hello everyone!
This week's Magic 30 Hour will take place between 7:45 and 8:15, so head out around 8pm this week and hope it's not too cloudy. There was a new moon yesterday, so there shouldn't be any problems with the moon.
This week we'll show you how to find 15 of the 20 brightest stars, which you should be able to find anyway, unless it's cloudy. Last week, we showed you how to find 8 of the 10 brightest stars. Did you see?
Now, let's look for brighter stars. The 11th brightest star is Altair in the constellation Aquila, but it will not be visible for the magic 30 hours. This week it will rise just to the left of due east after 11 p.m.
Finding the 12th star on the hit parade list is much easier. Turn west to find Orion the Hunter's upper shoulder. It is a very famous star and everyone knows its name. That bright red star is Betelgeuse, but it's not named after a movie monster. Betelgeuse is an unstable red giant star that will eventually explode as a supernova. There is another star that may form a new star in the eastern sky this summer, but we'll talk about that later.
If you leave a little earlier than the magic 30 hours, say around 7:30, you might see another bright red star if you measure two fist widths down and one fist width to the right from Betelgeuse. It is Aldebaran, the 13th brightest star. Although it's not officially part of the Magic 30 Hours, you can still watch it this week.
The smallest constellation is part of the Magic 30 Minutes. It is a crux of the Southern Cross, and despite being the smallest, it contains two of the 20 brightest stars. The bottom star of the cross, Alpha Crucis, is number 14 on the hit parade of bright stars, and its left arm is Beta Crucis, the 20th brightest star.
The 15th brightest star is Spica, which is relatively easy to spot. Find the Big Dipper in the northern sky and follow the arc of the Big Dipper's handle. It begins by “arcing” toward Arcturus, the fourth brightest star, and then continuing to follow that curve, it “surges” toward Spica in the constellation Virgo.
Antares, the 16th brightest star, is barely visible above the southeastern horizon at the end of the magic 30 hours. Antares is the brightest star in the constellation Scorpius and is much easier to see later in the evening.
If you measure two fist widths above Betelgeuse and two fist widths to the right, you'll find Pollux, the 17th brightest star. Pollux is one of the Gemini twins. Fomalhaut, the 18th brightest star, is the only member of the hit parade of 20 brightest stars that doesn't look like April at all. It is visible from autumn to winter, but now it is on the opposite side of the sun.
The 19th brightest star, Deneb, rises in the northeast after 11 o'clock, so it is not part of the magic 30 hours, and the 20th star is the Beta Cross of the Southern Cross.
Betelgeuse may eventually become a supernova, but there may be a visible nova this summer. Measure two fist widths below Arcturus and one fist width to the left. If you see a bright star there, the T-corona has become a nova. It is a recurrent nova and may be seen this summer.
It's a surprising sky. enjoy!
Pam Eastrick has been the coordinator of the former University of Guam Planetarium since the early 1990s. She has been writing this weekly astronomy column since 2003. Please send any questions or comments to life@guampdn.com. I will forward it to you.