Podcasts about Summer Triangle

The northernmost star in the Summer Triangle is Deneb, which marks the tail of Cygnus the Swan.

Geoff Clayton is the Interim Director of Astronomy at the Maria Mitchell Association. This week Geoff talks about the Summer Triangle, three bright stars in the summer night sky.

Late-October evenings are great for skywatching. The nights are fairly long and cool. And there’s a lot to see. The Summer Triangle is still high in the west, and Taurus is climbing into view in the east. And this year, three planets are visible before midnight: Venus, Saturn, and Jupiter. One thing that’s not visible for the next few evenings is the Moon. It doesn’t rise until the wee hours of the morning. So if you can get away from city lights, you should be treated to a beautiful view of the stars. Dark skies are especially important for astronomers, allowing them to see deeper into the universe. But other things can limit the view. That includes clouds – not just on Earth, but in the stars. Dust is sprinkled between the stars. And the farther you look, the more dust gets in the way. That obscuring effect is known as extinction. Astronomers have to account for it when they measure an object’s brightness, its color, and more. In some cases, they’re looking through a fairly uniform scattering of dust. But in others, they’re looking through dense clouds, which make it really tough to see what’s beyond. Another concern is called seeing – the stability of the atmosphere. If the air is calm, the seeing is pretty good. But if it’s turbulent, it smears the view of the stars. Bad seeing makes the stars twinkle more fiercely. That’s a beautiful effect for casual skywatchers, but bad for astronomers. Script by Damond Benningfield

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 and in autumn we have the Great Square of Pegasus.

In many ways, fall has already arrived. The fall term has started for schools. Football season is underway. And September 1st marks the beginning of the fall weather season. Astronomical fall catches up to them tomorrow. Autumn officially arrives at 7:44 a.m. Central Daylight Time – the moment of the fall equinox. The change in seasons occurs as the Sun crosses the equator from north to south. The Sun rises due east and sets due west as seen from the entire planet. And the length of day and night are about equal. That balance won’t last long. In the northern hemisphere, the days will grow shorter and the nights longer until we reach the winter solstice, in December. As that happens, the sunrise and sunset points will slide southward. As the season changes, so do the stars. At nightfall, Arcturus, the brightest star of summer nights, is dropping lower in the west. The signature star pattern of the season, the Summer Triangle, is moving to the western side of the sky. And the scorpion is getting ready to disappear in the southwest. In the meantime, the Great Square of Pegasus is in the east at nightfall, ready to climb high across the sky during the night. Constellations associated with the flying horse are moving into view as well. And so are the constellations of the Celestial Sea – water-related constellations like the fish, the sea goat, and the water boy – stellar sights for the longer nights of autumn. Script by Damond Benningfield

The stars of the Summer Triangle look a lot alike. Vega, Deneb, and Altair are among the 20 brightest stars in the night sky, and they all shine almost pure white. Vega and Altair really are alike. But except for the way it looks to our eyes, Deneb is nothing like the other two. The triangle is high in the eastern sky at nightfall. It’s easy to see even through the glare of the almost-full Moon. Vega is the highest and brightest of the three stars. Deneb stands to the lower left of Vega, with Altair farther to the lower right. Vega and Altair are both about twice the size and mass of the Sun, and a good bit brighter. And both of them spin rapidly – so fast that they bulge outward at the equator. Vega is farther along in its evolution than Altair is. Because of their mass, both stars will spend about a billion years in the “prime” phase of life. That’s compared to about 10 billion years for the Sun. Deneb is a supergiant – one of the bigger and heavier stars in the galaxy. Some of its details are unclear because its distance is uncertain. It could be about 1500 light-years away, or about 2600. Either way, we know that it’s about 20 times the mass of the Sun, and up to 200 thousand times the Sun’s brightness. It’s no more than 10 million years old, with almost no time left. Before long, it’ll explode as a supernova, then fade away – and the Summer Triangle will disappear. Script by Damond Benningfield

After dusk, look about a third of the way up the eastern sky for Altair, the brightest star in Aquila the Eagle and part of the Summer Triangle.

Producer/Host: R.W. Estela Hi, I'm RW Estela: Since 1991, I've been presenting A Word in Edgewise, WERU's longest-running short feature, a veritable almanac of worldly and heavenly happenings, a confluence of 21st-century life in its myriad manifestations, international and domestic, cosmopolitan and rural, often revealing, as the French say, the more things change, the more they stay the same — though not always! Sometimes in addressing issues affecting our day-to-day lives, in this age of vagary and ambiguity, when chronological time is punctuated elliptically, things can quickly turn edgy and controversial, as we search for understanding amid our dialectic. Tune in Monday mornings at 7:30 a.m. for an exciting journey through space and time with a few notable birthdays thrown in for good measure during A Word in Edgewise . . . About the host: RW Estela was raised as a first-generation American in Colorado by a German mother and a Corsican-Basque father who would become a three-war veteran for the US Army, so RW was naturally a military brat and later engaged in various Vietnam-era civil-service adventures before paying his way through college by skiing for the University of Colorado, playing Boulder coffeehouses, and teaching. He has climbed all of Colorado's Fourteeners; found work as an FAA-certificated commercial pilot, a California-licensed building contractor, a publishing editor, a practitioner of Aikido, and a college professor of English; among his many interdisciplinary pursuits are the design and building of Terrell Residence Library (recently renamed the Terrell House Permaculture Living & Learning Center at the University of Maine), writing Building It In Two Languages (a bilingual dictionary of construction terminology), aerial photo documentation of two dam removals (Great Works and Veazie) on the Penobscot River, and once a week since 1991 drafting an installment of A Word In Edgewise, his essay series addressing issues affecting our day-to-day lives — and WERU's oldest continuous short feature. When pandemics do not interfere, he does the Triple Crown of Maine open-water ocean swims (Peaks to Portland, Islesboro Crossing, and Nubble Light Challenge) and the Whitewater Downriver Point Series of the Maine Canoe and Kayak Racing Organization. RW is the father of two and the grandfather of three and lives with his partner Kathleen of 37 years and their two Maine Coons in Orono. The post A Word in Edgewise 7/22/24: Of a Green July, the Summer Triangle, & Bob Dole . . . first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

As we head through the middle part of the year, Ian Brannan and Director of Astronomy Dan Pye look at the Summer Triangle, a collection of constellation which take centre stage in the night sky at this time of year. We also discuss the discovery of frost on Mars, which has been found at the top of the biggest mountain in the Solar System Olympus Mons, which is 3x bigger than Mount Everest! And we look ahead to a potential comet with could be visible this autumn! For more news and info visit kielderobservatory.orgSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Naija Bruckner an NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates fellow at the Maria Mitchell Association discusses The Summer Triangle. The Summer Triangle consists of three bright stars that are prominent in the summer night sky and can help to locate the band of our Milky Way Galaxy.

Now that summer has arrived, the famous “Summer Triangle” of stars has returned to guide us around the evening sky.

This week is a great opportunity to spot Lacus Mortis, the Lake of Death, on the lunar surface. Find out how you can see this for yourself as well as our usual stargazing highlights in this week's podcast guide, Star Diary, 10 to 16 June 2024.   Transcript: https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/podcasts/star-diary-10-jun-2024   Patrick Moore on the Summer Triangle: https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/advice/summer-triangle   Subscribe to BBC Sky at Night Magazine and submit your astrophotography images over on our website: https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you're ready for a taste of summer, look no farther than the dawn sky. The constellations in view at first light are just what you'll see as night falls in July and August. Scorpius is low in the south, with Sagittarius in the southeast. The Big Dipper hangs from its handle in the northwest. And the Summer Triangle — the stars Vega, Deneb, and Altair — stands high in the east. As Earth orbits the Sun, our viewing angle on the stars changes. As a result, each star rises about four minutes earlier each night. So a star that rises at dawn now, will rise eight hours earlier in July, 10 hours earlier in August, and 12 hours earlier in September. Now you might think this all means that we'd see the current morning configuration 12 hours earlier in the night during September — half a year from now. And you'd be partially right. The same configuration of stars will be in the sky at that hour. But the Sun sets later then, so it's still daylight when the stars stand in their current dawn positions. So by sunset then, Scorpius and the others will have rotated farther to the west. That means the best time to see this setup in the early evening sky is a month or two earlier — July and August. That all sounds a bit confusing, but trust us: The stars have been following that pattern for a long time — moving the same stars we see in the dawn sky now into the evening sky during the short nights of summer. Script by Damond Benningfield

January 9, 2024: Before sunrise spot Mercury, Moon, and Venus in the southeastern sky.  The Summer Triangle is in the east-northeast. See the accompanying article - 2024, January 9: Spot Mercury, Moon and Venus before Sunup --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jeffrey-l-hunt/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jeffrey-l-hunt/support

What's in the Night Sky for October presented by Paul Evans and Sinéad Mannion. Highlights for October include highly active Solar Cycle 25, ISS morning object from 21st October, more Summer Triangle, Orion is rising, a harbinger of winter, but a welcome one for us astronomers! Watch out for the Draconid Meteor Shower on the 8th and 9th. Also on the 21st and 22nd, the Orionids are visible, they are the dust from the comet trail of Halley's Comet. Finally, new moon is on the 14th and the 1st quarter is on the 22nd...Keep looking up... Websites for aurora spotting - IAA's irishastro.org, Nasa's spaceweather.com, and Aurora UK Facebook group.Paul's photography website - pgephotos.co.uk

The Summer Triangle is a useful guidepost to many interesting deep sky objects, but it's also a way to find other constellations nearby, such as Delphinus the Dolphin.

If you can escape the glow of city lights, this is a great evening to watch the Milky Way. It forms a hazy band of light that stretches high across the sky. It arcs from Scorpius and Sagittarius in the south; through the Summer Triangle, high overhead; then down to W-shaped Cassiopeia, in the northeast. That band of light is the glow of millions of stars in the disk of the Milky Way Galaxy. If we could view the galaxy from afar, we'd see several bright, beautiful spiral arms wrapping through the disk. The arms aren't permanent structures. Stars that are closer to the center of the galaxy take less time to complete an orbit than stars that are farther out. So if an arm was a permanent structure, it would either rip itself apart or wrap tighter and tighter around the galaxy's core. Instead, each arm may represent the crest of a wave. The wave circles around the galaxy like a wave of water on the ocean. In a galaxy, the wave squeezes giant clouds of gas and dust ahead of it. The clouds then give birth to new stars. Many of the stars are big, heavy, and bright, so they help outline the spiral arms. A wave also carries along lots of smaller stars, enhancing the spiral arm even more. As the wave moves along, it compresses a new region of the galaxy. The stars in its wake spread out, and the brightest of them quickly expire. But new stars take their place — riding a wave through our beautiful galactic home.|  Script by Damond Benningfield Support McDonald Observatory

Join Fiona Powers Ozyurt of the Maria Mitchell Association as she discusses the Summer Triangle. To find the Summer Triangle, head outside after 9pm, look directly overhead and locate the bright star Vega in the constellation Lyra. Neighboring Vega are two other bright stars, Deneb in Cygnus and Altair in Aquila, which together with Vega form a large triangle. This is the Summer Triangle asterism. 

Astronomer Howard Parkin explains what we should be looking for in our August dark skies - including the Summer Triangle, a full Blue Super Moon (that might actually be red!), the appearance of Jupiter and the possibility of a dramatic Perseid Meteor Shower. The music break is Good Morning, Starshine by Oliver and after that, Howard brings us up to date with some of the top stories about the race into space. Howard welcomes questions, and suggestions for stargazing or space-related topics for future programmes - email howardparkin@manx,net

After going over the definitions of a constellation and an asterism, some sky events, and some news items, we will discuss a few of the differences between official constellations and helpful asterisms. Tim and Terry discuss just what the Big and Little Dippers are, as well as the Summer Triangle and how they fit into the night sky picture, as well as some other popular star patterns.

As evening twilight fades into night, look for three bright stars high in the east that form a giant triangle in the sky. The Summer Triangle is a great way to “star hop” to areas of interest.

Producer/Host: R.W. Estela Hi, I'm RW Estela: Since 1991, I've been presenting A Word in Edgewise, WERU's longest-running short feature, a veritable almanac of worldly and heavenly happenings, a confluence of 21st-century life in its myriad manifestations, international and domestic, cosmopolitan and rural, often revealing, as the French say, the more things change, the more they stay the same — though not always! Sometimes in addressing issues affecting our day-to-day lives, in this age of vagary and ambiguity, when chronological time is punctuated elliptically, things can quickly turn edgy and controversial, as we search for understanding amid our dialectic. Tune in Monday mornings at 7:30 a.m. for an exciting journey through space and time with a few notable birthdays thrown in for good measure during A Word in Edgewise . . . About the host: RW Estela was raised as a first-generation American in Colorado by a German mother and a Corsican-Basque father who would become a three-war veteran for the US Army, so RW was naturally a military brat and later engaged in various Vietnam-era civil-service adventures before paying his way through college by skiing for the University of Colorado, playing Boulder coffeehouses, and teaching. He has climbed all of Colorado's Fourteeners; found work as an FAA-certificated commercial pilot, a California-licensed building contractor, a publishing editor, a practitioner of Aikido, and a college professor of English; among his many interdisciplinary pursuits are the design and building of Terrell Residence Library (recently renamed the Terrell House Permaculture Living & Learning Center at the University of Maine), writing Building It In Two Languages (a bilingual dictionary of construction terminology), aerial photo documentation of two dam removals (Great Works and Veazie) on the Penobscot River, and once a week since 1991 drafting an installment of A Word In Edgewise, his essay series addressing issues affecting our day-to-day lives — and WERU's oldest continuous short feature. When pandemics do not interfere, he does the Triple Crown of Maine open-water ocean swims (Peaks to Portland, Islesboro Crossing, and Nubble Light Challenge) and the Whitewater Downriver Point Series of the Maine Canoe and Kayak Racing Organization. RW is the father of two and the grandfather of three and lives with his partner Kathleen of 37 years and their two Maine Coons in Orono. The post A Word in Edgewise 7/10/23: The Summer Triangle, an Idling Car, and Arthur Ashe . . . first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Aquila, the eagle, spreads its wings across the evening sky. It's well up in the east as the sky gets dark. Its brightest star, Altair, is at the bottom right point of the wide-spread Summer Triangle. Altair represents the eagle's breast, with the wings above and below. A pair of stars at one of the wingtips faces an uncertain future. Early studies said the two stars will ram together and explode as a supernova -- in 700 million years. But more recent work says they won't. Henize 2-428 consists of two white dwarfs -- the dead cores of once-normal stars. They probably started out as fairly massive stars. As the main star aged, it dumped most of its gas onto its companion. As that star aged, it began dumping gas as well, forming a cloud around both stars. The gas was kicked out into space, forming a colorful nebula around the pair. Today, the stars are so close that they orbit each other once every four hours. As they orbit, they radiate gravitational waves, causing them to spiral even closer -- and eventually merge. The early work said the combined mass of the two stars would exceed the weight limit for white dwarfs. As a result, they'd blast themselves to bits as a supernova. But the more recent work said the stars are less massive than originally thought. If that's true, then their merger will be much less spectacular. Henize 2-428 will survive -- as a heavy stellar “corpse” floating through the galaxy unnoticed.  Script by Damond Benningfield Support McDonald Observatory

Lots of things to talk about this week: Mercury becomes an evening object. Mars is close to Regulus. Venus turns around. Spectroscopic binaries. The moon passes Saturn and Jupiter. Solstice on Mars. The summer triangle. Star-crossed lovers.

Welcome to 'Shine Sky Watch', a monthly summary of night sky events for stargazers in and around Petersfield. July; and it's holiday season in the 'Petersphere'! People are heading to the beaches, either here in the UK or overseas. Did you know there's an astronomical link to the tides? With July's Full Moon occurring on the 3rd, this is the first in a sequence of four 'Supermoons' and during the Summer season you can't miss the prominent asterism called the Summer Triangle, with Vega being one of the brightest stars in the whole sky. Find out more and make the most of our unique dark skies with Shine Radio written by Petersphere resident and astronomical expert Geoff Burt.  Listen to Sky Watch every month for magical star-gazing on your doorstep. Clear skies and happy stargazing!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Sun is pretty big as stars go — bigger than perhaps 80 or 90 percent of the stars in the entire Milky Way Galaxy. To get an idea of just how big, consider this: At the speed of a jet airliner, it would take about seven months to circle all the way around the Sun's equator. But if you really want to rack up the frequent-flier miles, try circling around the star at the tail of Cygnus, the swan. Deneb is a white supergiant. The “white” designation means that its surface is thousands of degrees hotter than the Sun's. And the “supergiant” designation means that it's one of the biggest stars in the galaxy. In fact, it could be 200 times the diameter of the Sun. So even at the pace of a typical airliner, it would take more than a century to circle Deneb's equator. One problem you might have is deciding just where the star's “surface” is. Supergiants are so puffed up that their outermost layers of gas are quite thin. And Deneb is blowing a powerful “wind” of material out into space, which makes it even harder to tell where the star ends and space begins. But from our distance of 2600 light-years or so, that's not a problem — Deneb looks like a sharp little point of light. It's in the northeast at nightfall, at the left point of the bright Summer Triangle. And the rest of the swan stretches to its right, with the body roughly parallel to the horizon and the wings spread above and below. Tomorrow: An ancient stellar family.  Script by Damond Benningfield Support McDonald Observatory

Join Fiona Powers Ozyurt of the Maria Mitchell Association as she discusses the constellation Aquila. To find Aquila, head outside after 10pm and look in the East direction. Now locate the bright star Vega in the constellation Lyra. Neighboring Vega are two other bright stars, Deneb in Cygnus and Altair in Aquila, which together with Vega form a large triangle. This is the Summer Triangle asterism. 

WATCH this on YouTube LISTEN as a podcast on Podbean, Stitcher, or iTunes Social Media: @mrwebbpv on Twitter and Instagram @pvplanetarium on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram            Venus shines bright at sunset all month, with Mars nearby, while Saturn, Jupiter, and even Mercury shine in the mornings, and the Beehive Cluster gets two wandering guests, all in the solstice month of June.          Welcome to Observing With Webb, where a high school astronomy teacher tells you what you're looking at, why it's so cool, and what you should check out later this month…at night.    Naked-eye PLANETS Sunset Venus – Look W after sunset. It'll be the brightest object and probably the first “star” you'll see, about 30˚ above the horizon. Sets between midnight and 11pm.  Get your looks in now, because once August starts, your view of Venus in the evening will disappear, and return to the mornings of September. Mars – Look W and about 5 or 10˚ up and to the left of Venus, for a dull reddish dot in the sky, hanging out in Cancer, and slowing moving toward Leo. Sets between midnight and 11pm. Throughout the night - None Morning – (from left to right) Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn Saturn – Beginning of the month: Rises at 1:30am in the ESE, and is 30˚ above the SE horizon by dawn. End of the month: Rises at 11:30pm in the ESE, and is 40˚ above the S horizon at dawn.  About 60˚ to the right of Jupiter. Jupiter – Beginning of the month: Rises at 4am in the E, and is just 15˚ above the E horizon by dawn. End of the month: Rises at 2am in the E, and is 35˚ above the E horizon at dawn.  About 60˚ to the left of Saturn. Mercury – For the first 3 weeks of June, Mercury is less than 10˚ above the horizon, to the left of East. Hard to find, but not impossible.   EVENTS Full Moon – 3rd (Visible all night) Waning Gibbous (Mostly lit, rises later at night) Last Quarter Moon – 10th (Visible midnight into the morning) Morning Crescents (look East in the AM) New Moon – 17th (darkest skies) Evening Crescents (look West after Sunset) First Quarter Moon – 26th (Visible until midnight) Evening Gibbous (Mostly lit, after Sunset)   2nd – Mars, Beehive Cluster (M44) – Find that dull red dot in the sky which is Mars, then take some binoculars out, or a telescope, and witness Mars being directly in M44, the Beehive Cluster, so named because of its resemblance to a swarm of bees. The day before and after, Mars will be on either side of the cluster. Definitely worth at least a look, if not a picture. 9th + 10th – CLOSE ENCOUNTER - Moon, Saturn – Get up early, look SE, and find a gibbous Moon with Saturn about 8˚ above and to the left on the morning on the 9th.  On the 10th, the Moon will have moved to be 7˚ down and to the left of Saturn. 13th – Venus, Beehive Cluster (M44) – Find that bright brilliant dot in the sky which is Venus, then take some binoculars out, or a telescope, and witness Venus being ALMOST directly in M44, the Beehive Cluster. The day before and after, Venus will be on either side of the cluster. Definitely worth at least a look, if not a picture. 14th – CLOSE ENCOUNTER - Moon, Jupiter – Get up early, after 3am, look E, and find a very thin crescent Moon with bright Jupiter only 2˚ to right. 21st – Summer Solstice – This is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.  There's a bit of explanation as to why here. 20th – 22nd – CLOSE ENCOUNTER – Moon, Venus, Mars – Check this out right after sunset! Look West and you'll easily see Venus being super bright. Each day, Mars will be about 5˚ (or three finger-widths) up and to the left of Venus.  The best part is the Moon traveling through.  On the 20th, a super-duper thin Moon will be about 13˚ down and to the right of Venus.  But on the 21st, the Moon moves to be just 3˚ to the right of Venus, and is a little bigger and easier to spot.  Then, on the 22nd, the Moon moves up and to the left again, forming a nice curved line with Mars and Venus.  Definitely worth a look, though pictures will prove to be difficult, given the relative brightness of each object.   CONSTELLATIONS... Use a sky map from www.skymaps.com to help you out. After Dinner, Before Bed: Spring Constellations: Big Dipper, Bootes, Virgo, Corona Borealis, Hercules – Gaze almost vertically as you face the NW, and you'll easily find the Big Dipper: seven very bright stars that form a spoon shape. Now if you take the handle of the Dipper, follow its curve to the next bright star you see, about 20˚ away, which is Arcturus. “Follow the arc to Arcturus.” That's the brightest star in Bootes, which looks like a kite. Take that same curve, and follow it about another 20˚ to “speed on to Spica”, the brightest star in Virgo, one of my favorite constellations, since it reminds me of the Dickinson Mermaid.  Now go back to Bootes, and just to the left of Bootes are seven stars that form the northern crown Corona Borealis, which looks more like a small bowl or a “C” in the sky. Continue a little further to the left and you'll find the keystone asterism which is part of the constellation Hercules. Extra Challenge! Look for M13, the Hercules Cluster in between two of Hercules' “keystone” stars.  It known as the best globular cluster in the northern skies.  It will be a fuzzy spot in binoculars and will be even cooler through a telescope Summer Constellations: Lyra, Cygnus, Aquila – Look pretty much straight above you, and find the brightest star up there. You'll notice a parallelogram attached to it. This is the brightest star Vega, part of the constellation Lyra, the harp. Directly above you will be Cygnus the Swan, with its brightest star Deneb. It will look like a large cross, or if you look out a little further, a swan flying above you. Below Cygnus and Lyra is the third constellation of the Summer Triangle, Aquila the Eagle, with its brightest star Altair. The three bright stars in this one can be easily confused for Orion's belt, given their similar size, however they are not in line as straight, and are part of a bigger diamond shape.  Use a star chart to find small Delphinus and Sagitta in the area as well. Before Work: Pegasus, Andromeda – Look directly south and most of the way up the sky and you'll find the very big and almost perfect square of Pegasus, the winged horse. Now if you look to the top left of the square, you'll see three pairs of stars creating a neat double curve to the left and up from that corner star. That is Andromeda. If you have a little extra time, find the middle pair of stars, connect them with a line, and move toward the inside of the curve about the same distance as those stars are apart. There you'll find the Andromeda Galaxy, which will be just a small faint fuzzy with your naked eye. The cool part is that you are looking at billions of stars that are 2.9 million light years away, that spread out about 150,000 light years across. Don't forget this podcast is found on my Podbean page, Stitcher, and iTunes.  There's also a video version on my YouTube Channel and I can be found on Twitter and Instagram as @mrwebbpv. The Pequea Valley Planetarium and its events and updates are on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram as @pvplanetarium.

January 3, 2023: The Summer Triangle is visible before sunrise and after sunset. Four planets are strung across the sky after sundown. The gibbous moon is near Mars. This episode is also available as a blog post: 2023, January 3: The Summer Triangle Morning, Evening Planets, Moon --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/jeffrey-l-hunt/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jeffrey-l-hunt/support

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.”

Summer ended almost a month ago, but some of the stars of summer are still hanging around. And some of them will remain in view until well into winter. On the other hand, a few others are taking their final bows. Scorpius, for example, is quite low in the sky as darkness falls. Some of the stars that outline its curving body have dropped below the horizon by then, and some others are so faint that you can't really see them. Its bright heart, Antares, should be visible for a few days longer, in the southwest. But it's so low that you need a clear horizon to spot it. Sagittarius, the archer, stands to the upper left of Scorpius. Some of its bright stars form the outline of a teapot. It's tilted to the right, as though pouring its brew onto the scorpion's tail. It will linger until around Thanksgiving. Arcturus, the brightest star of Boötes the herdsman, is dropping lower in the west, but it, too, should remain visible through the end of the month. After that, the only holdout is a star pattern named for the season: the Summer Triangle. Right now, it stands directly overhead as night falls, marked by the bright stars Vega, Deneb, and Altair. Because of their high northern latitudes, the stars are in view in the evening sky most nights of the year. And all three will remain in view well into January — bringing a bit of summer to the night skies of winter.  Script by Damond Benningfield Support McDonald Observatory

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.

September skies bring the lovely Summer Triangle asterism into prime position after nightfall for observers in the Northern Hemisphere. Its position high in the sky may make it difficult for some to observe its member stars comfortably, since looking straight up while standing can be hard on one's neck! While that isn't much of a problem for those that just want to quickly spot its brightest stars and member constellations, this difficulty can prevent folks from seeing some of the lesser known and dimmer star patterns scattered around its informal borders. The solution? Lie down on the ground with a...Article Link

Many of the bright stars that decorate the night sky fit a similar profile. They're roughly twice the size and mass of the Sun, a couple of dozen times its brightness, and only a fraction of its age. The list includes two of the stars of the Summer Triangle, which is high in the sky at nightfall, and the five middle stars of the Big Dipper, which is in the northwest. Another star that fits the profile is in Lacerta, the lizard, which is half way up the northeastern sky. The faint little constellation's brightest star is Alpha Lacertae. It's about a hundred light-years away — far enough to dim some of its luster, so you need dark skies to see it. Like the other stars that fit this profile, Alpha Lacertae is class “A.” That's based on its surface temperature, which is thousands of degrees higher than the surface of the Sun. At that temperature, the star shines pure white. Alpha Lacertae is about 400 million years old — just one-tenth the age of the Sun. It won't live nearly as long as the Sun will, because it's more than twice as massive as the Sun. Its gravity squeezes its core tightly, revving up its nuclear reactions. So Alpha Lacertae will live a “normal” lifetime of only a couple of billion years, versus about 10 billion years for the Sun. After that, it'll cast its outer layers into space, briefly surrounding its dead core with a bubble of gas — bringing its fairly short life to a colorful end.  Script by Damond Benningfield Support McDonald Observatory

The swan climbs high across the southern sky on summer nights. It's marked by its bright tail, the star Deneb. It's the lower left point of the wide-spread Summer Triangle. The swan's body angles to the upper right of Deneb, as though the swan were taking flight from a pond. Its long, graceful wings flank its body. The brightest star of the top wing is Delta Cygni. It's a system of at least three stars. Two of them are a good bit bigger, brighter, and heavier than the Sun, while the third is less massive than the Sun. The heavier stars orbit each other at an average distance of almost 15 billion miles — roughly 150 times the distance from Earth to the Sun. But the little guy is much farther out. It's possible that when the system was born, the third star was closer in. But as the stars danced their complex orbital ballet, they swapped some of their energy. The lightweight star was pushed outward, while the heavier stars spiraled closer together. Those stars were pushed into a stretched-out orbit that looks a bit like an oval racetrack. It takes the two stars almost 800 years to make one lap around the track. But the lonely third member of the trio needs more time. It takes many thousands of years to orbit its brighter companions. Look for Delta Cygni above Deneb as darkness falls. It's about a third of the way up from Deneb to brilliant Vega, the brightest member of the Summer Triangle.  Script by Damond Benningfield Support McDonald Observatory

Hosted by Chris Beckett & Shane Ludtke, two amateur astronomers in Saskatchewan. Welcome to Episode 242 of the Actual Astronomy Podcast observing in the toybox constellations. I'm Chris and joining me is Shane. We are amateur astronomers who love looking up at the night sky and this podcast is for anyone who likes going out under the stars.    So a long time ago I read an online article about how all these little constellations Vulpecula, Sagitta, Delphinus and Equuleus were referred to as the Summer Toybox (sometimes Lyra is thrown in for it's small stature) but it never caught on.     I loved that idea and what a perfect set to conquer several constellations in a short episode. So we've talked about the Summer Triangle in the past, and most newcomers should get familiar with that asterism, but these little constellations form a line running perpendicular to the Milky-Way as they cut through the bottom quadrant of the Summer Triangle.   We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs.  Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can! Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too!  Every bit helps! Thank you! ------------------------------------ Do go visit http://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness! http://cosmoquest.org/Donate This show is made possible through your donations.  Thank you! (Haven't donated? It's not too late! Just click!) ------------------------------------ The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org.

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.

Producer/Host: R.W. Estela The post A Word in Edgewise 6/27/22: Midyear Mania & the Summer Triangle . . . first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Producer/Host: R.W. Estela The post A Word in Edgewise 6/27/22: Midyear Mania & the Summer Triangle . . . first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

A triangle of three bright stars has been noted throughout human history.

The Sun is a fairly big, middle-aged star. And as sometimes happens in those middle years, it moves a little more slowly than it did when it was younger — it takes almost a month to complete one full turn on its axis. Many other stars spin much faster than the Sun does. An example is Altair, the brightest star of the constellation Aquila, the eagle. Altair is almost twice as wide and heavy as the Sun. Despite its bulk, it makes a complete turn in only about 10 hours. At that rate, a point at its equator moves at about 150 miles per second — fast enough to cross from New York to Los Angeles in less than half a minute. One reason Altair spins so fast is that it's much younger than the Sun. The Sun probably turned much faster when it was younger, too. But its magnetic field acts as a brake, slowing it down. One of the effects of Altair's high-speed rotation is that its gas is forced outward at the equator, making the star look a bit like a flattened beachball. It's about 14 percent wider through the equator than through the poles. There's a limit to how flattened the star can get, though; if Altair twirled about half again as fast as it does now, it would fly apart. Altair is low in the east as darkness falls. It forms the southern point of the Summer Triangle. The highest and brightest point is the star Vega, with Deneb forming the triangle's left point. The triangle is high in the west at first light.  Script by Damond Benningfield Support McDonald Observatory

Aquila, the eagle, spreads its wings across the evening sky as we head into summer. Right now, it's low in the east a couple of hours after sunset. Its brightest star, Altair, is at the bottom right point of the wide-spread Summer Triangle. Altair represents the eagle's breast, with its wings above and below. A pair of stars at one of the wingtips faces a spectacular future. The two stars will ram together, then explode as a supernova — in about 700 million years. The system is known as Henize 2-428. It consists of two white dwarfs — the dead cores of once-normal stars like the Sun. They're only a few hundred thousand miles apart — so close that they orbit each other once every four hours. As they orbit, though, they radiate gravitational waves — a process that causes them to spiral closer and closer. Each of the stars is a bit less massive than the Sun. So when they merge, they'll be almost twice as massive as the Sun. And for a white dwarf, that's a bad thing. With that much mass, the white dwarf can't hold itself together. It undergoes a runaway nuclear reaction that blows the star to bits. Such an explosion is known as a supernova, and it's extremely bright. For a few hours, the explosion may shine as brightly as the rest of the stars in the galaxy combined. The exploded stars will leave behind an expanding cloud of debris that will glow for thousands of years — the last hurrah of a pair of doomed stars.  Script by Damond Benningfield   Support McDonald Observatory

  (In a week or two...) WATCH this on YouTube LISTEN as a podcast on Podbean, Stitcher, or iTunes Social Media: @mrwebbpv on Twitter and Instagram @pvplanetarium on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram   2022 is the summer of morning planets!  Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, and Venus are all quite prominent, with Mercury stopping by in June.  Throughout the summer, get up early to see the weeks where the Moon drives by the planets, and maybe catch a few meteors in August, as some of the planets return to the evening skies.          Welcome to Observing With Webb, where a high school astronomy teacher tells you what you're looking at, why it's so cool, and what you should check out later this month…at night.    Naked-eye PLANETS Sunset – only in August Mercury – All of August, look W right after sunset and you might be able to catch Mercury less than 10˚ above the horizon, the first “star” appearing at dusk in that direction. Saturn – The beginning of the ringed planet's nightfall appearance schedule is August. August 1st it rises at 9:30pm in the ESE, and is already up in the SE about 10˚ above the horizon at month's end. Throughout the night – Saturn & Jupiter – about 45˚ apart Saturn – Saturn starts rising before midnight in the SE in July and August, and will be visible into the mornings all summer off in the SW. Jupiter – Jupiter starts rising before midnight in the SE around mid-July, and will be visible into the morning all summer off toward the South. Morning – Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn ALL SUMMER The basic setup for the 3 months is, from left to right, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, all easily visible in the morning sky.  They start June within 70˚ of each other from East to South, ending August with Venus and Saturn on complete opposite sides of the sky.   How far apart are they from each other?  Below are the measurements between each planet in the lineup, on the 1st of each month. June 1:   Venus – 28˚ – Mars –   2˚ – Jupiter – 38˚ – Saturn Mercury – joins the party for much of June, getting to within 10˚ of Venus mid-month. Just look down and to the left of Venus. July 1:   Venus – 42˚ – Mars – 20˚ – Jupiter – 43˚ – Saturn August 1: Venus – 60˚ – Mars – 40˚ – Jupiter – 45˚ – Saturn August 31: Venus – 77˚ – Mars – 60˚ – Jupiter – 46˚ – Saturn Venus (E) – will be consistently about 10˚ above the Eastern horizon and hard to miss. As the brightest object in the morning sky, it will blaze as a “morning star”. Mars – Reddish Mars starts right next to Jupiter, but Jupiter moves away, while Mars creeps ever closer to Taurus throughout the summer, ending up between the V of Taurus and the Pleiades by August 31st. Jupiter ­– Hanging out around Pisces, be sure to find the Galilean Moons, notice their motion day by day, or even hour by hour, or even look up when to see one of its moon's shadows transits the planet. Saturn – Hanging out in the corner of Capricornus, find a friend with a telescope and stare at its rings, made up of rocks and dust the size of pebbles to the size of a car.   EVENTS Evening Crescents (look West after Sunset) First Quarter Moon – June 7th/July 6th/August 5th (Visible until midnight) Evening Gibbous (Mostly lit, after Sunset) Full Moon – June 14th/July 13th/August 11th (Visible all night) Waning Gibbous (Mostly lit, rises later at night) Last Quarter Moon – June 20th/July 20th/August 19th (Visible midnight into the morning) Morning Crescents (look East in the AM) New Moon – June 28th/July 28th/August 27th (darkest skies)   June 1st – CONJUNCTION – Jupiter, Mars –  Jupiter is less than 2˚ away from Mars in the ESE.  You can start seeing them after 3am. June 17th - 27th – June's Lunar Close Encounters – Moon, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus – The Moon joins the sunrise planet party, starting near Saturn on the 17th and ending to the left of Mercury on the 27th. June 21st – Summer Solstice – This is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.  There's a bit of explanation as to why here. July 15th – 16th – CLOSE ENCOUNTER – Moon, Saturn –  The Moon is down and to the right of Saturn on the 15th, and down and to the left of Saturn on the 16th.  Visible starting 10:45pm due SE. July 19th – CLOSE ENCOUNTER – Moon, Jupiter –  The Moon is down and to the left of Jupiter by just 4˚.  Visible starting 12:30am due East. July 21st – CLOSE ENCOUNTER – Moon, Mars –  The Moon is just 3˚ to the right of Mars.  Visible starting 1:15am due East. July 26th – CLOSE ENCOUNTER – Moon, Venus – A wonderfully thin crescent Moon will be just 4˚ above bright Venus.  Visible starting 4:15am due East. August 11th – CLOSE ENCOUNTER – Moon, Saturn –  The Full Moon is just 5˚ below Saturn. Visible after sunset in the SE. August 11th – 12th – Perseid Meteor Shower – Not a great year for the Perseids, given the very full Moon.  In decent skies, you could watch 60 meteors per hour, and you should be able to see some very bright ones here and there the week before and after.  However, the light pollution from the Moon will interfere with many of them, as well as your night vision.  But, that doesn't mean you should give up.  You never know when a really bright one will light up the sky. Remember, you're seeing the bits of dust left over from Comet Swift-Tuttle burning up as they crash into the atmosphere at 37 miles per second. Some advice for watching:     Find a dark location and lie down in a reclining chair or hammock     Look toward Perseus (In the NE, rises throughout the night until sunrise where it will be almost directly above.)  That is where the radiant is - where the meteors will appear to be coming from.     The strategy to observe this year is to get out there whenever you can, but the later you stay up, the more you'll see, since the radiant will be higher.  The shower is usually technically active from mid-July to late August, so you may see some Perseids in the days leading up to and after the peak as well.  Check the weather to see if the skies will be clear Adapt your eyes to the dark by staying away from light sources or using a red light if you need to look at a star chart or not trip over something.  If you're feeling extra nerdy, do a scientific meteor count (S&T and IMO) August 15th – CLOSE ENCOUNTER – Moon, Jupiter –  The Moon is to the right of Jupiter by just 5˚.  Visible starting 10:30pm due East. August 18th  – CLOSE ENCOUNTER – Moon, Mars –  The Moon is just 3˚ above of Mars.  Visible starting midnight on the 18th due East. August 25th – CLOSE ENCOUNTER – Moon, Venus – A very thin crescent Moon will be just 7˚ above bright Venus.  Visible starting 5:20am due East.   CONSTELLATIONS Use a sky map from www.skymaps.com to help you out. After Dinner, Before Bed: Spring Constellations: Big Dipper, Bootes, Virgo, Corona Borealis, Hercules – Gaze almost vertically as you face the NW, and you'll easily find the Big Dipper: seven very bright stars that form a spoon shape. Now if you take the handle of the Dipper, follow its curve to the next bright star you see, about 20˚ away, which is Arcturus. “Follow the arc to Arcturus.” That's the brightest star in Bootes, which looks like a kite. Take that same curve, and follow it about another 20˚ to “speed on to Spica”, the brightest star in Virgo, one of my favorite constellations, since it reminds me of the Dickinson Mermaid.  Now go back to Bootes, and just to the left of Bootes are seven stars that form the northern crown Corona Borealis, which looks more like a small bowl or a “C” in the sky. Continue a little further to the left and you'll find the keystone asterism which is part of the constellation Hercules. Extra Challenge! Look for M13, the Hercules Cluster in between two of Hercules' “keystone” stars.  It known as the best globular cluster in the northern skies.  It will be a fuzzy spot in binoculars and will be even cooler through a telescope Summer Constellations: Lyra, Cygnus, Aquila – Look pretty much straight above you, and find the brightest star up there. You'll notice a parallelogram attached to it. This is the brightest star Vega, part of the constellation Lyra, the harp. Directly above you will be Cygnus the Swan, with its brightest star Deneb. It will look like a large cross, or if you look out a little further, a swan flying above you. Below Cygnus and Lyra is the third constellation of the Summer Triangle, Aquila the Eagle, with its brightest star Altair. The three bright stars in this one can be easily confused for Orion's belt, given their similar size, however they are not in line as straight, and are part of a bigger diamond shape.  Use a star chart to find small Delphinus and Sagitta in the area as well. Before Work: Pegasus, Andromeda – Look directly south and most of the way up the sky and you'll find the very big and almost perfect square of Pegasus, the winged horse. Now if you look to the top left of the square, you'll see three pairs of stars creating a neat double curve to the left and up from that corner star. That is Andromeda. If you have a little extra time, find the middle pair of stars, connect them with a line, and move toward the inside of the curve about the same distance as those stars are apart. There you'll find the Andromeda Galaxy, which will be just a small faint fuzzy with your naked eye. The cool part is that you are looking at billions of stars that are 2.9 million light years away, that spread out about 150,000 light years across.   Don't forget this podcast is found on my Podbean page, Stitcher, and iTunes.  There's also a video version on my YouTube Channel and I can be found on Twitter and Instagram as @mrwebbpv. The Pequea Valley Planetarium and its events and updates are on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram as @pvplanetarium.    

June 15, 2022: The morning moon is in front of the Teapot. The morning planet parade continues in the eastern sky before sunrise. As night falls, the Summer Triangle signals that the summer season is arriving north of the equator. This episode is also available as a blog post: 2022, June 15: Teapot Moon, Planets, Evening Summer Stars https://whenthecurveslineup.com/2022/05/12/2022-june-15-teapot-moon-planets-evening-summer-stars/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/jeffrey-l-hunt/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jeffrey-l-hunt/support

In this week's episode, Rachel is joined once again by Galactic Historian and Starseed Intuitive Debbie Solaris. Debbie shares her interpretation of what Starseeds are and why they are here on Earth. She notes the influx of Starseeds we are currently seeing here on our planet.Debbie offers insight into what the mission of these Starseeds is and how it connects to Indigo, Crystal, and Rainbow children. The guides us through a fascinating explanation of the galactic history that she is familiar with.She then goes into great detail about a few of the more popular races of Starseeds. Those are Lyrans, Sirians, and Plaedians. She shares the interest of each race as well as what mantra they are attuned to. Take a listen and if you'd like to get to know Debbie more you can connect with her through the following:Get on the waitlist by emailing Ann (Debbie's assistant) here:  debbie@debbiesolaris.comYouTube: Debbie SolarisWebsite: https://www.debbiesolaris.com/Instagram: @debbiesolarisFacebook: Debbie SolarisRecommended Books and Movies“Three Waves of Volunteer And The New Earth” by Delores Cannon“Destiny of Souls” by Michael Newton“Journey of Souls” by Michael Newton“The Prism of Lyra” by Keith Priest and Lyssa Royal“Valerian And The City of A Thousand Planets”Rachel would love to hear what you enjoyed most about this conversation. Let her know through the following:IG: @liveyourrawlifeF: Live Your RAW Life Y: Live Your RAW LifeE: liveyourrawlife@gmail.comWeb: www.liveyourrawlife.comIf you'd like to support this AD-FREE podcast you can do so through:Patreon link:https://www.patreon.com/liveyourrawlifeIf something resonated with you from this week's episode please subscribe to the show and leave a review while you are there. Every time a review or rating is received it opens up the platform that allows the show to reach a wider range of listeners. Your support is greatly appreciated.

May 26, 2022: The crescent moon nears Morning Star Venus. Mars closes in on Jupiter before their conjunction in three mornings. Saturn is nearby. This episode is also available as a blog post: 2022, May 26: Morning Planet, Moon Spectacular, Evening Summer Triangle --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/jeffrey-l-hunt/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jeffrey-l-hunt/support

This week let's give Spring a true Welcoming, as we talk about The Stars of Spring - The Spring Triangle, in particular. You may not know The Spring Triangle because it's less attention-grabbing than the Winter Circle and the Summer Triangle. But it becomes visible as early as February, and by early April, it's stars are all up by mid-evening. So, when you see the Spring Triangle is a harbinger for the warm springtime air. The Spring Triangle is made up of three of the sky's brightest stars: Regulus, Arcturus and Spica. We'll talk about each of these stars in detail. And we'll join John Reade as he shows us how to learn about the Spring Constellations! Be well. Do good. Enjoy the show!

One of the brightest stars of the summer sky is performing double duty here in the dead of winter — it appears in both early evening and early morning. And from far-northern latitudes, it never sets at all — it's in the sky every hour of the day, all year 'round. Deneb is at the tail of Cygnus, the swan. The brilliant star forms one point of the Summer Triangle, which soars high overhead during the summer months. Deneb remains visible for all or most of the year, though, because it's quite far north in the sky. It's about 45 degrees from the North Star, Polaris. From the northern hemisphere, Polaris is always at the same point in the sky, day or night. Its altitude depends on your latitude. From 30 degrees north, it stands 30 degrees above the northern horizon. And from 50 degrees north, it's 50 degrees above the horizon. As Earth turns on its axis, any star that's within that range of Polaris remains in view all night. From Seattle or Duluth, for example, that includes Deneb. At this time of year, the star passes just above the horizon during the night. For skywatchers south of that range, though, Deneb does disappear — for anywhere from a few minutes to hours. From most of the United States, it's in the northwest as night falls now and sets a few hours later. But it climbs into view again before dawn — this time in the northeast. So keep watch for Deneb — a summer star that's performing double duty on winter nights.  Script by Damond Benningfield Support McDonald Observatory

The Summer Triangle sweeps over the top of the sky, a portal open to receive all your best rhymes and tales.