Stargazing on these spring nights has lost some of its thrill. The winter constellations, overall the brightest of the year, are about to go on a summer vacation from the Northwest evening skies and won’t be returning until late autumn.
In early May, Orion the Hunter and all of his gang of b
right stars and constellations start out very low in the evening in the western sky. By the end of the month, all of the great stars of winter have sunk below the horizon by the time it finally gets dark enough to stargaze. By the end of May that’s about 10 p.m.
The best celestial gem in the evening sky this month is the planet Saturn, starting out high in the southeastern sky after late evening twilight. It’s the second brightest starlike object in the evening sky right now.
Look for the brightest star you can see in the eastern half of the sky. That will be Arcturus. It has a distinctive orange tinge to it that you can see to with the naked eye. The next brightest object you’ll see, found a little to the lower right of Arcturus, is Saturn.
Make a fist and hold it out at arm’s length. Saturn will be about three fist-widths to the lower right of Arcturus. Just a little below Saturn is a slightly dimmer star that actually is a star. That’s Spica, the brightest star in the large but faint constellation Virgo the Virgin.
In March Saturn was at it’s closest point to Earth for 2011, but now, at just over 800 million miles away, it’s close enough for great viewing this merry month of May.
Even through a small telescope you can see its huge ring system that extends more than 150,000 miles in diameter. That’s more than half the distance between Earth and our moon. Over the past several years the ring system has been more or less on edge from our viewpoint on Earth, but now the angle has greatly widened, and we can really see them.
You can also see at least some of Saturn’s moons that resemble tiny little stars swarming the planet. Titan is a little brighter than the rest of the moons because it’s so much bigger. In fact, Titan is even larger than the planet Mercury. Whatever you do check out Saturn with a telescope. It’s a must see.
It’s true that the constellations of spring aren’t nearly as dazzling as the winter shiners, but there’s still much to see. Leading the charge is Leo the Lion in the high southwest. Look for the backward question mark that outlines the chest and head of the great lion. The moderately bright star at the bottom of the question mark is Regulus, more than 77 light-years away (one light year equals just under 6 trillion miles).
If you face north and look overhead this month the Big Dipper will appear to be dumping out on top of you. The Big Dipper is always upside down in the evening this time of year. According to old American folklore, that’s why we have so much rain in the spring.
Technically the Big Dipper is the rearend and tail of the constellation Ursa Major, the Big Bear, but it is the brightest part of the great beast.
Elsewhere in the northern sky is the Little Dipper, lying on its handle, with the North Star Polaris at the end of the handle. Cassiopeia the Queen, the one that looks like the big W, is very low in the northwestern sky.
In the high eastern sky look for the brightest star you can see, Arcturus. It’s the brightest shiner in the constellation Bootes the Farmer. Bootes actually looks like a giant nocturnal kite with Arcturus at the tail.
According to Greek mythology, Bootes the Farmer is hunting down Ursa Major, the Big Bear. Since Ursa Major is nearly overhead right now, this is a great time to see the fainter stars that make up the rest of that constellation.
Mike Lynch: www.lynchandthestars.com.
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