Our tumultuous heavens and an invitation to view them

A dark sky map for Massachusetts to find optimum viewing sites.

Things have surely been crazy here lately. Well-merited cultural and political upheaval in the United States, ICBMs launched from North Korea, Iran meddling in Iraq’s affairs, Britain pressing ahead with her exit. But as tumultuous we think things are here on Earth, it is nothing compared to what’s going on out there.

On August 17^th of this year, the collision of two neutron stars in the galaxy NGC 4993 was detected. But that galaxy is 130 million light years away, a distance requiring that length of time for news of the event to arrive here. In real time, it occurred about when the first birds and flowers appeared on Earth.

After spending several months consuming reams of data, scientists published a flurry of papers. We learned that the collision acted as a veritable foundry, creating gold, silver, platinum and other heavy elements. While these two neutron stars were relatively small, each only somewhat heavier than our sun, it is estimated that approximately “10 to 100 times the Earth’s mass in gold was spewed out into space.” (Science News Magazine, November 11, 2017). That is one heck of a lot of gold.

Further riches emerged from the analysis of this event:

• Proof that the collision of neutron stars creates heavy elements (which had heretofore been only a theory),
• The finding that mysterious short gamma ray bursts, whose origins have been previously unknown, come from the collision of neutron stars; and,
• An improved estimate of Hubble’s constant, the rate of expansion of the universe.

But what is amazing is the confluence of human capabilities and achievements required to allow us to make these findings:

• LIGO, a gravitational wave observatory, first observed perturbations in the very fabric of space from the collision,
• Then NASA’s Fermi space telescope detected a gamma ray burst 1.7 seconds later, and;
• The Dark Energy Camera in Chile saw a burst of visible light.

Any one of these observations would not have allowed us to understand what happened, but these, in combination and with nanosecond time synchronization, created a scientific bonanza. LIGO, in particular, is a brand-new technology that only recently began to monitor for ripples in space-time, a phenomenon predicted by Albert Einstein over 100 years ago.

With this as inspiration, winter is a good time to do some star gazing of your own. The air is dry, cold, crisp, and clear and the nighttime sky begs to be seen. December offers some particularly interesting shows, the Geminid meteor shower (which just ended early this morning) and the Ursids coming up on December 22. There is only one problem, the downside to living in the densely populated northeast: light pollution.

Star gazing and meteor hunting, in particular, require dark skies for optimum viewing. Get away from cities and towns as best you can. There are great reaches of central and western Massachusetts and a band of western Rhode Island which qualify as “dark sky” areas. Residents of Cuttyhunk, an island at the end of the Elizabeth Islands, are especially fortunate, as their island home qualifies as “dark sky” with no travel required. The rest of us will have to find a spot the best we can.

You can use the Blue Marble Navigator to help. Just type your state or city into the search box and make sure that map type "night" is selected. 

For the Ursids, try to find a hilltop with an unobstructed view to the north. Ursid meteors will appear to be emanating from the dipper of the “Little Dipper.”

Take a blanket or sleeping bag with you – dress warmly and prepare to watch and wait in comfort.

You most likely won’t see a neutron star collision, but may well spot some Ursids. And if we’re particularly blessed, you might even see another Star of Bethlehem.

Peace on Earth and good will to all.