Sun rises at 6:33am
Sun sets at 6:17pm
Moon phase: new moon, virtually absent
Moon rises with the sun
Moon sets with the sun
This weekend, the new moon means our skies should be very dark, so it’s a good time to look to the north-northwestern horizon as darkness falls to find some of the fainter objects in our night sky. Get out those binoculars or your trusty telescope!
To find our points of interest, we will “star hop” from the known constellation of Cassiopeia. Still unsure of Cassiopeia? She is known as the Queen on her Throne, but looks more like a sideways “W” (or perhaps a backwards “3”). If you can find the Little Dipper at the northern horizon, search above and to the left for the tell-tale shape.
We want to find the Double Cluster in the constellation Perseus. Perseus is directly above Cassiopeia after sunset, rotating to the left of Cassiopeia later in the evening. The Double Cluster consists of two star clusters, known as “H” and “Chi” Persei. The Double Cluster is only faintly visible to the unaided eye – even on an inky black night. Get away from any house or street lights and search the stars of Persuus, you should see a faint fuzzy patch. This is the Double Cluster, and through your binoculars it appears as a sparkling array of stars. Each cluster contains more than 300 young stars – think of them as a stellar nursery. Our galaxy, the Milky Way, intersects both Cassiopeia and Perseus in three dimensions and if our sky is dark enough, you should be able to see this!
The Double Cluster was charted by sky-watchers as early as 150 B.C. Hipparchus saw it, and Ptolemy named it as one of seven “nebulosities” in the Almagest, an ancient astronomy text used for over a millennium. The Double Cluster in Perseus ranks as a favourite among stargazers, a bejewelled place in the heavens to zoom in on with binoculars.
While you’re squinting away at the Double Cluster, take a look to the left of Cassiopeia for the Andromeda Galaxy. Barely visible with the unaided eye, it appears as a tiny elliptical smudge. In fact, it’s the most distant object visible to the unaided eye. But with your vision enhanced, you’ll see the full spiral of stars that will take your breath away, our nearest spiral neighbour!
By the way, this weekend there will be an annular, or “Ring of Fire” eclipse in the Southern Hemisphere, mainly over the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. On land, the annular eclipse can be viewed from southern South America (Chile, Argentina) and the southeastern part of Africa (Angola, Zambia, Democratic Republic of the Congo). If you have friends in those locations, remind them to use eye protection, never look directly at a solar eclipse!
Thank you for keeping up with the Night Sky articles. If you are out later on in the week, each star rises about four minutes earlier each day than written here, and the moon rises 50 minutes later. Night Sky is researched and compiled by Lisa Davis-Burnett. Earthsky.org is a key resource for information and images. Questions or comments? Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
