Basic astronomy and night sky information
The constellation Serpens Caput, the Snake’s Head, lies well off the band of the Milky Way and holds relatively few deep-sky sights. But it’s not completely barren. Let’s have a look at three targets in this ancient constellation for stargazers equipped with modest optics and an urge to see something good [Read more…] about Going Deep in the Snake’s Head
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In last month’s constellation tour, we examined the dazzling stars of the constellation Corona Borealis, the Northern Crown. This month, we move due south to the northern section of the constellation Serpens, the only constellation split into two parts. These are the stars of Serpens Caput, the ‘head of the snake’, which zigzags vertically along the celestial sphere, just north of the celestial equator, and just west of the much larger constellation Ophiuchus, the ‘serpent bearer’. The stars of Serpens Caput are visible in the northern and southern hemispheres [Read more…] about The Constellation Serpens Caput, the ‘Snake’s Head’
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When you look through a telescope, you look at a very small slice of sky. That makes it almost impossible to point your telescope directly at your target. Sometimes, it’s even hard to find the Moon directly with the main tube of a telescope, even at lowest magnification. That’s why most telescopes come with a finder, a small telescope or range finder to help you easily locate objects in the night sky. There are two main types of finders: magnifying finders and non-magnifying finders [Read more…] about Finder Scopes
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If you’ve been following the news this week, you know that Jupiter has a new moon, a man-made moon called Juno. The NASA spacecraft, bejeweled with solar cells and as big as a basketball court, entered an elongated orbit around the big planet on July 4 as it began a 20-month study of the structure of Jupiter. While Jupiter may be fading in the western sky after sunset, still visible but soon to be lost to our telescopes, it will continue to reveal many secrets to Juno during the coming months [Read more…] about Farewell to Jupiter, and Hello
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In July, the Milky Way wheels into view by midnight and draws the eye towards the constellations Scorpius and Sagittarius. In the northern hemisphere, these stars lie just over the southeastern horizon by midnight, while southern stargazers see these stars– and the thickest part of the Milky Way– almost directly overhead.
But this July, bright planets distract the eye from the deep sky. Ochre-colored Mars, which outshines all stars at the beginning of July, lies just to the west of the red-orange star Antares at the heart of Scorpius. Sand-colored Saturn lies to the east of Antares. Brilliant Jupiter, always attractive in a telescope, fades in the west in the constellation Leo this month. And Mercury and Venus play cat and mouse later in the month after sunset in the western sky. Here’s what to see in the sky this month [Read more…] about The Night Sky This Month – July 2016
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