Wednesday, June 3, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
9
Stars over Sisters
By Ron thorkildson
Correspondent
After the sun, the closest
star to the earth is Rigil Kent,
the brightest star in the con-
stellation of Centaurus. Better
known as Alpha Centauri,
this celestial luminary (third
brightest in the entire heav-
ens) is actually a triple-star
system. The distance to the
two brightest stars is about
4.4 light-years from the earth,
while the much dimmer
third member of the system,
Proxima, lies at a distance of
4.2 light-years. Unfortunately,
this star is situated deep in the
southern sky and not visible
from our latitude.
However, the second-near-
est star to us is well above
the southern horizon this
time of year when darkness
falls. That’s the good news.
The bad news is this object
is a low-mass red dwarf star
that’s far too dim to be seen
by the naked-eye. Even so, it
does have some redeeming
qualities.
Located in the north-
ern part of the constella-
tion Ophiuchus, Barnard’s
“Runaway Star” possesses
the highest proper motion of
any known star. This means
that relative to our solar sys-
tem, no other star moves
through space at a faster
clip. Although he wasn’t the
Year-round
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first to discover it, in 1916
American astronomer E.E.
Barnard measured the proper
motion of the speeding star at
a whopping 10.3 arcseconds
per year. Since the direction of
its motion is bringing it closer
to the sun, about 10,000 years
from now the star will be 3.8
light-years away, closer than
Alpha Centauri is today.
Just because the light shin-
ing from Barnard’s Star is too
dim to be detected by the
unaided human eye doesn’t
mean it can’t be seen at all.
At magnitude 9.5 (a measure
of the star’s brightness), it
is within the range of most
backyard telescopes on a dark
night. But you would need a
good finder chart to be sure
that you identified the right
star. Begin by locating the
bright star Beta Ophiuchi;
Barnard’s Star is about three
degrees east from here.
Summer arrives in the
northern hemisphere at 9:39
a.m. PDT on Sunday June 21,
when the earth’s axis of rota-
tion is most inclined toward
to the sun. The longest period
of daylight in a 24-hour day
occurs at this time. This is not
necessarily good news for the
serious stargazer, a situation
made even worse when, on
March 8, most of the coun-
try went on Daylight Saving
Time. So, on the first day of
summer, it doesn’t really get
dark until around 10:30 to 11
p.m. in the mid-latitudes.
When the light of sum-
mer finally does give way to
dusk, the first two objects to
pop into view are Venus and
Jupiter, the nearest planet
to the earth and the largest
planet in the solar system,
respectively. Throughout the
month of June the apparent
distance between Venus and
Jupiter will diminish, until
on June 30 the two planets
will be separated by just 0.3
degrees.
The largest angular dis-
tance between Venus and the
sun (called greatest elonga-
tion) occurs on June 6. During
this time the disk of the planet
will appear half lit (similar to
a quarter moon phase) when
viewed through a telescope.
On June 3, at 9:58 p.m.
PDT, Ganymede, the largest
moon in the solar system, will
cast its shadow on Jupiter.
Then on June 10, from 9:55
to 10:18 p.m., Ganymede
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photo courteSy naSa
an artist’s depiction of how a red dwarf star might appear, such as
Barnard’s Runaway Star in the constellation of ophiuchus.
occults (moves in front of) Io,
Jupiter’s inner-most moon. A
medium-size telescope is nec-
essary to view these events.
By mid-month Saturn, with
its beautiful ring system and
largest moon Titan, rises at
about 6:30 p.m., but doesn’t
hit the meridian until 11:22
p.m.
The lunar phases begin
with the Full Strawberry
Moon on June 2, followed by
last quarter on June 9, new on
June 16 and first quarter on
June 24.
The next Stars over Sisters
starwatch is scheduled for
Saturday, July 18 at the
Sisters Park & Recreation
District building, beginning at
9:30 p.m. It’s an opportunity
to view the wonders of the
night sky through telescopes
provided by members of the
Sisters Astronomy Club.
Everyone is invited to this
free event.