SUMMER STARGAZING
by Terence Dickinson, SkyNews Editor

A few weeks ago, I was approached by a television production company to read the script for a made-for-TV movie to be filmed in Canada. One of the main characters in the story is an amateur astronomer, and the producer wanted an expert to look it over.

Soon after I started reading the script, it was evident that the writer had never looked through a telescope, nor had any idea what people interested in astronomy actually talk about. So I dutifully scribbled my suggested changes throughout, and returned the manuscript.

However, this little exercise got me thinking that at least astronomy as a hobby was deemed interesting enough by the producers to make it part of a romantic drama—astronomers actually fall in love!—suitable for general audiences.

But the fact is, astronomy as a hobby has taken off in the last decade as more people than ever are enjoying the visual and cerebral delights of summer nights under the stars. Backyard telescopes, while not commonplace, are owned by at least 30,000 families in Canada according to survey data gathered by SkyNews, the Canadian magazine of astronomy and Stargazing.

“I had a small telescope as a teenager in the 60s, but got too busy to keep up the interest,” says Mike Rowlands of Toronto. Since retiring in 2005, Rowlands bought a new telescope and has been watching Saturn and Jupiter this spring. He’s thrilled with his rekindled interest in astronomy.

But like thousands of other astronomy enthusiasts, Rowlands has always lived and worked under the amber dome of light over the city at night—illumination from street lamps, parking lot lighting and other sources that light up the moisture and dust in the air above.

To really see the sky, he travels to a relative's farm two hours from the City where the nights are black and the stars shine forth. But he also says he has learned to time his trips to take advantage of the best conditions. Here are a few guidelines that apply to anyone wanting to try stargazing.

Rule #1: Avoid the Full Moon. No sense traveling to be away from city lights with the moon providing nearly equivalent interference. The period from five days before to five days after Full Moon is the time to avoid, if possible.

Rule #2: Cloudless skies are important, but not necessarily enough if you are looking for ideal conditions. Wait for high pressure to roll in with deep blue daytime skies, low humidity and brisk air with average or below average temperatures. The clearest nights follow these conditions.

Rule #3: Take a red filtered flashlight for reading star charts. The best plan is to buy a penlight size flashlight specifically for this purpose from specialty telescope stores. Most cities with a population over 300,000 have at least one such store for a list of retailers, click HERE

Rule #4: Take binoculars when traveling away from the city. Easily stowed in a suitcase or car trunk, these miniature telescopes can reveal the craters and plains of the moon, the satellites of Jupiter, the star clouds of the Milky Way and dozens of other celestial sights invisible to the unaided eye.

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JUNE SKY
by Todd Carlson, Assistant Editor

The Big Dipper is arguably the most recognized grouping of stars in the night sky. Part of the constellation Ursa Major, the Great Bear, the Big Dipper is actually an asterism—a group of stars that form a pattern but are not officially a constellation.

Five of the seven stars in the Big Dipper are part of a widely-spread star cluster that our Sun and planets are passing through. The Dipper stars are therefore relatively nearby, varying in distance from 79 to 123 light-years away. Sharp-eyed observers may notice that Mizar, the second last star of the handle, has a companion. Located three light-years farther away, Alcor is not gravitationally linked to Mizar and the pair are referred to as an optical double star.

It is an urban myth that the North Star is the brightest star in the night sky. In fact, it is the 35th brightest star seen from Canada. The Big Dipper can be used as a guide to locating Polaris.

Take the two stars in the bowl of the Dipper opposite the handle and for a sight line out the “open” side of the bowl. Extend it out the open side one Dipper length. You should end up near a star about as bright as the brighter Dipper stars. This is Polaris, the North Star.

Near the end of June, Jupiter can be found shortly after dusk, shining as a bright cream coloured “star” low in the south. On July 5 the Moon will be just below Jupiter.

For the past few weeks, Mars has slowly been approaching Saturn in the western sky. The two planets will be within half a degree of each other on June 17 (half a degree is less than the width of your little finger nail at arm’s length). From June 15-25, those with an unobstructed view to the west can also see Mercury hugging the horizon to the lower right of the pair. Appearing the same brightness as Saturn, Mercury is often difficult to see because it never appears far from the horizon.

Click HERE for an image showing where to locate Mars and Saturn in the western sky.

Early summer nights are an excellent time to watch for satellites. Able to be seen due to sunlight reflecting off their shiny metallic bodies, they appear as moving “stars.” In June, often a dozen or more can be seen in the first hour of darkness.

The International Space Station is visible this June. Traveling rapidly across the sky from west to east, the ISS and its two man crew circle the Earth in 95 minutes at a current altitude of 348 kilometres.

To find out when the International Space Station can be seen from your location, click HERE.

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SkyNews Observer's Guide

• What can I see in the night sky tonight?
• Getting the most out of your telescope.
• How to identify features on Jupiter.
• Transit times for Jupiter’s Great Red Spot.
• 2006 Celestial Preview.
  

Visit the SkyNews Observer’s Guide for information on these topics and more.

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Don't miss the SkyNews July/August issue featuring:

• SkyNews reviews the new Meade LightBridge Deluxe Dobsonian telescope and Celestron's 8-inch CPC telescope.
• Exploring the Summer Night Sky by Alan Dyer.
• Scoping the Sky by Ken Hewitt-White.
• Solar eclipse and Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann gallery of reader images.
• Star chart for July and August.
• And more!
  

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