ST. CROIX Sky Watch

The two largest planets can be your guides to find two constellations with no bright stars. Astronomers divide the sky into areas, with borders, just like countries on a map. These areas are called constellations. After the Sun sets and the sky begins to grow dark, a bright star-like object will appear in the east-southeastern sky. This is not a star, but the second largest planet, Saturn. Saturn is seen against the background of stars of the constellation of Aquarius, the Waterbearer. Aquarius is a man pouring water from a jar. The faint stars which make up Aquarius look nothing like a man, but some people claim to be able to see the rim of his jar. Perhaps long ago the Sun was in this part of the sky during the rainy season. Thus, people may have used the sky like a calendar and marked this area as a man pouring water from a jar. When the Sun reached this part of the sky, look out for it is going to rain. Saturn is at “opposition” on August 27th. It is opposite the Sun as seen from the Earth and is at its closest point to Earth and its brightest.

Around 10:00 p.m. the largest planet, Jupiter, will rise in the eastern sky. Wait a few hours so it can climb higher in the sky and it will be easy to spot being very bright. Jupiter is seen against the stars of Aries, the Ram. According to some legends, Aries is the ram into which Zeus changed himself to escape the giants. Others say Aires is the Golden Fleece sought by Jason and the Argonauts.

After you have found Saturn and Aquarius and are waiting for Jupiter to rise, look high overhead and you will see three bright stars forming a large triangle in the sky. Since the triangle is visible all night long during the summer months in the Northern Hemisphere, it is called the Summer Triangle. Each bright star marks a different constellation.

Brightest and highest in the sky is Vega, in Lyra the Harp. Fainter stars very close to Vega in the shape of a parallelogram form the harp. To the South of Vega is Altair, in Aquila, the Eagle. Again, fainter stars nearby Altair form the Eagle and you will need a lot of imagination to find an eagle there. Deneb is the third bright star and is seen to the East of Vega and Altar. Deneb and marks the tail of Cygnus, the Swan. Perhaps you can see a Swan here. Faint stars form the Swan’s body and long neck and others the bird’s wings.

Cygnus is flying South along a hazy band of light. This is the light from billions of stars so far away that you cannot see each one as a point of light. This is the Milky way, our city of stars in the universe. Follow the band toward the South and you will come to a bright red star, Antares in Scorpius, the Scorpion. You probably will be able to see the curved scorpion’s tail formed by stars.

In the early morning hours of August 13th you will be able to see the Persid meteor shower. Meteor showers are caused by dust left behind by comets. When the Earth passes through a cloud of this dust we have a meteor shower. The comet which left the dust behind which forms the Persids is comet Swift-Tuttle. Swift-Tuttle was discovered in 1862. It was found again in 1992 and astronomers have since found records of it going back to 69 BC. Meteor or shooting stars happen so quickly that by the time you say, “look over there”, the shooting star will be gone.

September 23rd is the September Equinox. This is the first day of fall (Autumnal Equinox) in the northern hemisphere and the first day of spring (Vernal Equinox) in the southern hemisphere. The Sun is directly over the Earth’s equator and the hours of day and night are about equal all over the world.