So we’re heading for the tip of the summer time already and we right here on the Planetarium can’t consider it – our favorite a part of the 12 months drawing to a detailed! Whereas it may be fairly exhausting to stargaze presently of 12 months, because of it being mild to this point into the night time (once we would all quite be snuggled up in mattress, I’m positive!) it at the very least isn’t as chilly as winter and is usually a barely extra nice expertise. And For those who’re planning a tenting journey this month, take the chance to do some impromptu stargazing, with this text as a information!
The very first thing that we are going to see (or quite, not see) within the August Evening Sky this 12 months is the brand new moon, going down on the 4th of August. That is when the aspect of the moon going through us right here on Earth, is going through away from the solar, so we see the darkish aspect in full view. Saying that, there is no such thing as a aspect of the moon that’s at all times going through away from the sunshine so possibly ‘darkish aspect’ isn’t the perfect phrase to make use of (Sure I’m critiquing Pink Floyd right here). Similar to Earth, the entire moon is illuminated over the course of an Earth month, as every face turns out and in of the daylight. So, within the new moon section, the moon is at all times between the Earth and the Solar. On very uncommon and particular events a photo voltaic eclipse can happen throughout the brand new moon section. The following Photo voltaic eclipse seen right here will likely be a partial eclipse seen in 2025. We gained’t see a complete Photo voltaic eclipse till 2090.
The brand new moon is the perfect time of the month for stargazing, although, because the sky is blissfully darkish, and so let’s check out a number of the stars seen this month.
There are a lot of constellations seen in the summertime sky, too many to undergo, however highlights embrace the summer time triangle (Aquila, Lyra and Cygnus), Hercules and Ophiuchus.
I’m going to concentrate on the constellations we hear much less about although, so the primary is the constellation Draco. The wonderful thing about Draco is that it’s circumpolar from northern latitudes, so it’s technically seen all 12 months spherical from the UK and Eire. The title, as you may think, comes from the Latin for ‘dragon’, and that’s what Draco represents.
Draco Constellation. Picture Credit score: Stellarium/Anna Taylor
Draco incorporates a star with the title Thuban, which implies head of the dragon. It will also be known as by its designation Alpha Draconis. This star has an fascinating historical past. At one level it was the pole star, mendacity straight above the North pole of the Earth. It occurred, the truth is, to be the pole star when the Egyptian Pyramids have been being constructed, from 3942 BC to 1793 BC. The Pyramids themselves have been truly constructed with one aspect going through North, so that every night time the sunshine of Thuban was seen from the doorway passage to the tomb. Thuban will even be the pole star once more sooner or later, so we are able to stay up for seeing the impact once more – however sadly not till 21,000 AD… Someway I don’t assume I’ll nonetheless be round then.
The brightest star in Draco is Gamma Draconis, also referred to as Eltanin, which is an orange big star.
The Cat’s Eye Nebula. Picture Credit score: Wikipedia
There are additionally a variety of galaxy clusters in Draco, together with Abell 2218. It is a enormous cluster of 10,000 galaxies, roughly two billion mild years away from Earth, which acts as a robust lens. Due to the gravity of those galaxies, mild is bent round them making a jumble of pictures, with some galaxies showing a number of instances in mild ‘echoes’. This galaxy cluster was the truth is even used as a lens to find essentially the most distant object within the universe (that we all know of to this point). The item is a galaxy 13 billion mild years away, which may be seen because it was simply after the large bang.
The Ring Nebula. Picture Credit score: Wikipedia
Draco additionally incorporates NGC 6543, a planetary nebula recognized extra generally because the Cat’s Eye Nebula. It lies about 3000 mild years away, and was found by William Herschel. Planetary Nebulae are the remnants of small, useless stars, which have puffed off their outer layers and shrunk right down to a white dwarf. A white dwarf is the dense core of the star, glowing barely white proper on the centre of the nebula. The outer layers of the star tackle a sure ethereal vibe as once they puff off, they change into a gorgeous colored ring across the small white remnant. One other well-known instance of a planetary nebula is the Ring Nebula, which is a favorite of novice astronomers.
One other constellation not often talked about is Lacerta. This faint constellation represents a small lizard, not shocking given Lacerta is Latin for lizard. The constellation itself seems to be just a little bit like a ‘w’, identical to the constellation Cassiopeia, and so it’s generally known as ‘Little Cassiopeia’.
Lacerta Constellation. Picture Credit score: Stellarium/Anna Taylor
Inside this constellation there are a variety of fascinating objects, open clusters like NGC 7243, one other planetary nebula and a few double stars, which could possibly be binary star programs, the place two stars orbit one another, or just visible binaries, the place the 2 stars occur to line up from our perspective. One in every of these optical double stars is Alpha Lacertae, which consists of one shiny white star 103 mild years away, with a dimmer companion star nearly 340 mild years away. They simply occur to lie in a line of sight from Earth, whereas being nowhere close to one another in area!
The Spotlight of the month this August (if not the spotlight of the 12 months) would be the Perseids meteor bathe which may be seen each August. This meteor bathe is related to the comet Swift-Tuttle, and seem to return from the constellation of Perseus. Be careful for this meteor bathe all through August, peaking on the 9 – 12 of August. Discover someplace darkish to be careful for as much as 100 meteors per hour.
The very last thing to view this summer time is the complete moon, going down on the 19th August this 12 months. Not solely is it the complete moon, it’s truly a blue moon – the third of 4 full moons this season.
The Blue moon from Dec 2009 – the moon just isn’t truly blue however merely an additional full moon in a season! Picture Credit score: Wikipedia
So take your probabilities with the changeable climate and do some stargazing, particularly in case you are planning on a tenting journey this 12 months. It’s nice enjoyable and good for the psychological well being (one thing all of us want often)!
