Arctic Science Journeys
Radio Script
1996

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Arctic Skywatching
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Geophysics professor Hans Nielsen and his colleagues at the University of Alaska Fairbanks have been fielding hundreds of calls from skywatchers about comet Hyakutake. Nielsen teaches astronomy at UAF.

"Comets are believed to be basically parts of very, very old material, the oldest that we have in our solar system. It's remnants from the building blocks from which the solar system was formed."

Ever since early humans gathered around campfires and looked up at the stars, there's been a fascination with the night sky. Nielsen calls astronomy the oldest of the sciences, one that's played an integral part in history, from the Christmas star to the trials of Galileo, and from the invention of numbers to the creation of modern calendars. And it's a science that doesn't necessarily require high-tech instruments.

"No, you don't. We just had the comet here and that was discovered by a Japanese with a pair of binoculars. It's actually fascinating that in astronomy that's where amateurs have a chance."

On a crisp, clear spring night, amateur astronomer Martin Gutoski crunches his way along a snowy trail.

"So, where are we going? Oh, we're gonna go to an open area and look at Venus."

Armed only with 10 by 50 binoculars, Gutoski searches and finds Earth's closet planetary neighbor, Venus. Skywatching in Alaska requires some adjustments because of the northern latitude. Zodiacal constellations, like Sagittarius or Scorpio, are never seen above the horizon. But the Big Dipper, the Little Dipper, and Cassiopeia are always seen in northern skies. And there's still comet Hyakutake.

"It'll be visible for us at least until mid-April until the sunlight is too much until we can't see it anymore, it'll be lost in the sun's glare. It's heading toward the sun so it's going to be going around the sun around May first, then it'll become a morning phenomenon for people in the southern hemisphere."

And Alaskans who didn't get enough of skywatching this year will have plenty of opportunities when the skies start turning dark again next fall. Hans Nielsen.

"Next year it'll be a comet year again. We have Hale-Bopp coming around and that will be even brighter, well, I should say it's expected to be, we can never really know these things, but it may quite a spectacle next year about this time. And again, Alaska is in a prime location for observing that comet."

For Arctic Science Journeys, this is Debra Damron.