Beyond Bones

    April is the last month to see the full set of brilliant winter stars which now fill the western evening sky.  Dazzling Orion is in the southwest at dusk.  His three-starred belt is halfway between reddish Betelgeuse and bluish Rigel.  Orion’s belt points rightward to Aldebaran in Taurus the Bull.  To Orion’s upper […]

By Ralph Phillips, HMNS Docent   Our modern concept of time is mainly societal and artificial.  A few of our units of time derive from natural cycles, but many are totally arbitrary.   Our day is defined as one cycle of light and dark … but starting where? Our “official” day goes from midnight to […]

  Jupiter is almost due south at dawn; it outshines all the stars we ever see at night.   Mars is in the south-southeast at dawn.   It brightens a little each morning as moves away from Jupiter and towards Saturn.    Saturn is in the southeast at dawn this month.     Venus is lost […]

    The Summer Triangle is high in the east.  This consists of the brightest stars in Cygnus, Lyra, and Aquila.  Scorpius, the Scorpion, is in the south, with the ‘teapot’ of Sagittarius to his left.  Leo, the Lion, sets in the west.  From the Big Dipper’s handle, ‘arc to Arcturus’ and ‘speed on to […]