Globe at Night is the international organization that has created a way for individuals to report what stars we see in just one constellation in the cycle or cycles you choose.
Every year, from about July 17 through Aug. 24, planet Earth orbits through the debris field of Comet Swift-Tuttle, the parent comet of the Perseid meteor shower.
He had unveiled a plaque affixed to the Eagle that bore the inscription, “Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon, July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind.”
Norman Rockwell was likely entrenched in his daily routine on that long-ago summer afternoon, one that included riding his bike down Main Street and observing passersby from the expansive northern-facing windows of his second-floor studio in Stockbridge.
While venturing out at nightfall to enjoy the asterisms, be sure to appreciate the Crow careening in the south and the full figure of the Lion striding high in the southwest.
In Greek mythology, the Crow, Apollo’s sacred bird, got into trouble that resulted in the god catapulting the offender and his companions into the sky.
Even faint shooting stars may be visible in dark skies in locations away from artificial light. The peak of the Eta Aquariids is predicted to be before dawn Sunday morning, May 5.
While the world celebrates the 50th anniversary of the July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 moon walk – and we are continually awed by the results of space exploration since – it is sobering to learn that in 85 percent of locations on Earth, only a few stars are visible when looking up to the sky at night.
Add a cosmic perspective to this culmination in our solar system by being outdoors 60 to 75 minutes before sunrise, when the stars of our galaxy populate the dark sky.
