It’s not as flashy as Fourth of July fireworks, but stars are available for gazing every clear night this month. Armed with bug juice you can stargaze all night long.
It’s not exactly like the grand finale of a fireworks show, but the planets Mars, Venus and Saturn are putting on quite a show in the low western Everett sky as they prowl in and around the constellation Leo the Lion.
In fact this Friday night Venus, by far the brightest of the planet trio, will be less than a degree away from the moderately bright star Regulus, the brightest star in Leo the Lion.
This is quite a celestial hugging as 1 degree of arc in the sky is only the width of two full moons butted up against each other. If it’s cloudy on Friday the conjunction will just about as close from midweek through the weekend.
If you’re keeping score, Venus is about 93 million miles away and Regulus is just over 450 trillion miles distant.
I’ll have a lot more on the Mars, Venus and Saturn show this month in Skywatch columns.
The Dippers are in their usual place in the northern sky, twirling around the North Star with the Big Dipper hanging from its handle.
Look at Mizar, the middle star of the Big Dipper’s handle, and see if you can spot its faint companion Alcor.
In the high southwestern sky you’ll see the brightest star in the sky, Arcturus. It’s also the brightest star in Bootes and the second brightest star we see in the entire night sky through the course of the year.
Bootes is supposed to be a farmer hunting the Big Bear. It’s much easier to see it, though, as a giant kite with Arcturus at the tail.
In the eastern heavens, look for the prime stars of summer on the rise. The best way for finding your way around the summer stars is to locate the “summer triangle,” made up of three bright stars, the brightest in each of their respective constellations. You can’t miss them. They’re the brightest stars in the east right now.
The highest and brightest is Vega in the small faint constellation called Lyra the harp.
The second brightest star on the lower right is Altair, the brightest in Aquila the Eagle. Altair is on the corner of a diamond that outlines the wingspan of the great bird.
The third brightest at the left corner of the summer triangle is Deneb, a star more than 3,000 light-years away. It’s also the bright star in the tail of Cygnus the Swan. Cygnus is also known as the Northern Cross because that’s what it really looks like.
Deneb is at the head of the Northern Cross, presently lying on its side as it rises in the east.
Mike Lynch is an astronomer and professional broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis and is author of the book, “Washington Starwatch,” available at bookstores. Check his website, www.lynchandthestars.com.
The Everett Astronomical Society: www.everettastro.org/.
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