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Don’t worry, the launching of ANY space mission is often delayed for another day. It is far better to discover a nail in your car’s tire before you are in the middle of the King Ranch. A stitch in time saves nine as the old folks used to remind us and an ‘ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure’ is another aphorism which comes to mind. Those folks who were out on the island at four o’clock in the morning DID get to see a spectacular sunrise, and not much beats one of those.
Observing constellations is far easier that anticipating the launch of a new starship. We may feel that looking at constellations is boring after a while and rockets launching is more exciting, but the ever-cycling parade of stars across the sky with an occasional meteor streaking across the field of view cannot be relegated to boringgg.
The mid-spring constellations bring the last views of the late winter evening constellations in the west and the spring constellations across the south, and the early summer ones rising after midnight out of the eastern horizon. For early risers the autumn constellations are in the wings. The northern sky constellations rotate in a counter-clockwise motion about the star Polaris as the point of axis.
Geometry abounds for astronomical observers. Angles between the horizon and particular planets and/or constellations are important identifiers for faint objects. The position of objects between north to south along the horizon is called azimuth and the angle formed between the horizon and object in the sky is the altitude. Math makes identifying all sorts of heavenly objects possible. When meteoroids streak across the sky leaving the trail of light we call meteors, you might report one you see to https://www.ametsoc.org/AMS/ to help locate those rocks from space that make it to earth which we call meteorites.
April has a nice opportunity to catch a glimpse of a Lyrid meteor shower event. The peak was last week, but we had many cloud-obscured skies, so it would have been difficult to catch a ‘falling star,’ which is not actually a star, but a bit of debris left by Comet Thatcher many long years ago. The path earth is taking will bring the possibility of seeing more than a few meteors through the 25th of this month. But an occasional sighting is possible any dark clear night.
As far as phases of the moon go, when the moon is waxing (increasing the illuminated part) it is easier to see constellations because there is less moonglow. Taking a walk after dark or before dawn might bring some good viewing opportunities.
If you are out and about near 5 a.m. the summer constellation Pegasus is visible in the southeast. To the right of Pegasus is the Delphinus, the dolphin, a delicate little constellation many people mis-identify as the Little Dipper or the asterism or the Pleiades. As the world turns from west to east these constellations will move across our field of view and be in the nighttime sky in January. Our perpetually-in-motion home base makes for an interesting hobby for many. And it only needs a good pair of eyes and dark clear night skies.
Until next time, KLU.
