Sailing the Celestial Ocean

We continue our tour of the Celestial Ocean this week with the last three -- and the most difficult to locate -- of the constellations located there.

We left off with a dim and rather nondescript constellation Piscis Austrinus, the Southern Fish with its very bright Fomalhaut, often called the "lonliest star in the sky" because there are no other stars visible around it, including the stars of its own constellation.

Since you know where Piscis Austrinus is, look directly above it for the relatively large constellation of Aquarius, the Water Carrier. This is a group that you will really need a star map or atlas to help in locating because it is spread out over almost 40 degrees of sky.

Look left of Capricornus, right of Pisces, and below Pegasus for this constellation. Also a line drawn between the upper left and lower right corners of the Square of Pegasus will lead you right to the heart of Aquarius.

Aquarius is probably best known for the small asterism called the "Water Jar" located in the middle of it.

Next is Pisces, the Fish located left of Aquarius and this time use the other two corners of Pegasus (the upper right and lower left) for a line that will lead to the middle of what is supposed to be two fish connected by a rope of stars.

The two fish are represented by circlets of stars -- and the rope -- fit perfectly under the lower left corner of Pegasus with the two fish on either side.

Lastly, we have Cetus, the Whale, or the Sea Monster of the Perseus/Andromeda tale swimming just below Pisces. It is another large constellation covering almost 45 degrees of sky from a small lop-sided circle of stars for a head to an equally lop-sided (you might even say crunched up) rectangular shape for its body.

As for all these dim constellations, a good star map or atlas will be helpful, or you might just Google them and look for drawings of their shape and location.

After the excitement -- or lack thereof -- of the Orinid meteor shower last month, we have another one to look forward to, the Leonids on the evening of Nov. 17th into the early morning hours of the 18th.

The Zenith-Hourly Rate is expected to be about 40 which is less than one a minute so, don't get your hopes up. However, the Leonids are known for producing some rather spectacular fireballs, exploding meteors, with a bright flash of light.

Several years ago my son, Kenneth, and I counted about 20 in an hour of observing.

Leo rises in the east at about 1 a.m. MST on the morning of Nov. 18 and there will be no moon to get in the way. Observing time will extend from then to just before dawn.

Since it is very cold in the early morning now, dress warm, bring a sleeping bag or blanket, and a reclining lawn chair. Something hot to drink will help too, and one word of caution, if you are not willing to invest at least an hour of your time, don't bother to go.

SKY WATCH: New moon tonight, Nov. 11. We will be losing our only evening planet, Saturn, this week as it sets below the western horizon.

The three early morning planets are still putting on a great show. Very bright Venus, much dimmer Mars above it, and slightly less bright Jupiter make a line pointing up from the horizon. In fact, that line will point to Leo after about 4 a.m. MST if you are meteor watching.

NEXT WEEK: More astronomical blathering.