{"id":3939,"date":"2026-07-03T14:13:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T18:13:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/?p=3939"},"modified":"2026-07-03T14:13:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T18:13:17","slug":"julaugsep2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/2026\/07\/03\/julaugsep2026\/","title":{"rendered":"JulAugSep2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Summer Solstice Picnic, June 20, 2026 <\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

It was a beautiful day for a picnic, and about two dozen people came for our annual solstice picnic at the pavillion at Sleeping Giant State Park. As usual, there was a lot of good food and good conversation. There were also a few scopes set up for some nice daytime observing. We were able to view the Sun in both white light and hydrogen alpha, plus the crescent Moon and the surprisingly bright oval disk of Venus. It was a very relaxing and enjoyable afternoon and a great way to mark the official start of summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Recent Public Outreach Events<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

By Donna Pursley<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Family Astronomy Night at Hammonasset, June 5, 2026<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

On June 5th we hosted a Family Astronomy Night at Meigs Point in Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison along with the Shoreline Astronomical Society and the Thames Amateur Astronomical Society. There were on and off clouds and because of this the crowd was smaller than usual, but we still had about 100 people in attendance and 18 telescopes. The smaller crowd was actually a good thing because we were able to spend more time with each group. And we were able to swing our scopes to more objects. The problem was finding something to see. In June, the Sun sets very late so it didn\u2019t really get really dark. When it did get darker, there were more clouds. Considering that it was a late event, I saw more children than I expected. Everyone was eager to look through the scopes. We packed up and were ready to leave when we looked up and saw a sky full of stars. Happens every time.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Youngs Park, June 13, 2026<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It was a beautiful cloudless day. Hot, but not humid. The forecast was for a beautiful moonless, cloudless night. But\u2026.   When we started setting up at Youngs Park, there were puffy clouds. We were able to show Jupiter with its moons and Venus. Mercury was too low. As it became dark the puffy clouds become streaky bands of clouds. We were able to find a few good objects to show the few brave souls that came out to brave the mosquitos. There were 6 scopes and maybe 20 people. There was one boy who wanted to see Stephenson 2-18, a massive red hypergiant star in Scutum. At magnitude 15, I was unable to find it. He has self-taught himself astronomy from YouTube. We packed up around 10:30.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Get Ready for Connecticut Star Party 36<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n
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Get information about CSP here<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

——-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Features<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

If you have not looked at the newsletter before, check out some of the regular features. There are four useful links in the menu at the top of this page:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Calendar<\/strong> This is a monthly calendar that includes all the scheduled events of ASNH, other regional events of interest, plus the dates and times of noteworthy events in the night sky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SkyMap<\/strong> This page has a chart of the sky as it appears over the New Haven area at the present date and time. It is constantly updated, so you can go to this page on any clear night to see what is overhead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Directions <\/strong>This page gives directions to all the locations where regular activities of ASNH take place, including the monthly meeting, public observing sessions, and the annual Connecticut Star Party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other regular features can be found within these pages:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upcoming Public Events <\/strong>Many ASNH events are free and open to the public. These include the monthly meetings and public observing sessions at Young’s Pond Park in Branford and Silver Sands State Park in Milford. This section gives the dates, times, and descriptions of these events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Night Sky Highlights <\/strong>This section lists some objects to observe in the sky during the next few months, whether you are using just your eyes, a pair of binoculars, or a telescope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gallery<\/strong> This section features photographs of celestial targets taken by ASNH members and others<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Upcoming Observing Events<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Members with telescopes are needed for these outreach events. If the weather looks questionable for an observing event, check the ASNH website<\/a> after 4:00 pm. There will be a scrolling message on the home page if an event has been cancelled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friday, August 21, 8:00 pm<\/strong> (rain date, Saturday, August 22)
Hammonasset Beach State Park
Meigs Point Nature Center, 1288 Boston Post Rd, Madison CT (map<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friday, August 28, 7:00 pm<\/strong>
Brooksvale Park
534 Brooksvale Avenue, Hamden CT<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saturday, September 19, 7:00 pm<\/strong>
International Observe the Moon Night
Salt Meadow Park, 1362 Boston Post Road, Madison CT<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friday, October 16, 7:00 pm<\/strong>
Silver Sands State Park
Milford CT (map<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saturday, October 17, 7:00 pm<\/strong>
Young\u2019s Park
60 Blackstone Ave, Branford CT (map<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sunday, October 25, 7:00 pm<\/strong> (rain date, Sunday, November 22)
Madison Moonlight Walk, Madison Surf Club
87 Surf Club Road, Madison CT (map<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friday, November 6, 7:00 pm<\/strong> (rain date, Saturday, November 7)
Hammonasset Beach State Park
Meigs Point Nature Center, 1288 Boston Post Rd, Madison CT (map<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friday, November 13, 7:00 pm<\/strong>
Silver Sands State Park
Milford CT (map<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saturday, November 14, 7:00 pm<\/strong>
Young\u2019s Park
60 Blackstone Ave, Branford CT (map<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saturday, November 21, 7:00 pm<\/strong>
Colchester Land Trust
Cold Spring Farm, 46 Town Road, Colchester (map<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Please check the online calendar for additions to our outreach events: https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/Outreach\/SPEvents.php <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upcoming Monthly Meetings on Zoom<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Tuesday, July 28, 7:00 pm
Tuesday, August 25, 7:00 pm


We will continue to use this format for monthly meetings for now. A week or two before each meeting, members will receive an email announcement with a link that will allow them to connect to the online meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just click the link or copy and paste in your browser and that will connect you to the meeting. You can do this on any device that has an internet connection and a browser.  You can do this on a smart phone. You can display yourself if you like with your selfie camera on your device. If you don’t that’s okay, don’t feel you have to.

You can also dial in to the meeting. The number and password will be given in the announcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Observing Reports<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

By Michael Amato<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Saturday April 11, Rose took me to NEAF for my 80th birthday present. I ran into Andy Poniros at NEAF along with his friend Tony. Rose took a picture of the three of us. Andy told me I just missed seeing the Barkers there, but he did see and talk to them. When we first arrived, Rose and I went to the telescope field to look through both the H Alpha and white light scopes to observe the Sun. The left side of the Sun had many solar flares coming out of it which impressed Rose since she never observed the Sun in H Alpha. We then looked through a solar scope which had a white light filter. The left side of the Sun had a large spot on it and the right side had a group of smaller spots. We then went back inside and listened to several talks. Astronaut Hoot Gibson gave a great talk about his experiences in outer space. The other speakers all were very interesting also. One disappointment was Astronomer Michelle Thaller’s talk was moved to Sunday, so we didn’t see her lecture. We visited the inflatable planetarium for a one-hour show where the speaker showed us the night sky for all four seasons. That was really impressive. Finally, before we went home, we went back out to the field where a man had his scope looking at Venus in broad daylight. Venus is just starting its waning gibbous phase and Rose  I were able to notice that. This turned out to be the best 80th birthday I ever had LOL.<\/p>\n\n\n

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On the evening of April19, Rose and I observed the conjunction of the crescent Moon and the Pleaides just after sunset. The Pleaides were just to the lower right of the Moon and even though the Moon was only 9% lit, we both had difficulty picking out the open cluster. It actually was faint in both of our 10X50 binoculars. After that, we swung our binoculars to the left and observed Aldebaran and the Hyades. The Hyades were easier to see because the Moon was about 5 degrees away. We ended the evening by looking at Venus which was well below the conjunction. It was cold outside, but it was worth it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the evening of May 18, Rose, my brother Anthony and I observed the conjunction of the crescent Moon and Venus from our own locations. It was a beautiful sight and the image taken by Anthony shows the nice earthshine. It was another enjoyable night of viewing.<\/p>\n\n\n

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On Monday evening, June 1, I was browsing around the constellation Lyra with my 5.1″ Short Tube Newtonian Reflector. I came upon Vega and I noticed there was a small sprinkling of faint stars around Vega. I wanted to know if this sprinkling of stars was known, so I went online to a detailed map of Lyra to see if they are marked on the map. Sure enough, the star map did show a small sprinkling of stars around Vega and they were not named. I’ve been looking at Lyra and Vega for many years and this was the first time I ever saw these stars. It proves that surprises always await you when you look up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the week of June 2-9, Rose, Anthony and I enjoyed the conjunction of Venus and Jupiter with Mercury nearby. We looked at the planets from our three different locations. Rose captured this image on June 9 with her cell phone. This three-planet gathering was very enjoyable to observe.<\/p>\n\n\n

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On Tuesday night June 9 after Sagittarius had risen, Anthony took out our Seestar 30 scope to image M8. This tiny scope produced this image, and we agreed we did not expect this to come out so well. We kept the scope on M8 for a long time until we got this image. I still can’t believe a $354 scope can produce images like this. Between our Unistellar and Seestar scopes, my brother and I are able to do first class astronomy even though we are both senior citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n

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On the morning of June 28, I observed the large sunspots on the Sun with my 62-mm Sunspotter Solar Telescope and they were huge! I then contacted my brother Anthony about the Sun and he quickly brought out our Seestar 30 telescope and the result was the image below. I also took out my eclipse glasses on June 29, and I was able to see the sunspots with my naked eye. My brother and I are lucky we can do astronomy day or night.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Night Sky Highlights for July-September 2026<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

By Jim Mazur<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Solar System<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Perseid Meteor Shower (peaking around August 12-13)<\/strong>
With a new Moon occurring on August 12 (and a total solar eclipse visible in some northern parts of the world), this is a great year for viewing the Perseids under dark skies. Remember that the meteors are visible for many days before and after the peak night, so there are plenty of chances to go out and take a look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mercury<\/strong>
The best chance to see Mercury this summer will be in late July and early August, when it will be low in the eastern sky just before dawn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Venus<\/strong>
Throughout the summer, Venus will be a brilliant beacon in the west after sunset, although in September it will be low in the sky for northern hemisphere observers, requiring a good western horizon to observe it.

Mars<\/strong>
At about magnitude 1.3, bright red Mars will be easy to spot in the east during the early morning hours. It will be in Taurus in July, moving to Gemini in September. Through a telescope at high power, a small disk will be visible, only about 4 to 5 arcseconds in diameter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jupiter<\/strong>
Jupiter will be too close to the Sun to observe in July, but by mid-August and September is will start to appear as the brightest object in the eastern sky before dawn.

Saturn<\/strong>
Saturn will rise around midnight in July, in the late evening in August, and soon after sunset in September. Therefore the opportunies for observing it in the evening become more favorable as the summer moves along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Uranus<\/strong>
This greenish gas giant will be near the Pleiades and Hyades throughout 2026. It will be viewable in the early morning hours in July and around midnight by late summer. A unique telescopic viewing opportunity will occur during the pre-dawn hours of July 4<\/strong>, when Uranus will be just 0.1 degrees north of Mars. For other dates, a finder chart can be found at: https:\/\/theskylive.com\/uranus-info<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neptune<\/strong>
Neptune is close to Saturn, and like Saturn it will be visible in the evening sky in September. A finder chart for Neptune is available here: https:\/\/theskylive.com\/neptune-info<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deep Sky Objects<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

With warm nights and the Milky Way high overhead, the summer is a great time to search for deep sky targets. Here are just a few of the many that the sky has to offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Messier 4, Scorpius<\/strong>
One of the closest globular clusters, 6800 light years away, just 1 degree from Antares. Star-hop chart<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Messier 16 (Eagle Nebula), Serpens
<\/strong>A cluster of bright stars surrounded by a faint nebula. A nebula filter can greatly enhance the nebula’s visibility. Star-hop chart<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Messier 21 (Webb’s Cross), Sagittarius
<\/strong>A small open cluster containing a mixture of bright stars and dimmer ones, about a degree to the north of the Trifid Nebula (M20). Star-hop chart<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Messier 55, Sagittarius<\/strong>
A large and bright globular cluster to the east of the Sagittarius teapot shape, a good target for even small telescopes. Star-hop chart<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Messier 71, Sagitta<\/strong>
A nice, loosely packed globular cluster, magnitude 8, easy to find in the middle of Sagitta, the arrow. Star-hop chart<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Messier 108, Ursa Major<\/strong>
An oblong spiral galaxy, magnitude 10, about a degree away from the more famous Owl Nebula (M97). Star-hop chart<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NGC 6503, Draco<\/strong>
Another oblong spiral galaxy, magnitude 10.2, about 17 million light years away. Star-hop chart<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NGC 6543 (Caldwell 6, Cat’s Eye Nebula), Draco<\/strong>
A nice bright planetary nebula with a distinct blue-green color. Its central star is pretty easy to see. Star-hop chart<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Epsilon Lyrae (Double Double) <\/strong>
People with excellent vision can tell, with the naked eye, that Epsilon Lyrae is a double star. With good seeing conditions and high magnification, each star resolves into a close pair, for a total of 4 stars. Star-hop chart<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

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Beta Scorpii <\/strong>
A pretty pair of blue-white stars, magnitudes 2.6 and 4.9, separated by 14″. They are about 400 light years away. Star-hop chart<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Gallery<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

During the daylight on the afternoon of June 17, Venus was occulted by the crescent Moon. Chris Predom took these pictures as Venus reappeared, with the Moon slowly drifting to the left as time passed. The first two pictures were taken with an iphone through an 8″ Dobsonian at 5:10 and 5:30 pm. He took the bottom picture with his iphone at 9:16 pm, when the Moon and Venus were a few degrees apart and Jupiter was visible to their lower right.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Gallery, continued:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sun was full of sunspots when Mike Zarick took this image on August 30, 2025 with his Seestar S50 scope.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Jim Mazur used his 14-inch Meade LX850 telescope the capture this image of the Sombrero Galaxy (Messier 104). On the right is a distinctive arrow-shaped group of 4 stars (maybe it should be called the “Sombrero Arrow”) that can help guide you to the galaxy when looking through a telescope.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Summer Solstice Picnic, June 20, 2026 It was a beautiful day for a picnic, and about two dozen people came for our annual solstice picnic at the pavillion at Sleeping Giant State Park. As usual, there was a lot of … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-24"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3939"}],"version-history":[{"count":48,"href":"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3939\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4009,"href":"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3939\/revisions\/4009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asnh.org\/ShootingStar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}