Eyes Full Of Stars

On Friday morning October 9th, two spacecraft will crash into the Moon. The target is crater Cabeus near the south pole. The collisions are part of the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) mission. The planned outcome of this lunar smackdown will allow scientists to confirm if water ice lies hidden within permanently shadowed craters.

Following the Apollo missions, interest in returning to the Moon became a low priority. But that all changed in 1999 when NASA’s Lunar Prospector detected the presence of hydrogen in the lunar polar regions. Most recently, the Cassini and Deep Impact probes along with India’s Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter obtained compelling evidence that the hydrogen may exist as water ice near the Moon’s poles.

Now that Autumn is here, let’s get acquainted with one of the season’s prominent constellations, the winged horse Pegasus. Novice stargazers looking for a pattern of stars resembling a horse are bound for frustration. The easiest way to find the part of the sky Pegasus wings across is to first look for a large square or diamond shape above the eastern horizon.

With baseball playoffs underway, fans may see the diamond pattern as the infield of their favorite ball park. The star at home plate is the faintest of the four and is designated Gamma Pegasi. Its other name, Algenib, comes from Arabic with alternate translations meaning wing or side. Playing first base is Markab designated as Alpha Pegasi. The name Markab is Arabic for shoulder, but sometimes is called the saddle.