Summer starry sky
Written by:
Greeley Wells
Here’s summer!—with its own beautiful night skies. My eyes always go up at night. Is it dark enough yet? What do I recognize? What don’t I know about? That’s my blessed curse!
I just love the night sky. It’s like being with an old friend among its old friends, and I only know some. Been crazy like this all my life. Turn off that light! I need to see into that delicious dark paradise of the known and unknown.
In spring, we had my favorite, Cassiopea, above Polaris, the North Star. Now she’s below Polaris, in the west, and swinging counterclockwise under the North Star to come up more and more easterly. My mountains and trees make her disappear!
But I can look at the huge Big Dipper, Ursa Major. He’s just past the overhead point and moving east around Polaris. Follow the curve of the handle to bright Arcturus in Boötes, the Herdsman, a large kite-shaped constellation that’s always opposite my “W” (that’s Cassiopeia) from the North Star. Cygnus the Swan, also called the Northern Cross, is rising in the east, opposite the Big Dipper, with that bright star, Deneb, on the tail of the Swan (or top of the Cross). And even brighter is Vega, in the constellation Lyra, a little farther up towards the middle of the sky.
In the west is Leo the Lion. I love that great head of “hair” in his backward-question-mark shape and his body that looks to me like it’s lying down very comfortably.
In the southwest is another constellation, not quite a square but still four-sided—Corvus the Crow. Spica, the brightest star in the constellation Virgo, is a little further south. Straight up is a little “C,” a crown of stars called Corona Borealis, another favorite of mine.
It’s easy to stargaze in summer with all the warmth. Even though the winter nights are longer, they are so much colder! I’m a fan of the dark skies all seasons, but I spend more time with my head in the stars in summer, often with a chair that lets me lie back and relax, and maybe with some coffee or water to drink. And if there is a comet or a meteor shower, then it’s just perfect.
Of Note:
Venus is in the evening skies in June and August, quite bright these days.
Mars is reddish in the evening in June and in the mornings in July and August.
Jupiter is also up and bright in June, but only then. Darn it! It’s been amazing for years now and so bright!
Greeley Wells
Photo 1: Sky & Telescope (skyandtelescope.org).
