Image source: Star Walk on Medium
Saturn & Summer Stars
Welcome to another weekend. As much as we need the rain, it does limit what can be seen in our nighttime skies. Of course, the clouds themselves are intriguing and intermittent rains that allow the sun to shine through do bring those lovely arcs of scattered raindrops, so there is something else to enjoy. Here is something to start your weekend off in case you wonder about the planets in our Solar System, this [NASA] Astronomy Picture of the Day should answer that nicely: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250914.html.
What is up there behind the storm clouds at night this week? Our Moon is going to be First Quarter on Monday, which is a good time to make sketches of the phases and perhaps noting a star or even a planet that is nearby. The New Moon shared the sky last week with Venus and the bright blue-white star Regulus in the constellation Leo. Full Moon will be October 6, the so-called Harvest Moon. The brilliant glow of reflected sunlight off the lunar surface helped farmers gather their final harvest before winter cold set in.
Saturn now stands high enough in the south-east for experienced telescope users to use high-power to view as early as ten o’clock PM. This year, its rings are almost edge-on, which makes for an interesting shadow across its face through optical aids.
Beneath the yellowish globe of Saturn if the horizon is clear, look for the ‘Lonely Star’ Fomalhaut very near the horizon. We are in a good position for seeing this southern hemisphere star. The star is the peak of the broken kite shape of Pisces Austrinus, which gave it the word meaning ‘mouth of the fish’ and it is located to the left and below the sea goat, Capricornus, although its faint stars make it very difficult to locate. The southern late summer sky is very ‘watery’ with three fish, a half-fish/half-goat, worshiped by ancient Babylonians, a river, Eridanus, a whale, Cetus, and a water carrier, Aquarius. Does anyone remember the 1970s tune Dawning of the Age of Aquarius? Some folks thought that age had arrived back then but that has to do with where the sun will be on the equinox and it hasn’t happened yet.
A quarter turn west and look overhead to locate Vega (V-guh), like Fomalhaut a white-hot main sequence star 25 light years distant from earth. Vega is emitting three times as much light as Fomalhaut and compares to Sirius, the Dog Star which has a magnitude of -1.
We have mentioned the stars of the Summer Triangle many times this summer but since the group is still in the sky I feel comfortable adding more information to your collection of star stuff. Deneb, in the tail of Cygnus, is 2000 light years or more from Fomalhaut and is a white supergiant, pouring out thousands of times more light than do the previous two stars.
If you are up late, Jupiter will rise from the east close to midnight during the first two weeks of October. Venus rises just a bit before dawn, making a bright pair to observe if you are heading off to work before the ‘dauncerly light.’
I hope you are able to enjoy your personal exploration of the night sky this week. And remember if you have questions or comments, related to the column/astronomy, my email is carolutsinger@att.net.
Until next time, KLU.
