Secrets Of Summer Skies

The crisp, warm nights of this summer month would invite avid sky-watchers to understand and mull over exiguous, erratic enigmas and the fascinating formations of the puzzling planets and secretive stars that indicate arcane association with cryptic constellations. One could immerse intensely in the mind-boggling nature of the evolution of cosmic entities that can be seen subtly spreading all over the heavens. Planet Mercury would be fleeting in the western sky low above the horizon after sunset in comely constellation Gemini (twins). After mid-month it would be evanescent. On 15 June it reaches its greatest eastern elongation from the Sun. This is the best time to marvel at Mercury since it will be at its maximum height above the horizon in the evening sky. 

Promiscuous planet Venus would be visible brightly but briefly in western sky after dusk would fade to darkness. It would be shining superbly with stars that sketch the congenial constellations Gemini and Cancer (the crab) and sink slowly towards the horizon. The ruddy planet Mars can be monitored before sunup succinctly for a couple of hours in eastern sky in the southern section of the charming constellation Aries (ram). The mighty gas giant Jupiter can be relished reliably with its 115 mysterious moons after evening twilight in western sky. It will be dipping towards the horizon with the scintillating stars belonging to the cherished constellation Gemini, Castor (Kasturi) and Pollux (Punarvasu) can be admired above Jupiter. Depicting two thin parallel sticks, the comfortably placed constellation Gemini contains 85 stars that can be discerned with the naked eye. The most sparkling star here is Pollux, followed by coruscating Castor. Although their eponymously designated characters of myth allude to heavenly twins, the actual stars representing them are physical and drastically different from each other.

Castor is a sensational sextuple star system, coincidentally 52 light-years from us, which seems like a blue-white star to the unaided eye. Two spectroscopic binaries are twisting around each other with a perplexing period of shear of 470 years. It is an Algol-type eclipsing binary star with a period of approximately 19.5 hours. Pollux is an orange-hued giant star basically 34 light-years away. An eerie extrasolar planet is revolving around it. Alhena is a blue-white star 105 light-years away. Wasat is another baffling binary star, located 59 light-years away. The primary is a white star, and the secondary is an orange dwarf star with a whirling period of over 1000 years. Mebsuta is a dynamic double star with a primary yellow supergiant nine hundred light-years away. Their companion can be picked up through binoculars and telescopes. Mekbuda is a double star, whose primary is a Cepheid variable star. 

It is a yellow supergiant, whopping 1200 light-years away from us. Propus is a binary star with a unique variable component. It is simply 380 light-years away. Tejat is a rigorous red giant star, perhaps 230 light-years away, that is probably one hundred times larger than the Sun. The magnificent Medusa Nebula is a planetary nebula, located 1500 light years away. The Eskimo Nebula (NGC 2392), tagged appropriately as the Clown Face Nebula, is a dominant double-shell planetary nebula. 

It was discovered by famed German-British astronomer and composer William Herschel in 1787. It resembles a person's head surrounded by a parka hood. It is wrapped in gas that concocts the outer layers of a sun-like star. Inner fancy filaments are ejected by the strong wind of particles from the central star. It lies, surprisingly, 6500 light-years away. The ringed planet Saturn, with a beguiling 292 mirthful moons, can be saluted sweetly for a few hours in eastern sky before sunrise. 

It can be recognised as a speck of lustrous light near the planet Neptune glistening to its west. They are both glimmering gloriously on the southern side of the charismatic constellation Pisces (fishes) for a couple of wee hours well after midnight but before daybreak. Far-flung grey planet Uranus is not observable this month. It is lost in solar glare, as it is embracing the sun. 

It is sliding serenely through Taurus. The new moon would befall on 15 June, while the full moon would mesmerise moon-lovers on 29 June. This full moon is popularly known as the strawberry moon because it signals the time of year to gather the ripening fruit. It heralds the strawberry harvesting season. The conundrum of commanding June's solstice can be celebrated cheerfully and witnessed wonderfully on 21 June. The North Pole of the earth will be leaning toward Sun, which will have arrived at its northernmost position in the sky. It will be resting directly over the Tropic of Cancer at circa 23.44 degrees north latitude. It would signify the first day of summer (summer solstice) in the Northern Hemisphere with the extended hours of day of the year but the most minimised night and the first day of winter (winter solstice) in the Southern Hemisphere with the shortest hours of the day but with the longest night. The Sun would be relaxing in the constellation Taurus (the bull). 

The moon would be rejoicing in the constellation Leo (lion) on this day. Solstices transpire because the axis of the earth's spin on its polar axis is tilted at an angle of a puny 23.5 degrees to the plane of its orbit around the Sun. The direction of the earth's twirling axis remains fixed in space as it circles around the Sun, while the earth's sight line to the Sun runs through the twelve zodiac constellations. Consequently, the earth's North Pole is inclined towards the sun (in June), and at other times it is sloped away from it (in December). 

These phenomena give rise to earth's seasons for enhancing and conserving all forms of life in/on our blue planet. 

China launched its crewed Shenzhou-23 spacecraft and has docked it elegantly with its space station as part of Beijing's ambitions to dispatch humans to the moon. 

A Chinese astronaut would spend one year on the Tiangong space station for a crucial first engagement in the Chinese lunar landing programme. The Long March 2-F rocket blasted flawlessly in a cloud of flames and smoke from the Jiuquan launch centre in China's northwestern Gobi Desert. This valiant venture underscores the first spaceflight by 43-year-old astronaut Li Jiaying, who had worked for the Hong Kong police. Two other 39-year-old crew members are space engineer Zhu Yangzhu and Zhang Zhiyuan, a former air force pilot (in space for the first time). They would implement scientific projects in life sciences, materials science, fluid physics and medicine. The key experiment would be conducted for one year by one of them to study the effects of an outstretched stay in microgravity. It would be important for China's preparations for future missions to the Moon, Mars and objects in boundless space. The Shenzhou-23 escapade would boost China's goal to disembark astronauts on the moon by 2030. The US is also attempting to accomplish feats alike with the Artemis programme. 

NASA has announced the first phase of its moon base plans and is awarding US firms contracts for their execution worth millions of US dollars. Blue Origin would provide a pair of landers for supplying moon buggies to the lunar South Pole. These lunar terrain vehicles would be built by Astrolab and Lunar Outpost. Drones for moon would be obtained from Firefly Aerospace. It had sent drones on moon earlier. During last April's Artemis II mission, four astronauts flew around moon, travelling deeper into space than Apollo moon crews during the late 1960s and in the 1970s. In 2027, Artemis III, with another team of astronauts, would practise docking NASA's Orion capsule in orbit around Earth with the lunar landers being developed by Blue Origin and SpaceX. 

NASA is targeting Artemis IV in 2028 for putting two astronauts on the moon. The moon base's second phase would commence tentatively from 2029 into the 2030s with construction of permanent infrastructure, including a power grid. 

Contriving special habitats for supporting astronauts further for extended periods has been envisaged during the third phase. The territory markers would be respectful of other countries' spacecraft and equipment that might be nearby, fostering international co-operation, and would expect similar reciprocity accordingly. The prime goal of a moon base would be to encourage the lunar economy while undertaking scientific research and establishing a foundation for a Mars expedition. 

Named after Apollo’s twin sister of the hunt in Greek mythology, Artemis aims to land the first woman and the first person of colour with pride on the moon.

(Dr. Shah is an academician at NAST and patron of NASO.)