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The Summer Triangle made up of the bright stars Deneb, Vega and Altair continues to dominate the sky to the South. Deneb forms the head of the constellation Cygnus, the Swan which lies pretty much overhead. Its brightest stars form a cross against the background of the Milky Way. The constellation Pegasus includes a large square that lies to the south. The Plough can be seen in the northern evening sky whilst the “W” of Cassiopeia lies to the north-east. The very bright planet Venus appears low in the western sky in the evening, setting about an hour after the Sun, whilst slightly less bright Jupiter lies to the south-west. Slightly red Mars can be seen close to Venus on 11th September. Recently various spacecraft have made important discoveries about Mars. Recent images taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are showing evidence of lakes and flowing rivers on Mars about 4 billion years ago. Also the Phoenix lander has found direct evidence of water on Mars, in the form of ice below the surface of the planet. James Bradley was vicar of the parish of Bridstow, near Ross-on-Wye in Monmouthshire until 1721, when he changed vocation and became a full-time astronomer. Isaac Newton considered him to be the “best astronomer in Europe” and he was eventually made Astronomer Royal. Bradley carried out measurements that proved the Earth orbits the Sun, and that led to the first estimates of the distances of stars. Dave Thomas | Home Page | |