stars named.

Obviously I get a little carried away with all of this. If you have a desire to learn more, go to the Three College Observatory for a public viewing night. There is no cost, but you do need to contact the astronomy department at UNC-G for a reservation. There is a calendar of public observing nights on their webpage.

Keep looking up...you never know what you might see!

Rosemary tomato soup and sourdough bread

Last summer I roasted the Roma  tomatoes that I grew in the garden. Below is a link to another post on this blog for roasting tomatoes. I have used them to make tomato soup and spaghetti sauce. This recipe produces a very thick soup/sauce. If you want a more liquid soup, add more chicken stock. If you process the cooked ingredients in a blender you will get a smoother soup, using the food processor preserves some of the texture. If you don't have roasted tomatoes, used canned.

1 leek
1 carrot
1 onion
3 cloves of garlic
sprig of fresh rosemary
canned or frozen roasted tomatoes

Peel the carrot and onion. Remove the dark green part of the leek and chop the white and light green parts.

Dice the carrot and onion.

Peel and dice the cloves of garlic.

1 tsp minced rosemary (mince the rosemary, then measure)
3 cloves of garlic minced
2 quart bags of frozen Roma tomatoes
1 14.5 oz can of petite diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil

2 teaspoons salt (The chicken stock I use is home made and does not have any salt added. If you use commercial chicken stock, add less salt)
1/2 tsp pepper

3 cups of chicken stock

In a large pot, melt the butter and olive oil.

Add the diced carrot, leek and onion. Saute until tender but do not let them brown.

Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes.

Add the minced rosemary, salt and pepper and cook for 2 minutes.

Add the 2 quart bags of frozen roasted tomatoes, no need to thaw them, just add to the pot.
Add 3 cups of chicken stock, bring to a boil and turn down to simmer.

When the carrots and leek are tender, process the soup in a food processor or blender in batches. Return the soup to the pot, adjust seasonings if necessary and you are ready to serve.

If you like a creamy tomato soup, add some milk or cream to get the consistency desired.

And now for the bread!

The sourdough bread was made with the starter made from scratch, hereafter referred to as "George" to distinguish him from Marx and Engels who reside in the fridge. George was started on January 16th and has been fed twice a day since and is residing on the kitchen counter.
The sour tang is developing nicely.

The only ingredients to make this starter were flour and water. You begin with a whole wheat flour and spring water, then feed with all purpose flour and water. No yeast is added. Fermentation is a wonderful thing!


The King Arthur website has information for making a sourdough starter and recipes for making sourdough bread. The King Arthur site has lots of great recipes and a blog about sourdough.

Just before putting the loaf of sourdough into the oven, mist it with water and cut slits with a sharp serrated knife.

After 25 minutes at 425 degrees, the loaves are golden and smell fabulous!












These loaves rose more and had a softer texture than the first two I baked. One thing to remember about sourdough baking according to the folks at King Arthur, "it is more art than science". All I know is that it is yummy!

Baking Day

It may be frigid outside but it is warm in the kitchen. Overnight a loaf of sourdough bread and sourdough sweet rolls spent the night in the fridge. This morning they went back to the proofing box to rise a little more and then into the oven.

The recipe for this sourdough is one I have been working with for a time. There are two batches of sourdough in the fridge. One is named Marx and the other Engels *. One I started with the instant yeast and the other with the fresh yeast. I alternate using them, but by now I am not sure I can tell the difference in their performance. I use these starters for the recipe found on the page with the post about sourdough bread and starter.



I think that the overnight time in the fridge improved the outward appearance of the loaf.

To make the rolls, I just took a little less than half of the dough and rolled it out into a rectangle. I should say coax, because it doesn't want to roll really. Slather it with soft butter, and a generous amount of brown sugar. This time I put dried cranberries in the rolls because that is what I had on hand. Raisins, nuts, cinnamon also work well. Then beginning on the long end of the rectangle, roll the dough up and it will elongate somewhat as you roll. Place it seam down and cut into 6 slices. When you place them into a round greased pan, you need to place the 'seam ends' so that the seam is next to the edge, they like to try to open up as they rise. I baked them in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. They were done, the loaf took about 10 minutes longer. Check with an instant read thermometer. The desired temp is 200 degrees F.

 I put a glaze on the sweet rolls of fresh orange juice and 10x sugar on the rolls while they were still warm, but the bread just browned nicely on its own.

Nothing beats fragrance of fresh baked bread !

*Husband Don was a history teacher and years ago we had a couple of hamsters that he named Marx and Engels. They lived here at home for many years longer than a normal hamster life span. When one finally died, the other died within a few weeks. When I was reading about sourdough starters, one of the articles suggested 'naming' your starters. Since I had two at that point, Marx and Engels seemed like a good idea. At the moment they seem to have control of the lower shelf of the fridge.

My Dad's cornbread recipe

Recently I found a recipe that my father had typed on his old Royal typewriter for cornbread. The last line at the bottom of the page says "From Parker's Kitchen".

I have made it several times and loved the rustic texture and savory flavors. It is very simple to make.

Here is the recipe:
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup plus 1 tsp plain flour (I use King Arthur All Purpose)
1 and 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 whole spring onions, chopped including the green tops
1/4 tsp rosemary finely minced
1 large egg
2/3 cup buttermilk


Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Sift the dry ingredients together (cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, & baking soda).

Dice the onions and rosemary.

Add the rosemary, onions, buttermilk and egg to the bowl and mix thoroughly.

I found I needed to add a couple more teaspoons of buttermilk to get the consistency I wanted.

Generously oil an 8 inch cast iron skillet and pour in the batter.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 - 30 minutes until golden brown.

If you double this recipe it will make 12 corn muffins. I used a 1 3/4 inch diameter ice cream scoop to measure out the batter into each section. Just generously grease the muffin pan, including the top around each muffin so that the baked muffins will slide out easily.

You could make this ahead of time, mixing the dry ingredients and have the rosemary and onions chopped and ready to add. Once you add the egg and buttermilk, you need to be ready to put it in the oven.

Finding this recipe brought back lots of memories of my Dad.

I'll bet he made it to serve with the oysters he loved to roast on the grill. Thanks Dad!

Live animal cams on Journey North

On a previous post I mentioned the website Journey North. It has the most fabulous activities and information. The most recent email from them mentions that it is the season where the seal pups are born. Since sunrise is late and sunset is early, they have recorded video clips to share when it is dark. This location is an island off the coast of Maine.

Live seal cam on Journey North

Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!