A Star?  A Planet?  What?

Back when I used to work at the planetarium, we’d get phone calls from people — or they’d walk up to the console after a star talk and show — asking about a bright object they saw in the sky one night. Usually, the “thing” turned out to be a planet (if it wasn’t moving during the course of several minutes), or if it wasn’t that — then we’d have a chat about airplanes, helicopters, etc.  They never got confused by the Moon, although there were always questions about things they thought they saw ON the Moon’s surface whilst gazing through binoculars or a telescope.

This was in the days before the International Space Station, but there were still plenty of other satellites — “space birds” — to be seen, and we’d talk about those, too, because people would see them and wonder “Just what is THAT?” Nowadays, we can go online and find a whole listing of space bird sighting opportunities, plus predictions for ISS passes, and using that information, be ready to spot something besides a planet, high-flying jet, or flock of birds.

People are always surprised when I tell them that they can see the ISS from their backyards. No doubt many people HAVE seen ISS and didn’t know that’s what they were looking at.  There’s something pretty cool about stepping outside at the right time (and you can find out when and where in the sky it will next appear over YOUR house by going to Spaceweather.com’s “Flybys” page and plugging in your zip code (if you’re in the U.S. or Canada), or here at www.Heavens-above.com.)

For folks in the northern hemisphere, these summery nights are great times to get out and check out the stars and planets (and flyover spacecraft). Actually, southern hemisphere viewers should bundle up warmly (if it’s cold in the evenings in your locale), and check out the sky, too.

I’ve given you some links to check out possible ISS and satellite passes, and if you need a star chart, check out the website at SkyandTelescope.com or go here to Skymaps.com for either a northern or southern hemisphere star chart).  These nights, Saturn is in the west-southwest after sunset.  That’s definitely a planet. It’s not far from the bright star Spica, and if you look at it through binoculars, you should be able to make out the star Porrima, right next to it.

There’s a lot of stuff out there to find in the sky. Sometimes it’s natural… sometimes it’s a human construct passing by. Whatever it is, get out there and check it out!  The skies provide free entertainment and have for as long as people have been looking up!