Every one of us is unique and important, but at the same time, we’re a microscopic part of something that’s beyond comprehension.
Our Earth, solar system, sun and billions of other stars, along with who knows how many other planets, are all orbiting around our home Milky Way Galaxy. Miles are useless for trying to define how enormous our galaxy is. The numbers would be beyond mind-boggling. Instead, we use light-years, the distance a beam of light would travel in a year’s time. That works out to just short of 6 trillion miles.
Our Milky Way is believed to be a spiral disk of stars with a big bulge in the middle. It spans well over 100,000 light-years in diameter, but the thickness of most of the disk is very thin by comparison, around 1000 light-years. The central bulge of our home galaxy is about 12,000 light-years in diameter. In the center of that bulge is a super-sized black hole dubbed Sagittarius A, which is over 4 million times as massive as our lonely little sun. Our solar system is just under 30,000 light-years from the black hole. I’m glad we’re no closer!
Every time you look up on a clear night, even if you’re gazing in an area mired with light pollution, every one of the stars you see is a neighbor star in our home galaxy. In fact, most of the stars you see at a glance are very close Milky Way neighbors. To get a better idea of the vastness of the Milky Way, get out into the countryside where the sky is pitch dark. Take binoculars or a small telescope with you to really make the night special!
As twilight fades, you can tell right away how special the night sky can really be when you’re away from city lighting. Lie back on a blanket or lawn chair so you can really take it all in. It’s especially thrilling this time of year because when you look, you can see a long, ghostly, milky white ribbon that essentially cuts the sky in half. That ribbon is more formally known as the Milky Way band, stretching from the northeast horizon, through the overhead zenith, and on to the south-southwest horizon. That ribbon is made up of the combined light of billions and billions of stars. You are looking edgewise into the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy. There are so many stars in our line of sight that it’s impossible to see most of them individually.
The center bulge of the Milky Way is toward the southwestern horizon just above the spout of the teapot that makes up the constellation Sagittarius. It’s a little brighter than the rest of the band and would be a whole lot brighter if there weren’t gargantuan clouds of gas and dust in the way. Some astronomers think that if it weren’t for all of that blocking astronomical crud, that part of the sky would be as bright as the full moon all of the time! Get out there and galaxy gaze! It’s good for your soul!
Comets Swan and Lemmon
It’s possible to see two newly discovered comets in the evening. They’re known formally as C/2025 R2(SWAN) and C/2025 A6(LEMMON). They may be visible to the naked eye in the dark countryside, but more than likely you’ll need binoculars or a small telescope to spot them. Honestly, in urban areas, it could be a real challenge.
(Mike Lynch)
(Mike Lynch)
Attached are diagrams to help you find both comets, but your best bet will be to use a free stargazing app like my favorite, Sky Guide, Celestron Sky Portal, Star Walk, and others. Type in the comet’s formal names in the search engine, and it’ll point you in their direction with reasonably good accuracy. Comet Lemmon will be in the lower west-northwest skies, and Swan will be in the low southwest. Start looking for them as soon as possible, as evening twilight fades, because both will set below the horizon between 9 and 10 p.m., and even before then, they’ll be lost in the haze near the horizon.
Comets are often described as “dirty snowballs” that travel in highly elongated orbits that take them from the far outer solar system to near the sun where they at least partially melt. That releases gas and dust particles to form their iconic tails, driven by solar wind. Their tails always point in the opposite direction from the sun.
By the way, if you happen to have one of the low-cost digital photographic telescopes like ZWO SeeStar or Dwarf, these comets are great targets. In some cases, they are the only real way to see the comets, depending on your seeing conditions. You might even get a shot with just your smartphone camera. The accompanying photo of Comet Lemmon was taken by me in my backyard with ZWO SeeStar S50.
Comet Lemmon (Mike Lynch)
Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and retired broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis/St. Paul. He is the author of “Stars: a Month by Month Tour of the Constellations,” published by Adventure Publications and available at bookstores and adventurepublications.net. Mike is available for private star parties. You can contact him at mikewlynch@comcast.net.
Starwatch programs
Tuesday, Oct. 14, 7-9 p.m., Prior Lake. For information and location, call 952-447-9820 or visit www.priorlakemn.gov/government/departments/recreation/programs.
Wednesday, Oct. 15, 7-9 p.m., North Oaks, at Chippewa Middle School. For more information, and reservations, call 651-621-0020 or visit www.moundsviewschools.org/communityeducation.
Thursday, Oct. 16, 7-9 p.m., Prairie Woods Environmental Center in New London-Spicer, Minn., through Willmar, New London-Spicer Community Education. Reservations required. Call 320 231-8490 or visit www.cewillmarmn.com
Friday, Oct. 17, 7-9 p.m., Grantsburg, Wis., at Crex Meadows Wildlife Area. For information and reservations, call 715-463-CREX or visit crexmeadows.org.
Saturday, Oct. 18, 7-9 p.m., Whitetail Park near Farmington. For Information and reservations, call 952-891-7000 or visit www.co.dakota.mn.us/parks/parksTrails.
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