INDIAN SUMMER

Not every one's definition of "Indian Summer" is exactly the same but technically it is a late fall warming trend AFTER an early frost.  It isn't a true formal period of time but it has been used in literature and folk stories every since the first white settlers came to America. I have always thought of it as that final reprieve before the harsher days and nights of winter set in.  Not that the winters in our neck of the woods is all that severe but at least in the winter you may want to put on your long johns when staying up late at night to star gaze.


Winter in our area offers some very encouraging times to observe things that have been rather elusive during the summer months.  One of the first things that comes to my mind is the fact that you can start your evening of observing at some decent hour of the day. Even now in late September and early October the sun disappears around 7:30PM and it is possible to get in some early targets by 8PM.  That is a big improvement over the start times of 9:30 or later in the long daylight hours of summer.  Even tho the constellations and the many different objects that we look for don't change in an instant there does seem to be a changing of the guard so to speak.  I am looking at my set of "Night Sky Observers Guide" and they are divided into two volumes---one basically for the summer and one for the winter.  That ought to tell us something.


Starting right now, Jupiter is beginning to rise in the early evening and it will continue to be visible in the night sky thru next April. There is no better time to make it a point to observe this beautiful planet on a regular basis and make notes on the locations of each of the moons.   I have added a new link at the left of this page under the heading of "INTERESTING LINKS" entitled "JUPITER MOON POSITIONS".  If you click on this link and then select the Jupiter moon java script in the S & T article you will be able to determine the positions, shadows, etc, of all of Jupiters moons for any given date and time.  Make good use of this utility to help you know when to be looking at Jupiter to see these amazing events.  If you have a computer generated planetarium program you might be able to find a listing of these events on your computer.


Also in very favorable position for the next few months is Comet GARRADD.  Currently Garradd is very bright and easily observed with even the smallest of telescopes.  Here is a chart for Garradd with the corresponding dates.  I had a good look at this comet the other night and it is worth the effort.  The tail is not as apparent as others I have seen but it is visible.  While you are in the area why not look at M13 in Hercules?




If you haven't seen the super nova in the Pinwheel Galaxy you might have a difficult time determining just which object is actually the super nova.  It has dimmed in brightness and at the present time it looks more like any other star in a star crowded field. Just remember---the stars you are seeing are in the Milky Way galaxy---the super nova is actually in the Pinwheel galaxy. 


As of today, China has a new unmanned satellite orbiting the earth and it will be something for us to watch as it develops into a manned vehicle capable of carrying at least 3 astronauts.  I will be putting out more information about this vehicle and how we can observe it as it becomes available.  


Needless to say there are a lot of things going on as fall begins and no doubt more events will unfold as we progress into winter.  I just hope for a long and moderate "Indian Summer" before the onset of winter actually begins.  There is so much to observe and so little time to get it done.