Summer Constellations

I've had a small telescope since the early 1980s and have become much more connected to the changing starry sky.

I'm also an early riser so usually it's still dark when I go out to get the newspaper. This morning I could see the constellation Cygnus the Swan in the eastern sky and it portends the coming of summer and warm weather here in Wisconsin. Great.

If you want to learn more about the cosmos, the opportunities to do so have never been more inviting. The Web is filled to bursting with great astronomy sites. One of the best is Astronomy Picture of the Day at http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

But there are many more. Have a look and then start looking up when the Sun sets or before it rises. And don't forget that glowing orb that we depend on is itself a star and one that is only about 93 million miles away.

When you glance at it fleetingly so as not to hurt your eyes, note that its disc appears to be about the size of the Moon's disc even though it is about 372 times farther away. That should give you an appreciation for just how big it is.