Sun rises at 6:25am
Sun sets at 5:34pm
Moon phase: third quarter, waning gibbous
Moon rises at 8:29pm
Moon sets at 9:38am
Early evening
The moon is shining bright this weekend so we will focus on the brighter stars, as the dimmer ones may be somewhat washed out in the light of the moon. Gazing at the western sky after sunset, it’s easy to pick out the Summer Triangle of the very bright stars Altair, Deneb and Vega. Altair in the constellation Aquila on the left and Vega, in the constellation Lyra is on the lower right. Above and a bit to the right is Deneb, which marks the tail of the swan constellation, Cygnus.
Looking south, two bright stars are eye-catching: Achernar and Formalhaut. We discussed Fomalhaut a few weeks ago.Achernar, in the constellation Eridanus, rises just east of due south at about 6:30pm. It is a very peculiar star because it is one of the flattest stars known. Observations indicate that it has a squashed shape, as if a big kid sat on an underinflated basketball. This distortion may be due to the star spinning extremely rapidly. The name Achernar means “River’s End.”
As Achernar starts to decline another bright star begins to rise – following a similar path across the low southern sky. This is Canopus, the second brightest star in the night sky. It has been an important star to the Navajo people of the American southwest, the seagoing Polynesians, the Maori, and the Hawaiians, as well as the Chinese, the Indians, and the ancient Egyptians. The Greeks and Romans were too far north to have ever seen it. The Bedouin people used Canopus as a major navigational star to find their way across the Sahara Desert. For the Xhosa people of southern Africa, May is named the month of Canopus. Canopus is in the constellation Carina. It reaches its peak as Achernar sets, about midnight.
Canopus’ brightness is surpassed only by Sirius in the constellation Canis Major, or “Big Dog.” They are both visible through much of the night, two brightest stars, should be easy to locate, but be careful not to confuse stars and planets – planets may be brighter than Sirius, but they shine, rather than twinkle (a difference that can be hard to discern). Sirius can be located by finding Orion’s three-star belt and extending that line down about halfway to the horizon. The moon will be off to the left most of the night, in the constellation of Gemini.
These southern constellations of Eridanus and Carina are less familiar to most of us, as they can only be viewed when you are close to the equator or in the southern hemisphere. For those familiar with the northern night sky, heading south of the equator presents a totally new star field. The ever-helpful ‘north star,’ Polaris, slips below the horizon and this has confounded many early travellers. Nevertheless, the southern night sky presents a lovely display that we will explore in the coming weeks. From our vantage point on St. Maarten, much of the southern sky is visible and perching on a hill or a beach one can get a great star-gazing experience.
Late night - early morning
The wee hours continue to welcome a parade of planets. About 1:00am, look for Jupiter to rise in the east. Mars rises by 2:30 and Venus graces the sky as “The Morning Star” by 3:30am. The gibbous moon will be starting to descend into the western horizon just as the sun begins to lighten the sky.
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.
