3 minute read
Save the Date Home Sweet Home
Every star visible in the night sky overhead is part of our home galaxy, the Milky Way. It’s an incredibly vast space. Even if we could harness the ability to move at the speed of light, it would take around 100,000 years to travel across it, from one edge to the other. During the summer, on clear and moonless nights in dark areas, you can see a portion of the barred spiral galaxy we call home in the sky above. Here is when and where to look.
When to look: Light is the main obstacle to seeing the Milky Way, so look when there is a new moon and skies are completely clear. For best results, view from a wilderness or rural area far from lights. The Milky Way is visible all summer, but late in the season is particularly good.
What to look for: Yes, you have seen incredible photos of the sparkling strand of the Milky Way cutting across the night sky, but that is possible because camera sensors are different than what the human eye can register. The Milky Way will look to us like a faint glow stretching in an arc across the sky.
Where to Look: In summer, the arc of the Milky Way stretches from the southern to the northeastern horizon. The constellations Perseus and Cassiopeia sit at the northeastern end, while Sagittarius sits at the southern end. Look for the star Deneb in the constellation Cygnus. Just below it is one of the brightest parts of the northern Milky Way, the North American Nebula.
Source: space.com
Full & New Moons
Native American tribes gave names to each full moon to keep track of the passing year. No single list can do justice to the diversity and variation of such names across the many tribes. This list includes the most common names for each full moon. In parentheses are the names used by the Ojibwe, one of the largest Algonquin tribes in the Great Lakes area. (Because a lunar cycle is 29.5 days, the dates of the moons change from year to year.)
June 3, 2023
July 3, 2023
Aug. 1, 2023
Aug. 30, 2023
Sept. 29, 2023
Full Strawberry Moon
Full Buck Moon
Full Sturgeon Moon
Blue Moon
Full Corn Moon
Sources: skyandtelescope.org, ojibwe.net
New Moons
New moons are the best time to observe faint objects such as galaxies and star clusters because there is no moonlight to interfere.
June 18
July 17
Aug. 16
In a year with 13 full moons, one is called a Blue Moon. The name is not Native American but included here.
(Mid-Summer Moon) (Ricing Moon) (Leaves Changing Color Moon)
Sept. 14
Source: NASA
June 4, 2023: Venus at Greatest Eastern Elongation
This is the best time to view Venus since it will be at its highest point above the horizon in the evening sky. Look for it in the western sky after sunset.
June 21, 2023: June Solstice
Known as the astronomical beginning of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, the June Solstice occurs at 10:58 a.m. EDT as the sun reaches its northernmost point in the sky.
Aug. 10, 2023:
Mercury at Greatest Eastern Elongation
This is the best time to view Mercury. Look for the planet low in the western sky just after sunset.
Aug. 12-13, 2023:
Perseid Meteor Shower Peak
This annual event runs from mid-July through August in 2023. Its peak, which can produce up to 60 meteors an hour, arrives on the night of Aug. 12 and morning of Aug. 13.
Aug. 27, 2023: Saturn at Opposition
The ringed planet is at its closest approach to Earth. It will be brighter than any other time of the year and visible all night. This is the best time to view and photograph Saturn and its moons. A medium-sized or larger telescope will allow stargazers to see Saturn’s rings and a few of its brightest moons.
Sept. 19, 2023: Neptune at Opposition
The last planet in our solar system is at its closest approach to Earth. It will be brighter than any other time of the year and visible all night. This is the best time to view Neptune. Due to its extreme distance from Earth, it will only appear as a tiny blue dot in most telescopes.
Sept. 22, 2023:
Mercury at Greatest Western Elongation
This is the best time to view Mercury, because it will be at its highest point above the horizon in the morning sky. Look for the planet low in the eastern sky just before sunrise.
Looking Ahead
April 8, 2024: Total Solar Eclipse