Summer Triangle of stars still hanging in there
Even though December is upon us, we still have some summer constellations residing over Butler.
Just like professional sports seasons, there’s a lot of overlap with the constellation seasons. In fact, something called the “Summer Triangle” is still hanging in there in the western heavens.
The Summer Triangle itself is not a constellation, but is made up of three bright stars from three separate constellations. They’re the brightest stars in the western sky and each is the brightest in its respective constellation.
Deneb, the highest star in the west, is the brightest shiner in the constellation Cygnus the Swan. Within the stars of Cygnus is the famous and easy to see “Northern Cross” with Deneb at the top of the cross and the dimmer star Albireo at the foot.
To make the cross into a swan, picture Deneb at the tail of the celestial swan and Albireo at the head. Then look for fainter stars beyond and above both ends of the crosspiece. The fainter stars, together with the three crosspiece stars, form an arc that makes up the wingspan of the swan.
You can’t help but notice that Cygnus the Swan appears to be making a swan dive toward the horizon. That seems appropriate, since Cygnus will begin to disappear from the evening sky before the end of this month, setting before evening twilight as the Earth turns away from the big heavenly bird.
In the southwestern sky, shining above Jupiter, is the Great Square of Pegasus, the torso of Pegasus the Winged Horse. Just to the northeast of the Square is Andromeda the Princess, with the Andromeda Galaxy just above it.
The galaxy is the next door neighbor to our Milky Way galaxy. Our neighbor isn’t very close, though, at well over two million light years away, with just one light-year equaling nearly six trillion miles. Despite that distance, you can see the Andromeda Galaxy with the naked eye in the dark countryside as a fuzzy. faint patch of light.
Gazing in the east after evening twilight, you’ll be bombarded with all kinds of bright stars and constellations. You are witnessing the rising of the winter constellations, the best of the year in my opinion.
The constellations Auriga the Chariot Driver and Taurus the Bull lead the charge. Just above Taurus is the best star cluster in the sky, known both as the Pleiades and the Seven Little Sisters. This is a young group of stars, 410 light years away, that looks like a tiny Big Dipper.
After 8 p.m. Orion the Hunter, the great centerpiece of the winter constellations, takes to the low eastern sky. The three stars in a row that make the belt of the great hunter will definitely jump out at you.
The brightest star in the east, however, is actually the planet Jupiter. By 8:30 p.m., if not sooner, you will see it on the rise in the low east-northeastern sky.
Right now Jupiter is a little more than 409 million miles away, but during December the largest planet of our solar system will come nearly 30 million miles closer. It will also take a very high arc across the sky through the overnight hours.
Comet Ison also could put on a show. Since this is a new comet there’s a lot of uncertainty about how bright it’ll be or whether it’ll hold together as it passes near the sun. If it holds together, look for it in the very low eastern sky a little before 7 a.m. Stay tuned!
Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and professional broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis/St. Paul and is author of the book, “Stars, a Month by Month Tour of the Constellations” published by Adventure Publications and available at bookstores and at www.adventurepublications.net.
