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Sun watching may seem like a strange astronomy pastime, but it is our closest star. Watching it rise each morning along the horizon and set each evening may cause you to wonder about the position of our star. Since the first day of spring our star has risen four minutes earlier each day and farther north of east along the horizon. If you drive east on the way to work you probably have noticed that the sun is in a different location than it was a few weeks ago. As you head home in the evening, the sun sets farther north of west until the first day of summer.
On the summer solstice, the first day of summer, June 21 this year, the sun will seem to stop that northern motion, rise in the same place a few days, and then slowly begin a motion that is back due east. All of this motion has to do with the fact that our planet is tilted 23.5 degrees and is in motion in orbit around the sun as well as rotating on its axis. The math that creates all this “poetry in motion” is one of the amazing discoveries of humans. Ask your favorite geometry teacher to talk to you about it.
Math is the other reason we have enjoyed watching Venus in our evening sky so many months. Using binoculars, you may be able to discern the crescent of Venus as well. Be careful not to catch the sun in your binoculars. You will cause irreparable damage to your eyes. The moon also seems to move along the horizon. You may have been puzzled at the idea the moon and sun appear so much larger when they are near the horizon. The fact that we have earth-bound objects to compare the sizes is what causes that illusion. There is an activity that may be done to prove the fact that there is no difference in size between the sun and moon when they are lower or higher.
Early risers may look for Jupiter about 10 degrees above the eastern horizon one hour before sunrise by the end of the month. At -2.1 magnitude the gas giant is among the stars of Aries, the Ram.
Those of you with access to a large telescope, like the one at the Christina Torres Memorial Observatory at Resaca de la Palma state park, may enjoy locating Comet 237P/LINEAR. Even if the comet is not possible to see, there are numerous other astronomical treasures to seek. Between the constellations Aquila, Sagittarius, and Capricornus, New General Catalog 6822, Barnard’s Galaxy, a barred spiral galaxy; 6818, the Little Gem planetary nebula; 6836, a galaxy far from ours; 6835, an edge-on spiral galaxy; and 6814, the Grand Design spiral galaxy. https://science.nasa.gov/ngc-6814-grand-design-spiral-galaxy-hubble; and https://skyandtelescope.org/observing/get-to-know-the-ghostly-galaxies-of-sagittarius/
You may want to browse these two sites for more information and images of these interesting objects.
Stars to enjoy in the west within ten minutes of sunset this week include golden Capella in the constellation Auriga, the Charioteer, and Procyon, the brightest star in Canis Minor. Turning right to the north, will show the Big Dipper high in the sky, pouring its contents into the Little Dipper, surrounded by the drifting stars of Draco, the Dragon.
Just remember that seeing these all depends on whether our water supply is being replenished courtesy of those water-filled clouds. Until next week, KLU.
