organization of avid amateur astronomers to which the Edwards belong, regularly hosts outreach nights throughout Santa Barbara County, and the Edwards are often in attendance, equipped with telescopes, star charts and enthusiasm. Bringing the sky down to Earth inspires a sense of
wonder in people, and Carolyn and Ed love to share their wonder with anyone behind a telescope—avid amateurs who have completed Messier Marathons (all night attempts to locate each of the 110 objects identified by French astronomer Charles Messier in the late 18th century) and who get a chuckle out of the Edwards’ telescope humor (including references to “aperture lust”) as well as newbies whose understanding of the night sky starts and ends with the Big Dipper. The power of a
telescope was driven home for Carolyn when she watched a group of jaded adolescent boys become giddy under its spell. And Ed consid- ers himself fortunate to have given an elderly woman her first peek through a telescope during an outreach event at last year’s California Avocado Fes- tival. As she toured the Moon’s surface through the Edwards’ 16-inch scope—the newest and biggest of their fleet— she murmured “Oh my” over and over again. Winter, the Edwards
insist, is the best season to enjoy the night sky. During the summer, the glow of the Milky Way drowns out constella- tions and dims other bodies in the sky. The winter sky is typically
crisp and clear, and Carpinteria’s clingy fog tends to loosen its grip. This fall and winter, Jupiter is visible in the night sky. With a small telescope, observers can watch Jupi- ter’s moons change position in the course of a night. Venus will also make a cameo in the sky this winter,
peeking over the horizon in the early morning or the early evening before setting for the remainder of the night.
Carolyn’s favorite constellations make their appear-
ance during the winter months. Pleiades, also known as The Seven Sisters, is a cluster of young stars that requires only a pair of binoculars to view. The Great Orion Nebula, which can also be viewed through
above orion is
the bull, taurus, his face marked by a “V” of stars containing the bright orangish aldebaran. Looking above
the face of the bull, a little cluster of stars called the Pleiades, or the Seven Sisters, is visible. Binoculars show this group as looking like a tiny dipper, but this is not the famous Little Dipper of the northern skies. the Pleiades are the remains of a star- birthing nebula, gos-
HoP ABoArd THE SKy ridE Winter’s sky is dominated by
the bright rectangle of stars that make up the great constellation of orion, the Hunter. to find orion, look due south during late twilight in mid winter. ear- lier in the month, orion will be a bit to the left (east) and in late winter to the right (west). the famous star Betelgeuse
marks orion’s left shoulder and brilliant rigel his right foot. three bright stars mark the hunter’s belt and from it hangs a sword. Sharp eyes will see that the middle star of the sword is
16 CARPINTERIAMAGAZINE
not a point, but appears slightly fuzzy. this is the Great orion nebula, one of the finest tele- scope targets in the northern skies. even binoculars will show it well. Behind orion are his two
dogs, Canis major, the large dog, with the sky’s most brilliant star, Sirius, and above that the little dog, Canis minor, marked by bright Procyon. Lying at the feet of the hunter is mild little Lepus, the Hare, timidly hoping to be overlooked by the great orion and his dogs.
samer traces of which can be seen amongst the Pleiades in a medium sized telescope. to the left of the bull is
the constellation of the twins, Gemini, with its twin stars, Castor and Pollux, and above that, auriga, the Herdsman, with its bright star Capella. the herdsman carries three stars, known as the Kids, safely in his arms. Finally, to the far right, the
great planet Jupiter rules the western sky. a look at Jupiter through binoculars will reveal several of the planet’s four bright moons.
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