The skies they are a changin'

Well, now that we have the Perseids out of the way for another year, let's continue with business.

One thing we did notice while out looking for meteors -- even if you missed the meteor shower -- the constellations are changing.

The Summer Triangle of Lyra, Cygnus, and Aquila, which have been on the eastern horizon are now directly overhead at midnight, ready to take the plunge into the downhill slide into the western half of the sky.

The other significant constellations of summer--Scorpius, Sagittarius, and Capricorn--are still high in the south in the early evening, but they too are progressing westward and by October will leave the sky not to be seen again until January when they return to the early morning sky.

An hour after local sunset, the first great constellation of autumn is above the eastern horizon, Pegasus, the Flying Horse. Although right now he looks more like a baseball diamond standing up on one corner.

If you look north we can find four of the circum-polar constellations. So named because they never set below the horizon but constantly circle the north star. From the left we find the Big Dipper. Using the outer two stars of the dipper's cup draw a line from bottom to top and continue for about the same distance to locate Polaris, the North Star.

To correct a misconception I hear frequently at pubic gatherings is that Polaris is the brightest star in the night sky. Sorry, but Polaris barely makes it into the top 50 brightest stars.

The brightest star in the night sky --as viewed from the Northern Hemisphere -- is Sirius in the constellation Canis Major (The Big Dog) which accompanies Orion across the sky as one of his faithful hunting dogs.

Continuing to the left, next is Cepheus, the King looking like a child's drawing of a house -- only upside down -- and further right is the "W" shape of Cassiopeia, the Queen.

You can observe it now rising in the southeast about an hour before the Sun just below Orion. It will be that bright, sparkly thing.

Consequently, if you look across the sky to the northeast you can find the planet Mars just coming from being around behind the Sun.

If you have a very clear, unobstructed horizon put some binocular glass on it. Because on the morning of August 20, Mars will be right in the middle of the very nice star cluster, M44, The Beehive in the constellation Cancer, the Crab.

If you miss it on Thursday, not to worry, Mars will be slightly below the cluster on Friday morning.

SKY WATCH: First quarter moon, Saturday, Aug. 22. Tonight, August 19, about an hour after local sunset, look west for a slender five-day old crescent moon sitting just above the bright star Spica, the brightest star in Virgo, the Maiden. On August 22, look slightly below and left of the moon you will find Saturn. We won't have many more opportunities for a look at Saturn because it well be leaving the evening sky soon.

NEXT WEEK: A stake through the heart of the Mars Hoax, hopefully and More astronomical blathering.