by Alice Enevoldsen - Planetarium Specialist
May-June Sky
→Download the May-June star map
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Notable Sky Objects
Saturn
Saturn is still tilted edge-on to us, making fun telescope
viewing. Look for it just below Leo's tail. Note of
interest regarding Saturn observation: Carolyn Porco,
Cassini Imaging Team Leader, was the science consultant for
the new Star Trek film - so when you see it keep your eyes
peeled for the obvious contributions of an intelligent
science consultant. If you want to watch for it, her name
is 2/3 of the way through the credits, just AFTER the
Klingon/Romulan language consultant.
Jupiter
We've got both gas giants this month! Jupiter will be
rising late around 2am at the beginning of May and slowly
creeping earlier till it rises about 10pm at the end of
June. It should be shining bright for your viewing
enjoyment.
Events
- June 6 - Moon will hide Antares, if you're watching from the United States.
- June 20 - Summer
Solstice!
SCORPIUS - The Scorpion
SCIENCE: Scorpius is in the same direction as the Milky Way - so if you imagine the shape of the constellation as a teapot, the very middle of our galaxy would be the tea pouring out of that teapot. That's where the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way is - but you'll never see it, no matter how hard you look.
Antares (alpha scorpii) red supergiant of variable brightness with a close blue-white companion orbiting every 900 years. Means "Rival of Mars" (anti-Ares) or "Like Mars"
MYTH: To the Chinese it was a dragon; in the South Pacific, it was Maui's fishhook used to pull up islands from the ocean floor.
The Summer Triangle (mostly):
Cygnus(the Swan) and Lyra (the Lyre/Harp) reappear, and the bright star from Aquila (Altair). The summer triangle (as you can tell by the name) will be directly overhead come summer, but now it's low in the East, a harbinger of brighter days to come.
CYGNUS - The Swan
SCIENCE: Albireo - Cygnus' head is the prettiest double star in the sky. Look through a telescope and it separates into a glowing gold star, and a tiny blue point. This is a good thing to suggest for people with telescopes at home.
MYTH: Do you like gory details? When his brother Phaethon was killed by Zeus and scattered all over the Earth, Cygnus picked up all the pieces. The gods laughed, calling him a "bobbing duck," picking up all those pieces. Then they started to realize that maybe he was doing a good deed, so they put him in the sky as a "noble" bobbing duck - a swan.
LYRA - The Lyre
SCIENCE: M57, the Ring Nebula is between the bottom two stars in the constellation. It's pretty hard to pick out, even with a small telescope, but it is a good target for larger scopes, and Hubble has a beautiful image of it.
DELPHINUS - The Dolphin
This tiny constellation is as cute as a bug's ear ... or a dolphin's. Probably one of the easiest constellations to spot - Delphinus is isolated in a dark part of the sky near Aquila.
MYTH: The four stars that make Delphinus' head are also called "Job's Coffin." You don't often think of Christianity as the underdog, but in our sky it is: the sky is dominated by the Greek names and stories.
"Tiny" Guys
- LYRA - The Lyre
- CORVUS - The Crow
- CRATER - The Cup
- COMA BERENICES - Berenice's Hair
- LYNX - The Lynx
- SEXTANS - The Sextant
- HYDRA - The Sea Serpent (Big and dim)
- LACERTA - The Lizard
- LEO MINOR - The Small Lion (Between the Big Dipper and Leo)
- VULPECULA - The Fox
- SAGGITA - The Arrow
- SCUTUM - The Shield
- LIBRA - The Scales
- CAMELOPARDALIS - The
Giraffe
- BOOeTES - The Herdsman
- HERCULES - Hercules
- CORONA BOREALIS - The Northern Crown
- VIRGO - The Virgin (or "Princess")
- LEO - The Lion
- CANCER - The Crab
- GEMINI - The Twins
- CEPHEUS - King Cepheus
- DRACO - The Dragon
- URSA MAJOR - The Great Bear
- URSA MINOR - The Little Bear
- CASSIOPEIA - The Queen
Pacific Science Center's Planetarium and Stage Science department has an ongoing commitment to lifelong learning and keeping our teachers up-to-date with current astronomical happenings and discoveries. The approximately-monthly column "AstroInfo," written by Planetarium Specialist Alice Enevoldsen, is an attempt to answer common astronomical questions from the staff, and highlight interesting goings-on in the world of astronomy. If you have questions you would like addressed, please →email Alice.
AstroInfo is aimed at an audience of inquisitive adults, and we hope that everyone enjoys it. Previous editions of AstroInfo can be found at →alicesastroinfo.com. Be sure to subscribe to the RSS feed and follow Alice on →Twitter.
About Alice Enevoldsen
Alice Enevoldsen has been working in planetariums since 1996, has a B.A. in Astronomy-Geology from Whitman College, and a Masters in Teaching from Seattle University. Her fascination with the stars led her to try her hand at astronomy research in Boston and Walla Walla, where she realized that her calling in life was actually to work in museums and be a translator for scientists. Now she works hard to show people who think science is confusing or hard why chemists, physicists, and biologists get so worked up - science is everywhere, and life's boring without discovery!