Beyond Bones

photo credit: Elsie esq. Saturn is now in the south southeast at dusk.  We are seeing its rings a little more edge on than earlier in the year.  In fact, Saturn’s rings won’t be this edge-on to us for another 15 years.  Saturn, like Earth, is tilted on its axis (at 26.7 degrees, Saturn’s tilt […]

 The Pleiades  photo credit: Evilnick Have you ever wondered when the ‘Dog Days’ begin?  The term is based on Sirius, the Dog Star.  In the time of the Ancient Egyptians, Sirius rose right before sunrise at the summer solstice, after having been invisible for about 2.5 months.  Egyptians began their calendar years with this event, […]

photo credit: fdecomite Overall, the May evening sky marks a transition.  Brilliant winter stars (including Sirius) are leaving the evening sky, while the stars of summer are only beginning to peek over the eastern horizon.  At dusk this month, the plane of the Milky Way roughly coincides with the horizon.  We are therefore looking up […]