August 9, 2013

Starweek

COMMENTARY Tom Niemann

Tom Niemann

Starweek

Question of the Week

What star did the ancient Chinese consider as the Fire Star? The answer will be in next week's column.

LAST WEEK'S QUESTION: What is the closest spiral galaxy to our Milky Way?

ANSWER: At a distance of 2.3 million light-years, the Andromeda galaxy (Messier 31) is the closest spiral galaxy to our Milky Way. It's the most distant thing you can see with your eye alone. The closest irregular galaxy would be Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy with a distance of 25,000 light-years away.

WINNER: Vaughn Jasper of Lewiston.

Answers may be emailed to starweek@lmtribune.com, dropped off at the Tribune or mailed to Lewiston Tribune, Starweek, 505 Capital St., Lewiston, ID 83501. Entries must be at the Tribune by noon Monday. Please include your mailing address. The winning entry is drawn from a pool of all correct answers and will receive a sky map for the current month.

TODAY - The Perseid meteor shower is ramping up. It should peak late this coming Monday night. The planet Venus is in good view not long after sunset. It is the brilliant "evening star," which is close to the upper right of the moon. Bright star Vega passes closest to overhead around 10 or 11 p.m.

SATURDAY - The waxing crescent moon shines well to the left of Venus low in twilight. Keep watching on subsequent evenings as more and more of the moon's sunlit side turns our way, with the moon increasing its angular separation from the sun.

SUNDAY - A couple of implements for holding water bracket the midnight sky at this time of year. The teapot of Sagittarius is low in the south, with the Big Dipper about the same height in the north-northwest.

MONDAY - Fortunately, the early setting of the waxing crescent moon for the next several days will provide a dark sky for watching the Perseid meteor shower for the next several nights. The Perseid shower is expected to showcase the maximum number of meteors in the dark hours before dawn on Monday and Tuesday mornings - Aug. 12 and 13.

TUESDAY - The globular star cluster M4 stands close to the right of Antares, the bright orange star in the southwest this evening. The cluster contains tens of thousands of stars, but you will need binoculars to pick it out.

WEDNESDAY - The supernova that was discovered in the spiral galaxy M74 last week had reached about magnitude 12.3 by Aug. 2. M74 is in Pisces, well up in the eastern sky in the early morning hours. One of the most beautiful galaxies is M51, also known as the Whirlpool because of its well-defined spiral arms. A small companion galaxy appears at the tip of one arm. It is in the northwest this evening, near the end of the Big Dipper's handle.

THURSDAY - The little constellation Scutum, off the tail of Aquila, is faint to the naked eye but important for its super-rich Milky Way field and its deep-sky objects.

International Space Station

Friday

Appears at 9:59 p.m. 27 degrees above NW

Disappears at 10:03 p.m. 10 degrees above ENE

Appears at 11:35 p.m. 11 degrees above WNW

Disappears at 11:37 p.m. 29 degrees above NNW

SATURDAY

Appears at 9:11 p.m. 34 degrees above WNW

Disappears at 9:15 p.m. 11 degrees above ENE

Appears at 10:47 p.m. 22 degrees above NW

Disappears at 10:50 p.m. 27 degrees above NE

Sunday