It’s really autumn now in Northwest Washington, and it’s a really wonderful time to get out and enjoy the absolute beauty of the night sky.
We’re entering the prime time of stargazing season. The nights are longer, the mosquitoes are pretty much toast, and with less moisture in the air the skies are clearer. Even if you’re not a stargazing fan, you owe yourself the treat of lying back on a reclining lawn chair and taking in the celestial happenings.
Unfortunately there are no bright planets you can view through the course of the evening right now except for brief encounters with Mars and Saturn. Both planets will be barely visible for a short time at the end of evening twilight early this month. About an hour after sunset they will be fairly close together in the low southwestern sky. By about 8 p.m. both will be either set or just about setting. This week Mars, which appears reddish in the sky, will be just above the bright star Antares which also sports a reddish hue. Forget about getting any decent views of Mars and Saturn though. They are too far away and too close to the blurring effects of Earth’s horizon.
This month will be very special since we’ll have both a total lunar eclipse in the early of Oct. 8 and an eclipse on the afternoon of Oct. 23. In the meantime, order eclipse glasses so you’ll be able to safely view on Oct. 23. (A place I like to get them from is Starizona in Tucson, Arizona, at www.starizona.com).
Even though it’s autumn, summer is hanging on in the western sky. You can still easily see the famous Summer Triangle high above the western horizon, made up of three bright stars from three separate constellations.
There’s Vega in the constellation Lyra the Harp; Altair in Aquila the Eagle; and Deneb, the brightest star in Cygnus the Swan. Cygnus is also known by a lot of stargazers as the Northern Cross.
In the north the Big Dipper is upright and riding low in the northwestern sky. It’s getting so low that it’s hard to see if you have a high tree line. The Big Dipper is the most famous star pattern there is, but technically it’s not a constellation. The Big Dipper is actually the rear end and the tail of the constellation Ursa Major, the Big Bear.
Instructions for sky map: Cut it out and attach to a stiff backing. Hold it over your head and line up the compass points on the map’s horizon to the actual direction you’re facing. East and West on this map are not backwards. Use a small flashlight and attach a red piece of cloth or red construction paper over the lens of the flashlight.
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