Category Archives: astronomy

astronomy, Mars, planets, saturn

Planet Viewing

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They’re Up There: You Can’t Miss Them

 

The May night skies, with Saturn and Mars.

 

 

The planets Mars and Saturn are gleaming up there in the sky these May nights.  Saturn is in the constellation Virgo, not far from the bright star Spica. I’ve seen a lot of images people are posting of Saturn, and the rings are standing out. So, if you have a decent pair of binoculars, or even better, a small telescope, you can spot those rings yourself.

When I was a kid, one of the first images of a planet I saw was of Saturn. Those rings absolutely mystified me. They were the most alien thing I could think of “out there” and I often wondered how such things could form. Astronomers knew the rings were made up of particles, but it wasn’t until the Voyager mission to Saturn that they knew just how complex the system really is. And, of course, the Cassini Mission is taking their understanding to new heights.  You can find some gorgeous views of Saturn from Cassini at the mission Web site, and I think they’ll whet your appetite to see the planet for yourself.

Mars is close to the bright star Regulus, in the constellation of Leo the Lion. It’s a reddish-looking blob of light and if you have a fairly powerful backyard telescope, you can make out some of the surface markings (dark and light) on the planet.  Of course, the best way to look at Mars (after you’ve spotted it in your night sky) is to surf over to NASA’s Mars site, or ESA’s Mars Express page.  There, you’ll find many fascinating images of the Red Planet taken by spacecraft visiting the planet “up close and personal”.

Go out these May nights and check out the planets. They’re not hard to find and they’ll pique your curiosity. I guarantee it!

 

 

astronomy

Hurray, Hurray, the First of May

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Another Month’s Stargazing Starts Today

This is entirely unofficial, but for me, springtime stargazing (for the northern hemisphere) starts in May.  The last of the snows are melting away, although where I live, it’s possible to get snow into June.  But, the evening temps aren’t dipping below zero and the springtime star patterns are climbing high in the sky.  So, this is when I like to start looking for Leo the Lion and Virgo the Maiden, and even Ursa Major (as it climbs high in the sky). If I lived in the southern hemisphere, I’d be checking out the Southern Cross and the great sprawling star-patterns of Centaurus and Carina.

This year, May features three planets: Venus, Mars, and Saturn.  Right now, Venus is glowing like a beacon in the western sky as I write this.  Mars is in Leo and Saturn is in Virgo.  This month, we also get an annular eclipse of the Sun, visible from parts of the U.S. and Pacific regions.  Not a bad month for skygazing, so if you’ve always wanted to check out the stars and planets, put on a jacket, grab some binoculars and head out as soon as it starts getting dark.

I’ve stargazed since I was a little kid, probably since I was five or so. Long before I knew that sailors used the sky for navigation, I knew that astronauts used stars to help orient themselves in space. Well before I knew what planets were, I would ask about Mars and dream about going there someday. It wasn’t until I was much older, in college, that I learned what role stars play in the universe, and how we are all made of star stuff. And, if that’s not amazing enough, even today, astronomers are still finding new things to study and marvel at, out there among the stars.  So, think about that as you stargaze these May evenings.