Observing With Webb

Observing With Mr. Webb June 2009

Another month of few events, but there’s always the constellations to go out and see. Go to http://mrwebb.podbean.com for the audio version of this.  I welcome all feedback. EVENTS... 6^th – Check out Venus this morning. It will be 50% illuminated if you use binoculars or a telescope. 6^th – Also check out the Moon occulting (moving in front of and blocking the light of) Antares around 10:43pm tonight. It will reappear around 11:27pm. Often we forget that the Moon is actually moving across the sky and this is a very interesting reminder of exactly how much it does. Full Moon – 7^th (Rose Moon, Flower Moon, Strawberry Moon) 19^th – 21^st – Venus and Mars will be within 2° of each other in the dawn sky. The Moon will also be close to the pair on the 19th. 21^st – Summer Solstice. Longest day and shortest night of the year for the Northern Hemisphere. New Moon – 22^nd (darkest skies) PLANETS... Mercury – Only visible for the 2^nd half of the month around sunrise, but is very close to the sun so it will be hard to find. On the 13^th it will be at greatest elongation - 24° from the sun. VENUS – Visible in the AM around 25 ° above the horizon in the east. Mars – Hanging out around Venus for this month, too. Look to the east, find Venus, then find the reddish “star”. Jupiter – Rises between 1am and 11pm and is visible low on the horizon in the south and southeast until sunrise. SATURN – Visible most of the night. Look in the southwest after sunset (about halfway between the horizon and the zenith), and watch it track toward the west until it sets between 2am and midnight.  Check out the rings and moons with good binoculars or a telescope! 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... Sunset (around 8:30pm) – Canes Venatici, Bootes Midnight – Hercules (with Binoculars and a star map, you can find M13 - the Hercules Cluster which is a faint fuzzy gathering of thousands and thousands of stars.) Early Morning – Lyra, Cygnus, Aquila – The Summer Triangle GENERAL CONSTELLATION FINDING TIPS: Look to the east at night (or straight up around morning) and you’ll be able to see Lyra, Cygnus, Aquila, (and Delphinus.)  These three constellations have the three brightest stars of the summer constellations (Vega, Deneb, Altair – respectively.)  Those bright stars create the summer triangle, which will be seen earlier and earlier as the summer goes by. Use a sky map from www.skymaps.com to help you out. A lot of credit for this information goes to: SkyMaps.com – Download the monthly sky map here in many formats including Northern Hemisphere, Southern Hemisphere, and Equatorial

Observing With Webb May 2009

Not too much going on in May for us Northern Hemisphere Observers, other than some good opportunities to see planets and the moon close together. Some other highlights:  Orion is no longer visible, but the Summer Triangle is starting to make its appearance once the sun sets.  Telescopers can see the moon Titan have its shadow transit across Saturn. EVENTS... 3^rd – The Moon will be very close to Saturn from our perspective. Saturn will be the brightest “star” near the moon. Look south, about halfway up towards the Zenith (the spot straight above you.) Full Moon – 9^th (Planting Moon or Milk Moon) 12^th – ISS will be visible for over 5 minutes! Around 9:13pm the International Space Station will be a bright moving point of light in the WSW and head toward the NE in an arc almost overhead and set around 9:18pm. Check out http://spaceweather.com/flybys/ for more flybys coming up. 14^th – ISS will be visible for over 5 minutes again! Around 8:29pm the International Space Station will be a bright moving point of light in the WSW and head toward the NE in an arc almost overhead and set around 8:35pm. Check out http://spaceweather.com/flybys/ for more flybys coming up. 15^th – Telescopes only – See Titan’s shadow transit across Saturn from 1:30am to 6:30am Eastern time. 21^st – The Moon will be very close to Venus from our perspective. Find the moon toward the East before sunrise. You may even be able to get them into one binocular view. This is a good chance to take even the lowest quality camera out to get a neat astrophoto. You may even see Mars hanging around, too. New Moon – 24^th – (darkest skies) 31^st – The Moon will be very close to Saturn again in the month. PLANETS... Mercury – Only visible for the first week of May after sunset, and as always is pretty close to the sun, then it passes through the glare of the sun. VENUS – Visible in the AM around 25 ° above the horizon in the east. Mars – Hanging out around Venus for this month, too. Look to the east, find Venus, then look a little left and down to find the red “star” that is Mars. Jupiter – Rises between 3am and 1am and is visible low on the horizon in the southeast until sunrise. . SATURN – Visible almost all night for the entire month. Look in the southeast after sunset (about halfway between the horizon and the zenith), and watch it track toward the west until it sets between 1am and 3am.  Check out the rings with good binoculars or a telescope! Telescopers can see the transit of Titan’s shadow on the 15^th! 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... Sunset (around 8pm) – Cancer, Leo 10:00 pm – Ursa Major Midnight – Bootes (To find its brightest star Arcturus, find the handle of the Big Dipper and “follow the arc to Arcturus”) Early Morning – Lyra, Hercules, Cygnus – The Summer Triangle is still starting to rise…summer is around the corner! GENERAL CONSTELLATION FINDING TIPS: Look to the east and you’ll be able to see Lyra, Cygnus, Aquila, (and Delphinus.)  These three constellations have the three brightest stars of the summer constellations (Vega, Deneb, Altair – respectively.)  Those bright stars create the summer triangle, which will be seen earlier and earlier as the summer goes by. Use a sky map from www.skymaps.com to help you out. A lot of credit for this information goes to: SkyMaps.com – Download the monthly sky map here Sky & Telescope Magazine ...and various sky programs such as Starry Night.