One of the things magical about the spring is the appearance of new “lights-in-the-sky” at dusk. Many of the foreign students in my Ole Miss astronomy classes had never seen fireflies (or lightning bugs). They added to our outdoor observing sessions in June. I had heard that sometimes they would start flashing together, but I had never seen it. Last week I woke up and walked out on my porch, and in the woods behind my house, the fireflies were flashing simultaneously. It was awesome! I hope you get to see this amazing spectacle this spring.
OK, let’s see if we can find 3 new constellations. These will be a bit harder than last week’s task. You might want to download and print the June sky map from skymaps.com https://skymaps.com/skymaps/tesmn2306.pdf To use the map, when you hold the it upright you are looking south. When looking north, turn the map upside down. Hold the map sideways when looking east or west. A red flashlight really helps save night vision
We’re going to find Hercules, Draco, and Corona Borealis. First, use the dipper’s handle to re-find Boötes from last week (arc to the bright star Arcturus). Now, look to the northeast of the “kite” shape of Boötes and find a small arc of stars. This is Corona Borealis, the Northern Crown. Look away and find it again a couple of times so you’re sure you have it. (The image is looking north)
Next look further north and east of Corona Borealis and almost straight overhead to find a trapezoid that astronomers call the “keystone”, the body of Hercules, the heroic son of Zeus. Hercules’ waist is the narrow part of the trapezoid, and the widest segment is his shoulders. His legs are rows of stars toward the south, one arm goes westward above Corona Borealis and the other goes east toward a bright star named Vega (We’ll discuss Vega next time.) Again, look away and re-find Hercules a few times to make sure you can find him again later. If you have access to binoculars, look for a fuzzy “star” about where Hercules’ left side would be in the “keystone”. This is the Hercules Globular Cluster or M-13. Google Hercules Globular Cluster-images and be amazed. You’re seeing a half-million stars!
Our third star pattern for the week is Draco, the dragon. This will be hard. In legend, Hercules is slaying the dragon, so, they are in the sky together. Imagine Hercules arm reaching above his head to grasp the dragon’s head (a group of four dim stars) The dragon’s neck is a line of stars down to the north, and its body and tail bend back up and end between the big dipper and the north star. Keep looking and comparing this to the sky map. It’s tricky and dim, but fortunately, moonlight will not be interfering for the next week. Notice a star about halfway between Polaris and the end of the dipper’s handle. This is Thuban. It was the Earth’s north star 4,700 years ago.
Good hunting. This was a challenging task. Let me know if you were successful. You can find out more about Hercules, Draco, and Corona Borealis in the book 365 Starry Nights, It’s in the Attala County Library, Dewey catalog #523.
For questions or comments: James Hill, Mississippi NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador. jhill6333@gmail.com
