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Friday, March 29, 2024

‘Earth & Sky’ Archives

EarthSky Tonight—Nov 4, Modest meteor shower

EarthSky Tonight—Nov 4, Modest meteor shower tonight. Moon and Venus before dawn tomorrow.

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org The radiant points for two November meteor showers – the South Taurids and North Taurids – both reside in front of the constellation Taurus the Bull. If you trace the paths of shower meteors backward, each shower appears to radiate from a certain point in the starry sky. As can be expected, the radiant point for the South Taurids is found in southern Taurus, while that of the North Taurids is found in northern Taurus. The ... Full Story

EarthSky Tonight—Nov 3, Crescent moon, planet Venus

EarthSky Tonight—Nov 3, Crescent moon, planet Venus in glow of dawn November 4

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org It is lucky the moon and planet Venus rank as the second- and third-brightest celestial bodies after the sun. Otherwise, we would have little chance of catching either object in the glow of morning twilight tomorrow (Thursday morning, November 4). Comet Hartley 2 to bring meteor shower on November 2 and 3? The moon will be the easier of the two worlds to see. Given a clear sky and an unobstructed eastern horizon, people everywhere ... Full Story

EarthSky Tonight—Nov 2, Use Great Square of Pegasus

EarthSky Tonight—Nov 2, Use Great Square of Pegasus to find Andromeda galaxy

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org You can see the Andromeda galaxy at this time of year … simply by looking eastward at nightfall. By late evening, this galaxy will climb almost straight overhead, so you might want to enjoy the comfort of a reclining lawn chair for viewing this deep-sky treasure. This neighboring spiral galaxy appears in our sky as a large hazy patch – bigger than a full moon. It’s very noticeable in a star-filled sky, far from city ... Full Story

EarthSky Tonight—Nov 1, Looking out our Milky Way

EarthSky Tonight—Nov 1,  Looking out our Milky Way galaxy’s south window

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org On this evening with no moon, use the planet Jupiter and Great Square of Pegasus to star-hop to our galaxy’s south window. In other words, you will be looking away from the flat plane of the Milky Way – where most of our galaxy’s stars reside – southward toward intergalactic space. 
 Can you show me a detailed view of the Milky Way center? Here is how to do it. Every year in early November, the Great Square of Pegasus ... Full Story

EarthSky Tonight—Oct. 31, Arcturus is a Halloween

EarthSky Tonight—Oct. 31, Arcturus is a Halloween ghost of the summer sun

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org Every Halloween – and a few days before and after – the brilliant star Arcturus sets at the same time and on the same spot on the horizon as the summer sun. What’s more, this star rises at the same time and at the same place on the horizon as the sun does during the dog days of summer. So – around Halloween – it is as if Arcturus is a fainter ghost of the summer sun. At mid-northern latitudes, Arcturus now sets about 2 ... Full Story

EarthSky Tonight—Oct. 30, As Halloween approaches,

EarthSky Tonight—Oct. 30, As Halloween approaches, find the Ghoul Star of Perseus

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org As Halloween approaches, try looking for the star Beta Persei, otherwise known as Algol in the constellation Perseus. This star’s proper name comes from the Arabic for head of the ghoul, or head of the demon. This star is known to vary in brightness over a regular time interval. The cycle lasts exactly 2 days, 20 hours and 49 minutes. All the while, the star remains visible to the eye. Algol’s brightness variations are not due ... Full Story

EarthSky Tonight—Oct. 29, Last quarter moon marks

EarthSky Tonight—Oct. 29, Last quarter moon marks direction of Earth’s orbital motion

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org Spot Comet Hartley 2 at the feet of Gemini before moonrise tonight The cool thing about the last quarter moon is that it shows you in which direction our planet Earth is revolving around the sun. At quarter moon, the lunar disk is half-illuminated in sunshine and half-engulfed in the moon’s own shadow. The terminator – the shadow line dividing the lunar day from the lunar night – shows you where it’s sunset on the waning ... Full Story

EarthSky Tonight—Oct. 28, Mira the Wonderful, a

EarthSky Tonight—Oct. 28, Mira the Wonderful, a famous variable star

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org Today’s chart looks shows you where to find Mira the Wonderful, the famous variable star, on October and November evenings. That is where you will find the constellation Cetus the Whale. Menkar is the brightest star in Cetus. It has located about 220 light-years away. Menkar resides in the Head of the Whale, which is shaped like a lopsided pentagon and which is generally the easiest part of Cetus to identify. Deneb Kaitos is in ... Full Story

EarthSky Tonight—Tonight Oct. 27, Where is the Big

EarthSky Tonight—Tonight Oct. 27,  Where is the Big Dipper on these autumn evenings?

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org Where is the Big Dipper at nightfall and early evening? At this time of year, the most famous star pattern visible from this hemisphere – the Big Dipper – lurks low in the north during the evening hours. It is tough to spot the Dipper in the evening at this time of year, especially in the southern states, although you will see it before dawn around now, ascending in the northeast. Bright object in southeast on October ... Full Story

EarthSky Tonight—October 26, Moon farthest north,

EarthSky Tonight—October 26, Moon farthest north, near star Elnath

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org On October 26, the moon swings to the northernmost point in its monthly orbit around Earth, and tonight, the moon shines near Elnath, the constellation Taurus’ second brightest star. As seen from mid-northern latitudes, the waning gibbous moon and Elnath rise into the east-northwest sky around mid-evening. At middle latitudes south of the equator, the moon and Elnath rise by late evening or around midnight. The moon reaches ... Full Story

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