Clear summer nights in the Biosphere are
perfect times to go stargazing! If you’ve been stargazing before, you know how
amazing it is to lie back, look up, and see a sky full of wonders. If you’ve
never gotten the chance before, here’s a helpful guide!
Our summer skies are spectacular, but have you
ever noticed that the stars change throughout the seasons? Constellations and
planets easily visible during the winter or fall are nowhere to be seen during
the summer - why is that? Let’s look into it!
The changing constellations have everything to
do with the Earth’s movement around the sun. Did you know that you can actually
see winter constellations during the summer? They’re in the sky during the
daytime, so the sun’s light is blocking them! As the Earth moves around the sun throughout the year,
the constellations seem to move from east to west - eventually, the
constellations you see during the day shift to being the ones you see at night!
You can see here that as the earth travels
around the sun throughout the year, constellations seem to ‘rise’ and then
‘set’, just like the sun!
The constellations you see also have to do
with where you’re living on the earth. The Biosphere is in the Northern Hemisphere, or the top half of
the Earth, and we see constellations at different times from the Southern Hemisphere. However, there are
some constellations that can ONLY be
seen up here in the Northern Hemisphere! That’s because even though all stars
are very very far away, these special stars are close to the north pole and
never ‘set’. They are called circumpolar
stars - the Big and Little Dipper are both circumpolar, meaning you can see
them all throughout the year!
On the next clear night, go out and see some
stars!
Three
cheers for starry skies and a galactic surprise!
