Tag Archives: Summer Triangle

What Do the Summer Sky, a Japanese Festival, and a Chinese Lunar Mission Have in Common?

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You can add to this list festivals in China and Korea! Some of this Blog is taken from an activity that Nancy and I developed many years ago for our teacher professional development workshop, Project ARTIST (Astronomy-Related Teacher In-Service Training), that Nancy mentioned in her last Blog, “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer.” The activity is called Magpies and the Milky Way. The following information about the Tanabata Festival comes from a Japanese travel guide. Tanabata, also known as the “star festival,” takes place on the 7th day of the 7th month of the year, when, according to a Chinese legend, the two stars Altair and Vega, which are usually[sic] separated from each other by the Milky Way, are able to meet…. One popular Tanabata custom is to write one’s wishes on a piece of paper and hang that piece of paper on a specially erected bamboo tree, in the hope that the wishes come true. Colorful Tanabata festivals are … Continue reading →

In the Sky This Week – June 11, 2019

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This entry is part 100 of 101 in the series In the Sky This Week

A dimming Mars, and a bright Mercury appear low in the west-northwestern sky at dusk. The Moon appears near the star Spica on June 15th and 16th. The Moon appears near Jupiter and the star Antares on June 15th and 16th. Saturn, Jupiter and the star Antares appear in the southern sky before dawn. Jupiter, currently at opposition, rises in the southeast with the sunset. Saturn rises in the southeast around 11:20 PM. Venus is very low on the horizon just before sunrise all week. The Summer Triangle The Summer Triangle is an astronomical asterism in the northern celestial hemisphere. The defining vertices of this imaginary triangle are at Altair, Deneb, and Vega, each of which is the brightest star of its constellation (Aquila, Cygnus, and Lyra, respectively). The term was popularized by American author H. A. Rey and British astronomer Patrick Moore in the 1950s. The name can be found in constellation guidebooks as far back as 1913. – Wikipedia There is a very detailed article about the Summer Triangle at Sky and Telescope. The Moon is a waxing gibbous, just past … Continue reading →

In the Sky This Week – June 22, 2017

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This entry is part 7 of 101 in the series In the Sky This Week

The planet Venus appears high in the eastern morning sky; the bright star Capella, to the northwest, is the last star to fade with the oncoming dawn. The waning crescent Moon will vanish amid the morning haze to the east, to reappear in the west as a waxing crescent after dusk on June 25th. The Summer Triangle is an asterism formed from the three stars Altair, Deneb, and Vega, the brightest stars in the three constellations of Aquila, Cygnus, and Lyra. They can be see in the eastern sky before midnight. Jupiter is high in the southwestern sky after dusk, and sets in the west around 1:30 AM. Saturn appears high in the southeastern sky after dusk, is at its highest around midnight, and sets in the southwest just before dawn. Directly overhead, the Milky Way flows through the constellations Cygnus and Aquila (if you live in a city – trust me, it’s really there… drive out of the city … Continue reading →