Still more chances to view the space station

Did you have a chance to observe the International Space Station as it passed over the area? There were several opportunities to view the space station and Space Shuttle Atlantis during the time they were joined until their separation on June 17. They made quite a sight as they passed low to the north most of the time.

If you missed the shuttle and ISS together, there are still opportunities to view the space station -- the temporary residence of Nebraska's first astronaut, Clay Anderson -- by itself in the coming days. Point your web browser to www.heavens-above. com, establish your location (yes, Mc-Cook is in their database) and find the viewing times and direction.

And now, for what you have all been waiting for: the number one stargazing tip. We have learned to look up, and to watch the Sun and the Moon, how to use star charts and the location of some of the constellations. Perhaps even purchased a telescope. So now what do we do? The number one tip: Make friends with and be faithful to the sky.

One great thing about stargazing, you will have a lifelong friend in the skies above. It is like your neighbor next door and it is always there (apart from a few clouds once in a while).

You might even, as I do, consider some of the celestial objects as old friends. I always look for the Andromeda Galaxy when it is first visible in the late summer and the Orion Nebula when it makes its long-awaited reappearance in the fall. They are indeed like old friends to me and I look forward to seeing them if they haven't been around for a while.

The sky is constantly changing in very small ways each day. It is like a parade. There are some new stars in the east and the ones we have been watching for a while disappear to the west and in the morning there are different stars and constellations than there were in the evening. You can watch the seasons pass, sometimes seeing all four seasons worth of constellations in one evening.

A word of caution, however, be patient. Just as you can't learn everything about a new friend all at once, it takes a while to gain understanding and knowledge of the night sky. Give it time and be persistent. Just like that new telescope, you won't learn everything about it by just using it once or twice. It takes a committed, repeated effort to get the best out of it. You are undertaking a journey. Enjoy the trip itself, not just the destination.

Watch the sky frequently and repeatedly. It is a repeated effort. At first you may have to do some looking, but after a while you will just know where your old friends are and when to look for them.

My thanks to Deborah Byrd and John Shibley for making up the original Top Ten list of stargazing tips. I, of course, have embellished somewhat on their original content.

SKY WATCH: Summer officially starts on Thursday, June 21, at 12:07 pm MDT, although we would have thought by the way the weather has been acting lately it has already been here for a while. The Sun is as far north in the sky as it will get for the entire year and on Thursday it will start the journey south and nights will get shorter. The Moon will be at first quarter on June 22. On June 23, look for the Moon about five degrees (about the width of your fist held at arms length) to the right of the bright star Spica in Virgo the Maiden. On June 27 look for the Moon, Jupiter, and Antares to make a close group. You will also want to mark June 30 on your calender as the day to watch Saturn and Venus in their very close conjunction. They will be less than one-half degree, about the width of the full Moon, apart.

Next time: The return of the summer constellations.