Backyard Stargazer June 2017
By Francis Parnell
A year ago, in my first column, I gave tips on how to estimate angular distances between objects in the night sky. A close friend of mine suggested that it was time for a follow-up. These illustrations should help. With your outstretched arm use the pinky finger for 1-degree, a closed fist for 10-degrees, your thumb and pinky for 20-degrees, etc. It’s really easy!
At sunset on the 3rd, look high in the south to find the waxing gibbous Moon about 2-degrees from bright yellow Jupiter.
In deep twilight on the 9th, look for yellow Saturn about 3-degrees to the right of the nearly full Moon.
If you have a small telescope, the ringed planet Saturn is at opposition, and closest to Earth, on the night of the 14th, only 75 light-minutes away (840,320,495 miles).
Just before dawn on the 20th and 21st, the crescent moon shines 8-degrees to the right of brilliant Venus on the 29th, and about 8-degrees to the lower left of Venus on the 21st.
The sun reaches the Solstice at 12:24 a.m. EDT early on the morning of the 21st marking the official start of summer in the northern hemisphere. It’s also the shortest night of the year.
At sunset on the 30th, look high in the southwest to spot Jupiter about 4-degrees left of the Moon.
Six years ago, a friend sent one of the best descriptions of light pollution I’ve ever read. You know light pollution is a problem when, “You can see your home town from space, but you can’t see space from your home town.” Let’s all get involved with reducing light pollution and help bring back the stars. The more stars we see, the more fun it is to “Keep looking up!”
Francis Parnell of Darlington has been an amateur astronomer for over 46 years, and was on the staff and helped out at the Francis Marion University Observatory from 1982 until 2006 by showing visitors “what’s out there.” With the help of a friend, Mr. Ernest Lowry, he built his own telescope in 1986. And, because of light pollution, for the last 31 years he has been advocating for the advantages of using fully-shielded lighting at night.