Statesman

Issue date: 11/19/08 Section: Outdoors

Media Credit: Jim Schaff / Submitted photo Images captured with the telescope of Jim Schaff.

Media Credit: Jim Schaff / Submitted photo

As winter rolls in and ice buckles on Duluth shores, Orion's belt will buckle itself in the icy sky. And as snow suspends and flickers above the hill, so will Orion's neighboring constellations.

Winter in Duluth holds excitement beyond carving through powder and ice on skis, snowboards and skates; the nighttime sky provides a spectacle often taken for granted.

Jim Schaff, 46, has glued his attention on the nighttime sky since he was in grade school. With his "Edmund Scientific" telescope kit, he honed in on the sky from a young age, and now this Hermantown resident has been constructing his own telescopes through which he furthers his love for the sky.

"It is really neat to observe the sky through a telescope you've made," Schaff said.

Schaff also enjoys photographing the night sky. He has shot many comets including: Halley's, Hyakutake and the Hale-Bopp. According to NASA, comets are icy bodies that release gas or dust and revolve around the sun in long, ovular orbits. Halley's comet, one of the most popular comets all, only appears in the sky about once every 75 years, so Schaff's capture of this comet was an amazing lifetime accomplishment.

Duluth is blessed with great access to the nighttime sky. Residents of larger cities, like Minneapolis, St. Paul or Chicago, don't have that access due to high levels of light pollution. The United States population is weighted towards large cities, which prevents most people from enjoying the wonders of the infinite beyond.

"It is sad; I don't think most people even realize they have a night sky filled with beauty to explore," Schaff said. He went on to explain that Duluth residents could escape light pollution with a simple 20-minute drive, something that residents of larger cities are unable to do.

The winter sky houses some of the most interesting constellations including Orion, Canis Major, Gemini, Auriga and Taurus. These constellations can be seen in the eastern sky this winter.

Orion is the most notable of the bunch, and can be used as a starting point to locate the other winter constellations. Orion is a mythical hunter drawn with a shield, sword and belt. In the sky, he appears as a rectangle, with three stars at the center forming his belt. Orion is one of the easiest to find because he contains two of the brightest stars in the sky, Betelgeuse and Rigel, which are diagonal to each other in the rectangle.

Canis Major, "The Great Dog," is Orion's faithful companion, and follows him across the eastern sky. Canis Major holds Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, on its chest. It's compilation of stars resembles the body of a dog quite well, with two legs, a head and a tail. It can be found down and to the left of Orion this winter.

Auriga, "The Charioteer," doesn't resemble its mythical character as well as Canis Major. It is comprised of five main stars that create a pentagon in the sky. It can be found just above Orion.

Taurus can be located just above Orion as well. It shares a star with Auriga and creates a "V" shape in the sky. Taurus is the mythical bull that Orion is fighting off. It's a never-ending, dazzling celestial battle in the winter sky.

Gemini, located up and to the left of Orion, makes up the mythical twins Castor and Pollux. The names of these celestial twins come from the two brightest stars that make up their heads: Castor and Pollux. The constellation appears as two parallel lines connected at the top.

"Those constellations are all visible now, shortly after sunset low in the east," Schaff said. "But later this winter will be the better time to see them when they will be higher up in the sky."

UMD students are lucky because they have easy access to the planetarium on campus. The planetarium is located in the Marshal W. Alworth building and holds a show every Wednesday night at 7 p.m. The show is free and open to the public.

Tom Lewis, a UMD freshman, has taken advantage of the planetarium show.

"If you want to learn about the constellations then the show is a good opportunity," Lewis said. "Astronomy is fun because it's crazy, but also true."

Schaff is part of the Arrowhead Astronomical Society (AAS), an astronomy club open to anyone interested in the night sky. The club costs only $12 a year, and is a gateway to immense knowledge of the night sky. A member of the club is granted the opportunity to run the planetarium show the second Wednesday of every month. Immediately following the show, the club holds a meeting where they discuss the sky for that month. Also, the club tries to plan an observing session for each month where members can gather and gawk in unison at the wonders the night sky provides.

Anyone interested in astronomy or the night sky would benefit greatly from the AAS and the planetarium shows. It is not easy to navigate the nighttime sky, but with the assistance of experts like Schaff and the planetarium staff, the night sky can become more familiar than the back of your hand.

It is like moving to a new town," Schaff said, "you feel out of place until you get to know the streets and your way around."

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