Mid Fall Binocular Tour

We arrive at the midpoint of fall this weekend! I hope that we will continue to experience great weather for evening stargazing.

The great southern constellations of summer are now low in the southwest at sunset. The Summer Triangle consisting of the stars Vega, Deneb, and Altair is high in the southwest then. Look for the faint vertical cloud of our Milky Way Galaxy rising from the southwest up through the Summer Triangle.

Let us search for something better. Face east after 8 p.m. to find the bright dot of our largest planet Jupiter. Above and slightly left of Jupiter is the small constellation Aries the Ram. It contains three stars and forms a “hockey stick”.

Above and left of Aries is another small triangle aptly named Triangulum. Locate the rightmost and brightest star of Triangulum. Get away from as much light as possible and allow your eyes to adjust to the dark. Look above the right star and you might see a faint large fuzzy spot. This is M-33 or the Triangulum Galaxy.

Seeing M-33 naked eye is tough even under dark conditions. Use binoculars to sweep the area carefully. You should get a glimpse of M-33. This galaxy is too large to see even with a low power telescope.

From Triangulum and M-33, look up to another moderately bright star. This is Beta Andromeda or Mirach. Up and left of Mirach is the largest galaxy in our night sky. This is the famous Andromeda Galaxy or M-31. It is a visually large object and appears as large as six full Moons side by side.

Use binoculars in this area as M-31 is too large to fit into a small telescope. If you have a small 60mm telescope, you are not likely to find M-31 even with your lowest magnification.

Remember, Daylight Saving Time ends Sunday November 5 at 2 a.m. Set your clocks back one hour. I like to wait until I wake up Sunday Morning and then set my clock back. It gives me an extra hour to enjoy coffee and cartoons!

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