When you wish upon a star...make sure it's not a planet!

Many of us stargaze.  There's something...humbling about going out on a clear night and looking up at those little tiny dots of light and realizing...there's billions of them in the galaxy.




I wish I could say I'm an expert on identifying constellations, but the only three I can recognize easily are Ursa Major (Big Dipper), Orion (directly opposite the Dipper) and Taurus.  In the Big Dipper I know where the star Megrez is located (Faintest star in the bowl, right where the handle joins it) and in Orion I know Rigel and Betleguese (Better known as Beetlejuice) - his right foot and left shoulder, respectively, when you're looking at him.  On especially clear nights I can even make out the nebula that forms his sword, hanging from the three stars that form his belt.  (For you Harry Potter fans, Bellatrix is his opposite shoulder.)

Taurus, the bull, is to his right - look for two bright stars right next to each other, and you should be able to make out the faint "V" that forms his head.   Alderberan is an orange-hued star, which is his left eye as he glares at Orion.  The Pleiades are also known as "The Seven Sisters" and are a cluster of stars that form his shoulder.  The Sisters are Sterope, Merope, Electra, Maia, Taygeta and Celeano.

Last September, I was out taking pictures of the moon, when I noticed a very bright star next to it.  I was quite surprised when I was able to zoom in on the star and get pictures - my camera's good, but it's not that good.  Or so I thought.  I came in to upload them, and did a bit of searching online, and realized...I'd gotten pictures of Jupiter!

It was just a bit cloudy that night, as you can see

 What surprised me even more was that I'd managed to not only get pictures of the planet, but also its stars!  They're tiny specks compared to the planet, but they're there.

You can see the four moons here, although Callisto on the left is very faint

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the picture below, I've labeled the moons.  I was rather excited to have been able to get pictures of a planet, let alone its moons!

Callisto seems rather shy, doesn't she?  Ganymede is by far the showiest.

If you go out at all during March and April, you'll be able to see five of the planets with the naked eye - Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Mars and Saturn.  The site Earth Sky tells you where and when to look for them.  If you're in a city, or around any bright lights (security/yard lights, for example) you'll have to move away from them.  Follow the link "Give Me Five Minutes and I'll Give You Saturn" for a neat and easy way to locate that planet, by following the bottom of the Dipper.

We're due for some rain in the next week, but hopefully by the 22nd, when the moon is new, it'll be clear again and the stars will really stand out.

I can't wait to see what I can get pictures of then!