Night Skies

You know how you can look up at night, see an alignment of stars and think “that has to be a constellation” but can’t quite figure out which it is? Hercules falls into that category. One of the 48 constellations listed by Greet astronomer Ptolemy, Hercules is huge - it’s the fifth largest constellation in the sky. But because it doesn’t have any first magnitude stars, it’s not always easy to find. What makes Hercules so interesting (besides it’s ancient pedigree) are the number of other celestial objects found within it. There are globular star clusters (notably M13 and M92), double stars, triple stars, asterisms, orange giant stars, dwarf and subdwarf stars and planetary nebula.

July is the best month to see Hercules because it rises high in the sky, making it easier to see in its entirety. So how can you find him? First, face south to southeast mid to late evening. Then envision a stick figure with his arms outstretched in a V and legs running (his left leg appears to be kicking back). What will help in finding those spindly arms and legs is locating Hercules’ off-kilter, squarish torso called the Keystone. The Keystone is outlined by four relatively bright stars: Pi, Eta, Zeta and Epsilon Herculis. “Draw” the square by starting with Pi in the upper left. Pi connects Hercules left “arm” to the torso. Take your imaginary pencil and draw a line to the right to Eta, which connects the right arm. Draw your eyes down to the right leg connection of Zeta then finish off the square on the left and Epsilon. That’s the Keystone. Now stretch your eyes out from Pi and Eta to find Hercules arms, and then look down at Zeta and Epsilon to see the legs.

But let’s go back to the Keystone, specifically to the right side. A quarter of the way past Eta, on the way down to Zeta, you’ll notice a faint and fuzzy “cluster” of stars. That is M13, also known as the Hercules Globular Cluster (a pair of binoculars gives the fuzzy cluster a bright center and a telescope shows more stars). Discovered by Edmond Halley in 1714, this 12-billion-year-old cluster has around 300,000 stars. M13 is considered one of the brightest and well know globular clusters in the northern sky.

July Planets: It’s a string of planets on July 11 when Venus and Mars are joined by the waxing crescent Moon to form a six-degree wide smile in the sky. Look west at dusk. It’s the tiniest of separations between Mars and Venus on July 12 and 13 – less than half a degree – with that waxing crescent moon to the right. Go to the beach for sunset and stick around for about 45 minutes after sunset to see it – just make sure to bring a turtle friendly light-source to find your way back! Check out Jupiter and Saturn July 24 through July 26. Look southwest and you’ll find Jupiter to the right of the waning gibbous moon and Saturn below it. This is an early morning look – or late evening, depending on your point of view – as Saturn doesn’t rise until around 9:30 PM and Jupiter an hour later. Best time to catch them is 3:00 AM or later when they are pretty high in the sky.

Meteor Shower: The Delta Aquarids Meteor Shower is considered an average meteor producer and the almost full moon will not help the cause when the shower peaks on the night of July 28 and morning of July 29. But with a little patience, you may catch a couple, especially if you check it out after midnight.

Moon: July 10 is when the New Moon is on the same side of the Earth as the Sun, so it won’t be visible at all. This is the perfect time to check out faint objects like galaxies and star clusters. The Full moon is July 24 and named the Buck Moon as this is the month when velvety new antlers come out of the buck’s forehead. It’s also known as Hay Moon and appropriately for us, Thunder Moon.

Historical Events: The Voyager 2 flew by Jupiter in 1979. Viking 1 lands on Mars in 1976.  Apollo 11 made its first crewed lunar landing in 1969. And Congress passed the National Aeronautics and Space Act in 1958, formally creating NASA.

Keep looking up!