Sunrise Sunset

Fri., August 26 6:00 7:25

Sat., August 27 6:01 7:23

Sun., August 28 6:02 7:22

Mon., August 29 6:03 7:20

Tues., August 30 6:05 7:18

Wed., August 31 6:06 7:17

Thurs., Sept. 1 6:07 7:15

Fri., Sept. 2 6:08 7:13

The Milky Way is especially pretty this time of year. It appears overhead at about 10 p.m., splashed across the sky.

Stand outside in a dark part of the Vineyard. Allow your eyes to adjust to the darkness, and then look up to see a long band of billions of stars rising in the northeastern sky, passing overhead and then descending south toward the southwestern horizon. The Milky Way, our galaxy, is ideally placed for late summer stargazing.

It includes a number of constellations: Cassiopeia in the northeast, Cygnus the swan overhead, Aquila to the south and then Sagittarius which sits on our southwestern horizon. Astronomers have known for decades that the center of our galaxy is in Sagittarius, even though visually, the constellation seems like all the others. Our solar system sits in the galaxy.

The new moon phase is on Sunday and is neither viewable in the morning or nighttime sky. A thin crescent moon appears low, close to the horizon, in our western sky on Tuesday night.

M.A.L.