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May’s Stars and Planets

There’s a lot going on in the night sky this month: a meteor shower this coming weekend; a solar eclipse visible from Australia and Hawaii; and a beautiful alignment of Jupiter, Venus and Mercury over Memorial Day in late May.

Meteor shower in the Name A Star Live constellation Aquarius May 5/6

Shooting stars — Long exposure photo showing shooting stars emanating from a particular point in the night sky.

Over the night of May 5/6, you may see one of the best meteor showers of the year — the “Eta Aquarid” shower. Composed of tiny dust particles left by Halley’s Comet on its previous visits to our neck of the solar system, this year’s Eta Aquarid meteor shower promises to be impressive because moonlight will not interfere with the show. When the Moon is out, the bright light of the Moon makes it difficult to see many of the fainter “shooting stars” of a meteor shower. But on the night of the meteor shower’s peak — May 5/6 — the Moon will not rise until around 4:00 am (the morning of May 6). It’s called the “Eta Aquarid” meteor shower because the shooting stars all seem to emanate from a particular point in the constellation Aquarius.

The best way to view a meteor shower is to lie down in a lawn chair or on a blanket — face up — and enjoy the show! No telescopes or binoculars needed. The absolute best time to view the largest number of meteors per hour will be between 3 and 4 am May 6. But really, you can still see a lot of shooting stars the evening of May 5 — and over the nights of May 3, 4, 7 and 8 as well. Those of you in the southern hemisphere of Earth (e.g., Australia, New Zealand, etc.) should get a particularly good view.

Remember to bring along insect repellant or warm clothes, as your weather may dictate, and have a great time!

Solar eclipse visible from Australia and Hawaii May 9/10

Annular eclipse — A solar eclipse will be visible by residents of northern Australia on May 10 and Hawaii on May 9, weather permitting. Hawaii residents will see a partial eclipse of the Sun, while lucky Australians — who happen to be along a particular, narrow path across the Australian continent that day — will be able to see what is called an “annular eclipse” (pictured here) where the Moon blocks almost all of the Sun, leaving a “ring of fire” around the Moon’s edges. **Do not look directly at the Sun — even during the height of the eclipse!** The sunlight seen even during an annular/partial eclipse can damage your eyes. Check with local science museums, planetariums and astronomy clubs for information about any special observing programs they may offer during the eclipse … or just watch it on the Internet!

No matter where you live, you can watch the eclipse live, via the Internet.

Also, check out this video that shows the path of the eclipse:

A trio of planets for Memorial Day

In late May — during the Memorial Day period in the United States — the planets Jupiter, Venus and Mercury will align together around sunset, and will be viewable just over over the western horizon. These “planetary conjunctions” do not happen often, so be sure to take a gander at this heavenly display!

Planetary Trio — Facing west-northwest, shortly before sunset on Memorial Day, May 27, 2013, as viewed from the U.S. The planets Mercury, Jupiter and Venus form a triangular shape this evening. In fact, they are close together over the evenings of May 23 – 31. You should also see the nearby, bright stars Betelgeuse and Capella.

Star hop to Saturn

Star hopping is when you use bright, easy-to-identify objects in the night sky to find harder-to-identify objects. It’s like using landmarks on Earth.

On the evening of May 21, 2013 you can star hop to Saturn! Face southeast and start with the Moon. Look for the bright point of light down, and to the left of the Moon: That’s the star Spica. Then, look further down and to the left: The bright point of light you’ll see is the planet Saturn. You can easily see Saturn’s rings through just about any telescope. While you look at Saturn’s rings, see if you can detect a dark circle within the rings: That’s the famous “Cassini division.”

For those of you in the southern hemisphere of Earth (such as Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, etc.), you should face east the evening of May 21 as well (your time). In your case, Spica will be down, and to the right of the Moon, and Saturn will be down, and to the right of Spica.

The Moon and Saturn will be in the Name A Star Live constellation Virgo that evening. Spica is Virgo’s brightest star.

Finding your star in the night sky

Stars are located within constellations, which are just areas of the night sky. Scorpius, Aries and Taurus are examples of constellations. Your Name A Star Live Star Certificate displays the name of your constellation. You can use our online World Constellation Guide to determine if you can see your constellation during the evening hours (between sunset and midnight). Of course, you’ll need a telescope to see your star. But you can see your constellation without the use of a telescope. You can also find your constellation by using our Virtual Planetarium™ astronomy software. A planisphere is another useful device.

December’s Stars and Planets

The best meteor shower of the year occurs in mid-December when ‘shooting stars’ appear to blast out of the Name A Star Live constellation Gemini. The peak of this year’s Geminid meteor shower occurs over the night of December 13/14 when, under optimal observing conditions (e.g., FAR from city lights), you may be able to see as many as 80 to 120 shooting stars per hour. But most people generally don’t observe under perfect conditions. Still, you should see quite a show!

Also, if you’re busy the evening of December 13/14, not to worry: You can still see plenty of Geminid meteors between December 4 and 17.

The best way to enjoy a meteor shower is to lie down in a lawn chair — along with friends and family, and maybe even the family dog — and look up. That’s it! No telescopes, binoculars or apps required. If you want to locate Gemini in the night sky, consider getting our planisphere constellation finder or our Virtual Planetarium™ software. But you don’t really have to locate the constellation to enjoy seeing shooting stars: Just lie down on your back and look up. The farther away from city lights you get, the more shooting stars you will see. The best time to see the meteors will be between roughly 10 pm and 2 am. But if you can’t stay out that late Thursday night/Friday morning, there will still be plenty of Geminid meteors to see this coming weekend. Be sure to dress for the weather, and bring along some food and drink. Enjoy!

And here is a perhaps overly-dramatic video about this year’s Geminids: While the Geminid meteor shower is the best of the year, it is easy to overhype. Still, this video is nicely done: Take a look!

Best Time of the Year to See Jupiter

The mighty planet Jupiter dominates the night sky in December. It also reaches “opposition” this month, meaning that this is a point in time when the Earth is directly between the Sun and Jupiter. That in turn means that this is the best time of the year to see Jupiter since it is so bright. Look for the brightest ‘star’ you see over the eastern horizon after sunset: That will be Jupiter! The king of the planets is located in the Name A Star Live constellation Taurus throughout the last month of 2012.

Jupiter in the evening sky — The view facing east in the early evening hours during early December. Jupiter (at “A”) is in the V-shaped group of stars known as the “Hyades,” marked by the bright star Aldebaran (at “B”). You may see the pretty group of stars called the “Pleiades” (at “C”). Many people confuse the Pleiades with the Little Dipper, which is located toward the northern horizon. Depending on your location on Earth, you may see the giant constellation Orion (“D”) rising above the eastern horizon. If you live in the southern hemisphere of Earth (e.g., Australia or New Zealand), these stars will appear ‘upside down’ to you.

The Winter Solstice and the End of the World

There’s been a lot in media this year about how the ancient Maya predicted the world would come to an end around December 21, 2012, or that “Nibiru,” a supposed planet discovered by the ancient Sumerians, is headed toward Earth. These are hoaxes.

Aztec Calendar — This image from NASA features, in the foreground, the famous Aztec calendar, while the background is a satellite image of the outer layers of the Sun. The Aztec calendar incorporates a mythological and calendrical system derived from earlier Mesoamerican cultures, including the Maya. The calendar, which was extremely accurate, was developed by observing the Sun’s motions in the sky over a long period of time.

NASA Senior Scientist David Morrison does an excellent job refuting these — and other — end-of-planet-Earth hoaxes at LunarScience.NASA.gov/articles/doomsday-2012-fact-sheet. NASA has posted another excellent discussion on this topic at www.NASA.gov/topics/earth/features/2012.html .

In fact, we’re so confident that these are hoaxes that, should the world come to an end December 21, 2012, we will gladly issue full refunds to all our Name A Star Live customers on December 22!

But December 21, 2012 does mark the “Winter Solstice” — the point in time when winter begins in the northern hemisphere of Earth. It’s a wonderful time of the year, with snow falling, Christmas carolers singing, New Year’s revelers partying, and football fans cheering. We hope you have a very happy and safe holiday!

Finding your star in the night sky

Lots of Planets to See — and a Meteor Shower Too!

You can get a good view of Venus, Jupiter, Mars and Saturn this month plus a nice meteor shower!

Venus dominates the night sky in January 2012. It’s the bright point of light you’ll see in the western sky during the early evening hours: It will be the brightest astronomical object you’ll see this month, other than the moon and the sun! Venus will appear higher and higher in the western sky as the month progresses. Venus begins the month in the constellation Capricorn and moves into Aquarius January 12.

Look for our solar system’s giant planet — Jupiter — toward the southern horizon (toward the northern horizon for those of you in the southern hemisphere) at sunset. Jupiter will pass very close to the Moon on the evening of January 2 (January 3 for those of you in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, China, etc.). The same thing will happen on the evening of January 29/30. You should be able to see Jupiter and up to four of its large moons through any telescope — even through a pair of binoculars. These four large moons move so quickly that if you observe Jupiter’s moons every few hours you’ll see that they change their position in relation to the planet. For example, if you observe Jupiter shortly after sunset you might see one or two of its large moons, but if you observe Jupiter a few hours later you might see all four of its large moons — or vice versa! Currently, Jupiter straddles the border between the constellations Aries and Pisces, but will move fully into Aries by month’s end.

Saturn, the Moon and Mars the morning of January 15 (January 16 for those of you in the eastern hemisphere).

Mars rises over the eastern horizon shortly after midnight this month, and is above the southern horizon shortly before sunrise (above the northern horizon for those of you in the southern hemisphere). If you are an early bird, look for the Red Planet near the Moon shortly before sunrise on January 13 and 14 (January 14 and 15 for those of you in the eastern hemisphere of Earth). The red planet begins the month in the Name A Star Live constellation Leo, but then moves into Virgo toward the end of the month.

You can see the beautiful, ringed planet Saturn in the eastern sky during the predawn hours in January. Saturn is in the constellation Virgo. On the morning of January 16 (January 17 for those of you in the eastern hemisphere) look for Saturn next to the Moon.

An Impressive Meteor Shower in Early January

The Quadrantid meteor shower promises to put on a good show of ‘shooting stars’ this month, but you’ll have to get up really early (or stay up really late!) to get the best view. Look for the shooting stars between about 3:00 a.m. and sunrise on January 4 (January 5 for those of you in Australia, Japan and China). Normally you can see about 120 meteors per hour at the peak of the Quadrantid’s, although you may see anywhere from only 60 to as much as 200 meteors per hour.

: Time lapse photo showing shooting stars from the Geminid meteor shower. Credit: NASA/JPL

A meteor shower occurs when the Earth passes through a cloud of dust particles, typically left from past visits by comets to our part of the solar system. As the high-speed dust particles vaporize in Earth’s atmosphere, they appear as ‘shooting stars.’ Meteor shower names derive from the constellation (the area of the night sky) from which the meteors appear to originate. The Quadrantid meteor shower gets its name from an old, and now defunct, constellation name (a name no longer used in astronomy) called “Quadrans Muralis”. This area of the night sky is now in the modern constellations Draco and Boötes, the latter of which is adjacent to the Name A Star Live constellation Virgo.

The best way to view a meteor shower is to lay down and look up: No telescopes or binoculars needed! You might use a fully reclining lawn chair or cot. Be prepared to stay up late to see the best show.

When to go stargazing this month

Moonlight ‘drowns out’ the faint light of many stars and other celestial objects, so the best time to view the stars is when the Moon is not visible. If you’re going to stargaze between sunset and midnight, then the best time to do that in January would be during the January 15-28 time period.

Finding your star in the night sky

You can use our online World Constellation Guide to determine if you can see your constellation during the evening hours (between sunset and midnight). Of course, you’ll need a telescope to see your star. (That’s why we include the SLOOH online telescope experience in our Deluxe, Framed and Ultimate Gift Sets!) But you can see your constellation without the use of a telescope.

You can also find your constellation by using our Virtual Planetarium™ astronomy software. A planisphere is another useful device.

Meteor Showers, an Eclipse & the Planets

Two meteor showers grace the night skies in December. The Geminid meteor shower is the most famous meteor shower of all, and is visible from most locations on Earth every December. However, this year’s Geminid shower, which peaks on the night of December 14, occurs at a time of the month when moonlight will drown out most of the meteors we would otherwise see. But for those of you in the northern hemisphere, check out December’s other meteor shower — the Ursids.

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