Why is the Milky Way missing?

One of the great joys of the late spring/early summer is going outside when the sky is good and dark and gazing at the Milky Way.

That glowing stripe of massed stars representing the edge of our galaxy spreads across the sky giving us a grand sight and all we need is our eyes.

However, if you go outside anytime this week at about 2130 hours MDT and look up you won't find anything, nothing, zip, nada. There is no Milky Way there. What happened?

Has it been moved, stolen, zapped to another plane of existence, or replaced with just blank sky?

Well, the best answer is "none of the above." The Milky Way has not moved -- we have. Earth in it's progression of orbit has come to a place where the Milky Way is not overhead, but runs around the horizon and in some places is just barely visible above the horizon.

However, if you need a "Milky Way fix," don't lose heart. You will, however, need to wait until about 0200 hours MDT before heading outside again.

Start by viewing from a place with a clear, flat, unobstructed horizon, in all directions. Turn your gaze south to find one of the great summer constellations, Scorpius, the Scorpion. It will look like a giant letter "J," or perhaps a fishhook.

Start at the lower end of the "hook" portion and move your gaze to the left to find Sagittarius, then keep moving to Aquila, Cygnus, then arch down toward the north and the constellation Cassiopeia.

See, we haven't lost the Milky Way at all, it is still there for our viewing pleasure -- even if it is in the wee hours of the morning. The only problem will be that pesky, just-past full moon hanging high in the southeast at about the time we start looking.

We will need to understand something though, while looking straight up where the Milky Way used to be, realize we are looking out at what is north (relatively speaking, in space there is no north, south, east or west) of our galaxy. How many constellations can you find looking out that way?

If you are not a fan of early morning observing, how about something a little closer to sunset, or at least to 2100 hours MDT.

Bright Venus is still the obvious thing in the southwest. Way down below it (about 21 degrees) to the right is another planetary traveler, tiny Mercury is still visible--just barely--above the northwest horizon. Binoculars will be essential in locating the fleet-footed planet.

If you are still having trouble, try to find the Pleiades star cluster then look up and slightly left a little more than the binocular filed of view (FOV). Tomorrow night -- May 7 -- Mercury will be at its greatest elongation from the Sun, thus slightly easier to find.

If you have reason to be awake and up about 2230 hours MDT anytime during the next few days, grab your binoculars -- or even your telescope if you have one -- and take a look toward the southeast horizon for the just-rising planet Saturn.

The ringed-planet is rejoining our skies after a long absence. On May 22, it will be at opposition, or opposite the Sun, in our evening sky and will be up and visible all night. Or perhaps you would prefer to wait until July when it is visible a little earlier, however, a word of warning, by that time the moon will be causing a viewing problem.

SKYWATCH: Third-quarter moon, Monday, May 11;

NEXT WEEK: Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight, and more astronomical blathering.