September 2022
It’s time to dust off your telescope and binoculars as our true astronomical night-time returns once again. There will be plenty to see this month as the dark nights draw in.
The Milky Way will arch overhead mid-month from North-East to South-West. We are lucky and privileged to be able to see this wide faint band across our sky from our gardens in Embsay. Around the 25th (New Moon) is a great time to see it if we have a clear night. Almost directly overhead you will see a ‘stick’ shaped figure with arms set almost in a crucifix. It is the constellation of Cygnus, the Swan. The brightest star (Deneb) marks its tail as it flies along the Milky Way with its long neck heading South-West.
Looking overhead 25th September at 10pm
Many of the stories of the stars are derived from Greek tales but the origins of the Swan go further back still to Sinbad’s second voyage. In one of the Arabian Nights’ Tales, Sinbad found a huge egg belonging to an enormous legendary bird. When the bird returned to its egg, Sinbad clung on to the bird (Cygnus) and was carried along a Valley of Diamonds (Milky Way) and returned home with quite a haul of treasure.
Quite close to the tail (or the star Deneb) is a hook shaped part of the Milky Way. It is only visible in ideal conditions to the naked eye. This is an emission nebula and looks very similar to the North American Continent. Hence it being called the North American Nebula (NGC 7000). It is difficult to believe it covers over ten times the area of a full moon, particularly as it appears as a small glowing patch, if you are lucky!
North American Nebula
Photo: M Davidovic Oct 2016
When we look into the Milky Way we are seeing what looks like a band of light but is in reality billions of stars that are difficult to distinguish individually. We and our solar system are part of a much larger structure and that is our Milky Way Galaxy, spiral shaped and very similar to a spinning Catherine Wheel. We are positioned in one of the ‘arms’.
You will remember that in my last article I wrote about The James Webb Space telescope. This is now fully operational and has returned some stunning images. One of its primary objectives has been to catch the light that has been travelling from the outer edges of our expanding Universe in order to image the earliest known galaxies and stars. You can catch up with its progress here - they are remarkable. https://www.nasa.gov/webbfirstimages
At the time of writing this article NASA has just delayed the launch of Artemis 1 due to engine problems. By the time you read this it may well be on route towards our Moon. It is hoped that this unmanned launch will be the precursor to establishing a base camp and a stepping stone towards eventually visiting Mars. https://www.nasa.gov/what-is-artemis
Clear Skies
Milan Davidovic
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