Sun rises at 6:46am.
Sun sets at 5:52pm.
Moon phase: half-moon, first quarter phase.
Moon rises at 12:34pm.
Moon sets at 1:13am.
Early evening
On Saturday after sunset, try star-hopping from the Great Square of Pegasus to the famous Andromeda galaxy – the large spiral galaxy that is “right next door” to our Milky Way Galaxy.
The key is to find the four stars of the Great Square. You’ll find them in the west at early evening. On Saturday evening, the moon will be shining just to the left and slightly above it. The Great Square is part of the constellation Pegasus, or the winged horse, which begins to sink toward the west-northwest horizon 7:45pm. The four second-magnitude stars that make up the square are Scheat, Alpheratz, Markab and Algenib. Look for a “big square with nothing in it.” The square isn’t exactly empty; however, the stars inside the square are very faint and not easily detected. The Great Square is so large that your hand can slip in between any two of its stars. (Hold your hand at arm’s length whenever measuring distances between stars.)
Focus on the top star of the Great Square. You’ll see extending upward from that star are two curved lines of stars. Go to the second star upward on each streamer. Draw an imaginary line from the first one (Mirach) to the second one, on the right (Mu) and keep going straight to the right about that same distance. Search this area with binoculars for the Andromeda galaxy! On a dark night, it can be seen with the unaided eye, but this weekend the moon will be quite bright, so use a scope of some kind. It will look like a faint, blurry patch of light stretching upward right and downward left. It is quite beautiful!
Ancient Greek Mythology
The constellations are part of a story in the sky that tells why it is not good to say that a mortal is more beautiful than the gods. This story is plastered all over the autumn night sky. Queen Cassiopeia bragged that she (or her daughter Andromeda) was more beautiful than immortal Nereids, or sea nymphs. This angered the gods, who asked the sea-god Poseidon to take revenge. The punishment was that King Cepheus and the Queen had to sacrifice their only daughter Andromeda to Cetus the sea monster. While chained down to a rock at sea, and about to be gobbled up by the sea monster, Andromeda saw Perseus riding Pegasus the flying horse. Perseus swooped down and showed the head of the Medusa to the sea monster Cetus, then Cetus immediately turned to stone. Then he whacked the chains holding Andromeda and freed her.
According to the myth, they then flew off into the sunset and lived happily ever after. The mortal horse on the last day of his life was given the honour of becoming a constellation for his loyal service. The dolphin that provided comfort to Andromeda was also granted immortality in the heavens by Zeus with the Delphinus constellation.
Comet Catalina
This comet can be viewed with binoculars or a small telescope. It passes by on the 9th through the 17th of this month. Look in the northern sky near The Big Dipper from midnight to predawn. Catalina is a comet with two tails, one of which is greenish in colour.
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.
Researched and contributed by Lisa Davis-Burnett
