The Sky is Waiting.
[...] in 1792, it’s the oldest continuously published Almanac in America. Doing last month’s post on Benjamin Banneker and his seminal works made me recall this gem. Not to be confused with the Farmer’s Almanac [...]
[...] questions from our own recent astronomical research. One wonders what American astronomer Benjamin Banneker was doing during the transit of 1769… I’m also curious as to the role the Quito observatory in [...]
|
|
|
 |
|
Pictured is a Delta IV rocket launch from Cape Canaveral on November 21st, 2010. The image is a 20 second exposure taken at dusk, shot from about 100 miles west of the launch site. The launch placed a classified payload in orbit for the United States Air Force.
Difficult but not impossible to catch against the dawn or dusk sky, spotting an extreme crescent moon can be a challenge. The slender crescent pictured was shot 30 minutes before sunrise when the Moon was less than 20 hours away from New. A true feat of visual athletics to catch, a good pair of binoculars or a well aimed wide field telescopic view can help with the hunt.
The Sun is our nearest star, and goes through an 11-year cycle of activity. This image was taken via a properly filtered telescope, and shows the Sun as it appeared during its last maximum peak in 2003. This was during solar cycle #23, a period during which the Sun hurled several large flares Earthward. The next solar cycle is due to peak around 2013-14.
Located in the belt of the constellation Orion, Messier 42, also known as the Orion Nebula is one of the finest deep sky objects in the northern hemisphere sky. Just visible as a faint smudge to the naked eye on a clear dark night, the Orion Nebula is a sure star party favorite, as it shows tendrils of gas contrasted with bright stars. M42 is a large stellar nursery, a star forming region about 1,000 light years distant.
Orbiting the planet in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) every 90 minutes, many people fail to realize that you can see the International Space Station (ISS) from most of the planet on a near-weekly basis. In fact, the ISS has been known to make up to four visible passes over the same location in one night. The image pictured is from the Fourth of July, 2011 and is a 20 second exposure of a bright ISS pass.
Next to the Sun, the two brightest objects in the sky are the Moon and the planet Venus. In fact, when Venus is favorably placed next to the Moon, it might just be possible to spot the two in the daytime. Another intriguing effect known as earthshine or ashen light is also seen in the image on the night side of the Moon; this is caused by sunlight reflected back off of the Earth towards our only satellite.
A mosaic of three images taken during the total lunar eclipse of December 21st, 2010. The eclipse occurred the same day as the winter solstice. The curve and size of the Earth’s shadow is apparent in the image.
The Algonquin Indians had names for each of the seasonal Full Moons, many of which survive today. The Full Snow Moon pictured occurs in the month of December, when the first large winter storms coat the ground with snow. This Full Moon also tends to fall near the Winter Solstice, and thus rides high in the nightly sky opposite to the Sun on long winter nights.
Every rocket launch is unique, but twilight shuttle launches where by far the most impressive. The image pictured was of the April 5th, 2010 launch of Space Shuttle Discovery from the Kennedy Space Center at dawn. The exhaust plume caught the rising Sun overhead just right, and numerous noctilucent clouds persisted right up until sunrise. Unfortunately, space shuttle launches are now relegated to the pages of history.
Benjamin Banneker: An American Astronomer.
But what of those in the past that had the mental capacity and the thirst for knowledge, but lacked the means to slake it? I sometimes wonder how many Newtons or Einsteins might have been born into poverty or ignorance, and what advancements we might have been robbed of…
And then there are such amazing stories as that of American inventor and astronomer Benjamin Banneker. Born a free man on November 9th, 1731 in Ellicott’s Mills, Maryland, his intellect would propel him to almost mythical status. Lesser known than Benjamin Franklin that came before him or George Washington Carver who came after, he was a true renaissance man who single handedly taught himself agriculture, literature, clock making, and astronomy. Were he only to have published his early almanacs, his place in early American history would have been assured. But what is perhaps truly amazing is that he accomplished all of this as a farmer, living in a border state, long before slavery was ultimately abolished.
Benjamin Banneker was born the son of free parents. His father was an escaped slave; his mother, Mary was a free woman, which assured Banneker’s free status under the then statutes of Maryland law. His roots could be traced back to Mary’s parents Molly Welsh, an English immigrant and Banna Ka, who was African nobility turned slave. Legends concerning Banna Ka are themselves fascinating; some contend that he was a Dogon prince, a tribe in the Mali region who knew much of astronomy themselves. The Dogon are famed for having bizarre knowledge concerning the Dog Star, Sirius, but that is another post!
Molly purchased and eventually married Banna Ka, who died before Benjamin’s birth. Molly played a crucial role in educating young Benjamin, teaching him to read via the Bible and passed on some of the legends and star lore from his grandfather. His basic schooling was also continued by local Quakers, who were known for their anti-slavery stance. Little else is known of his early childhood, but young Benjamin must have been exposed to the racial mores of the day. These experiences would later come to the surface in his correspondences with then President Thomas Jefferson condemning slavery.
What is known is that Benjamin Banneker was an inquisitive child, and possessed a photographic memory. He consumed what literature was available to him, and hungrily searched for more. At age 21, he built a working replica of a clock shown to him, meticulously carving the wooden gears and pieces by hand! It was said that this clock was functional throughout his life time.
In 1792, Banneker published a series of almanacs containing ephemeris, or tables for the rising, setting and transit times of the Moon, Sun, planets and stars, as well as phenomena such as eclipses. His almanac ran for five years and became an indispensible reference for farmers and astronomical observers of the time. Fame had also led Banneker to conduct an early survey of the District of Columbia area; part of the Banneker legend has him saving President George Washington in designing the new capitol after the dismissal of the tempestuous L’Enfant. Whatever the case, Banneker proved to be a first rate surveyor, naturalist, and astronomical predictor and observer.
The Total Lunar Eclipse of 1798. (Credit: NASA/Fred Espenak).
Banneker was also known for writing several treatises to President Jefferson, urging him to abolish slavery. These were some of the first public condemnations of the practice, and much of Banneker’s’ personality shines through in these writings. They are remarkable for their lucidity and elegance; one of our favorite lines is the following;
“Evil communication corrupts good manners. I hope to live to hear that good communication corrects bad manners.”
Alas, Banneker’s almanacs didn’t earn him the fame or fortune that Franklin’s did. Plagued by alcoholism and poverty in his later years, he never married. Benjamin Banneker died on October 25th, 1806, just a month shy of his 75th birthday. Legend has it that he passed away lying in a field, looking up at the Moon.
The coin that never was…
Banneker has been memorialized in different ways over the years; stamps commemorate him, and he narrowly missed being engraved on the District of Columbia quarter in 2009. (Can you believe that Duke Ellington beat him out? Thanks, D.C.!) A Historical Park and Museum dedicated to Banneker also exists in Catonsville Maryland, on the original site of Banneker’s farm.
Banneker’s 1792 almanac. (Credit: the Libary of Congress).
How many other potential Banneker’s out there have come and gone, it’s impossible to say… maybe the next one is just now getting a look at a web browser for the first time, and thirsting for knowledge. One thing is for sure; giants like Banneker show us that we all may have a colossal potential for intellect to live up to, and to approach the world anew and without preconception or prejudice each night as we gaze out into the universe may be the greatest challenge of all!
A Statue of Banneker.