SEPTEMBER 2007
THE STARS OF SEPTEMBER
By John Zimmerman
Lake County Skies on September 15, 2007 at 9 pm
Lake County has some of the clearest, darkest skies in the country – perfect for stargazing! In this monthly column, we’ll talk about some of the things you can see during September nights.
Let’s start by looking at our star chart for September. If you recall from last month, we mentioned the “Summer Triangle” made up of the bright stars Vega (in the constellation Lyra), Deneb (in the constellation Cygnus), and Altair (in the constellation Altair). This month, this trio of luminaries has moved directly overhead – you can see them in the star chart.
There are also 4 planets visible this month. Jupiter, the largest of the planets, is setting in the western sky – it’s the brightest object in that direction.
Next to Jupiter is Pluto, the “un-planet”. Up until the fall of 2006, Pluto was considered to be a planet. But this changed when the definition of the term “planet” changed, and Pluto was relegated to “dwarf planet” status. In spite of this change, we still affectionately refer to Pluto as a planet. As for viewing Pluto, you need a very large, powerful telescope, and even then, it will only appear as a faint point of light.
The other two visible planets are Neptune and Uranus. Both need a telescope to see. Neptune is bluish in color, and Uranus is greenish. Both appear very small through a telescope. Jupiter, Neptune, and Uranus are what we term “gas giants”. They are huge balls of gas – they aren’t solid like our earth.
Uranus, pictured at the left, has a ring system similar to Saturn’s. Neptune, pictured at the right, has a beautiful blue tinted atmosphere. That beautiful color isn’t from water – it’s from methane gas, the kind of stuff cows produce (and no, there are no cattle ranches on Neptune!)
As for Pluto, even our most powerful telescopes take pictures that reveal very little detail, as shown in the photo at the left. Pluto is just too small and too far away to reveal very much.
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