Treasure in the sky

So many interesting things to see just by looking up

So many times, in the past, I have told you to “look up” or “look at this in the sky.”

This month, I thought I would review some of the things that you can see just by looking up – well at least if you know where to look.

So, what are some of the things you can see if you know where to look or have someone to show you?

– Constellations. Constellations are not pictures. They are areas of the sky – like property lots. There are 88 over the entire sky. A sky atlas will show you the borders of these constellations and you can very easily see the patterns for yourself.

– Asterisms. These are ‘pictures’ or shapes in the sky. They can be within a constellation or exist in several constellations. Let’s look at examples. The first is the Big Dipper. This is contained in the constellation Ursa Major. Immediately adjacent is the Little Dipper, in the constellation Ursa Minor. There are many more – a few are:

* The Pleiades or 7 Sisters also known as the Tiny Dipper in the constellation Taurus.

* The Summer Triangle existing in Lyra the Lyre,

Cygnus the Swan, and Aquila the Eagle

* The Teapot in Sagittarius – the Archer.

– Nebulae. These are

‘clouds’ of gas and dust which often form patterns. One example is the Orion Nebula in the sword of Orion the Hunter.

– Galaxies. These are vast collections of stars, a few of which we can actually see.

The main example is our own galaxy, the Milky Way which we can see as a band of light, best in the summer and winter, more obvious from a darker site. After that, we can see the nearest major galaxy to us, the great galaxy in Andromeda but you will need some expert help to aid you in finding it.

– Meteors. These are the bright or not-so-bright brief flashes of light that you can see darting across the dark night sky at the rate of several per hour.

– Double stars. In many cases in our sky, stars are really double or more than two. Sometimes they are close together – e.g., Alcar/Mizar in the Big Dipper, or beautifully coloured – e.g., Albireo in Cygnus the Swan.

– Open clusters. These are areas of the sky where there is a greater concentration of stars and we can see these as a group. There are literally thousands of such groups in the sky. Some are very easy to see, others more difficult. They can be in groups of 10 to several hundred stars.

– Globular clusters. These are again collections of stars, but in this case, with much larger numbers of stars e.g. – several thousand to hundreds of thousands. They are more difficult, though not impossible to see. Again, having a knowledgeable person and maybe binoculars can help.

– Fun shapes. Here you can let your imagination roam free (as I do). Some of my examples are as follows:

* The constellation Bootes the Herdsman – I call it an ice cream cone

* The constellation Orion the Hunter. I call it an hourglass.

* In the constellation Hercules, there is a four-star figure called the Keystone. I see it as a flowerpot.

Now you have fun and do some. You can always let me know.

So, what is in the sky this coming month? As always, our planets first.

I am going to call this the month of pairs – two planets in our night sky, two in the morning sky, and two we can’t see, although I don’t usually list one of this last pair, but it makes it work here.

We have – Venus and Mars in the night sky

Jupiter and Saturn in the morning sky and Mercury later in the month

Mercury and Uranus. Not able to be seen, although Mercury does reappear.

The night sky first.

Venus is putting on a great show this month. Look in the west. Venus is much higher in the sky than usual and can be seen much later after sunset. It is very bright and increases in brightness as the month passes.

Also in the west is Mars, though south of Venus. It is, of course, much dimmer than Venus and indeed, is slightly dimmer than the star Pollux of Gemini the Twins, just north of Mars.

Now the morning.

Saturn rises in the southeast by 3:30 a.m. early in the month and by 1:30 a.m. by the last of the month. It’s not that bright but is still by far the brightest object in that sky.

Look for Jupiter in the east but only at the end of the month and even then only one hour before sunrise. It should still be easy to spot and fairly bright. Alright, all you early morning risers.

Now Mercury reaches inferior conjunction (passes between us and the sun) on May 1. It then does reappear in the morning sky but is not significantly visible until the last week of the month. Even then it will just hug the horizon.

While we don’t usually discuss Uranus, which practically, we need at least binoculars to see, I note it here because it goes through superior conjunction (passes behind the sun from all points of view) on May 9.

There is a meteor shower, but it is not great, is better seen in the morning hours, and is significantly interfered with by the moon. It will be better in another year.

Full Moon - May 5

New Moon - May 19

Moon closest to the earth this month is May 11

That is all. See you next month.

Your Night Sky Guy,

Dr. Rolly Chiasson