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Ephemeris: 09/23/2024 – Scanning the Milky Way with binoculars

September 23, 2024 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Monday, September 23rd. Today the Sun will be up for 12 hours and 5 minutes, setting at 7:37, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:33. The Moon, 1 day before last quarter, will rise at 10:50 this evening.

Now that the Moon has fled the early evening skies the Milky Way is showing up again, if you’re at a dark site. I’ve always said that August and September are the best times to view what I call the summer Milky Way, even now that it’s not technically summer anymore. The Teapot asterism in the constellation of Sagittarius is low in the south-southeast, pouring its tea on the horizon. It is in that direction we are looking towards the center of our Milky Way Galaxy. The Summer Triangle is high in the South with Vega and Deneb, two of its stars near the zenith. All the Milky Way is an invitation to scan it with the pair of binoculars or a very low power telescope. One doesn’t need a chart. Just wander through the Milky Way to find many star clusters, groups of stars and nebulae.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT – 4 hours). Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum (Some binocular wonders)

The Coathanger

Coathanger finder animation
How to find the Coathanger. Look for the Summer Triangle. On the line from Altair to Vega the Coathanger can be found. Star imaged by Bob Moler.
Binocular view of the Coathanger
Binocular view of the Coathanger. From the original resolution of the above photograph. Most telescope finders present an inverted image, so the Coathanger appears upright.

The North American Nebula

Deneb & North American Nebula
One of my old photographs of Deneb and the North American Nebula digitized from a slide. It can also be barely seen in the top Coathanger finder image just to the left of Deneb.
North American and Pelican Nebulae
The North American (center left) and Pelican (right) nebulae is seen here in an astrophotograph by Grand Traverse Astronomical Society member Dan Dall’Olmo. The red color is due to the element hydrogen. Our eyes can’t perceive red very well with our night vision. However, hydrogen also emits in the green, which along with doubly ionized oxygen also emitting green light, makes it bright enough to be discerned visually. Click or tap on the image to enlarge it.

Categories: Binoculars, Ephemeris Program, Nebulae, Observing, Star Clusters Tags: ,