Posts Tagged ‘Vega’
EarthSky Tonight—August 21, Summer Triangle high
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org Our sky chart shows the Summer Triangle asterism as it appears at late evening. As seen from mid-northern latitudes, Vega – the Summer Triangle’s brightest star – shines high overhead around 10:00 p.m. daylight saving time (9:00 p.m. standard time) this evening. Altair resides to the lower left (southeast) of Vega, and Deneb lies to Vega’s left (east). As the stars drift westward during the night, Deneb will swing upward, ... Full Story
Earthsky Tonight—August 8, Look overhead to see the
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org The moon will be new tomorrow and then in a waxing crescent phase in the west after sunset in the next few days. That means that, over the coming week, the moon will set soon after sunset and be mostly absent from the evening sky. A moonless sky means this is a good time to get out into the country for a look at the summer Milky Way: the edgewise view into our own galaxy. Here is the view if you are standing facing east – but ... Full Story
Earthsky Tonight—July 19, Summer Triangle: Altair
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org In the east after dark, near the horizon, Altair, the brightest star in the constellation Aquila, the Eagle, springs into view. This is the bottom star of the Summer Triangle. The Great Rift of the Summer Milky Way passes through the Summer Triangle, between the stars Vega and Altair. Thought the Great Rift and the Milky Way will be hard to see tonight because of the waxing gibbous moon. In dark skies in late July and the first ... Full Story
Earthsky Tonight—July 16, Summer Triangle: Deneb and
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org This evening, the fat waxing crescent moon shines by the planets Saturn and Mars in your southwest or western sky. For a sky chart of the evening planets, we refer you to yesterday’s program. Be sure to notice how the position of tonight’s moon relative to Saturn and Mars has changed since yesterday. Tonight’s chart faces a different section of sky than where the moon and planets reside. We are looking eastward at the famous ... Full Story
Earthsky Tonight—11: Altair, guide star to two small
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org Look in the east at nightfall and evening to locate a sparkling blue-white star not far from the horizon. That is Altair, the brightest star in the constellation Aquila the Eagle, and the second brightest star in the Summer Triangle. The Summer Triangle formation is made up of the three bright summer stars, Vega, Deneb and Altair. The Summer Triangle lights up the eastern sky on June evenings. Once you have found Altair, it is a ... Full Story
Earthsky Tonight—June 10: Find the Summer Triangle
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org An asterism is not the same thing as a constellation. Constellations generally come to us from ancient times. Earlier in this century, the boundaries of 88 constellations were officially drawn by the International Astronomical Union. On the other hand, asterisms are whatever you want them to be. They are just patterns on the sky’s dome. You can also make up your own asterisms, in much the same way you can recognize shapes in ... Full Story
Earthsky Tonight—June 4: Rastaban and Eltanin belong
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org One of you asked, "What are constellations?" The answer is that they are just patterns of stars on the sky’s dome. The Greeks and Romans, for example, named them for their gods and goddesses, and for many sorts of animals. In the 20th century, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) formalized the names and boundaries of the constellations. Now every star in the sky belongs to one or another constellation. The stars within ... Full Story
Earthsky Tonight—June 3: See Draco the Dragon and a
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org If you have a dark sky, you will be able to pick the constellationDraco the Dragon winding around the North Star, Polaris. First, find the Big Dipper high in the north on June evenings. The two outer stars in the Dipper’s bowl point to Polaris, the North Star, which marks the end of the Little Dipper’s handle. The Little Dipper is relatively faint. If you can find both Dippers, then your sky is probably pretty dark. In ... Full Story
Earthsky Tonight—May 13, 2010: M13, the Great
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org Hercules above the star Vega. Today’s closer view can help you identify the most famous deep-sky object within this constellation. It is a globular star cluster known as M13. Today’s chart shows the location of M13. It is about a third of the distance along a line between the stars Eta and Zeta Hercules. We are not showing you what the cluster looks like on this chart – and in the sky, you’ll see it differently, ... Full Story
Earthsky Tonight—May 12, 2010 The constellation
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org Hercules the Hero is not the easiest constellation to identify. You will need a dark sky to see this mighty star figure. However, if you can see Vega – a prominent blue-white star in the northeast in the evening now – you might spot Hercules nearby. Still can’t see it? Look back at this chart to see Hercules with respect to both Vega and another star, Arcturus. The most noticeable part of Hercules is an “asterism” or ... Full Story
