Page 6 Colby Free Press Friday, August 24, 2012 Galaxy lends name to triangle of stars High overhead in the early evening are three bright is 7° to the right of Scorpius’ alpha star Antares in the stars – Vega, Deneb and Altair – forming the Milky southwest; Mars, looking like Antares, is 16° to the Way Triangle. Paul Derrick Moon’s lower right. Viewed from dark skies away from urban light 22 Saturday: Autumn equinox, the beginning of pollution, the bright plane of our Milky Way galaxy Stargazer fall in the Northern Hemisphere when night and day is seen running through the triangle, hence its name, • are of approximately equal length. although it is also called the Summer Triangle. The 22 Saturday evening: The Moon is at fi rst quar- Milky Way Triangle is not an offi cial constellation ter. but rather an asterism, an informal but easily-recog- 29 Saturday: The full Moon is called the Fruit nizable pattern of stars. ping 3,262 light years distant, making it one of the Moon and Corn Moon, and being the full Moon In early September, an hour and a half after sunset, most distant stars we can see with our naked eyes. nearest the fall equinox it is also this year’s Harvest Vega, the brightest of the three triangle stars, is near The Milky Way Triangle, which became visible Moon. the sky’s straight-up point, called the zenith. Altair, low in the east in the early summer, will be in our Note: September is a good month to see the zodia- second brightest of the trio, is three fi st-widths (held evening sky until early winter when it sets in the cal light in the morning an hour before dawn begins at arm’s length) to the south-southeast of Vega with west soon after dark. to break; under very dark skies, look for a triangular- Deneb two fi st-widths the northeast of Vega (and four shaped cosmic cloudiness rising 30° or more from fi st-widths from Altair). Deneb is situated within the Astro Milestones the eastern horizon. Milky Way with Vega is to the west and Altair to the German astronomer Johann Galle and his student Naked-eye Planets east of the galactic plane. assistant Heimrich d’Arrest discovered the planet The sun, moon and planets rise in the east and set Vega, the fi fth brightest star in the entire night sky, Neptune on Sept. 23, 1846, from Germany’s Berlin in the west due to earth’s west-to-east rotation on its is relatively nearby at a distance of 25 light years. Observatory. Their discovery was made based on the axis. It gained fi ctional fame when, in Carl Sagan’s 1985 predictions and position-calculations data sent them Evenings: Mars, Saturn. novel (and movie) “Contact,” it was the star system by Urbain Jean Joseph Leverrier of France. Morning: Venus, Jupiter. from which radio messages were received from oth- • Mercury spends the month hidden in the sun’s er intelligent beings. It is the alpha star of the small September 2012 glare, passing behind the sun Sept. 10. constellation Lyra the Musical Lyre which features a Sun: Sept. 1: sunrise 7:13 a.m., sunset 8:14 p.m.; • Venus is still the brilliant “morning star” domi- small parallelogram of four stars that appears to be Sept. 15: sunrise 7:26 a.m., sunset 7:52 p.m.; Sept. nating the eastern sky. hanging from Vega. Your fi st, held at arm’s length, 30: sunrise 7:40 a.m., sunset 7:27 p.m. • Mars, low in the west southwest at dark, now sets can completely cover Lyra’s major stars. Moon: Sept. 8, third quarter; Sept. 15, new; Sept. Milky Way Triangle well before midnight. Altair, the night sky’s 13th brightest star, is the al- 22, fi rst quarter; Sept. 29, full. • Jupiter, rising around midnight, is high in the pha star of the constellation Aquila the Eagle and is Night Sky Events moonwidths) to the right of the Beehive. south by morning. 17 light years distant. With Altair as its head, the ea- Held at arm’s length, the width of your fi st is 10º 14 Friday morning: A thin crescent Moon is 6° to • Saturn, low in the west southwest at dark, sets gle is fl ying in a north-northeasterly direction along and the width of your index fi nger is 1º. The width of the right of Leo’s alpha star Regulus just above the by 10 p.m. early in the month; by month’s end it sets the eastern edge of the Milky Way. a full Moon is 1⁄2º. eastern horizon as dawn is breaking. soon after sunset essentially ending its 2012 evening Deneb, the 20th brightest star, is the alpha star of 8 Saturday morning: The third quarter Moon 15 Saturday: The Moon is new as it passes be- appearance. the constellation Cygnus the Swan. Deneb represents passes within two moonwidths to the right of Jupiter tween the Earth and Sun. the swan’s tail as the big bird fl ies south southwest high in the east. 15 Saturday early evening: Mars passes 1° to the Paul Derrick is an amateur astronomer who lives along the Milky Way; the fainter star Albireo repre- 10 Monday: Mercury is at superior conjunction lower left of Libra’s alpha star Zubenelgenubi (an in Waco, Texas. His website (www.stargazerpaul. sents the swan’s head two fi st-widths from Deneb. with (behind) the Sun and passing into the evening easy binocular double) low in west at dusk. com) contains an archive of past Stargazer columns As with many things, appearances can be deceiv- sky. 18 Tuesday early evening: A thin crescent Moon and other basic stargazing information. Contact him ing. While our sun is blindingly bright to us, it is 12 Wednesday morning: “Morning star” Venus is 9° to the left of Saturn near the western horizon at [email protected] or (254) 723-6346 or fainter than any of the triangle stars, and only ap- is fl anked by a crescent Moon 4° to the right and the at dusk. write 918 N. 30th St., Waco, Texas, 76707. pears brighter because it is so much closer. And while subtle Beehive star cluster 3° to the left, all low in the 19 Wednesday evening: The crescent Moon is 2° Deneb appears to be the faintest of the triangle stars, east two hours before sunrise; all three will barely fi t to the left of Mars low in the southwest soon after in reality it is brighter than Vega, Altair and our sun within the same fi eld of view of most binoculars. dark. combined. A white supergiant star, Deneb is a whop- 13 Thursday morning: Venus passes 2 1⁄2° (fi ve 20 Thursday evening: The waxing crescent Moon On the Beat

Eagle poacher sentenced COLBY POLICE Owings. Wednesday 1:44 p.m. – Brandon Boutte ar- The poacher of a golden eagle knowingly killed a golden eagle on vice special agent investigated the 12:52 a.m. – Domestic: caller rested on warrant. in Trego County was sentenced Jan. 9 near Cedar Bluff Reservoir crime in conjunction with Kansas reported being restrained. Report 2:18 p.m. – Brought prisoner Tuesday after pleading guilty to in Trego County. Irvin was coyote Department of Wildlife and Parks fi led. from Lincoln County to Law En- killing the immature raptor in hunting from his truck when he Natural Resource offi cers. The 2:03 a.m. – Security check at forcement Center. Sell it 2011. spotted the eagle and shot it twice. poacher killed the eagle with a 12- the College. 2:45 p.m. – Caller reported his Chad Irvin, of Lacrosse, pleaded He saw the bird fall. gauge Remington shotgun, from a 4:50 a.m. – Security check at meds being lost or stolen. Report- in the guilty to one misdemeanor count Two days later, the injured vehicle while hunting with family the airport. ing party made contact and advised of the Bald and Golden Eagle Pro- eagle was reported to the Kansas members. 8 a.m. – Accident at Stephen’s he had found them. No report. tection Act; he was ordered to pay Department of Wildlife, Parks and Golden eagles are protected by Construction. 5:18 p.m. – Helped someone on classifieds a fi ne of $5,000 and restitution Tourism, which recovered the bird the federal Migratory Bird Treaty 11:51 a.m. – Caller reported I-70 at westbound mile 40 with a of $3,000; placed on supervised in southeast Trego County. The Act and the Bald and Golden Ea- meds being taken. Report fi led. tire change. probation for a period of three bird was taken to the department’s gle Protection Act. The killing of 1:18 p.m. – 911 open line from 8:36 p.m. – Booked Boutte. 462-3963 years during which time he may regional offi ce in Hays and then any eagle constitutes a violation business. Everything OK. 9:12 p.m. – Caller reported ac- not hunt, fi sh or trap; required to to the zoo in Great Bend for vet- of those acts. 2:25 p.m. – Caller reported sus- cident on K-25 at the Thomas/Lo- complete 50 hours of community erinary care. The bird’s legs were For information on golden ea- picious person. Unable to locate. gan county line. No accident. service; and ordered to forfeit the paralyzed by the shot and the ani- gles, go online to www.fws.gov/ shotgun used to kill the eagle. mal had to be euthanized. migratorybirds/baldeagle.htm. THOMAS COUNTY SHERIFF In his plea, Irvin admitted he A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser- Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Wednesday Treaster prosecuted. 12:08 a.m. – Booked Joshua J. Youth can learn animal care Carman. 10:20 a.m. – Released Tyson R. The Beef Cattle Institute at Kan- ple have registered and 8,200 have LAST 3 DAYS sas State University has launched earned certifi cation, the Youth An- Youth Animal Care Training, an imal Care Training program is de-    
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