| Aug 07, 2014


Here come the Perseids! This is the best, most dependable meteor storm of the year. Actually, looking up now will give you more meteors than usual and they are Perseids! The calculated peak this year is at 10 pm on August 12. We will get a build up to that moment and then a slow decrease afterwards. Unfortunately the Moon will be just past full and bright in the sky on the night of the peak but we have the lead up and afterwards to see some good fireballs in the sky. Watch for them through now to late August.
Remember that they are called Perseids because their radiant is in the constellation Perseus. A radiant is an area of the sky where they seem to shoot from. If you trace their bright trail back to a point in the sky, it originates in point in the constellation Perseus. But that doesn’t mean that you have to look towards Perseus. They can be seen all over the sky.
Here’s a fun thing to do: bundle up and go out and look up. Watch out for mossys too! Make a line on a piece of paper for every meteor trail that you see. Don’t forget to use a red or blue flashlight to conserve your night vision. Put a ruler line through each trail at the end of your observations and you’ll see that they point back to the same spot in the sky! Any that don’t, we refer to as ‘sporadic’ meteors. That meteor is an unexpected random visitor from beyond, far out in the the Oort cloud. I’ll fill you in about the Oort cloud in a future column. Or better still, look up info on the Oort cloud and be ready for the column! Our Solar system is such an unbelievable place!
This leads me to report results from last month’s quiz. I’m afraid that there wasn’t a winner. I have to be fair when I view the answers. Let’s have a go at another question for this month: what is a “Mare” on the Moon (no, it’s not a horse, a mare!)? An example for Mare would be ‘Mare Tranquillitatis’. It’s where the first Moon landing occurred. I have a few Star Finders (also called planispheres) burning a hole in my pocket for the first few correct answers I get. For the first to respond, I have a nice little plasticized map of the Moon. It’s about 10 inches by 10 inches and the plastic keeps the dew off. It won’t sag like a paper one.
Since we’re watching for the Perseid meteor shower this month, let’s have a look at where to find the constellation Perseus in the night sky. Remember that as the Earth rotates, the constellations and stars shift across as the sky as the night passes. To find Perseus about mid- August around 11 pm, look to the north and you will see the ‘W of the constellation Cassiopeia. Now look just a little farther north and you will see an arrowhead shape. That’s Perseus! I would be somewhat negligent if I didn’t mention that there’s a beautiful double cluster of stars exactly between them called – surprise(!) the “Double Cluster”. They appear as cotton candy fuzz in the sky. Binoculars are a great help but they are still observable as naked-eye deep space objects (DSOs).
Well, let’s see what else is going on this month. There’s been a lot of talk about the Supermoon last month. There are two more coming! This month’s full Moon is actually the largest of the bunch! A somewhat larger Moon occurs when it is closest to the Earth. That point is called its perigee. The apogee is when the Moon is farthest from the Earth. The orbit of the Moon around the Earth is not a perfect circle. It is more like an egg or oval shape. Following the oval curve around the Earth, you can see that there are close passes and more distant passes. The moon is actually about 13% larger at a close pass but it is only noticeable when seen close to the horizon. Then you have the horizon to give you a sense of scale.
The Full Moon this month is called the Full Sturgeon Moon. First Nations settled near the Great Lakes and close to other major water bodies would find this month to be the best for harvesting this large fresh water fish. Some other names are Full Red Moon, mainly due to fires in the wilderness and corn or grain Moon as ripening of those crops approach.
Here are a few things to watch for this month. Most are in the morning but heading off to work at an early hour, I always take a therapeutic moment to prepare my mind for the day and find peace and preparation by resting my eyes on what is passing through the sky. On the 15th and 16th, you will see a very bright Venus to the upper right of Jupiter in the early morning and it moves above Jupiter on the 17th. This is their closest approach in 14 years. You should follow their dance in the sky in the following mornings. On the 23rd, you will see Jupiter just south of the Beehive nebula (M44) - a very eyeball object, a cotton candy of stars prominent in the east at dawn. Venus and a crescent Moon are close by. On the 31st, watch for the Moon, Mars and Saturn very close in the evening in the southwest just after sunset. It will be a beautiful sight!
A special solar telescope will be at the Maberly Fair on August 23 and it will show active views of the sun – prominences and surface details.
I am in the middle of organizing a Star Party at the Maberly Fair grounds in mid-October. I will have more information in the next column. Those of you who need help learning about your telescope and where to find objects in the sky will find this an especially useful night. There will be experienced amateur astronomers there who will show you the sky and how to use and get the best out of your scope.
“The Beginner’s Observing Guide” by Leo Enright is an invaluable companion for adventures in the sky. It contains star charts and is available at the Sharbot Lake Pharmacy. It can also be ordered from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada at www.rasc.ca/publications. A subscription to our very own excellent Canadian astronomy magazine “SkyNews”, with its centerfold sky chart, can be arranged at the RASC website as well.
Let me know how your observing has gone this month, especially anything unusual. I enjoy the feedback. If you have any questions or suggestions you can contact me through this paper or email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Clear Skies! Fred.

Support local
independant journalism by becoming a patron of the Frontenac News.