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Exploring the Winter Skies Class

A Dark Sky Maine Educational Offering

Learn the Stars, Constellations and Planets of Winter

Jan. 12, 19, 26, Feb. 2, 2022

4 Week Class, presented by John Meader, Vice President of Dark Sky Maine and Director of Northern Stars Planetarium.

Hosted by Nancy Hathaway, President of Dark Sky Maine.

Fee: $60/person.

Learn the winter sky with a weekly virtual lesson presented on Zoom by John Meader of Northern Stars Planetarium for four weeks in January and early February. Each lesson will be roughly one hour long.

You will learn the constellations of winter, the names of significant stars, as well as how to find the visible planets. Everyone will gain access to Stellarium and learn how to use this amazing free software for study and future reference. Specific dates and details will be in our December newsletter.

To register donate $60 to Dark Sky Maine and email us at darkskymaine@gmail.com and let us know that you’re registering for the Exploring the Winter Skies Class. We’ll be in touch a couple of days before the first class with the syllabus and more information.

Help keep Maine’s skies the darkest in the eastern United States. Donate to Dark Sky Maine and help us keep our skies dark and full of stars.

Thank you for your support!

Dark Sky Maine, a 501c3 nonprofit, promotes an appreciation of the night sky through education and by supporting measures that use appropriate lighting to provide security on the ground, promote the health of humans and nocturnal wildlife, while maintaining dark skies overhead.

January Night Sky Highlights

by Richard Luecke

The 21 December solstice is now in the rearview mirror, which mean winter and cold. Maine cold. On the upside, there’s no mud, no bugs, and no cars with sunbelt licenses plates crowding Reny’s parking lot. And the sun is slowly creeping back, rising slightly higher in the sky each day, giving us a bit more daylight as the month goes on.

There is plenty to see during the month’s cold evenings. The elusive planet Mercury began its journey into evening twilight in early January. On the 15th at 5 p.m. it will be just above the SW horizon, about 4 degrees to the lower right of Saturn—close enough that the two planets will fit with the field of view of most binoculars. Locating it in the twilight is easier if you use binoculars. But to avoid eye damage, wait until the sun is fully below the horizon before scanning for the planet. Mercury thereafter will sink night by night toward the horizon and the evening twilight.

As the sky darkens, turn toward the east. There you’ll encounter several of the most prominent winter constellations: Auriga, the Charioteer, Taurus, the Bull, Orion, the Hunter, Monoceros (dimmer), the Unicorn, and Gemini, the Twins. Connect their brightest stars and you’ll have the so-call Winter Hexagon—a handy device for recognizing and remembering those eye-popping constellations.

Our December Highlights pointed out three excellent binocular targets found in and around the Winter Hexagon—the Pleiades, the Hyades, and the Orion Nebula. Check them out if you haven’t already done so. Auriga offers three more targets—star clusters M36, M37 and M38. Their locations are marked here with red dots. Binoculars show each as a small, dim grey patch. A telescope, even a small one, reveals a kaleidoscope of starlight.

So, get out there and take in these winter celestial treats. Just be sure to follow Rule #1 of winter observing: dress warmer than would seem necessary!

Learn more at: DarkSkyMaine.com