DK - The Night Sky Month by Month

Content previously published in U NIVERSE WILL GA TE R with GILES S PA RROW

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LOOKI NG UP Looking into Space Looking at Stars The Changing Sky Gett ing Started MON THL Y SKY GUIDES July Overv iews Highlights Northern Latitudes Southern Latitudes Augu st Overv iews Highlights Northern Latitudes Southern Latitudes September Overv iews Highlights Northern Latitudes Southern Latitudes October Overv iews Highlights Northern Latitudes Southern Latitudes November Overv iews Highlights Northern Latitudes Southern Latitudes December Overv iews Highlights Northern Latitudes Southern Latitudes Using the Sky Guides January Overv iews Highlights Northern Latitudes Southern Latitudes Febru ary Overv iews Highlights Northern Latitudes Southern Latitudes March Overv iews Highlights Northern Latitudes Southern Latitudes Apri l Overv iews Highlights Northern Latitudes Southern Latitudes May Overv iews Highlights Northern Latitudes Southern Latitudes June Overv iews Highlights Northern Latitudes Southern Latitudes ALMANAC 20212022 20232024 20252026 20272028 2029 Glossary Index Ackno wledgments CONTRIBUTO RS Will Gater is an astronom y journalist and author . He has writ ten for sev eral of the UK s top astronomy and science magazines and promotes both of these subjects with frequent appearances on television and radio. His blog and w ebsite can be f ound at www . willgater .com. W ill is also the author of The P ractical As tronomer , published by DK P ublishing. Giles Sparr ow is a writer specializing in astronomy and space science. He has degrees in astronomy and science communication and has worked for 1 years as an editor and author . An av id follo wer o f the unfolding story of space exploration, he has writ te n on spa ce tech nology and the history of spaceight in a wide range of books, including DK P ublishing s bestselling Universe .

Leonid meteor shower Shooting stars, here seen over Joshua T ree National Park in the USA, light up the sky . Eagerly anticipated every year , the Leonid meteor shower originates in the constellation Leo and annually peaks around November 17. By watc hi ng the night skies and observing stars, planets, nebulae, and galaxies, stargaze rs can start to understand the vast Univer se and all it encompasses. Astronomers picture the night sk y a s a starry sphere around Ear ththe celestial spherewhic h a llows them to nd their way around it and trac k the movements of night-sky objects as the Earth ro tates.

LOOKING UP THE SCALE OF THE UNIVER SE The Unive rse we liv e in is immense, extending f ar bey ond the f arthest edge of our Solar Sy stem. On a clear night, man y stars are visible to the naked e ye, a nd sometimes the faint glo wing band of the Milky Way galaxy can be seen. F ro m a very dark site, the Andromeda Galaxy , a staggering 2.5 million light-years a way , is also visible. It is one of the most distant deep-sk y objects that is visible to the naked e ye. A telescope or a pair of binoculars allows us to see objects that are even f arther a way, such as other galaxies, nebulae, or star clusters in our galaxy , the Milky Way . Howeve r, there is much more to be seen, and amateur astronomers can see only a small fraction of it. The Earth is a par t of a muc h greater Univer se than our eyes alone reveal to us. Knowing our place within it helps us understand what we are seeing. The stellar neighborhood lies in the Orion Arm of the Milky W ay , around 26,000 light-years from its center Andromeda I Andromeda III Andromeda II Galactic nucleus Tri angulum Galaxy NGC 185 NGC 147 Orbit of Neptune Sun 1 light-hour The Moon moves around Earth in a slightly elliptical orbit Earth Earth 5 light-years Asteroid belt THE EARTH A ND MOON The Moon is t he neare st celes tial bod y to Earth, sitting 238,900 miles (384,400km) away . Light takes jus t over a se cond to reach Earth from the Moon. THE SOLAR SYSTEM The planet s, moons, dwarf planets, comets, and asteroids t hat orbi t the Sun are known as t he Solar Syst em. The most distant planet from the Sun is the gas giant Neptune, located an a verage of 2,794 millio n miles (4,497 millio n km) away from the Sun. THE STELLAR NEIGHBOURHOOD Beyond the edge of t he Solar System, we l eave the sphere of the Sun s influen ce and move out into the stellar neighbor hood. There ar e 106 stars within 20 l ight-years o f the Sun, of w hich th e closest i s Proxim a Centau ri. A member of t he Alpha ( ) Centa uri star sys tem in the constel lation C entaurus, P roxima C entauri s its 4.2 light-years away . THE MILKY WAY The Milky Wa y galaxy is a disk of gas, dust, and stars with a bulging n ucleus. I t can be s een as a f aint band of l ight stretching across t he sky on a cl ear ni ght. The Sun is j ust one of t he 200 400 billion stars that the Milky Way c ontains. 5,000 light-years Sun Sirius The Andromeda Galaxy lies 2.5 million light-years away from Earth, in the Milky Way Alpha Centauri 0.5 light-seconds