More Stargazing in Better Weather

A clear, calm day finally arrived last week, so my coworker Gareth and I took advantage of the opportunity to see what we could find. Gareth's primary interest is watching auroras; there were none that day, so he scanned the sky to see what else he could find. Lucky him, he stumbled upon 47 Tucanae, the second largest globular cluster in the sky! It looks spectacular through binoculars, with it's bright center and distinctly dimmer edge, almost like the iris and pupil of an eye. Using my star charts, I located the Omega Centauri star cluster, the largest and brightest globular cluster in the sky. It looks like a bright fuzzy patch without binoculars, and with them, it looks like a brighter fuzzy patch. While bigger than 47 Tucanae, it lacks the same textured appearance.

I was able to find significantly more constellations this time, including Chamaeleon (the chameleon), Dorado (the dolphinfish, a.k.a mahi-mahi), Reticulum (the net), Hydrus (the water snake, not to be confused with Hydra), and Tucana (the toucan). Of the constellations clustered around the celestial south pole, there remain four that I haven't spotted yet, mainly because their stars are so dim.

After hunting the polar region of the sky, I then shifted focus to stars closer to the horizon. In the north, bathed in the faintest hint of twilight, stood Orion—upside down (see photo below). At this latitude, only his belt and feet can be seen, as if someone shoved him head first into the ground with his feet sticking up into the air. It makes me chuckle a bit to see it. :)- The Orion nebula was clearly visible to the naked eye and beautiful to see with binoculars. Saturn is also visible most of the day, sitting a little below the star Spica. I'm not certain, but I think I may have been able to make out Saturn's rings a bit using the binoculars. For the past week, the circumpolar moon has been bright in the sky, making stargazing difficult. Soon it will disappear as it moves toward new moon, allowing the return of darker skies and more stargazing trips. Here's hoping the weather cooperates.

The constellation Orion suspended upside-down over the mid-day twilight of late May.