Planet X: IMO Right, Nancy Wrong, about When to Look (Long)
As usual, Nancy (who admits to being unschooled in science) tries to
do science and gets it wrong. The following was posted by her last
saturday, June 8, 2002:
(see http://www.zetatalk.com/index/cjun0802.htm)
Note: I was logged in to IRC chat but was not actually at my computer
during the Nancy part of this session)
---------- start Nancy Chat ------------
Live ZetaTalk Chat on Jun 08, 2002
Session Start: Sat Jun 08 16:40:29 2002
... at start of session. Usual interrupting posts removed
(NancyL) IMO, hello!
(NancyL) I was just checking in my SkyMap re times, places, and it
confirmed what you posted re late July the very earliest in southern
hemisphere.
(NancyL) In fact, I used Capetown SA, and found for Jun 15th, nada
except a NOON more or less, and then right on top of the Sun, right in
the Sun.
(NancyL) Or I should say, the Sun was virtually on top of Orion.
(NancyL) For Jun 15th in Capetown, at 18:00 it was on the horizon
edge, but by 19:00 gone. Not much southern hemisphere viewing by late
June, I suspect.
(NancyL) IMO, then I go to Sep 15th, and find Orion is visible at 6:00
AM, and the Sun not yet up, but I'm sure the dawn is flooding the area
with light.
(NancyL) Still visible on Sep 15th at noon, but by 18:00 no, so ONLY
very early in the AM, even in Sep, even for Capetown.
(NancyL) So I go to Dec 15th and we have midnight viewing, etc., all
very good.
(NancyL) Visible at 6:00 AM too, visible at 21:00 too, so all night
viewing.
(NancyL) Do I have this right, IMO? How can ANYONE, then, in June in
southern hemisphere, or July in northern, see this thing?
(NancyL) I think not until Fall, given the light pollution.
... now jump to the end of the session
(NancyL) IMO, did I get it right, on when Orion will be visible in
dark time. I posted at the start of the chat (actually, just before
the chat but you were there.)
(NancyL) IMO, I don't see how anyone can see Orion, the smoldering
brown dwarf, until FALL, else its in the dawn or such, right?
(NancyL) IMO is silent.
(NancyL) He's afraid I'll quote him.
--------- end Nancy Chat -------------
In fact, she's got it all wrong. First, I do not understand her hangup
with Orion. I have pointed out many times that her coordinates are in
Taurus, and have been so for a long time. The correct information was
posted by me some time ago here on sci.astro and is available along
with other useful information and a finding chart at
http://us.geocities.com/openmindxx/whenNwhere.htm
The following is a portion of the text of that posting:
"I know we are all eagerly awaiting the emergence of Nancy's
coordinates from behind the sun. The following is based on catching
sight of her coords about 15 degrees above the horizon while the sun
is at nautical sunrise (12 degrees down). ...
The first folks to get a good look are those in the southern
hemisphere. They should be able to start viewing at the end of June.
The approximate location is just about directly above Aldebaran (30 %
higher than the length of the "vee"). Folks in North Freedom, WI will
see things a bit differently (in more ways than one). Start looking in
the second week of July. The coordinates will be to the right of
Aldebaran (about 30% farther than the length of the "vee"). I have no
idea what to say you should look for as Nancy has given up trying to
express brightness. She has said that her planet should be easily
visible in a small telescope."
---------- end of excerpt from old IMO sci.astro post ------------
I'm going to try to explain this again.
a) since her coordinates are now close to the sun they are currently
unobservable as they would rise in the east at about the same time as
the Sun, i.e. sunrise. However stars and objects whose positions are
not moving rapidly against the stars (i.e. Nancy's coordinates) rise
about 4 minutes earlier every night. So her position will start
rising before sunrise; earlier and earlier each night. To be easily
seen I have required that her position be at least 15 degrees (about 3
fists) above the horizon when the sun is still 12 degrees below the
horizon. This will be about an hour or a bit more before sunrise.
When the sun is 12 degrees below the horizon we say it is "nautical
sunrise". That is the time when the sky has become bright enough with
"dawns early light" that one can first detect the horizon (useful for
taking star sights). The actual numbers for Capetown (since Nancy did
her analysis for that site) and Madison Wisconsin (close to where
Nancy now resides) are:
Capetown, South Africa:
June 24, 2002
- Nancy position rises at 6:24AM
- Nancy position 15 degrees above horizon at 7:52AM
- Sun 12 degrees below horizon at 7:52AM
- Sun rises 8:51AM
Madison, WI:
July 17, 2002
- Nancy position rises at 2:55AM
- Nancy position 15 degrees above horizon at 4:17AM
- Sun 12 degrees below horizon at 4:17AM
- Sun rises 5:33AM
Note that it is mid-winter in Capetown and mid-summer in Madison;
hence the different times of sunrise etc. In each case, by two weeks
after the above dates the available time to observe against a dark sky
will extend to a full hour. For most folks in the southern hemisphere
things will happen a few days later than for Capetown. Where to look
is given in the above sci.astro excerpt. In conclusion, take a look at
http://us.geocities.com/openmindxx/whenNwhere.htm where a detailed
star map (actually a mosaic of Palomar Sky Survey images) will show
you what should be visible, including some reference magnitudes. By
mid-July nearly everyone reading this (not true for Scandinavia)
should be able to go out about 1 1/2 hours before dawn and start
looking with their small telescopes to see whether Nancy's predictions
are correct.
