Pegasus comes into view even in bright city sky
The midday sun now traces its lower arc through the southern sky, as coloured leaves seem to cling to branches that become sparser of foliage with each passing day. The long shadows of a cool, clear late afternoon soon morph into the darkness of early evening, hastening the arrival of much sought-after starry views. The Summer Triangle, that great, familiar asterism we’ve watched crossing the sky for months now, composed of the stars Vega, Deneb and Altair, has shifted fully into the western sky by mid-evening, though still close to overhead.
Viewers in rural locations on dark, moonless nights will easily trace the edge-on outline of our home galaxy, the Milky Way, as it wanders the length of the Summer Triangle before plunging towards the southwestern horizon, where the constellation Sagittarius is taking its bow.
The “teapot” of Sagittarius, described here at length last month, now appears to be tipping over in a strange, almost comical pose; as if about to pour its contents across the horizon where the last starry glimmers of the constellation Scorpius preceding it have all but vanished from view.
Facing eastward now, about halfway up the sky around 9 p.m. stands one of autumn’s most striking star patterns. The Great Square of Pegasus is easily traced even in a bright suburban sky.
The Great Square represents the body of the mythical horse, with its northeastern star being shared with the adjacent constellation of Andromeda.
Below and to the south of Pegasus, in that vast region somewhat devoid of bright stars, lie a variety of fainter forms sometimes collectively referred to as the “watery” constellations. They include Pisces (the Fish), Cetus (the Sea Monster), Aquarius (the Water Bearer) and Capricorn (the Sea Goat).
They can be hard to trace unless viewed under a dark and moonless country sky, but are worthy of a careful search with the help of a good star atlas.
As the Great Square of Pegasus ascends toward the zenith over the course of the evening, the mighty planet Jupiter suddenly appears, shouting its arrival over the eastern horizon. It is well up and plainly visible during the hour before midnight, and thereafter until dawn.
As seen in this month’s illustration, the largest planet of the solar system currently stands against the stars of the constellation Taurus the Bull.
Although early-morning risers have been watching Jupiter in the pre-dawn darkness for some time now, October is the month that really heralds its return to more convenient evening viewing.
Indeed, Jupiter’s brilliance is like a magnet that will always attract the gaze of skywatchers on any clear night throughout fall and winter.
When the moon is absent, Jupiter is by far the most brilliant object in the sky, at least until the planet Venus makes her entrance these mornings in the southeast, shortly before dawn.
Facing Jupiter while rising, it’s easy to spot orange Aldebaran, the brightest star of Taurus, just a little to the right of the planet.
As shown in this month’s illustration, Aldebaran appears to be part of an arrowheadshaped collection of fainter stars called the Hyades. Indeed, the Hyades, along with the lovely Pleiades nearby, are two star clusters which mark the head and shoulder of the Bull, respectively.
Beautiful as they are to the unaided eye, both clusters are simply stunning when seen through binoculars. Scores more members become visible in each cluster, creating a porthole into interstellar space that’s absolutely breathtaking.
Views like this help make one forget, for just a moment, the biting chill of the autumn night.