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A monthly look at the night sky from your favorite Astronomy teacher at Pequea Valley High School
Episodes
Wednesday Aug 31, 2016
Wednesday Aug 31, 2016
To see a video of this information, go to my YouTube Channel
Welcome to Observing With Webb, where the armchair astronomer figures out what they’re looking at, why it’s so cool, and what they should check out next. This year, September brings us 4 planets, another start to Fall, and some very good news for the Pequea Valley Planetarium. Before talking about the planets, events, and constellations for September, I have some special news and a special request. I’ve been running the Pequea Valley Planetarium coming up on 10 years now, with it being 40 years older than that. It’s old and starting to fail. After writing a proposal and submitting it with hundreds of other teachers, Farmers Insurance picked Pequea Valley’s proposal as one of the 15 finalists for the grant. They are now leaving the final say to public voting. The 6 proposals with the most votes will each get $100,000 to fulfill their proposal.
This is where I’m asking you a favor. The entire public gets to vote once everysingle day in October. Please take the time to visit https://www.farmers.com/thank-americas-teachers/ each and every day in the month of October. I even have a sign up for daily reminders in your email on our planetarium website: https://sites.google.com/site/pvplanetarium/. This will be huge for our planetarium. As the title of the proposal states, it will reignite STEM education in an aging and ailing space race planetarium. Our lights are literally about to go out. Let’s keep the universe in Pequea Valley. There are more details on our planetarium website, but here are the basics of what this grant will bring us. We plan to use the money to:
- Establish a free week-long Summer Space STEM Camp for all students in the district, geared for elementary and intermediate school learners, with secondary student counselors
- Expand and improve our current programming by incorporating STEM curriculum into 3rd and 4th grade expanded field trips
- Replace the current lighting system, whose bulbs are no longer produced
- Replace the bolted down seats with new, padded, moveable, stack able chairs, thus opening up the room to more possibilities
- Replace the Jerry-rigged sound system
- Refurbish the star ball
PLANETS...well,the ones visible with your naked eye
Planets you can see around Sunset – Venus(W), Saturn (SW), Mars (S)
Planets you can see throughout the night – None
Planets you can see in the Morning – Mercury(E – end of the month)
Mercury – You might just be able to catch Mercury up to an hour and half before sunrise in the final week of September. Look E after 5:50am, when it rises up to about 15˚ by sunrise, which is about 7am.
Venus – Look W after sunset, and Venus will be only about 10˚ above the horizon, but very bright.
Mars & Saturn – Look SSW after sunset and bring a sky map of Scorpius. Saturn and Mars start out the month about 6˚ apart, with Mars to the left of Saturn, and Saturn about 6˚above the star Antares. Throughout the month, Mars moves away to about 20˚ from Saturn and Antares at the end. Both are visible until about 10:30pm, when they set in the W.
Jupiter – Don’t even try. It’ll be back for mornings in October.
EVENTS...
New Moon – 1st (darkest skies) – If you live in central Africa, you’ll see an annular eclipse of the Sun, but no events in North America. More info here: http://is.gd/Sep2016annulareclipse
3rd – Close Encounter – Moon, Venus – Look to the W in the 45 minutes after sunset (7:30ish) and you might just be able to catch a VERY thin crescent Moon to the left of bright Venus. You’ll need a very clear view of the horizon, clear skies, and binoculars most likely.
First Quarter Moon – 9th(Visible until midnight)
7th – 9th – Close Encounter – Moon, Mars, Saturn –Look SW once the sky is starting to get dark, and find a nice thick crescent Moon. On the 7th, Saturn will be about 10˚ to the left of the Moon,with red Mars about 8˚ to the left and a little down from Saturn. The following night, the Moon will have moved to be only 3˚ above Saturn, and on the 9th the Moon will make its way past Saturn and Mars, being 13˚ to the left of Saturn and 8˚ above Mars.
Full Moon – 16th (Visible all night) –Technically, there’s a penumbral lunar eclipse, but it’s very hard to see them. Also, only those of us in Europe,Africa, Asia, and the Pacific would be able to observe this one.
22nd– Fall Equinox – When all locations on Earth experience a day of almost exactly 12 hours and a night of almost exactly 12 hours. It is the astronomical first day of fall,even though meteorologically it typically starts in the beginning of September
Last Quarter Moon – 23rd(Visible from midnight into the morning)
29th – Close Encounter – Moon, Mercury – Look E after 6am and before sunrise (7am). Bring your binoculars to look for a VERY thin crescent Moon rising up from the horizon, with Mercury just 1˚ above it. This is likely your best shot at catching Mercury this month.
New Moon – 30th (darkest skies)
CONSTELLATIONS... (see sky map link at the bottom for a Star Map for this month – or ask Mr. Webb) Look straight up and you'll see...
Just after Sunset (around 7:30pm) – Lyra the Harp, Cygnus the Swan
ExtraChallenge! Use binoculars (or even a telescope) and a star chart to scan through the southern constellation of Sagittarius. There are at least 7 easily visible clusters and nebulas up and to the right of the“teapot” of Sagittarius.
Between Sunset and Midnight – Lyra,Cygnus, Aquila (a little to the south) – These are the Summer constellations,and since they are visible right above us around midnight (and to the east after sunrise), it’s now summer! Mored etails below in the “General Constellation Finding Tips”
Midnight – Lacerta, Pegasus, Andromeda – Extra Challenge! Using your naked eye (dark-adapted and ina dark area) or binoculars under normal conditions and a star chart, try finding our neighboring Andromeda Galaxy. It’ll be a faint fuzzy in the constellation Andromeda.
Early Morning – Perseus, Auriga - Also, if you look to the SE in the morning,you’ll find the winter constellations of Orion, Taurus, Auriga, Gemini, and Canis Major.
GENERAL CONSTELLATION FINDING TIPS:
Summer Constellations:Lyra, Cygnus, Aquila, Delphinus
Look straight up before 10pm and you’ll be able to see Lyra (the Harp), Cygnus (the Swan),Aquila (the Eagle), (and Delphinus the Dolphin.) These three constellations have the three brightest stars of the summer constellations (Vega, Deneb, Altair – respectively.) Those bright stars create the summer triangle. Off to the east of this is the small but beautiful constellation of Delphinus. If you’re under dark skies (away from city lights) you may just catch a glimpse of the Milky Way passing through Cygnus and Aquila. If you’re looking past 10pm, they’ll be moving toward the West and lower in the sky.
Fall Constellations: Andromeda,Pegasus
If you can find the Summer Triangle and Delphinus, about 40˚ to the East (leftish) will be the Great Square of the fall constellation Pegasus. Perhaps you’ll even see the two curves of Andromeda off of one side,with the Andromeda Galaxy as a small, faint fuzzy nearby (you’ll need dark skies to see it). A sky map will help you tremendously in finding these. You’ll see these in the East after sunset, straight above you around midnight, and in the West in the morning.
Use a sky map from www.skymaps.com to help you out.
Sunday Jul 31, 2016
Sunday Jul 31, 2016
To see a video of this information, go to my YouTube Channel
See all 5 visible planets after sunset, watch some rare close encounters, and get up early (or stay up late) for a great annual meteor shower that could be even better this year.
PLANETS...well,the ones visible with your naked eye
Planets you can see around Sunset – Jupiter(W), Venus (W), Mercury (W – beginning of the month), Mars & Saturn (S→SW)
Planets you can see throughout the night – None
Planets you can see in the Morning – None
Mercury, Venus, Jupiter – These three form a nice line on the 1st,with bright Venus low in the west after sunset, bright Jupiter 25˚ to the left and up, with Mercury very dim, in between the two, but closer to Venus. By the 10th, Jupiter has crept closer to Venus, and Mercury is still dim, but almost exactly in the middle. After this point, Mercury is very challenging to see without optical aid, but the three planets form a nice triangle that changes as Jupiter gets closer and closer to Venus, reaching the closest I’ve ever seen them (0.1˚) on the 27th. You’ll actually be able to see them together in a telescope!
Mars & Saturn – Look south after sunset and bring a sky map of Scorpius. Saturn and Mars start about11˚ apart, with Saturn to the left. Throughout the month, Saturn moves past Saturn, as close as 4˚ on 23rd, and ends the month 5˚ to the right and above Mars. Both are visible until about 11:30pm.
EVENTS...
New Moon – 2nd (darkest skies)
4th – Close Encounter – Moon, Mercury – If you’re good and can see the very thin crescent Moon low on the horizon, Mercury will be only about 1˚ above it.
5th – Close Encounter – Moon & Jupiter – Jupiter and a nice crescent Moon are only about 2˚ apart in the west after sunset and set in the West around 9:30pm.
First Quarter Moon – 10th(Visible until midnight)
11th – 12th – Close Encounter – Moon, Mars, Saturn –Look to the south after sunset on the 11th, and you’ll see The Moon,Mars, and Saturn making a nearly equilateral triangle in the sky. This is visible until around midnight, moving to the west. Saturn will be down and to the left of the Moon, and Mars will be the reddish light directly below the Moon. Antares, the brightest star in Scorpius, is also around, below Saturn and to the left of Mars, opposite the Moon. The next night,the 12th, the Moon will have moved to the left of Saturn, making a wonderful line of the Moon, Saturn, and Mars.
12th – 13th – Perseid Meteor Shower – This might be a great year for the Perseids. Why? The waxing Gibbous Moon is in the way only until 1am, just in time for the best meteor watching time (albeit until5am), and astrophysicists are saying the normal count of 60-90 meteors per hour will probably be higher this year, with a chance of being double, due to perturbations from Jupiter. It looks like that in dark skies there will be about 60 meteors per hour. Remember,you’re seeing the bits of dust left over from Comet Swift-Tuttle burning up as they crash into the atmosphere at 37 miles per second.
Some advice for watching:
Find a dark location and lie down in a reclining chair or swimming pool floaty
Look toward Perseus (In the NE, rises throughout the night until sunrise where it will be almost directly above.) That is where the radiant is -where the meteors will appear to be coming from. You’ll see more after 1am,when the Moon sets, but the brightest ones can still be seen after sunset.
The strategy to observe this one is to start watching in the evening and continue until daylight. The shower is usually technically active from mid-July to late August, so you may see some Perseids in the days leading up to and after the peak as well.
Check the weather to see if the skies will be clear
Adapt your eyes to the dark by staying away from light sources or using a red light if you need to look at a star chart or not trip over something.
If you’re feeling extra nerdy, do a scientific meteor count (S&T and IMO)
Or find out if your local astronomy club or museum is holding a viewing party.
Full Moon – 18th (Visible all night)
23rd & 24th – Close Encounter – Mars, Saturn, Antares – Look SSW after sunset, and you’ll see Saturn overtake Mars in its long term travels,and in the process make beautiful vertical line with Mars and Antares. Visible until about 11pm.
Last Quarter Moon – 24th (Visible from midnight into the morning)
27th – Close Encounter – Venus, Jupiter – Look W after sunset, and you might be able to make out bright Venus and Jupiter only 0.1˚ apart. This is close enough that if you have a telescope, you’ll be able to see both planets in the eyepiece at the same time,even with good magnification. I do not believe I have seen two planets this close before.
CONSTELLATIONS... (see sky map link at the bottom for a Star Map for this month – or ask Mr. Webb) Look straight up and you'll see...
Just after Sunset(around 8:30pm) –Hercules. Hercules has an Extra Challenge! Look for M13, the Hercules Cluster in between two of Hercules’ “keystone” stars. It known as the best globular cluster in the northern skies. It will be a fuzzy spot in binoculars and will be even cooler through a telescope
Extra Challenge! Use binoculars (or even a telescope)and a star chart to scan through the southern constellation of Sagittarius. There are at least 7 easily visible clusters and nebulas up and to the right of the “teapot” of Sagittarius.
Midnight – Lyra, Cygnus, Aquila (a little to the south) – These are the Summer constellations, and since they are visible right above us around midnight (and to the east after sunset), it’s now summer! More details below in the“General Constellation Finding Tips”
Early Morning – Pegasus, Andromeda Extra Challenge! Using your naked eye (dark-adapted and in a dark area) or binoculars under normal conditions and a star chart, try finding our neighboring Andromeda Galaxy. It’ll be a faint, but bigger, fuzzy in the constellation Andromeda
Summer Constellations: Lyra, Cygnus,Aquila, Delphinus
Look to the east after sunset or straight up around midnight and you’ll be able to see Lyra (the Harp), Cygnus (the Swan), Aquila (the Eagle), (and Delphinus the Dolphin.) These three constellations have the three brightest stars of the summer constellations (Vega, Deneb, Altair – respectively.) Those bright stars create the summer triangle. Off to the east of this is the small but beautiful constellation of Delphinus.
Spring Constellations: Bootes, Virgo, Leo, Corona Borealis, Hercules.
First find the Big Dipper in the North (a North Circumpolar Asterism that never sets)and look at the handle. Starting at the star closest to the “cup” part, follow the rest of the stars in the handle and follow the arc to Arcturus. Arcturus is the brightest star in Bootes the Shepherd. Some say he looks more like a kite, others say more like an ice cream cone.
Then,following the same “arc”, speed on to Spica. Spica is the brightest star in Virgo. Virgo’s a dimmer constellation, so you’ll be rewarded when you find her.
To the left of Bootes is Corona Borealis. This is a small collection of stars that make a crown, cup, or U shape in the sky.
To the left of Corona Borealis is the great constellation of Hercules. Hercules is the Hero of the sky and has a central “keystone” asterism, in which lies M13, the Hercules Cluster.
Lastly,Leo is a constellation consisting of a backward question mark (or sickle) and a right triangle to the left. Use the two Big Dipper “cup” stars that are in the middle of the Big Dipper and follow the line they make to the bright star Regulus, the brightest star in Leo.
Use a sky map from www.skymaps.com to help you out.