Look overhead to see the summer Milky Way
5 comments Print Me Email to FriendTonight is Thursday, Aug 28 2008
The moon will be new tomorrow and in a waxing crescent phase in the west after sunset, in the next few days. How soon will you spot it in the evening? Maybe Tuesday or Wednesday. Even so, over the coming week, the moon will set soon after sunset and be mostly absent from the evening sky. That makes now a good time to get out into the country for a look at the summer Milky Way: the edgewise view into our own galaxy.
Here is the view if you are standing facing east – but craning your neck to look overhead. The galaxy stretches across the sky during the evening hours now. When you look at it with the eye alone, you might think it looks hazy. But you’ll see the truth if you’ll peer at the Milky Way with an ordinary pair of binoculars. Binoculars cause the so-called haze to explode into view as myriad, distant stars.
I’ve marked some bright stars that you’ll find along the path of the Milky Way if you’re looking overhead. Vega in the constellation Lyra the Harp, Deneb in the constellation Cygnus the Swan and Altair in the constellation Aquila the Eagle make up a large star pattern, or “asterism,” known as the Summer Triangle. This entire region is a marvelous place to scan with binoculars.
And an equally fantastic view of the Milky Way is waiting for you in the southern sky at this time of year. More about it tomorrow.
Is there currently a planet visible in the early evening?
i was waiting last night to see the moon and venus which was to appear to look as big as the moon. well i waited until late last night but never seen the moon is there pictures of it or anything?
thank you
i was waiting last night to see the moon and venus which was to appear to look as big as the moon. well i waited until late last night but never seen the moon is there pictures of it or anything?
thank you
There are no planets that will ever appear as big as the moon from Earth. This is a common hoax email that circulates every year or so around this time. The latest one shows a photo from the Cassinni mission of two moons around Saturn that appear close to the same size but the moon in the background is much larger than the one in the forground. If you look at the photo you can see the rings in the bottom of the photo. Planets visible just after sunset from the US are Mars, Venus Mercury & Saturn. All are very bright and unmistakeable. They are all piling up together, and in a few days the Moon will get into the act! Consult a current star chart program to see where they will be for your timezone. Again, all will appear as points of light. You can see the disks with a pair of binoculars. Warning: Do not look at the Sun with the binoculars! These planets are currently viewable just after sunset for less than an hour. The only planets viewable before sunrise are Neptune & Uranus, but you would need a really good pair of binoculars or a telescope to see them. Again, cunsult a star chart to pinpoint their exact location. Clear Skies!
I was just outside and saw a bunch of stars that seemed to be stuck together in a hazy looking mass. I got out the binoculars and could see stars that looked like they were turning around making some bright then dim and bright again. Is this part of the Milky Way that you are talking about?