Saturday: The Perseid meteor shower peaks tonight. The moon will be in the new phase early in the week meaning even the dimmer meteors will be visible. In case you decide to stay in bed this week, the shower is active until about September 1 so you may still enjoy an increased number of meteors later. The meteors appear to come from a point just below the W of the constellation Cassiopeia. This point is about three fists held upright and at arm’s length above the northeastern horizon at 11:00 p.m. By dawn, this point is nearly straight overhead. For tips about optimizing your viewing this year, go to https://earthsky.org/?p=165416 As your Mother might say, dress warm and sit in a comfortable chair for maximum enjoyment. These meteors are sand to pea-sized bits of rock that fell off of Comet Swift-Tuttle. They are traveling about 40 miles per second as they collide with the Earth and burn up in the atmosphere.
Sunday: One minor Harry Potter character actually has two
well-known star names: Regulus Arcturus Black, the brother of Sirius Black who
is Harry Potter’s godfather. Regulus Black was a former follower of Voldemort,
the bad guy of the Harry Potter series. However, Regulus tried to dissociate
himself from Voldemort and was killed. In the sixth book, Harry found an
important note written by someone known only by the initials R.A.B. Hmmm.
R.A.B. Regulus Arcturus Black perhaps? Regulus the star is right in line with
the Sun at this time of year so it is not visible. Arcturus, the second
brightest star visible in the nighttime sky in Washington and at Hogwarts, is
three fists above the western horizon at 10:00 p.m.
Monday: Bellatrix Lestrange is Sirius Black’s cousin. But,
certainly not kissing cousins. They are killing cousins. Bellatrix kills Sirius
in a fight at the Ministry of Magic. Bellatrix the star is the third brightest
star in the constellation Orion the hunter. It is three fists above the
east-southeastern horizon at 5:00 a.m. Jupiter is five fists above the
southeastern horizon.
Tuesday: Of course, Bellatrix is in cahoots with “he who
must not be named”. Now, that’s a poorly written sentence, using an obscure
synonym for “conspiring” and a vague reference to someone. I must be under the
curse “writicus dreadfulium”. Clearly this is the work of Tom Riddle, whose
mother is named Merope Gaunt. Merope is a star in the Pleiades, an open star
cluster about five and a half fists above the east-southeastern horizon at 5:00
a.m. Saturn is nearly two fists above the southwestern horizon.
Wednesday: Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter’s young nemesis, is
related to Sirius Black. Draco’s mother, Narcissa Black (Sirius’ cousin),
helped develop a plan to trap Harry at the Ministry of Magic in the fifth book.
Draco’s namesake, the constellation Draco the dragon, is one of the largest
constellations in the sky, winding around the North Star. Draco’s head is a
four-sided figure nearly straight overhead at 9:00 p.m. In case you didn’t get
up at 5:00 a.m. yesterday to look for Saturn, you can find it just above the
east-southeastern horizon at 9:00 p.m.
Thursday: Antares, the brightest star in the constellation
Scorpius, is one and a half fists above the south-southwestern horizon at 9:30
p.m. Draco Malfoy was so impressed with this constellation name that he used it
for the first name of his son.
Friday: Not every woman in the Black family is evil. Let’s
focus on the good. Andromeda Black, Bellatrix’s sister, is a good witch and the
mother of Tonks, a young witch from the last few Harry Potter books. (If these
Harry Potter references are confusing, you better start reading the books.)
Andromeda the constellation is an interesting one. It contains the Andromeda
galaxy, the most distant object visible with the naked eye from a dark site. To
locate the Andromeda Galaxy, first find the Great Square of Pegasus. At 11:30
p.m., the left hand corner of the square is four fists above the eastern
horizon. Less than two fists to the left and down a little bit is another star
the same brightness as the star at the corner of the square. From that star,
hop about a half a fist up to a star that is about one fourth as bright. Less
than another half fist in the same direction is a fuzzy oval patch of light
known as the Andromeda Galaxy. The galaxy is impressive to see in binoculars.
It consists of about one trillion stars and is 2.5 million light years away. If
you are having trouble seeing the Andromeda Galaxy, shoot for an easier target.
The positional information in this column about stars and
planets is typically accurate for the entire week. For up to date information
about the night sky, go to https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/planner.cfm.
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