Oracle Night Sky Charm

Andromeda Galaxy, DSLR 300mm telephoto lens, by Mike Weasner.

Welcome to the 9th edition of “Oracle Night Sky Charm”. These monthly articles will help you enjoy Oracle’s Night Sky. You will also learn why it is important to protect our Night Sky Heritage.

Two Galaxies

During October the “Milky Way” continues to grace Oracle’s dark sky in the early evening (look to the southwest). Catch this wonderful view of billions of stars in our galaxy before it gets too low.

Did you know you can see another galaxy from Oracle? If you have good eyes you can see the Andromeda Galaxy (also known as M31) in our sky as it rises high in the eastern sky this month after dark. The view is even better in binoculars. If the Andromeda Galaxy were a little brighter you would easily see that it spans nearly the same width as three Full Moons side-by-side. Use these sky charts to locate M31 (marked with an oval). Look for the Great Square of Pegasus (upper right in top sky chart) and then follow the two rows of stars down and to the left (looking eastward). There are two “pointer stars” that point at the Andromeda Galaxy.

The Andromeda Galaxy is the most distant object in our Universe that many people can see with their unaided eyes. It is about 2.5 million lightyears away (14,696,563,432,959,019,327 miles). While you are looking at the Andromeda Galaxy, wave at the residents there. They will see you waving at them in two and half million years. You’ll see them waving back in 5 million years, so be certain to stick around for that!

Visible Planets

While you are looking at the Andromeda Galaxy you will probably see a bright object down and to the right of the Great Square of Pegasus. That is the planet Saturn, famous for its beautiful ring system. The brighter planet Jupiter will not rise until about 1 AM at the beginning of October. Venus will rise about 5 AM.

Fall is a Great Time to enjoy our Night Sky Charm!

October is a great time of year to enjoy Oracle’s dark sky. The nights are still comfortable and the monsoon storm clouds have left us. The sky gets darker earlier in the evening and there many nice sights to view. Just another reason to appreciate living in Oracle. Protect our Night Sky Charm by using proper outdoor lighting that illuminates only the ground and not the sky or your neighbor’s property. Turn your lights off when not in use. Proper lighting will make you safer and healthier, enhance security, reduce energy costs and impacts on climate, and preserve the natural nocturnal environment to protect all life on our home Planet Earth. To learn more about proper lighting see the DarkSky International website.

If there is something you would like discussed in “Oracle Night Sky Charm”, email Mike Weasner at mweasner@mac.com. Mike has been a volunteer at Oracle State Park since 2014 and is a past Vice President and past President of Friends of Oracle State Park.