These scripts are
written by members of the Albany
Area Amateur Astronomers
and read by the staff
of the Dudley Observatory. All scripts are copyright and may not
be reproduced without permission of the writer and the Dudley
Observatory. Scripts are
published to the web in the week following their recording. Daily
scripts may be heard by calling 518-382-7584 after 5pm.
August 1 -
4 |
August 5 -11 |
August 12 - 18
| August
19 - 25 | August
26 - 31
NOTE: Times given in the scripts are all local
Schenectady, New York time.
Thursday, August 1st. Written by Alan
French.
The Moon rises about 20 minutes after midnight tonight, so the
evening sky will be dark and Moonless. If you are well away from
city lights at 10:00 PM, the Milky Way will be visible as a hazy
band stretching across the sky from the west-southwest to the
north-northeast. This hazy band of light is actually the combined
light of thousands of faint stars. It is a beautiful sight on a
very clear and dark Moonless night. Although telescopes can reveal
many fine sights in the night sky, a pair of binoculars is the
best tool for exploring the Milky Way. If you own binoculars, try
turning them toward this hazy band of light. You will find your
binoculars reveal many faint stars and clouds of stars too faint
to be seen with the unaided eye. Look especially at the brighter
patches of haze that you see with your naked eye. You may find
your explorations more enjoyable if you lie back in a reclining
lawn chair.
As you explore the night sky you are almost certain to spot a
satellite or two moving across the sky. Satellites look like stars
but they are moving among the true stars. An unusual sight
sometimes encountered through binoculars is a triangle of three
faint satellites moving together across the sky. These are naval
satellites designed to track ships from their radio
transmissions.
The Albany Area Amateur Astronomers will be hosting two public
Star Watches this weekend. At Star Watches a variety of telescopes
are set up to show guests some celestial showpieces. These events
are free and open to all ages.
On Friday night a Star Watch will be held at the George Landis
Arboretum in Esperance beginning at 9:30 PM. Look for the
Arboretum sign on Route 20 just after crossing the Schoharie Creek
into Esperance. Follow the signs up the hill to the Arboretum.
Continue past the parking area and farmhouse to the top of the
hill. Take a right at the top of the hill into the Meeting House
field.
On Saturday night a Star Watch will be held in Indian Meadows
Park in Glenville also beginning at 9:30 PM. Indian Meadows Park
is off of Droms Road. Once in the park bear left at the fork in
the road past the first building. Star Watches are canceled if the
skies are mostly cloudy. For further information call
374-8460.
**********************************************
Friday, August 2nd to Sunday, August 4th. Written by
George Mileski
The moon rises tonight around 12:30AM, it is a waning crescent
moon. On Sunday the 4th, the moon passes 2 degrees north of
Saturn. In the west, we find Venus, with the star Denebola to its
upper right and Spica far to its upper left. High in the west
glows Arcturus, fourth-brightest star in the sky at magnitude -
.04 and first magnitude Spica below and to the left of Arcturus.
Arcturus looks very bright for two reasons, first it lies a mere
36 light-years away in the constellation Bootes, the Herdsman,
second, Arcturus is an orange-colored star 27 times the diameter
of our sun. If it were placed where the sun is, the star's mass
would extend 1/3 the way to the orbit of Mercury.
Arcturus surface shines with a orange color in stark contrast
to the blue-white hue of Spica. This star in nearby Virgo, the
maiden, is the 16th brightest star in the sky and lies 250
light-years away, seven times farther than Arcturus. Its
brightness is due to a high surface temperature. The surface
temperature of Arcturus is a relatively cool 9000 degrees F.
compared to Spica's 45,000 degrees F. Three more hot stars
dominate the summer evening sky. High overhead at mid-evening is
Vega, somewhat dimmer than Arcturus and part of the summer
triangle. The triangle's eastern edge is flagged by Deneb which
marks the tail of Cygnus the Swan.
Completing the triangle to the south is Altair in Aquila, the
eagle. The trio appear white to the naked eye due to their high
surface temperature. At the opposite end of cross-shaped Cygnus
from Deneb lies Albireo, still another example of a beautiful star
color. At magnitude 3 look for it roughly midway between Vega and
Altair. Albireo is a show piece double star, its colors are yellow
and blue. It has been described as one of the finest in the
heavens, but you do need a telescope to see it.
**********************************************
Monday, August 5th. Written by Joseph
Slomka.
As the Sun sets, only Venus is easily visible in the southwest.
The planet is moderately high at sunset, but quickly becomes too
low for useful observation. In a telescope or binoculars it is
about half illuminated, a result of its inside orbit between Sun
and Earth.
Uranus and Neptune rise about nightfall. Even though they are
giant planets, far beyond Jupiter and Saturn, they appear as tiny
blue dots amid the myriad of stars in the constellation
Capricornus. They can be seen in telescopes and binoculars but one
must have a monthly magazine chart to locate them.
By first light, Saturn has risen in the constellation Taurus.
In fact, it is so close to the famous "Crab Nebula" that it will
probably drowned it out. A very thin crescent Moon occupies the
middle of Gemini, low in the northeast. Shortly before sunrise,
Jupiter joins the scene, as the brightest of the trio.
Another planet is low on the southern horizon but most people
will never see it. This is Pluto. Pluto is a dim 14th magnitude
object in the constellation Ophiuchus. Pluto is a small planet,
composed mostly of frozen water and gases. It has a moon, Charon,
so large that it is almost a double planet system. This distant
planet orbits the Sun every 247 years. Pluto is so dim and distant
that it was discovered only in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh after an
exhaustive and frustrating search, using the latest technology.
Pluto is not like the other planets in many respects. Its orbit is
more at an angle, and more elliptical. In fact, a few years ago
Pluto was within Neptune's orbit, temporarily making Neptune our
most distant planet. If you want to find Pluto, you must first
have access to an eight inch or larger telescope and a very
accurate map, usually found in astronomy magazines. We now know
that Pluto is the largest of a whole class of objects beyond its
orbit.
**********************************************
Tuesday, August 6th. Written by Jonathan
Cassidy.
Nights this week are dark without the moon. Therefore this is
the week to look for dim objects from your backyard or a suitable
place away from lights.
Directly to the south at around 10 PM there is a grouping of
stars we call an asterism. They are part of a constellation but
form an easier to recognize pattern that is not the full
constellation to which they belong. In the north we see this as
the Big Dipper which is part of Ursa Major.
To the south just above the horizon is the constellation
Sagittarius, Centaur Archer. In this constellation we see a
teapot. The teapot is tipped such as pouring from the east to the
west. If you are in a good dark sky location you might see a
cloudyness rising from the area of the spout, as if the tea were
quite warm. This cloudyness is the Milkyway glx. our home glx.
Follow this cloudy area toward the north and see patches of dense
star clusters. Look with binoculars or any telescope anywhere
along this area and see many fine astronomical sights.
**********************************************
Wednesday, August 7th. Written by Ray
Bogucki.
Some recent and upcoming events serve to remind us that the
Earth is constantly being bombarded by particles from our solar
system.
The smallest and most constant of these are the electrons and
protons emitted by the Sun as the solar wind. These electrically
charged, sub-atomic particles are normally concentrated by the
Earth's magnetic field into the areas near the north and south
magnetic poles. Collisions of these particles with atoms and
molecules in the Earth's atmosphere cause the glowing pink or
green lights known as the aurora. These lights are routinely
observed by people living above 70 degrees north latitude.
Occasionally, an exceptionally strong burst of solar emissions
will move the lights to more southerly latitudes. Such a display
was witnessed by the writer last Thursday evening about 10 p.m. in
a dark sky location in Maine, near the Canadian border. A bright,
pale green arc covered the northern sky from the northwest to the
northeast horizon. Brighter beams, like searchlights, shone upward
above the arc and drifted slowly westward. The display faded after
a couple of hours, but the brilliance of the onset was
memorable.
Larger particles, typically the size of a grain of sand or
rice, will be striking our atmosphere during the coming week.
These are particles left in the wake of Comet Swift-Tuttle, a
comet with a 135-year orbital period whose passages have been
observed since the 14th century. While we see the comet itself
only once every 135 years, our orbit carries us through its
cometary debris each year in early August, providing us with the
dependable Perseid meteor showers. This year's Perseid shower will
reach its peak on Saturday night, but Perseids can be seen for
several nights before and after the peak.
Last June 14, a much larger, and more ominous object, a
200-foot diameter asteroidal rock, moving at 23,000 miles per
hour, sped past us within 10 Earth diameters, the largest asteroid
ever known to come that close. Had it collided with the Earth, the
blast would have been comparable to the collision in Tunguska,
Siberia in 1908, which flattened 1200 square miles of forest. Its
approach was not detected because it came from the direction of
the Sun and was buried in the Sun's glare. This perilously close
encounter was only discovered 3 days later - a sobering
thought.
**********************************************
Thursday, August 8th. Written by Alan French.
The Moon was new at 3:15 PM this past afternoon, so the skies
will be dark and Moonless tonight. Watch for a thin crescent Moon
in the western sky just after sunset on Saturday and Sunday nights
this coming weekend. The brilliant planet Venus continues to
dominate the western sky just after dark.
If you look high in the East around 10 PM tonight you will see
a triangle of bright stars. The longer base of this triangle runs
roughly parallel to the eastern horizon, while the third and
brightest star in it is almost directly overhead. This pattern of
star is knows as the Summer Triangle, because it is high overhead
during the summer months.
The three stars in the Summer Triangle are in three different
constellations. The left most star, Deneb marks the end of the
tail of Cygnus, the Swan. The rightmost star, Altair, is in the
constellation of Aquila, the Eagle. The final member, Vega, is the
brightest star in the small constellation of Lyra, the Lyre.
A pretty and somewhat overlooked constellation lies below the
right half of the base of the Summer Triangle. Look for a small
diamond shaped pattern of stars with another star of about the
same brightness to their right. This grouping will appear below
and to the left of Altair around 10 PM. These star form Delphinus,
the Dolphin.
Like many of the constellations, there are several different
myths about Delphinus. In one of the better-known stories,
Poseidon, god of the sea, was trying to win beautiful Amphitrite
as his wife. She would have nothing to do with him, and, being
quite at home in the water, she tried to hide from Poseidon in the
deep parts of the ocean. Poseidon asked a dolphin to find her, and
the dolphin was always able to do so. The dolphin spoke very
highly of Poseidon every time he found her, and Amphitrite
eventually agreed to marry him. As a reward, Poseidon placed the
Dolphin in the night sky so that everyone could see him. We can
still see him among the stars every clear summer night.
**********************************************
Friday, August 9th to Sunday, August 11th. Written by
George Mileski
On Friday, shining brightly in the west is Venus at magnitude
-4.2, below and to the right is the planet Mercury. To the right
of Mercury is the thin crescent moon. Binoculars would be a great
help to see this pair of sky objects. A good time to see Venus
with a telescope is around sunset, before it gets to low and
before the sky gets to dark. I say this because Venus has phase
changes like the moon. This month the phases start at 59% or a
gibbous phase. At the end of the month it will be less than half
full or a waning crescent phase.
In the morning in the east 45 minutes before sunrise, look for
the planets Jupiter and Saturn. Saturn is found in the
constellation Taurus. It lies to the lower left of the star
Aldebaran. Saturn's rings are tipped more than 26 degrees from
edgewise. Because of this the planet is quite bright compared to
the star Aldebaran. To the lower left of Saturn about 35 degrees
is Jupiter. Jupiter is quite low in the sky, but it climbs higher
with each passing day.
We commonly associate the constellation Orion with the winter
sky, but while you are up looking for the planets Saturn and
Jupiter, don't forget to look at Orion. Orion is easy to
recognize, for one thing, this constellation contains two of the
skies brightest stars. Betelgeuse which is a reddish star and
Rigel which is bluish, a very hot star. These stars are bright
but, strangely enough they're not Orion's notable feature. Instead
Orion, the hunter is best known for his belt, a short straight
line of three medium-bright stars. When Orion rises before dawn,
the belt stars point straight up from the horizon. Orion comes up
on his side his shield in front of him. Seeing Orion before dawn
gives you a chance to see the moon illusion with a constellation
by magnifying the apparant distances between the stars. The result
is that Orion looks bigger than ever.
**********************************************
Monday, August 12th. Written by Joseph
Slomka.
The Sun sets at 8:20 PM, with night falling at 9:51. The thin
crescent Moon sets at 10:34 PM. Dawn breaks at 4:10 AM and ends
with sunrise at 5:59.
Both evening and dawn skies feature interesting pairings. This
evening, the thin Moon and planet Venus attract our attention to
the West. The Moon is higher in the sky and about one-quarter
illuminated. Venus is twelve degrees lower to the West and appears
half illuminated in our binoculars or telescopes.
As soon as night falls, look for the "W" shaped constellation
Cassiopeia. Above her is her husband Cepheus, which looks like a
stick drawing of a house. Train binoculars north between Cepheus
and the constellation Draco. If the skies are dark enough, you may
see the newly discovered Comet Hoenig. This is one of two gracing
our skies at the moment, but Hoenig is the easiest to observe.
As dawn breaks, Saturn blazes in the East. It is located at the
tip of Taurus, the Bull's, horns. Jupiter joins the scene just
before sunrise. To further busy the skies, the annual Perseid
meteor shower takes place tonight and the next couple of days. You
will be hard-pressed to choose between comets, planets and
meteors!
The astronomical event of the week is the annual Perseid meteor
shower, which peaks tonight. The radiant, the point from which
meteors seem to flow, lies between "W" shaped Cassiopeia and
Perseus, a constellation that resembles a stick figure of a man.
Meteor showers do not occur on a single night, but last a few days
before and after the peak. It is best to start observing after
Midnight or before twilight. No equipment is needed, just a lawn
chair and maybe a blanket for cool nights. Simply face the sky and
be patient. Sometimes meteors come in spurts, separated by many
minutes; as a result, you may have to wait a while to see a
Perseid. If you see a meteor, mentally backtrack its path; if it
came from the northeast, its a Perseid.
**********************************************
Tuesday, August 13th. Written by Jonathan
Cassidy.
Venus is a fine evening sight this week and for the remainder
of the month. Look shortly after sunset and see Venus, hight power
binoculars or telescopes, is not round but has a slightly crescent
shape. This shape is because Venus is nearer the Sun than us and
we are looking at the back, shadow, side of that planet. This view
of Venus will get larger and the crescent shape thinner as the
weeks go by.
Also Venus is not alone in this part of the sky, It has, to the
south, a closing conjunction with the bright star Spica.
Watch over the next several weeks as these two draw closer to
each other. Now realize that light from Venus, reflected from the
sun, takes several minutes to reach us. Yet light from Spica takes
262.2 years to reach us. Thus we say that Spica is 262.2 light
years away. This is quite a distance. Thus even though the star
Spica is itself much brighter than Venus the distance makes
it‚s light less than the close planet.
By August 31 we sill see Spica close the gap and actually pass
Venus in the evening sky in the coming weeks.
**********************************************
Wednesday, August 14th. Written by Ray
Bogucki.
If you missed Monday night's peak of the Perseid meteor shower,
keep watching. The band of cometary debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle
is quite wide and the Earth requires a couple of weeks to pass
through most of it. Tonight should still provide a small number of
meteor streaks, especially after midnight. The presence of a
significantly lit Moon has always been considered a hindrance to
meteor watching, but an interesting observation by an amateur
astronomer in Texas has changed that. During the November 1999
Leonid meteor shower the observer was studying the dark part of
the crescent Moon when he saw a yellow flash on the Moon's
surface. He proposed that the point of light might have been part
of the burst of energy released when a meteorite struck the Moon's
surface. Without a Moon atmosphere to slow them down, meteors
would strike the surface at full speed, often near 100,000 miles
per hour. Most scientists were dubious until another astronomer,
1200 miles away in Maryland found the a short-lived point of light
at precisely the same time and lunar location on a video tape he
had made of the Moon on that night. Tonight, the Moon will be
almost at first quarter, so half of the Moon will be dark. It
would be an interesting experiment to watch for flashes on the
dark half of the Moon tonight with a telescope. Because of the
orientation of the Earth and Moon as they travel together through
the debris cloud, the upper or northern part of the dark half of
the Moon has a higher probability of showing meteor strikes.
If you are up in the early morning during the next few weeks,
be sure to search out the famous variable star, Mira, "the
Wonderful" in the constellation, Cetus, the Whale. Mira is the
brightest member and prototype for its class of long-period, red
variable stars. In a roughly eleven-month cycle, Mira brightens
from a minimum magnitude of about 9, invisible to the naked eye,
to 3 or even 2, a seriously bright star, and then, after a couple
of weeks at peak brightness, fades quickly back to invisibility.
Its maximum is predicted to be occurring right about now, so look
for it soon. Mira is an impressive supergiant whose diameter is
several times larger than the diameter of the Earth's orbit. Its
cyclical popping in and out of view has been followed carefully by
astronomers for over 400 years.
**********************************************
Thursday, August 15th. Written by Alan
French.
The Moon was at First Quarter this morning. The Moon was due
south at 7:11 PM and will set just after midnight tonight. It is
called a "first quarter" Moon because it has completed one-quarter
of its trip around the Earth since the last New Moon. At first
quarter, we see one half of the Moon's visible face bathed in
sunlight. The line between light and darkness is called the
terminator, and it is the sunrise line on the first quarter
Moon.
If you visited the Moon tonight and traveled to the terminator,
you would find the Sun appearing just above the horizon. Because
the Sun is low in the lunar skies as seen from the terminator, the
shadows it casts there are long and features stand out in bold
relief. Even a pair of binoculars can reveal some of the larger
features along the terminator, and any small telescope will reveal
a wealth of detail. The Moon is an excellent target for binocular
or telescopic viewing tonight.
It is interesting to watch the sun rise along the terminator.
If you look carefully you will see some points or lines of light
in the otherwise dark regions just to the left of the terminator.
These are taller mountains and crater rims that are catching the
light of the rising Sun. If you spend some time watching, or take
a look again later, you will find more of the mountain or crater
wall is in sunlight. If you time it right, it is fun to watch the
shadows of the crater wall move across the floor of a crater
until, finally, the entire floor is in sunlight. As the sunlight
first hits the crater floor details that are invisible when the
Sun is higher in the lunar sky are visible.
If you are out just after 10:30 PM tonight you have a chance to
see an "Irdium Flare," which is caused by bright sunlight glinting
off a reflective antenna on an Iridium satellite. This brief
brightening will appear brighter than Venus, and will occur just
after 10:34 PM. You want to be looking low in the East-Northeast
in the constellation Andromeda. If you are unfamiliar with
Andromeda, look for the "W" shape of Cassiopeia. Andromeda is to
the lower right of Cassiopeia. Watch for a faint satellite moving
through the area. It will brighten and suddenly flare very
brightly. If you are looking in the general area it will be hard
to miss. The brightness depends on where you are in the Capital
District - some folks will get a brighter flash than others.
**********************************************
Friday, August 16th to Sunday, August 18th. Written by
George Mileski
The moon on Friday the 16th is above and to the left of
Antares, the primary star in the constellation Scorpius. On sunday
the waxing gibbous moon will be on the handle of the teapot in the
constellation Sagittarius. In the west we find two planets that
are visible, Venus and Mercury. Venus is slowly closing the gap
between itself and the star Spica. Right now the distance is about
10 degrees between them. Finding Mercury in the west can be a
challenge, you need a good clear horizon, a pair of binoculars,
and a good imagination. Wait about 30 minutes after sunset to look
for it. This happens to be one of its poorer appearances, usually
its easier to find.
In the morning sky there are also two planets that are visible,
that is Saturn and Jupiter. Saturn is in the constellation Taurus,
it is bright at magnitude 0, with the star Aldebaran about 17
degrees to its upper right. Look for Jupiter about 40 minutes
before sunrise, its very low in the eastern horizon.
High in the east these summer evenings is the familiar summer
triangle of Vega, Deneb, and Altair. Crossing its lower part
horizontally is the glow of the milky way. If you scan this area
with binoculars you will see a multitude of distant stars and an
occasional grouping, comprising an open cluster. One large and
easy cluster is the "coathanger" in Vulpecula. Use binoculars to
look for this eye-catching group, a third of the way from Altair
to Vega. An east-west line of six stars 11/2 degrees long forms
the coathangers crossbar and four more, form an upside-down hook
attached to the middle. This group lies about 425 light-years from
us.
Another group of objects located rather low in the south is in
the constellation Sagittarius, which looks like a teapot in the
sky. There are some great binoculars objects to try to find, such
as the globular cluster M22, also above the teapot is the
Sagittarius star cloud, below this, is the Lagoon and the Trifid
Nebula, that is M8 and M20. Located below off the spout is the
open clusters M6 and M7. I would certainly recommend using a star
map if you have one to help in identifying them.
**********************************************
Monday, August 19th. Written by Joseph
Slomka.
The Sun sets at 7:51 PM, with night falling at 9:37. Dawn
breaks at 4:22 AM and ends with sunrise at 06:07. The Moon rises
before the Sun and sets before Dawn.
As the sky darkens, Venus lies very low on the western horizon.
Venus is bright, but may be hidden by trees or other
obstructions.
If the Moon weren't so bright, tonight would be ideal to locate
the distant giant planet Uranus. It is located about three and a
half degrees East of Delta in Capricornus, the constellation now
high in the southeast. Capricornus is shaped roughly like at
triangle. Delta is the easternmost star in that triangle. Uranus
looks like a blue-green dot to binocular users; telescopes will
show it as tiny blue-green disk.
As Dawn breaks, Saturn is already high in the East. In
binoculars Saturn shows a creamy, oval shape. In a telescope, it
is a stunning sight. Its rings never fail to amaze first time
observers. Jupiter follows just before sunrise. It is brighter
than Saturn only because it nearer to Earth. Binoculars show
Jupiter to be a bright ball with four moons arrayed about it.
**********************************************
Tuesday, August 20th. Written by Jonathan
Cassidy.
Full moon this week so the night sky is not as dark as two
weeks ago, when the moon was new. To night we will look for bright
stars that can be our sign posts and point us to other things. We
all remember the pointer stars of the big dipper point to the
north star, Polaris.
In a similar way the bright stars Altair and Deneb point to
Cassiopia, the "W" in the sky. Cassiopia is the queen married to
king Cepheus. Mythology tells us that it was Cassiopias‚s
boasting of her physical beauty that caused a famine in the
country. A good tale with a hero on a flying horse who saves a
young princess.
But tonight Cassiopia is rising from the north east. Though it
never sets below the horizon it does get so low in the easrly
summer as to be difficult to spot.
If you find the three bright stars directly over head at sunset
you have found the summer triangle. Take a line from the two
dimmer stars of this triangle and follow that line to the north,
near the horizon. Once the sky has darkened enough you will see
here the familiar "W" of Cassiopia now looking more like an upside
down chair.
**********************************************
Wednesday, August 21st. Written by Ray
Bogucki.
**********************************************
Thursday, August 22nd. Written by Peter
Jennes.
**********************************************
Friday, August 23rd to Sunday, August 25th. Written by
George Mileski
**********************************************
Monday, August 26th. Written by Joseph
Slomka.
**********************************************
Tuesday, August 27th. Written by Jonathan
Cassidy.
Two astronomical objects to see this week at opposit ends of
the day. For the early riser we now see Jupiter has returned to
the night sky. Look east just before the sky brightens in the
morning. The one brightest object is Jupiter. We will note more
about this planet later in the year when it is up at a more
convenient time.
In the evening just after sunset this week, and next, we look
for Venus and a close encounter with a star. The star is Spica of
the constellation Viergo. Watch these two dance together for the
next week.
Venus is rather near us and Spica rather far. How near and far
you might ask. Light from Venus takes several minutes to reach us
and we can speak of this distance as some several millions of
miles. Spica on the other hand is so far that miles are
meaningless. Rather with large distances we speak of how long
light takes to travel from one object to another. In the case of
Spica light, which we see tonight, left this star over 260 years
ago and has been traveling towarrd us at 186,000 miles per second.
Now try to figure how far that is in miles. My calculator does not
go up to a number that large.
**********************************************
Wednesday, August 28th. Written by Ray
Bogucki.
Several of the bright planets will rendezvous with various
stellar objects in the next few weeks. Venus, still the brightest
object in the night sky, other than the Moon, has been moving
eastward through the stars toward the bright blue-white star
Spica, in the constellation Virgo. This Saturday evening, perhaps
40 minutes after sunset, you can see Venus passing within one
degree south of Spica. You will need to find an observing spot
with an unobstructed view of the southwestern horizon because both
objects are quite low. Binoculars will help to find them and, with
luck, you may glimpse Mercury lying even lower and to the right of
Venus. In a telescope, both planets will be seen as about 50%
illuminated, similar in appearance to the first quarter Moon.
Mercury is now at its farthest departure from the Sun at 27
degrees eastern elongation, but it currently lies south of the
ecliptic and is not well-placed for viewing from northern
latitudes. In a few weeks it will have passed in front of the sun
and will join Mars in the early morning sky in early October.
Jupiter, now rising about 4 a.m., an hour before the onset of
morning twilight, is approaching the open star-cluster known as
the Beehive, in the constellation Cancer, the Crab. In dark skies,
the Beehive is visible to the unaided eye as a faint, fuzzy patch
of light. Binoculars reveal a cluster of bright stars, looking
like a group of bees flying around a hive. Jupiter will glide
along the southern edge of this cluster next week.
Saturn rises around 1 a.m. and is well up in the early morning
sky before morning twilight. During the next two months, it will
slowly pass close to M35, another fine open star cluster near the
feet of Gemini, the Twins. By mid October, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter
and Saturn will all be lined up, in that order, in the early
morning sky.
**********************************************
Thursday, August 29th. Written by Peter
Jennes.
**********************************************
Friday, August 30th to Sunday, September 1st. Written by
George Mileski
Skywatch line for Friday August the 30th through Sunday
September 1st, written by George Mileski
On Friday August 30th, the moon is at last quarter at precisely
10:31pm. In the western sky there are two planets, Venus and
supposely Mercury. I have not been able to see Mercury myself, my
horizon isn't very good in that direction. At this time Mercury is
putting on a very poor appearance. On Saturday Venus passes 0.9
degrees south of Spica, the brightest star in the constellation
Virgo, this is its closest approach. The planets Jupiter and
Saturn are in the morning sky. Jupiter is in the constellation
Cancer and is approaching the beehive open cluster. Saturn is in
the constellation Taurus.
One of the faintest constellations is in the pattern of a
childs drawing of a house, is called Cepheus. Right now it stands
high overhead. The constellation can be found by using the two
pointer stars or end stars in the big dipper. Follow these stars
to the north star and continue this line to the next bright star
you come to. The star you come to is the peak of the house I
mentioned above. The brightest star in the constellation is called
Alderamin, its about 48 light-years away. One of the reddest stars
in the sky is found in this constellation, its called the "garnet
star". It lies near the bottom of the house figure, I discussed
above. To see it well you need a telescope.
A more famous object in Cepheus is the star Delta Cephei
located 1200 light-years away. This is a fourth-magnitude variable
star. The star was the first of its class to be discovered. Now
all other stars like it are called Cepheids. Cepheid variable
stars are used by astronomers to determine distances in the
universe. These Cepheid variables vary in brightness in an
extremely regular way. It is with this information that
Astronomers can use to measure distances of the more distant
stars.
For stars relatively near earth, Astronomers measure distances
with a technique called parallax, as the earth moves from one side
of its orbit to the other every six months, nearby stars appear to
shift against the background of more distant stars. Careful
measurement of this shift gives precise distances, but only works
for stars within a few tens of light-years of earth.
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