July 27, 2017

Wow, I’m just getting back from looking outside and it was a much better success than last time! I saw so many stars - I tried to count them to report on, but it was impossible!

I was out from 10:40 to 10:55 pm, facing west, and once again used the guide of my SkyView App.

The three brightest stars I could see from my backyard were:

• Arcturus, part of the constellation Bootes (directly in front of me)
• Vega, part of the constellation Lyra (above my head)
• Kaus Australis, part of the constellation Sagittarius (to my left)

Arcturus                                                                                 Vega

Kaus Australi

I also saw the three stars that make up the handle of the Big Dipper, as well as the top two of the bowl - the bottom two were covered by the trees. The picture below shows the three stars in the handle: Alkaid, Mizar, and Alioth. The Big Dipper is part of Ursa Major.

Unfortunately, I didn’t look for the planets - whoops, that was a mistake on my part for it not even crossing my mind (I guess I was so absorbed in the beauty and magic of the stars!).

Tonight was a really great experience for me, looking up and seeing what stars I could find. The ight was beautiful: bright specks splattered across the dark sky 

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Around 8:30 pm, I looked out and could see the moon - a waxing crescent - right in the crevice between some trees. The pictures aren’t great, but I’ll feature some below.