There is a generation of men and women for whom, in their youth, the planets were unimaginable distant points of light, and the moon was the paradigm of the unattainable.
Those same men and women, in middle life, have seen their fellow humans walk upon the surface of the moon; in their old age, they will likely see men wandering along the dusty surface of Mars, their journeys illuminated by the battered face of Phobos.
“There is only one generation of humans in the 10-million-year history of mankind that will live through such a transition. That generation is alive today!” -- Carl Sagan. (Phobos is one of two Mars moonlets, captured asteroids).
Speaking of the moon, starting with the full moon Aug. 18-19, we’ll have the first of four super moons in a row. This is called the Sturgeon moon. Native Americans who lived near the Great Lakes harvested the sturgeon, the large prehistoric looking fish, in late summer when they were abundant.
Super moons appear slightly larger and shine a little brighter than a regular full moon. The moon’s orbital path around the Earth is a slight oval, meaning every month there is a nearest point (perigee) and a farthest point (apogee). I’ve personally never seen us have four super moons in a row. Talk about things lining up just right.
Carl Sagan’s quote above from his book, The Cosmic Connection, really hits home how unique this period of time is that we’re living through. I was so lucky to be right in the middle of that 1960s space race period when astronomy was becoming quite the hobby and every kid who was halfway interested in science got a telescope for Christmas sometime during those years.
Sadly many “Christmas” telescopes were and are of poor quality and quickly are discarded. Mine was equally of poor quality but it kindled a quest for knowledge that hasn’t abated over the decades later.
I wasn’t interested in cowboys and Indians; rather, Star Trek got my attention.
Probably the most popular meteor shower of the year, the Perseids, plays out in the early morning hours of Aug 12. This is particularly favorable timing as the first quarter moon sets before local midnight, so it won’t be interfering with dark skies.
If clouds or circumstances prevent you from being outside after midnight on Monday (Aug. 12), the shower should be almost as good early Tuesday morning. I am planning to go outside about midnight.
If it’s a good, active shower I’ll stay up until about 3 a.m. Most of you know the “W” of Cassiopeia. The five brightest stars of Cassiopeia — Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Epsilon Cassiopeiae — form the characteristic W-shaped asterism. Perseus comes up just behind Cassiopeia in the northeast.
If you trace the meteors back to their origin, most will have started from that area, though you may see them anywhere overhead. A good Perseid meteor shower will yield 50 or so per hour under average suburban skies, a bit better for rural skies. That’s just less than one a minute though they can be grouped together, so you see 10 in a 5-minute period than almost none for the next five minutes.
Keep counting in your head how many you’ve noticed. Position your chair or recliner facing approximately southeast or northeast. Then look off to either side of the radiant for the best views.
This shower is caused by the Earth intersecting the debris field of Comet Swift Tuttle. Most meteors are sand-size grains up to peanut-size. Those larger pieces can flare into spectacular fireballs when they plummet into our atmosphere at 130,000 miles per hour.
The reason this shower is so popular is because we usually have clearer nights in dry August and the temperature is near ideal at night for being out.
Now to change the subject. August is the most favorable month to see the Milky Way and summer constellations as well.
New moon (that time when it’s not in the night sky) will happen twice this August for all practical purposes, from Aug. 1-5 and then again from Aug. 28 through the end of the month. Those are great times to be out in the countryside far away from city lights.
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