Giraffe of the North

Camelopardalis the giraffe, is one of those constellations that goes unnoticed for the most part. Lying close to Ursa Minor in the north, this constellation is circumpolar and is visible any time of year but lacks the WOW objects like those belonging to Orion, Andromeda.etc. Camelopardalis is spread over 757 square degrees of sky and is listed 18^th in area. The Giraffe is home to 53 NGC objects, most of which are galaxies. As for bright stars, you would be out of luck. Most of its suns are in the fourth magnitude range.

Night Of A 100 Clusters

This is the time of year when the Milky Way stretches overhead in all its glory. With Cygnus the Swan setting in the North West all the way east across the Milky Way to Orion the Hunter in the South East, the wealth of open clusters is staggering. Observing in December has its benefits.

Perseus The Hero

With sunset nice and early this time of year, one can begin observing after supper hour; just don’t forget to help with the dishes. Rising high in the north east is our Hero of the night. In last month’s article we saw how Perseus saved Andromeda moments before she was to meet her fate with the Sea Monster Cetus.

Our Galactic Veil

One highlight on clear moonless nights is not a faint nebula or even a single constellation but our majestic Milky Way Galaxy. From a dark site, the familiar veil of light stretches from Perseus in the North East, up through Cygnus overhead and down to the heart of our galaxy – just to the right of Sagittarius.

August nights are now getting a bit longer and cooler to a certain extent. This is a plus when it comes to observing the night sky. No matter if you are hunting down your favourite objects with a telescope or pair of binoculars, to see the arms of the galaxy in all its glory, cannot be put into words.

Two Main Events

If you are in the process of planning some vacation this month, make sure you set aside a few days for summer night observing. With the Milky Way in all its glory overhead as seen from the countryside, far from city light domes, you will want to stay up till the first sign of astronomical twilight begins. The observing window for this month in which the Moon will not interfere will last from August 8^th to 16^th with new Moon occurs on the 12^th.

Beware the Scorpion

For those who live in the desert, one must always be on guard of the dreaded scorpion. These creepy crawlers are seen on a yearly basis in arid areas of the globe including some parts of southern Alberta during summer. Of the more than 1,500 species know, most scorpions only delivered the equivalent to a bee sting and are not poisonous. However, for Canadian star gazers, the great scorpion makes its brief appearance in southern skies from May to September.

Looking Up To The Twins

As dusk settles, the famous twins of the constellation Gemini come out to play. Castor on the top right and Pollux, the bottom left, represent the twin’s heads and helps orient you to the rest of the asterism. At a distance of close to 50 light years (ly), Castor measures about half the diameter of the Sun and is a true system in itself – comprising of three spectroscopic double stars, orbiting each other. For a challenge move your scope a lunar width (30 arc minutes) below Castor till you come to a couple of 14^th magnitude galaxies designated as IC2196 and IC2197.

A Cosmic Ocean of Islands

Our Universe is made up of a staggering amount of starry islands, we call galaxies. With the average galactic population of about 200 billion stars, astronomers believe there are more than 100 billion galaxies residing in the known Universe. These tiny patches of grey can only be glimpsed with a telescope or very large binoculars steadily mounted on a tripod. Like fish in the ocean swimming alone or in schools, galaxies are found by themselves or in small groups and clusters.

Seasonal Change

As the days of September moves closer to the change of seasons at 00:03 hrs eastern on the 23rd, darkness creeps in earlier and earlier. After the 23rd, the hours of darkness will trump daylight hours. Here in Canada, the comfortable nights are coming to an end as the winter winds are only a couple of months away. Until then we have a good number of targets to nail down – so let’s get started.

October is well known for its wet weather. Cold, damp days are a sure indication winter is slowly creeping in. With this in mind, we will focus this month’s article on the watery constellation namely Aquarius – the Water Bearer and Pisces – the Fishes.