The vastness of the universe is wonderful and humbling. Sky gazing gives the most relaxing and joyful feeling. Many wonders in the sky make us believe in magic. This makes it all the more miserable that experiencing the stunning brilliance of a starry night sky is no longer a given when you step outdoor.
Even on the clearest of nights, artificial light from towns conceals the natural darkness, making nighttime skies look a lot less glorious than they should.
The night sky is alike a mighty hall of the stars which then twinkle in beauty, glamour and transience until the dawn elegantly outshines them. As the night turns away from the sun and her glimmer, danger in our fantasy could await, from the nooks of our very psyche.
However, the stars make up a covering, a cloak of the calmest of glimmer, which could bring harmony to a soul which is enacting a rampage.
Here is a List of the Most Spectacular Wonders of Night Sky:
The Pleiades:
The Pleiades which are also known as "seven sisters and "messier 45", is an open star cluster. It is the nearest to earth star clusters and most visible with naked eyes in the night sky.
It is dominated by luminous and hot blue stars formed within the last 100 million years. The name seven sisters were given because they are composed of seven stars but now when you look up you will only see six, and the lost two are called lost pleiad.
They are encircled by a reflection nebula of gas and dust, and through binoculars, the blue colour is really noticeable, while long exposure photography can pull out the detail.
Meteor Shower:
Meteor shower usually occurs when the cosmic dust and debris from outer space enter the earth's atmosphere. To see a meteor shower you don't need any telescope or binoculars because the meteor shower can be seen with naked eyes.
When earth encounters too many meteors at the same time it is called a meteor shower. They appear bright because of the hot air as it enters the earth's atmosphere.
Perseids are one of the most prominent meteor showers that occur every year. The Perseids can be seen best around 2 am from your window. It is much more popular in western countries because this time of year they have a clear summer sky as compared to India where monsoon season is going on. So it becomes clear for them to enjoy the meteor shower.
Aurora:
Aurora is the polar lights or northern and southern lights that are natural lights seen in the earth's night sky in higher altitude regions. They are formed as a disturbance in the magnetosphere that is caused by solar wind which leads to aurora lights in the sky.
The disturbance that results in ionization emits lights of different colours and complexity. The name "aurora" is named after the Roman goddess, Aurora who travelled from the east to west and announces the coming of the sun.
These lights can be easily seen with naked eyes on the northern and southern poles. The northern pole lights are called aurora borealis and southern pole lights are called aurora australis. It is the most beautiful sight in the night sky that is visible.
Noctilucent Clouds (NLCs):
One of the highlights of the summer months, when there are so few hours of observing moment, is the impression of noctilucent or night shining' clouds. These clouds are created of small ice crystals so high in the atmosphere there on the perimeter of space.
They are discovered low in the northwest 60-90 minutes after dusk, or in the northeast 60-90 minutes before dawn. Because they are so high, they linger brightened by the Sun and appear to shine.
Supermoon:
A supermoon occurs when the Full Moon coincides with the Moon's nearest approach to Earth in its elliptic orbit. This situation is named perigee and in its 27-day orbit around Earth, the Moon is at the shortest distance to Earth at 3,63,711 kilometres. In this situation, the Moon seems larger and brighter than regular.
It just occurs three to four times a year, and always occurs consecutively. A supermoon arises when the Moon's orbit is nearest (perigee) to Earth at a similar time the Moon is full.
The term "supermoon" was formed in 1979 and is constantly employed to narrate what astronomers would name a perigean (pear-is-jee-un) full moon I.e. a full moon occurring near or at the time when the Moon is at the nearest point in its orbit around Earth.
The phrase provides preference to the geometric alignment of Sun-Earth-Moon and enables the incident of perigee into a wider period than the real moment of perigee.
Milky Way:
The sun and all other planets around the sun are part of a galaxy called the milky way galaxy. A galaxy is a large group of stars, dust, and gas bound together by gravity.
The milky way is a hazy band of light that can be seen in the night sky formed from a large group of stars that cannot be seen individually. Galileo Galilei was the first person to resolve the band of light into individual stars.
The Milky way core is only visible for about half a year. In winter it is not visible because it's too close to the sun and in spring it will first become visible around sunrise. The summer month is best for viewing because the milky way can be seen up all night.
This universe is filled with abundant wonders that never cease to amaze us. It's our responsibility to preserve these marvels and appreciate them. Enjoy the above-mentioned wonders of the night sky and treat your soul.
