Sky Shorts: Ohio gets its first UNESCO World Heritage site
In September, Ohio’s Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks joined the prestigious list of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Heritage sites.
UNESCO awards the designation to places so important they should be recognized around the world. The Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks join a list of 1,100 other important places that include The Great Pyramid of Giza, Stonehenge and Chichen-Itza.
What site listing means: Shiels: Gov. DeWine is right; World Heritage site designation would be 'big deal' for Ohio
Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks encompasses eight sites, in the cities of Newark, Chillicothe and Oregonia, that were built 1,600 to 2,000 years ago by people formally referred to as Hopewell. The design and construction of the Earthworks are marvels of engineering and astronomy and show that the people of that time clearly understood geometry, architecture and solar and lunar alignments and multi-year cycles. These impressive sites feature huge squares, circles and octagons, which were geometrically precise and align perfectly with the sun and moon. Through cooperation and shared beliefs, the ancient American Indian Hopewell culture created these landscape masterpieces. Along with the earthworks, artifacts were also found, that are clues to the way of life of these people.
A couple sites that are very intriguing are Octagon Earthworks in Newark and High Bank Earthworks in Chillicothe. Octagon Earthworks features a perfect circle, and Octagon, which is a half-mile across. The eye-level embankments align with the eight key-rise and set-points of the moon during its 18.6-year cycle. The margin of error on this site is smaller than that of Stonehenge! High Bank Earthworks is the only other circle-octagon featuring the rise and set points of the moon along with encoded sun cycles.
Serpent Mound in Peebles, Ohio, is vying for inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage list too. Serpent Mound is the largest surviving effigy mound, which is a mound in the shape of an animal.
Time to hope in the car and experience these incredible sites!
Night sky for November
Five months until the Total Solar Eclipse!
Planets and the moon:
Daylight Saving Time comes to an end Nov. 5, so the sun sets around 5:30 pm. Right after you enjoy a beautiful sunset, turn to the opposite part of the sky. Brilliant Jupiter is putting on a show that will last all night. Jupiter reaches opposition Nov. 3, so it rises at sunset and sets at daybreak, shining at magnitude -2.9. This is a great time to view Jupiter, which is now at its closest distance to Earth, 370 million miles away. Another bonus is that Jupiter will reach its highest elevation since 2015, so grab your binoculars or telescope. Jupiter pairs with the moon on Nov. 25.
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As the sky darkens, Saturn can be found 35 degrees high in the southern sky. At the start of the month, it is shining at magnitude 0.7 and outshines the bright star Fomalhaut, which is slightly left of Saturn. Saturn dims slightly to 0.8 by month’s end and pairs with the moon on Nov. 19-20. Saturn sets shortly before 2 a.m. on Nov. 1 and just before 11 p.m. on Nov. 30.
Mercury returns to the evening sky and pairs with the slender crescent moon on Nov. 14, at only five degrees high in the west, at magnitude -0.5. Viewing improves daily and by Nov. 27 it reaches eastern elongation of 20 degrees and sets one hour after the Sun. By Nov. 30, Mercury is five degrees high and sets 30 minutes after sunset.
Neptune, at magnitude 7.7, is visible much of the night in the constellation Pisces, sitting five degrees due south of the star Lamda Piscium. Binoculars or a telescope are needed. It pairs with the moon on Nov. 22.
Uranus reaches opposition on Nov. 13 and stands midway between Jupiter and the Pleiades star cluster. Uranus sits 2.2 degrees due south of the star Delta Arietis. At magnitude 5.7 it is easy to find in binoculars and can be found near the full moon on Nov. 24-25.
Venus dazzles in the morning sky rising four hours before the sun at magnitude -4.4 The crescent moon pairs with Venus on Nov. 9. Venus crosses from Leo to Virgo on Nov. 3.
Mars is not visible this month.
The Leonid Meteor Shower peaks on Nov. 17. The crescent Moon sets before 10 p.m., so viewing will be favorable.
Looking forward: Counting down to April 2024 total eclipse
Night sky spotlight
Our highlights this month are the constellations Perseus and Andromeda. Perseus the hero, saved Princess Andromeda from the evil sea monster Cetus. A true love story for the fall season.
Perseus is the 24th largest constellation and one of the 48 constellations cataloged by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy. Perseus is the radiate for the most prolific meteor showers of the year, the Perseid Meteor Shower. Perseus can be found by locating the sideways W shape in the stars, Cassiopeia. The segment of stars, for Perseus, is down to the left of the W. You can find the scariest star in Perseus, the variable star Algol. Algol, called the demon star or the eye of Medusa, fluctuates in brightness, appearing to wink. With a pair of binoculars, scan down slightly from the left point of the W. You will find the Double Cluster, two beautiful open star clusters. Their catalog numbers are NGC 869 and NGC 844.
Andromeda is the mythical daughter of Queen Cassiopeia and King Cepheus and is the 19th largest constellation in the night sky. Cassiopeia points directly to Andromeda in the night sky. The brightest star in the constellation Pegasus belongs to Andromeda. The star is called Alpharatz.
Another star, Mirach which is the same magnitude as Alpharatz, lies to the upper left of that star. The third brightest star is Almach which lies to the upper left of Mirach. The featured deep sky object in Andromeda is the Andromeda Galaxy, M31, which is 2.5 million light years from Earth. Find the right point of the W. With binoculars, scan slowly up and to the right. You will see a small fuzzy circular object. If you live in a dark sky area, you may be able to see the Andromeda Galaxy with just your eyes, making this the farthest object you can see with your eyes.
For further night sky details, maps and audio, visit my website www.starrytrails.com.
Visit Hoover Price Planetarium
Join us for our planetarium shows every Saturday. Visit www.mckinleymuseum.org for show dates and times! Planetarium shows are free with museum admission. The Planetarium is located inside the McKinley Presidential Library & Museum, 800 McKinley Monument Drive NW in Canton. For more information, please call the museum at 330-455-7043.
This article originally appeared on The Alliance Review: Sky Shorts: Ohio gets its first UNESCO World Heritage site
