Applegater Summer 2016
7
THE STARRY SIDE
What a summer season!
BY GREELEY WELLS
Now, rather than huddle around the
fire for warmth, it’s outside and into the
sun. What a difference! What a season!
Seasons rise and fall with clockwork
predictability…well, almost. There’s
just enough suspense to make it
interesting. Down on the equator, it’s
all the same year-round: same amount
of day and night, light and dark, and
temperature—very few differences. The
similarity between winter and summer
temperatures was one of the things that
drove me from Los Angeles. Things were
predictable and boring, night and day.
I love the changes we have,
these “extremes.” Did you notice the
temperature swings this spring? The
other day it was 32 degrees at night
and 70 degrees during the day! That’s
a huge difference in half a day: almost
40 degrees. I found myself tucking
in around the fire at night and early
morning, then running out for the sun’s
warmth during the day. What a rush.
And then there’s the predictable
swing of the Milky Way in our night sky,
coming up from the east with the stalwart
Summer Triangle. We also spin in our
galaxy in a predictable way, so the Milky
Way is high and visible in summer and
winter and low and below us in spring
and fall.
As we leave spring and enter warm
summer, we’ve already left Orion out
in the west. Now the Summer Triangle
shines with the Milky Way in our
wonderful, warm, easterly summer sky.
Between spring and summer
appear two dimmer, but rewarding,
constellations: Lyra with its bright star
Vega (the brightest and first rising star
in the Summer Triangle), and Leo the
Lion with the bright Jupiter still within
it. Other constellations that appear from
east to west include the hourglass-shaped
Hercules and the crown-shaped Corona
Borealis. Note the illustration. This
whole configuration inches along to the
west during the season.
Other events of note
June 20 is a full moon and the
summer solstice! Actually, it’s (1) the
longest day, (2) the shortest night, (3) the
fullest moon, (4) the most golden moon,
(5) the lowest, most southerly moon, (6)
the summer solstice, and (7) all of these at
once! The full moon is so low it has a lot
of atmosphere to go through, making it
Illustration: Guy Ottewell’s Astronomical Calendar 2016.
appear golden.
Pretty cool
(warm?), eh?
Greeley Wells
The Delta
Aquarids meteor showers should peak
around July 30-31 and will have no
moon, so there should be a good showing.
Early morning is the best time, but there
will be some meteors all night.
The night of August 12 (and the
early morning of August 13) is the
Perseid meteor shower, almost always
the best of the year. Viewing should be
good for this, too, because there will be
almost no moon. This one is always best
in early morning.
After sunset on August 20, Mercury,
Venus, and Jupiter gather together in a
nice bright triangle in the west.
Watch planets Mars and Saturn
play around together with Antares.
They actually come together and drift
apart several times, while bright Antares
maintains its steady westerly drift in their
company. (Remember that the word
“planets” comes from the Greek word for
“wanderers,” and that’s what they are.)
Jupiter, which goes around the sun
in 12 of our years, is still visiting Leo the
Lion at this time of year. He’s left or east
of the not-as-bright star Regulus.
Here’s to clear dark night skies and
bright stars for you.
Greeley Wells • greeley@greeley.me
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