Sun sets at 6:49pm
Sun rises at 5:47am
Moon phase: New Moon, virtually absent
Any moonless summer evening such as tonight and tomorrow night, you can look toward the center of our Milky Way galaxy. It’s located in the direction of Sagittarius the Archer. Like most constellations, it’s a pattern of stars that doesn’t look much like its namesake. We generally find other groups within the constellation to help us recognize what we are looking for, such as the three stars in a row to find Orion the Hunter.
The constellation Sagittarius happens to contain one such easily-recognizable pattern of stars – it’s called “the Teapot” and it makes up the western half of the constellation Sagittarius the Archer. Modern eyes have an easier time envisioning a teapot than an Archer with a drawn-out bow. Astronomers call these simple star patterns asterisms.
For us in St. Maarten, just look south during the evening hours for this star pattern. The Teapot currently stands in the upright position, although sometimes it is in the “pouring out” position. Study the photos here to learn the pattern to look for. And note that right now the planet Saturn shines nearby, just a few degrees to the right or west of Sagittarius.
Between the Teapot and Saturn, you’ll see a broad boulevard of stars – hazy from the muted light of stars not seen. How many stars are in our Milky Way Galaxy? They say 100 billion! Our sun is just one of those!
If you find a really dark sky, away from any street lights and cars, you will be able to see the edgewise view of our galaxy – which broadens and brightens in the direction of the galaxy’s center. We can’t really see the galactic center. It’s heavily veiled by intervening stars, star clusters and nebulae (vast clouds of gas and dust). The center of our Milky Way looms some 26,000 light-years away. But we can gaze toward this direction in space, and – if your sky is dark enough – it’s a sight to behold!
Another asterism, which we learned last weekend, is the Summer Triangle asterism. This huge star pattern is fairly high in the eastern sky at nightfall. It consists of three brilliant stars – Vega, Deneb and Altair – you remember that from last week, right?
If you are otherwise lost on some starry night but can find the Summer Triangle, let this signpost star formation escort you to the Teapot. By the way, Sagittarius the Archer – and its Teapot asterism – lie next to the constellation Scorpius.
Also starting on Thursday of this week and on through next weekend, treat yourself to one of nature’s spectacles. It’s time for the Delta Aquariid meteor shower. The Delta Aquarids don’t have as definite a peak as the better known August Perseids. This shower will produce a steady supply of meteors, which you can see in dark skies from Thursday through the next weekend. We have should still have dark enough skies for watching the Delta Aquariids, which are at their best in dark hours before dawn. You might see as many as 10 to 15 rather faint meteors per hour.
The Delta Aquarid shower reaches its nominal peak every year in late July. They’ll still be flying when the Perseids peak in August.The Perseid shower is expected to produce the greatest number of meteors on the night of August 11-12 or 12-13, 2017. However, the waning gibbous moon will obtrude on the Perseid show in 2017.
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.
