Mon Sep 7, 2026 ARCTURUS AND BOÖTES
If you look off to the northwest after sunset tonight, you’ll find a star low in the sky. That northwestern star is named Arcturus, which means, “bear guard” or “bear chaser.” That’s because Earth’s rotation causes this star to follow or chase the constellation of Ursa Major, the Great Bear in the Sky, to the north of Arcturus (you’ll recognize part of the Great Bear as the Big Dipper.) Arcturus is the fourth brightest star in the night sky; it’s about 36 light years away – that’s roughly two hundred and sixteen trillion miles from earth - in the constellation Boötes, the Shepherd. This is an agricultural constellation that ancient farmers used to keep track of when to plant and harvest the crops. In the springtime, Boötes can be found in the eastern sky after sunset; now, half a year later, the shepherd has gone over to the other side of the sky, a celestial reminder of harvest time.
Tue Sep 8, 2026 STAR TREK
Sixty years ago today, on September 8, 1966, the TV show Star Trek first aired. I saw that first episode, which was about an alien that would suck the salt out of you when you weren’t looking. So of course, like many young space enthusiasts, I was immediately captivated. I liked the show’s vision of a promising future (not counting the part where you get the salt sucked out of you,) and the portrayal of humans as daring explorers of the galaxy, curious about what they would find out there. The science and astronomy in it showcased the beauty and vastness of outer space – grand nebulas, lush planets, exotic moons. The writers built on the best of classic science fiction, and the science was, for the most part, well-researched. The writers confined the action to our Milky Way galaxy, which at 100,000 light years across, was big enough to contain us. For now, anyway.
Wed Sep 9, 2026 ELEVEN DAYS MISSING!
Here in America, there was no September 9th in the year 1752. There wasn’t a 3rd through the 13th either! The Julian calendar, established by Julius Caesar, was inaccurate; it was behind by ten days when Pope Gregory introduced the Gregorian calendar to Catholic countries in 1582. But England and its Protestant colonies kept using the old Julian calendar, until 1752, when, in order to fix the calendar, eleven days had to be chopped out. Riots broke out in London as landlords charged their renters a full month’s rent, even though the month was just 19 days long. “Give us back our eleven days!” they shouted. But in America, Ben Franklin counseled his readers not to “regret… the loss of so much time,” but to give thanks that one might “lie down in Peace on the second of the month and not… awake till the morning of the 14th.”
Thu Sep 10, 2026 VIKING II
Today’s Skywatch was written by planetarium assistant Vela De la Mare. On September 3rd, 1976, that’s exactly fifty years ago - the Viking 2 lander touched down on Mars. Part of NASA’s Viking program, this was only the second successful Mars landing in history. The program returned over 52,000 images, which mapped 97% of the red planet's surface. One of these was from Viking 2’s landing site on Utopia Planitia. It revealed a stunning image of water-frost covering the rocky terrain, a key sign it was in the right place for one of the project’s main goals – to search for Martian life. Biology tests were performed, and their results? Inconclusive. It appeared that all the essential elements needed for life were present, along with unexpected chemical activity in the soil, but no proof of any kind of microorganism. The Viking 2 lander continued to function until April of 1980, and sent us valuable data which paved the way for future missions.
Fri Sep 11, 2026 SCUTUM
The small constellation of Scutum, the “shield of Sobieski,” has no bright, or even middling-bright stars within its borders, and as it’s wedged into the summertime Milky Way, between Aquila the Eagle, Sagittarius the Archer and the Serpent’s Tail, (Serpens Cauda,) finding it is more like a process of elimination than actual discovery. It was introduced to star charts by the astronomer Johannes Hevelius to commemorate the lifting of the siege of Vienna which had happened on September 12, 1683. King Jan Sobieski of Poland led his hussars and men gathered from England, France, Germany, Austria, and even a great many displaced Tatars who had settled in Poland, in an attack that routed the Turkish army, which had lain siege to Vienna. Scutum has a few star clusters plus a planetary nebula, and even a pulsar.
