Stargazers can watch changing summer sky

As season ends, many constellations

are still visible to observers.

See SKY, page 5

Sky

By MIKE FORD

Special to The Capital-Journal

The long, hot days of summer are waning to the longer, cooler nights of fall. From now until Dec. 21, the sun will continue its trek southward through the sky. The sun doesn't actually shift, but appears to because of the Earth revolving around it. This is what causes the seasons to occur every three months.

On Sept. 22, the sun will rise directly in the east and set directly in the west. This is the first day of fall for the northern hemisphere, which officially begins at 12:27 p.m. CST. At this point, the sun is at the intersection of the celestial equator and the ecliptic. The ecliptic is also where the 12 signs of the zodiac are located and the path that the sun, moon and planets follow throughout the year. Zodiac is derived from the word, "zoo" because most of the constellations in the zodiac are animals. For example, the constellation Scorpius is a scorpion, Aries is a ram, and Taurus is a bull. The other constellations of the zodiac are people, like Virgo the maiden, or inanimate objects such as Libra, the scales.

Although the summer season is quickly drawing to a close, many of the bright constellations of the season are still visible. At sunset, walk outside and look directly overhead. This bright, blue-white star is Vega, which is part of Lyra, the harp. It is believed that this star has dust surrounding it, which could form planets. And, it will become the North Star in about 12,000 years due to the wobbling motion of the Earth as it rotates. To the east of Lyra is Cygnus, the swan, also known as the Northern Cross. This huge constellation lies in the Milky Way and has a lot of dust clouds, which are caused by old stars dying and stars forming.

Rising in the east is Pegasus, the winged horse, and Andromeda, the chained lady. Both of these are two of the most famous of the fall constellations. To the northeast, a W-shaped group of stars represents the mother of Andromeda, Cassiopeia, who is also called the queen of Ethiopia. Just above Cassiopeia is her husband and king of Ethiopia, Cepheus, who isn't as easy to spot but appears as a church steeple.

These four constellations tell the story of a mean and boastful queen and king, Cassiopeia and Cepheus, who sacrifice their daughter, Andromeda, to the great sea monster, Cetus. As Cetus begins his approach to Andromeda, Perseus, the great warrior, rides in on the back of Pegasus with the head of Medusa, whom he earlier had slain, and turned Cetus into stone. After Perseus rescued Andromeda, Zeus, the father of Perseus, banished both Cassiopeia and Cepheus into the heavens to circle the Pole Star forever. To protect Perseus, Andromeda and Pegasus, Zeus places them in the sky so they can live a long, prosperous life without incident.

The evening sky will bring one bright planet into view by the end of the month. Looking to the west at sunset, Venus displays an almost blinding appearance. It is bright because of sunlight reflecting off of the clouds of acid and carbon dioxide. Around midnight local time, look to the east and a bright star will be visible. This is the gas giant Jupiter. The king of the planets is visible all night and is interesting to watch. There will be several occasions to see the Great Red Spot, an enormous cyclone three times as large as the Earth. Also, a small telescope will reveal the four bright Galilean satellites revolving around the giant planet. To the upper right of Jupiter is Saturn, an interesting object to observe in the late evening sky. Finally, the rings have tilted out to the point that they can be viewed with a small telescope. Also, three to four of the brighter satellites will appear as stars around the planet.

Anyone interested in astronomy is welcome to attend the monthly meetings of the Northeast Kansas Amateur Astronomers League on the fourth Thursday of each month. Meetings begin at 7:30 p.m. and are located at Stoffer Science Hall on the Washburn University campus.

Moon phases this month: first quarter --- Sept. 5; full moon --- Sept. 13; last quarter --- Sept. 20; new moon --- Sept. 27.

Mike Ford is a teacher at Holton High School.

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