Tag: big dipper

Upstate New York Stargazing – May, 2017

Author's Note: The "Upstate New York Stargazing" series ran on the newyorkupstate.com and syracuse.com websites (and limited use in-print) from 2016 to 2018. For the full list of articles, see the Upstate New York Stargazing page.

Upstate NY Stargazing in May: A meteor shower and preparations for the solar eclipse

The transit of Venus across the Sun on June 5/6, 2012. By NASA/SDO, AIA.

Updated: May. 01, 2017, 12:00 p.m. | Published: May. 01, 2017, 11:00 a.m.

Special to nyup.com

By Damian Allis | Contributing writer

Every once in a while, New York and most of the rest of the U.S. is treated to some significant daytime astronomical phenomenon. As you might imagine, this only occurs when some object attempts to compete with the Sun for attention – and this only occurs when something big gets between the Sun and ourselves.

Within the past decade, we've had the good fortune of being able to see Venus (in 2012) and Mercury (in 2016) transit, or travel across the face of, the Sun using solar-safe astronomy equipment. The 2012 Venus transit held in downtown Syracuse even drew several hundred people to Armory Square.

On Aug. 21, the continental U.S. is going to be witness to a total solar eclipse – an event that hasn't happened for us since 1979. While New York will not experience complete coverage of the Sun, northern-most New Yorkers will experience about 70 percent coverage, while southern-most New Yorkers will just barely approach 80 percent. It is a fair bet that every active astronomy club in New York will be hosting an observing session with solar-safe equipment on the 21st or will be hosting a lecture of some kind in the days leading up to the eclipse.

If you haven't yet done so, mark Aug. 21 in your calendar and plan to call in sick that afternoon. We will address solar-safe observing and why such eclipses don't happen more regularly as the event approaches. For those already excited and looking for more information, check out eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse.html, greatamericaneclipse.com, or eclipse2017.org.

May lectures and observing opportunities

New York has a number of astronomers, astronomy clubs, and observatories that host public sessions throughout the year. Announced sessions from several respondent NY astronomy organizations are provided below for May. As wind and cloud cover are always factors when observing, please check the provided contact information and/or email the groups a day-or-so before an announced session, as some groups will also schedule weather-alternate dates. Also use the contact info for directions and to check on any applicable event or parking fees.

Astronomy Events Calendar

OrganizerLocationEventDateTimeContact Info
Adirondack Public ObservatoryTupper LakePublic Star GazingMay 58:30 PMemail, website
Adirondack Public ObservatoryTupper LakePublic Star GazingMay 198:30 PMemail, website
Albany Area Amateur Astronomers & Dudley ObservatorySchenectadySenior Science DayMay 13:00 – 4:00 PMemail, website
Albany Area Amateur Astronomers & Dudley ObservatorySchenectadyNight Sky AdventureMay 168:00 – 9:30 PMemail, website
Albany Area Amateur Astronomers & Dudley ObservatorySchenectadyAAAA MeetingsMay 187:30 – 9:00 PMemail, website
Albany Area Amateur Astronomers & Dudley ObservatorySchenectadyOctagon Barn Star Party & LectureMay 198:00 – 10:00 PMemail, website
Astronomy Section, Rochester Academy of ScienceRochesterASRAS Meeting & LectureMay 57:30 – 9:30 PMemail, website
Astronomy Section, Rochester Academy of ScienceRochesterObserving At The StrasenburghMay 68:30 PMJim S., 585-703-9876
Astronomy Section, Rochester Academy of ScienceRochesterObserving At The StrasenburghMay 138:30 PMJim S., 585-703-9876
Astronomy Section, Rochester Academy of ScienceRochesterObserving At The StrasenburghMay 208:30 PMJim S., 585-703-9876
Astronomy Section, Rochester Academy of ScienceRochesterObserving At The StrasenburghMay 278:30 PMJim S., 585-703-9876
Baltimore WoodsMarcellusSpring ConstellationsMay 198:30 – 10:30 PMemail, website
Kopernik Observatory & Science CenterVestalKAS Monthly MeetingMay 37:00 – 9:00 PMemail, website
Kopernik Observatory & Science CenterVestalFriday Night Lecture & ObservingMay 57:00 – 10:00 PMemail, website
Kopernik Observatory & Science CenterVestalFriday Night Lecture & ObservingMay 128:00 – 10:00 PMemail, website
Kopernik Observatory & Science CenterVestalFriday Night Lecture & ObservingMay 198:00 – 10:00 PMemail, website
Kopernik Observatory & Science CenterVestalFriday Night Lecture & ObservingMay 268:00 – 10:00 PMemail, website
Mohawk Valley Astronomical SocietyWatervillePublic Stargazing @ New Hartford Sherrill Brook ParkMay 209:00 PM – 12:00 AMemail, website

Lunar Phases

New:First Quarter:Full:Third Quarter:New:
Apr. 26, 8:16 AMMay 2, 10:46 PMMay 10, 5:42 PMMay 18, 8:32 PMMay 25, 3:44 PM

The Moon's increasing brightness as Full Moon approaches washes out fainter stars, random meteors, and other celestial objects – this is bad for most observing, but excellent for new observers, as only the brightest stars (those that mark the major constellations) and planets remain visible for your easy identification. If you've never tried it, the Moon is a wonderful binocular object.

Evening and nighttime guide

The view looking southwest at 9 p.m. on May 15 (except for the changing Moon position, this mid-month view is accurate for all of May).

Items and events listed below assume you're outside and observing most anywhere in New York state. The longer you're outside and away from indoor or bright lights, the better your dark adaption will be. If you have to use your smartphone, find a red light app or piece of red acetate, else set your brightness as low as possible.

Southern Sights: May is the last month to catch an easy glimpse of Orion and Taurus, but the bright stars in Auriga and Gemini help to fill in your observing time. The thin, wispy band of the Milky Way in this part of the sky runs thickest through the feet of Gemini and all of Monoceros. As you look further east, you're looking off the plane of our galaxy into the deep void of intergalactic space.

This means you see fewer Messier Objects inside the galaxy, but Virgo specifically is a prime location for hunting many galaxies that would otherwise be covered over by even the thinnest band of the Milky Way.

The view looking northeast at 9:00 p.m. on May 15.

Northern Sights: The Big Dipper lies high in the sky during pre-midnight observing hours this month.

Arcturus and Hercules are easy targets by the time you're ready to observe, and bright Vega in the constellation Lyra now clears the tree line, marking one corner of the Summer Triangle and the wealth of deep sky objects starting their return within the densest region of the Milky Way.

Planetary Viewing

Mercury swapped places with Venus briefly at the beginning of April as the first planet to fall below the horizon after sunset. For May, Mercury has followed Venus to the morning sky, giving early risers a great chance to catch multiple planets before sunrise later in the month. For the first two weeks, Mercury will rise close to civil twilight and be virtually washed out by sunlight. Looking due east for a very bright pinpoint in binoculars may seal the deal, but be VERY careful about keeping your view away from the rising sun. The damage to your eyesight from even a second of the magnified sun is instant and permanent.

True to its name, Mercury will fly through the constellations Pisces, Cetus, and Aries this month. The early morning of May 23rd will host the thin, waning crescent moon between Mercury and the exceptionally bright Venus. The distant planet Uranus will even share the lunar field of view in 10×50 binoculars that morning, but likely be too difficult to see against the brightness of even the sliver of a crescent.

Mercury, Venus, a thin crescent Moon, and even possibly Uranus on the morning of May 23.

Venus is unmissable in the morning sky right now, rising after 4:30 a.m. on May 1 and by 3:45 a.m. on the 31st. Its thin crescent shape is very visible even in low-power binoculars, but you may need something to steady your hands if you're going to try to see this crescent clearly.

If you don't have a camera tripod and binocular bracket handy, a common cheap trick is to flip a broom over and steady the binos on the bristles – but vacuum them off first!

Fortunately, you've the whole month to practice – Venus will be slipping farther away all month within the Pisces border, but its crescent will grow from a quarter to nearly one-half by month's end, giving us plenty of reflected light to monitor the process in May and beyond.

Mars remains a reasonable, but dimming, catch in the western sky after sunset and will be visible within the borders of Taurus before 10:00 p.m. all month. That said, June will mark the transition from Mars to not-Mars in the evening sky, after which we'll be waiting until the early mornings in mid-August for another sight.

The Mars and Moon, looking west on May 27.

Jupiter is in its viewing prime in May, rising near 6:00 p.m. on the 1st and by 4:30 p.m. on the 31st. Throughout the month, it will be high and visible in the pre-midnight sky, never straying too far from the star Porrima in the constellation Virgo. On the evening of May 7th, the waxing gibbous Moon will be at its closest to Jupiter, making for an excellent pairing in binoculars. At that point, Jupiter will be easy to spot – and possibly the only other object in the vicinity of the Moon that you can see.

Low power binoculars are excellent for spying the four bright Galilean moons – Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto – and several online guides will even map their orbits for you so you can identify their motions nightly or, for the patient observer, even hourly.

The Moon and Jupiter on May 7.

Saturn Saturn has seen some excellent press in the past few weeks and you will hopefully be seeing quite a bit more of it in the few months to come. The Cassini Mission, which has done as much for scientific study as it has for desktop backgrounds since beginning its study of Saturn in 2004, is ending in a most spectacular way on September 15th of this year, when the satellite is scheduled to fall into Saturn itself. The reasons are two-fold. First, the probe will have exhausted its plutonium fuel supply. Second, and more importantly down the road, there's always a slight chance that Cassini has been hiding microbial hitchhikers from Earth all this time. An uncontrolled probe might just end up crash-landing into one of Saturn's moons, such as Titan or Enceladus, in which case there's a slight chance that those hiding microbes might just set up shop and begin populating a life-less moon – or possibly start competing with any native microbes that astrobiologists are anxiously hoping to find during future missions.

Saturn returns to the pre-midnight sky on May 1st, rising earlier each night until clearing the horizon just before 10:00 p.m. on the 31st. Saturn sits right near the Sagittarius/Ophiuchus border this month, crossing into Ophiuchus territory on May 20th. May 13th will see the waning gibbous Moon paired with Saturn, rising just before midnight. This is an excellent sight in binoculars, but not necessarily the best Saturn sight this month. If you're a true night owl, try to find Saturn after 2:00 a.m. during the first few mornings in May – so long as the Moon has set below the western sky, you may be able to spy Saturn, the open star clusters Messier 21 and 23, as well as the Trifid and Lagoon Nebulae – all in the field of view of 10×50 binoculars. This is when a tripod, good chair, and a good long look in the binoculars will serve you best. If the 2 a.m. session isn't your thing, simply wait until after May 22, when the Moon is below the horizon and Saturn et al. rise after 11 p.m.

An exceptionally busy view of Saturn in binoculars.

ISS And Other Bright Flyovers

Satellite flyovers are commonplace, with several bright passes easily visible per hour in the nighttime sky, yet a thrill to new observers of all ages. Few flyovers compare in brightness or interest to the International Space Station. The flyovers of the football field-sized craft with its massive solar panel arrays can be predicted to within several seconds and take several minutes to complete.

May is chock full of ISS, with 72 nighttime-visible flyovers predicted. The first few weeks of May offer a great number of these flyovers, but only if you're willing to start your day off very early. The flyovers for the first few weeks all occur after 2 a.m., but only three occur on or after the late hour of 5 a.m. The flyovers for pre-midnight observers begin after the 22nd, with three chances per day to observe the ISS on the 24th, 26th, 28th, 30th, and 31st. Simply go out a few minutes before the start time, orient yourself, and look for what will at first seem like a distant plane.

ISS Flyovers

DateBrightnessApprox. StartStart DirectionApprox. EndEnd Direction
6-Mayvery4:54 AMS/SW5:00 AME/NE
8-Mayextremely4:47 AMSW4:52 AME/NE
10-Mayextremely4:39 AMW4:44 AMNE
12-Mayvery4:31 AMW4:36 AMNE
20-Maysomewhat12:51 AMNE12:51 AMNE
22-Maymoderately12:41 AMN/NE12:43 AMNE
22-Maymoderately11:49 PMN/NE11:51 PMNE
23-Mayvery9:17 PMS9:21 PME
23-Mayextremely10:52 PMW/SW10:58 PMNE
24-Maymoderately12:29 AMW/NW12:34 AMNE
24-Mayextremely9:59 PMSW10:06 PME/NE
24-Maymoderately11:36 PMW/NW11:42 PMNE
25-Mayextremely9:07 PMS/SW9:13 PME/NE
25-Mayvery10:44 PMW10:50 PMNE
26-Maymoderately12:21 AMNW12:26 AMNE
26-Mayextremely9:51 PMW/SW9:57 PMNE
26-Maymoderately11:29 PMW/NW11:34 PMNE
27-Maymoderately10:36 PMW/NW10:41 PMNE
28-Maymoderately12:13 AMNW12:18 AMNE
28-Maymoderately9:43 PMW9:49 PMNE
28-Maymoderately11:21 PMNW11:25 PMNE

Predictions courtesy of heavens-above.com. Times later in the month are subject to shifts – for accurate daily predictions, visit spotthestation.nasa.gov.

Meteor showers: Eta Aquariids April 20 to May 20, peaking May 5 and 6

Meteor showers occur when the Earth passes through the debris field of a comet or asteroid. As these objects approach the warming sun in their long orbits, they leave tiny bits behind – imagine pebbles popping out the back of a large gravel truck on an increasingly bumpy road. In the case of meteor showers, the brilliant streaks you see are due to particles usually no larger than grains of sand. The Earth plows through the swarm of these tiny particles at up-to 12 miles-per-second. High in the upper atmosphere, these particles burn up due to friction and ionize the air around them, producing the long light trails we see. We can predict the peak observing nights for a meteor shower because we know when and where in Earth's orbit we'll pass through the same part of the Solar System – this yearly periodicity in meteor activity is what let us identify and name meteor showers well before we ever had evidence of what caused them.

The Eta Aquariid radiant, complete with Venus, Saturn, the newly returned Summer Triangle, and one perfectly-placed 5 a.m. ISS flyover on the morning of May 6

The Eta Aquariids are believed to be due to the great Halley's Comet, although there is some debate as to whether Halley's Comet produced the debris or gravitationally nudged debris into the current area. If it is all Halley's debris, then Halley's elliptical path around the sun produces two meteor showers – the second being the Orionids in October.

The name of each meteor shower is based on the constellation from which the shooting stars appear to radiate – a position in the sky we call the radiant. When there are multiple meteor showers associated with the same constellation, the radiant is traced back even more accurately, right down to one of the stars in that constellation. There are seven meteor showers associated with Aquarius, but only two produce decent meteor showers. The Eta Aquariids appear to originate from very close to eta-Aquarius, although zeta-Aquarius is quite close as well.

How to observe: The Eta Aquariids are a long, gradual meteor shower that stretches over about 30 days. There is no sharp peak, only a predicted maximum around May 5th and 6th, with decent viewings possible from the 3rd to the 8th. The constellation Aquarius sits quite low on the horizon in the early mornings in early May and is not particularly prominent either. Depending on when you try to observe, Venus would serve as an adequate marker, else find the Summer Triangle high above and look half the distance to the horizon. To optimize your experience, lie flat on the ground with your feet pointed to the southeast and your head elevated – meteors will then appear to fly right over and around you.

Those interested in seeing a full list should check out the American Meteor Society meteor shower calendar.

Learn a Constellation: Cassiopeia

Cassiopeia and Cepheus in the late-evening May sky.

Our northeast-facing image in the Evening and Nighttime Guide above shows the Big Dipper marked in green and an arrow pointing towards Polaris in the Little Dipper. If we extend that arrow down another full length, we end up pointing near the Cassiopeia/Cepheus divide. Those with either a background in Greek mythology or ticket stubs to one of the two versions of "Clash Of The Titans" will know that these two constellations come as a pair – King Cepheus, ancient ruler of Aethiopia, and Queen Cassiopeia, who offended the gods by boasting of her or her daughter Andromeda's beauty.

During pre-midnight observing hours in May, Cassiopeia may remind you of something from a different movie – the 1963 comedy "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World." Towards the end, Jonathan Winters is seen slowly turning around to identify one of the key plot points – a "Great Big W." Cassiopeia's motion around Polaris cleanly breaks into four groups that are easy to remember – from May to July, it's a "W" at the horizon, from August to October, a "3" in the northeast, from November to January an "M" high in the north, and from February to April an "E" in the northwest. Its five stars are very bright, but if the shape doesn't reveal itself the first few times, simply use the Big Dipper, find Polaris, and continue unit a W, 3, M, or E jumps out.

The five bright stars of the "W" asterism are all observing-worthy on their own. Caph is a variable star spinning so fast that it is 25% wider at its equator than its poles. Schedar is a four-star system. Navi is an unpredictable variable star whose brightness you can keep track of without any magnification. Ruchbah is an eclipsing binary star – which means one star goes right between us and the main star as it orbits every 25 months, causing a quick, predictable drop in the brightness. Finally, Segin is noteworthy for the shell of gas surrounding it, giving its spectrum a more complicated shape.

For the binocular observers, there are two Messier Objects to find – the open star clusters M52 and M103. Both of these might be more prominent in another part of the sky, but Cassiopeia lies just in front of a thin band of the Milky Way. As a result, binocular and telescope observers end up seeing a wealth of stars in the background as they scour for deep sky objects.

Dr. Damian Allis is the director of CNY Observers and a NASA Solar System Ambassador. If you know of any other NY astronomy events or clubs to promote, please contact the author.

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Upstate New York Stargazing – September, 2016

Author's Note: The "Upstate New York Stargazing" series ran on the newyorkupstate.com and syracuse.com websites (and limited use in-print) from 2016 to 2018. For the full list of articles, see the Upstate New York Stargazing page.

Stargazing in Upstate NY in September: Look for more subtle objects on autumn nights

A composite of three images from Ionia, NY during the Perseid Meteor Shower. Image courtesy of Nick Lamendola, member of the Astronomy Section of the Rochester Academy of Science.

Updated: Mar. 21, 2019, 5:20 p.m. | Published: Sep. 06, 2016, 4:57 p.m.

(Special to Syracuse.com)

By Damian Allis | Contributing writer

Syracuse, N.Y. — August was an impressive month for local observational astronomers. We were treated to a Jupiter/Venus conjunction, pleasant early-evening alignments of the Moon and several planets, a number of bright International Space Station flyovers, and the always predictable and generally (but not always) impressive Perseid Meteor Shower – all this against the backdrop of our Milky Way Galaxy, which stands tall and at its brightest to our South near midnight during the summer months.

While the night sky is always impressive, September will not see the flurry of planetary activity August brought, there are no impressive meteor showers to stay awake for, and even our pre-midnight ISS flyovers are on hiatus until the very end of the month. With the start of the school year upon us, nature has given young observers a chance to reset their clocks for early mornings, and given many astronomy clubs a chance to refresh their knowledge of the autumn skies before some start up their school year outreach activities.

On the bright side (no pun intended), it's getting darker earlier, meaning the hours of productive observing are on the increase! This makes September a great time for some to head out to a dark patch with a star chart, binoculars, and a red light flashlight. We're going to start introducing some of the more subtle observables with this month's guide in an attempt to coax you out to a dark, wide open space.

Your First Steps Outside:

The view looking south at 10 p.m. on Sept. 15 (except for the changing Moon position, this mid-month view is accurate for all of September).

Items and events listed below assume you're outside and observing between 9 p.m. and midnight throughout September anywhere in New York state. The longer you're outside and away from indoor or bright lights, the better your dark adaption will be. If you have to use your smartphone, find a red light app or piece of red acetate, else set your brightness as low as possible.

Jupiter is effectively off our observing list with its pre-sunset setting below the western horizon, and won't be visible again in the pre-midnight skies until early February, when it pops up in our eastern sky. With luck, Jupiter will still stay prominent in our news feeds, as NASA's Juno probe continues to map and measure the Solar System's largest planet.

Jupiter's late-August companion Venus is very low on the horizon at sunset for the first part of this month, also becoming a difficult catch without a low tree line. If you see a very bright pinpoint of light low on the southwest-west horizon close to sunset this month, you can assume with high confidence that it's Venus.

Saturn remains prominent, but sets below the horizon by 10 p.m. just after mid-month, making Mars our prime planetary observing target for all of September. Mars will fly through the densest part of the Milky Way this month and still be visible for all of October.

The Summer Triangle, our highlight in the August observing article, is still prominent in the nighttime sky. As autumn arrives, we get to spend less time straining our necks to look straight up, and can now use a pair of binoculars and scan high and westward to look for interesting objects within and around the triangle. Before we begin to explore the northern sky in more detail in future articles, we're going to spend a little more time in the Summer Triangle itself, as it is a great opportunity to get some introductory and easy-to-find deep sky object observing in with only a decent pair of binoculars.

The Big Dipper

The view looking north at 10 p.m. on September 15, highlighting the two dippers, brightest named stars, and Cassiopeia.

The Big Dipper is low on the northern horizon during September observing hours. Its handle extends out to the West and its bowl rests near-flat and nearly due-north, balanced as if its bowl were filled to the brim with the last small scoop of the original celestial seasonings from the Little Dipper, which itself sits directly above the Big Dipper during our observing window. If you look high and to the northeast, you may see a prominent and jagged "3" in the sky. This constellation, Cassiopeia, will be a big part of an upcoming article, as we hone our deep sky observing skills to find our largest galactic neighbor.

ISS And Other Bright Flyovers:

Satellite flyovers are commonplace, with several bright passes per hour, yet a thrill to new observers of all ages. Few flyovers compare in brightness or interest to the International Space Station. The flyovers of the football-sized craft with its massive solar panel arrays can be predicted to within several seconds and take several minutes to complete. September flyovers for our standard observing window (sunset to midnight) are off the table until month's end. That said, if you're an *early* morning person, there are many flyovers throughout September, with the 10 brightest predictions listed below. Simply go out a few minutes before the start time, orient yourself, and look for what will at first seem like a distant plane.

Predictions courtesy of heavens-above.com

Satellite fly-bys

DateBrightnessApprox. StartStart DirectionApprox. EndEnd Direction
9/6very5:26 AMS/SW5:31 AME/NE
9/8extremely5:18 AMW/SW5:22 AMNE
9/9very4:27 AME4:30 AME/NE
9/10very5:10 AMW/NW5:14 AMNE
9/18very6:11 AMNW6:17 AME
9/20extremely6:02 AMW/NW6:08 AME/SE
9/21very5:11 AMN/NW5:15 AME/SE
9/22very5:54 AMW/NW5:59 AMS/SE
9/23extremely5:04 AMSE5:07 AMSE
9/24moderately5:47 AMSW5:49 AMS
9/27moderately7:48 PMS/SE7:48 PMSE
9/28very8:29 PMSW8:31 PMS
9/29very7:37 PMS/SW7:41 PME
9/29moderately9:13 PMW9:14 PMW
9/30extremely8:20 PMW/SW8:24 PMNE

The Moon

New:First Quarter:Full:Third Quarter:
Sept. 1Sept. 9Sept. 16Sept. 23

The moon's increasing brightness as full moon approaches washes out fainter stars, random meteors, and other celestial objects – this is bad for most observing, but excellent for new observers, as only the brightest stars (those that mark the major constellations) and planets remain visible for your easy identification. If you've never tried it, the moon is a wonderful binocular object.

Many astronomy clubs worldwide are now planning their events for the International Observe The Moon Night, which happens on Saturday night, October 8th. If the skies remain clear, the Technology Alliance of Central New York (tacny.org) and CNY Observers (cnyo.org) will be hosting a special lecture and observing session at The MOST in Armory Square, downtown Syracuse.

Viewing the planets

We've one prominent inferior planet (one between us and the Sun) and one superior planet (one beyond Earth's orbit) in the sky this month, and both are bright and to our south in early September. Those with some observing experience or good automated GOTO telescopes may even want to try for the dwarf planet Ceres or the gas giants Neptune and Uranus.

Saturn: Saturn remains at the western border of the constellation Ophiuchus and will slowly make its way east until settling into Sagittarius in 2018. Mars will be drifting away from Saturn this month, with Saturn setting earlier and earlier as the month progresses. Saturn will be below the horizon around 10 p.m. at the end of September, but observers will still have plenty of time to catch it in the early evening sky until the end of October. In good binoculars, Saturn and its rings appear as a small oval. With big binoculars or a small telescope, you should be able to distinguish between the planet and its rings, and maybe even see the dark Cassini Division within the rings.

Mars: Mars remains unmissable this month, glowing bright red-orange in the south-southwest sky. Mars will spend its last night in the constellation Scorpius on September 1st, then will join Saturn within the borders that define the constellation Ophiuchus until the night of September 22nd. The border between Ophiuchus and Sagittarius is a busy one – just two nights later on the 24th, Mars will be equidistant between the galactic center, which lies just on the Sagittarius side, and the Lagoon Nebula, a massive interstellar gas cloud roughly 5,000 light years away. During the final week of September, Mars will move even closer to the Lagoon Nebula while crossing into the galactic thicket – a region of interstellar dust between us and the core that blackens out some of the region around the galactic core.

Use Mars to spot the Lagoon Nebula and Trifid Nebula in late-September. The green circles mark the field of view for 10×50 binoculars.

If you've spent many a cloudy night staring at images from the Hubble Space Telescope but have never seen a deep sky object with your own two eyes, Mars will avail you a golden – well, orange-reddish – opportunity this month to find two. Starting on the night of September 19th, anyone with a pair of 10×50 binoculars will be able to put Mars, the Lagoon Nebula, and the Trifid Nebula into the same field of view. If you've a pair of 7×35's, you can start a day earlier – with a pair of 12×50's, subtract a day from both sides of the range. From September 19th to October 6th, Mars will move close to those two nebula, hitting closest approach just below the Lagoon Nebula on the 28th-29th. If you're a member of any astronomy or astrophotography groups on Facebook, expect some fantastic images of this grouping in early October. The series of images above show you where to place Mars with respect to the other two in your binoculars. For a number of reasons, ranging from the relative brightness of Mars to the sensitivity of our own vision to faint objects under low-light conditions, I will warn in advance that the Lagoon and Trifid Nebulae will not be particularly impressive sights. You will, hopefully, be able to identify two dim, fuzzy splotches (I can almost hear the astronomical hate email being typed) in the correct locations. With luck, seeing these two for the first time will entice you to seek out a local astronomy club during one of their public viewing sessions – the Lagoon Nebula in particular is an absolute jewel to behold in a quality telescope.

Learn A Constellation: Lyra The Harp

Finding Lyra the Harp is easy once you've found the Summer Triangle. In 10×50 binoculars, splitting the double-double into two bright stars should be easy, while finding the faint Ring Nebula may be a challenge for new observers.

When items of astronomical interest are only as large as the very tip of a pen when held at arm's length, even small constellations can hold a wealth of observables. Lyra the Harp is a summertime favorite among amateur astronomers because it contains a number of impressive sights in a small, easy to find package.

The search starts easily – once you've found the Summer Triangle, tipped high and slightly to the west, the brightest star will be the west-most point. This star, Vega, is our marker for Lyra, and is bright enough to be visible very soon after sunset. The rest of the constellation is equally easy to find – Vega is the brightest star in a small and bright triangle, while the triangle star to Vega's south marks the corner of a perfectly placed parallelogram oriented to the south. For the constellation, that's it – but certainly not all.

With any decent pair of low-power binoculars or even a small telescope, the second-brightest star of the Vega-triangle will separate into two stars – one of the more famous double stars in the nighttime sky. Under excellent skies, some may even be able to see this single star as a closely-spaced pair without any magnification. With a high power telescope, observers can see that each of these two stars is itself a double star. Observers even refer to this astronomical eye candy as the "Double-Double."

The Double-Double is a busy piece of celestial real estate. The two pairs of stars are gravitationally bound to one another, meaning their positions appear to change (albeit slowly) over time as the two pairs orbit one another. The whole complex of stars is about 160 light years from Earth, just over 6 times the distance between ourselves and bright Vega.

As a test of your vision and your binoculars, I now direct you to the southmost part of the parallelogram. Through binoculars, you may be able to discern a dim, slightly fuzzy star almost exactly between the two corner stars. In a telescope and under dark skies, you may even be able to discern a shape – it should appear as an out-of-focus doughnut.

This otherwise unassuming object is referred to as the Ring Nebula, an object you might also see labeled as Messier 57 (or M57 – we'll cover the meaning of "Messier" in a future article). The reason for the "ring" shape is one of timing – as the star at the center of the Ring Nebula passed between a Red Giant stage and final White Dwarf stage, a ball of ionized gas was ejected out in all directions. Now imagine the ionized gas as being the rubber of a balloon. As you inflate the balloon – our proxy for the force that ejected the gas around the star – it starts as a mostly spherical ball of rubber you can't see through. As you continue to inflate it, eventually you can begin to see through the middle of the balloon but not the edges – the balloon is being stretched out symmetrically, but there's more rubber to try to look through around the edge. Soon after the ionized gas began to race away from the central star, the "Ring Nebula" would have looked like the "Ball Nebula." Right now, we see a faint ring – and excellent telescopes and clear skies can even reveal the central white dwarf star in the middle. Eventually, the gas will thin away and the nebula will all but disappear to observers on Earth.

The Ring Nebula as observed using the Hubble Space Telescope.

What makes the Ring Nebula a special sight to some observers is that the star that formed the Ring Nebula was similar to our own Sun, giving we observers an opportunity to see what our own Sun and surroundings may look like in 5 billion years, when the Sun is expected to undergo the same dramatic transition into a Red Giant before collapsing into a white dwarf and expelling a shell of gas out in all directions.

Dr. Damian Allis is the director of CNY Observers and a NASA Solar System Ambassador. If you know of any other NY astronomy events or clubs to promote, please contact the author.

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