Salutations celestial sight seers!
I'm David Fuller, welcome to Eyes on the Sky; what's up this week?
Summer solstice on June 21-st!
Okay, this is hands down, the easiest way to learn your way around the summer sky.
Wait... actually, it will require hands UP, because you'll be using your hands to measure
angular distance in the sky -- check out this video here for more on that.
Ready?
Face north!
Turn left slightly and notice the recognizable shape of the Big Dipper, or Plough.
These 7 stars are mostly 2-nd magnitude, and are visible from most anywhere.
Last week we looked at how to find Polaris from the "pointer stars" in the Big Dipper.
Continue the line from the pointer stars through Polaris.
From about 10 to 30 degrees out in this direction is Cepheus the King, a largely dim constellation
- for many areas, only 2.5 magnitude Alderamin will be visible.
Now from there, drop down to towards the horizon; the "W" shape of Cassiopeia the Queen is here,
and although three of her brighter stars are also 2-nd magnitude, her low elevation may
make her hard to see -- however, the summer Milky Way flows right through Cassiopeia.
Remember that; we'll return to her in a bit.
Back to The Big Dipper!
Now take your hand and trace 30 degrees from the handle, and "arc" to the 4-th brightest
star in the sky, Arcturus, of Bootes the Herdsman.
One more 30 degrees hop and you can "speed on to Spica" in Virgo -- this is the 16-th
brightest star in the sky.
So far most of these are easy to find, right?
Next, a few more bright stars, but some true summer stars and constellations as well.
Dark Sky Fact: Globe at Night kicks off their June observing season on Tuesday the 17-th,
and it runs through the 26-th of this month.
So get out there, observe, and submit your observations to globeatnight.org, so we can
track light pollution together.
This year a couple of planetary interlopers make for some additional sights in the south
-- Mars and Saturn are in the Virgo and Libra regions.
More directly south, and low to the horizon, is 17-th brightest star Antares, a similar
color as Mars, but this red giant star is at the heart of Scorpius.
For observers at lower northern latitudes, 1.6 magnitude Shaula may be visible near the
horizon, close to the "stinger" of the scorpion.
And just to the east is where the other side of the Summer Milky Way is, and Sagittarius
the Archer largely fills this space.
It has a number of not only 2-nd magnitude stars, but LOTS of deep sky targets to observe
too!
Most observers tend to look for the "Teapot" asterism here.
But what is along the arm of our galaxy here, between Sagittarius and Cassiopeia?
Trace a LOOOONG arc up and over from the archer to the queen.
The first bright star along this horizon-to-horizon arc will be Altair, 12-th brightest star,
which is the eagle-eye of Aquila.
Continuing another almost 40 degrees finds Deneb, the powerhouse star at the tail of
Cygnus the Swan.
Between these two stars is a huge swath of our galaxy, and it lies towards overhead,
making it perfect for sweeping with binoculars.
But more directly towards the zenith -- and just beyond the Milky Way's plane - is 5-th
brightest Vega in Lyra the Harp.
These three stars form what is often known as the "Summer Triangle" - three bright stars
of three different summer constellations, that light the way to many other deep sky
objects and double stars of this warm season.
But what about some of the dimmer constellations, where other small telescope targets may be
found?
Use Vega as a reference: Between it and Antares in the south lies the large constellation
Ophiuchus, that splits the constellation Serpens in half.
From Vega towards Arcturus are the large and dim Hercules, plus the smaller and also dim
Corona Borealis.
From Vega to Kocab is much of the head and upper end of Draco the dragon -- in fact,
two or three of the brighter "head" stars may be seen here.
And finally, circling back towards the Summer Triangle, the area between Vega and Altair,
and Altair to Deneb is home to both diminutive Sagitta the arrow and very dim and unimpressive
Vulpecula the Fox -- but, the Fox holds a clever secret to finding a wonderful stellar
remnant.
Check out the summer stars this week with the Moon out of the way, and get familiar
with the bright stars and constellations shapes.
We'll delve into these areas for deep sky objects over the next few months.
That's all for this week.
Keep your eyes on the sky and your outdoor lights aimed down, so we can all see, what's
up.
I'm David Fuller, wishing you clear and dark skies.