Stargazing This Week

The Big Dipper and the 41st Parallel
Projected down to our perspective on Earth, the "fixed" stars in deep space all sit on a sphere that surrounds us. As the Earth turns each night, so does our perspective on this sphere. For folks in the northern hemisphere, Polaris is the one star that doesn't move. As the Big Dipper "points" to Polaris, it rotates around it with significant, angular speed.

These days the Big Dipper is hanging pretty low in the sky. So low, in fact, that if you are below the 41st parallel, you probably won't be able to see it. That line coincides with the northern border of Colorado, or roughly the southern extent of the Cascadian volcanic range.

Deborah Byrd at EarthSky details this in a great write up on the Big Dipper, and how many of its stars are curiously close together in real space. The "Ursa Major Association" sounds like a great name for an astronomy club!

The Moon and Gemini
The moon's trajectory through the sky is the same as the sun's, only six months behind. If your bedroom windows are south facing, you probably got a blast of late night light from the recent full moon. This week, from late night into the morning, watch for the moon amongst the two bright heads of the Gemini twins: Pollux and Castor.

Some Early Evening Bright Spots

The Methow sky is now plenty dark by 8pm. The two brightest objects you're probably seeing at that hour are the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn, which feature prominently southern sky. Over to the west, Venus will just dropping below the horizon. Further west you'll find the bright star Arcturus, from the ancient constellation Boötis. Up high and in between all of these you'll find the star Vega - the brightest star in the constellation Lyra.

It's been fun getting reacquainted with the night sky after a summer outdoors. We've still got plenty of darkness left ahead of us. What are you look at these nights? Please let us know!