LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The stars of September represent the transition from the brilliance of the summer skies to the more sedate, but nonetheless beautiful fall skies.
September is derived from the Latin word septem, which means seven.
The old Roman calendar originally had only 10 months and September was the seventh month, hence the name.
For calendar trivia fans, September and December always begin on the same day each year.
The Summer Triangle, which we mentioned in last month’s column, still shines brightly overhead, with the constellations Cygnus, Lyra and Aquila dominant.
The Milky Way is especially prominent this time of the year, running north and south through Cygnus and Aquila.
The Milky Way looks like a large cloud. In reality it is made up of millions of stars.
When you look at the Milky Way, you are looking toward the center of our galaxy, which is named The Milky Way.
We do not know exactly what our galaxy looks like, since we do not have space craft able to travel far enough away it take a picture. But we can infer that it may look very similar to our nearest neighbor, the Andromeda Galaxy.
The Milky Way is estimated to have up to 400 million stars! Our galaxy is only one of an estimated 200 billion or more in the universe.
Hidden among the brilliance of the Milky Way and the constellations Cygnus and Aquila are four small constellations: Sagitta, Vulpecula, Delphinus and Equuleus.
Sagitta is an arrow, possibly one shot by Sagittarius the Archer, another summer constellation.
Vulpecula is a fox, and is a newer constellation, identified in 1690 by Johannes Hevelius, a famous Polish asronomer.
Vulpecula has a remarkable object in it that can be seen with a small telescope. This is M27, the Dumbell Nebula.
Delphinus represents a dolphin. Equuleus is a little horse. Both constellations were known to the ancient Greeks.
John Zimmerman is a resident of Lake County, Calif., and has been an amateur astronomer for more than 50 years. For more information about astronomy and local resources, visit his Web site at www.lakecountyskies.com .