Replacing Spring
Published on 3 May 2004 at 10:59 am.
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In the more difficult searches for comets Bradfield and LINEAR under moonlight and oncoming dawn, be sure to pay attention to what stars are up and where just before then. You sould be able to see all of the square of Pegasus before twilight gets excessively bright, and with Andromeda “lying” from it across the northeast, look for M-31 just above its mid-section. The is a spiral galaxy 2.4 million light years away! Studies have determined our galaxy will be very near and perhaps collide with it in some 8 billion years. The galaxy pair of NGC 4038 & 4039 are doing such now. As you gaze at Pisces rising now, be sure to look at the star 107 Piscium. This is a mere 40% as luminous as our Sun from a little over 24 light years away. High up in the ENE is the Summer Triangle of stars; Vega is practically overhead as if tugging it along. The Milky Way runs north to south. Cassiopeia is high in the north-northeast, its star Eta is sunlike and not quite 19 1/2 light years away. UNlike the Sun though, it has an orbiting companion star much fainter. To the south-southeast low resides Sagittarius and Scorpius is already in the south-southwest marked by the reddish star of Antares. How many “black nebulae” can you see amidst these constellations on a moonless night? They are actually clouds of dust light years across blocking the light of background stars! Take binoculars and look at Antares, and shortly to the southwest and in the same field you sould be able to see M-4, an open cluster of stars much older than our Sun and 6,800 light years away. Remember to treat yourself now to more than just faint comets with modest optical aid these mornings.