On July 31, 1935, Helen Sawyer Hogg captured an image of Messier 14, an ancient globular cluster of about 150,000 stars, 30,000 light years from earth. She was one of the first female astronomers to directly operate a major research telescope. Her scientific research, professional leadership, and public outreach helped advance the study of astronomy in the 20th century.

Gas Giants and The Perseids

One of the best meteor showers is now underway. The Perseids runs from July 17 to August 24. According to Ottawa Centre’s Pierre Martin, “the peak of the Perseids producing about 90 meteors per hour will occur late afternoon on the 12th. Therefore the nights of Aug 11/12, as well as the 12/13, should reward you with 50 to 60 or more meteors per hour striking the atmosphere at 59 km/sec”. Pierre also says “a higher number of bright fireballs may be seen on nights before the peak rather than nights after”. Moonlight will not be a factor this year with the new moon on August 8. By contrast, next year’s Perseids takes place under a full moon, drastically reducing the hourly rate. This year's full Sturgeon Moon takes place on August 22.