Q-90.1's Backyard Astronomer

Each season has a notable constellation or group of stars that can serve as a guidepost to that part of the sky. In summer it’s common to use The Summer Triangle, but in autumn we have “The Great Square of Pegasus.”

Each year in late October, our planet crosses the orbit of Halley’s Comet, sweeping up millions of little bits of ice and dust to create the Orionid Meteor Shower.

At twilight, look high in the northeast for a group of bright stars that resembles a big “W” sitting on its end. This is the constellation of Cassiopeia the Queen.

Even though the nights are cooling down, throw on that coat and grab your binoculars for a look at the Moon! This is a good time to see the dark round plains called “maria,” and bright splashes of lighter material called “rays.”

Delta College Planetarium in Bay City will celebrate this year’s International Observe the Moon Night Saturday, October 1. Sponsored by NASA, over 3000 sites around the world will be participating with special shows and telescope viewing!

The planet Jupiter makes its return into the evening sky shining like a brilliant beacon low in the east after dark!

The Summer Triangle is a useful guidepost to many interesting deep sky objects, but it’s also a way to find other constellations nearby. For example, a popular little pattern among stargazers is Delphinus the Dolphin.

The Harvest Moon takes place on September 10 this year. It's the Full Moon closest to the Autumn Equinox and is popular with farmers because they can continue harvesting by the light of the moon after sunset.

If you look low in the southeast sky after dark, you’ll see a moderately bright star that doesn’t twinkle as much as the other stars. This is the famous ringed planet Saturn, and it recently made its closest approach to Earth.

Under a clear sky with no moon or light pollution, you should see it as a faint band of light that stretches overhead from roughly north to south. This band represents the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy, a huge spiral of some 200 billion stars.

As the moon advances past full and moves further into the eastern sky, we’ll have a chance to see it greet the planet Mars on the morning of August 19.

Since one side of the moon always faces the earth, it's often assumed that means the moon doesn't rotate. But that's not really the case.

As the phase of the moon grows steadily from crescent to first quarter to full, it’s a good opportunity to explore the contrasts of light and dark on its surface.

After dusk, look about a third of the way up the eastern sky for a moderately bright star. It’s flanked by two fainter stars above and below it. This is Altair, the brightest star in the constellation of Aquila the Eagle.

Hercules, the strong man of ancient mythology, rides high overhead in early summer. While its stars are not particularly bright, its most distinctive shape are the four stars in its center known as the Keystone.

Cygnus the Swan is now visible in the northeast after twilight. Its brightest star Deneb marks the tail of Cygnus, and turns out to be one of the most luminous stars in the galaxy.

Each night, the moon appears to slip a little further back or eastward among the stars, reaching Full on July 13th. The July Full Moon is known as the Buck Moon but will also be a "Super Moon".

As evening twilight fades into night, look for three bright stars high in the east that form a giant triangle in the sky. Each belongs to its own constellation, but the triangle is a great way to “star hop” to areas of interest.

As twilight ends around 10:30pm, look low in the southeast for a bright reddish star – this is Antares, the heart of Scorpius the Scorpion.

From now through the rest of June, you’ll have a unique opportunity to see a lineup of all five naked eye planets during morning twilight.