‘Earth & Sky’ Archives
EarthSky Tonight—Oct 2, Jupiter is a guide to Great
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org A fixture of the autumn night sky, the Great Square of Pegasus appears to the upper left of the blazing planet Jupiter at early evening. For some idea of the Great Square’s size, extend your hand an arm length from your eye. These stars are far enough apart so that the width of your hand should slip in between any two Great Square stars. By the way, if you are a baseball fan, you might imagine these four stars as a celestial ... Full Story
EarthSky Tonight—Sept. 30, What bright star flashes
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org Every year in late September and early October, we get questions from people who see a bright star twinkling with red and green flashes, low in the northeastern sky. Capella is a golden star when seen higher up in the sky. If you could travel to it in space, you’d find that it’s actually two golden stars, both with roughly the same surface temperature as our local star, the sun . . . but both larger and brighter than the ... Full Story
EarthSky Tonight—September 27, Summer Triangle high
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org Even as autumn is beginning, we still have several months to watch the large asterism known as the Summer Triangle. This huge star pattern looms from south to overhead in the autumn evening sky. The Summer Triangle consists of three bright stars in three separate constellations. The stars are Vega in the constellation Lyra, Deneb in the constellation Cygnus, and Altair in the constellation Aquila. Today’s chart has you looking ... Full Story
EarthSky Tonight—Sept 26, The first point of Aries
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org In ancient times, the March equinox sun shone in front of the rather small constellation Aries the Ram. You can find this constellation ascending in the east around 9 to 10 p.m. tonight, the Ram’s starlit bust perhaps faintly visible to the upper right of the waning gibbous moon. Be forewarned. Aries is not conspicuous, especially in the moonlit glare. Tomorrow night, at this time, a smaller waning gibbous moon will shine right ... Full Story
EarthSky Tonight—September 25, Look for daytime moon
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org Sylvia wrote, “When is the best time to see the moon in the sky during daylight hours?” Sylvia, it is easier to see a daytime moon when the moon is fairly far from the sun in the sky. When would that be? It would be around the time of full moon each month. A full moon is always 180 degrees from the sun, on the opposite side of the sky’s dome. Full moon was September 23. Generally, the full moon sets around sunrise. ... Full Story
EarthSky Tonight—September 24, Harvest moon, Jupiter
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org If you live at mid or far northern latitudes, the Harvest Moon and the blazing planet Jupiter will shine from dusk until dawn for yet another night. That is in spite of the fact that the full moon has already passed. (See our September 22 program.) The legendary Full Harvest Moon is famous for ushering in the year’s longest procession of moonlit nights. Why does the Full Harvest Moon in particular – the full moon closest to ... Full Story
EarthSky Tonight-Sept 23 Harvest Moon, Jupiter,
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org The Harvest Moon and the blazing planet Jupiter shine all night long tonight to commemorate the first full night of the autumn season. By common practice, we use the September equinox to mark the start of autumn, and call the closest full moon to the autumnal equinox the Full Harvest Moon. In 2010, the Harvest Moon comes only 6 hours after the September equinox. If you live in the southern hemisphere, the September equinox ... Full Story
EarthSky Tonight—September 22, Harvest moon,
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org Comet Hartley 2 might brighten to binocular object in late September The equinox falls at 9:09 p.m. on this Wednesday evening, according to clocks set to Mountain Daylight Time. That translates to 3:09 a.m. tomorrow – on Thursday, September 23 – Universal Time. So some calendars will show today as the equinox, and others will show tomorrow. Everything you need to know about the autumnal equinox of 2010 Here are some sky ... Full Story
EarthSky Tonight—September 21, Jupiter’s closest
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org Comet Hartley 2 might brighten to binocular object by late September 2010 In 2010, Jupiter came closest to Earth on September 20 – yesterday – at 21 hours Universal Time (4 p.m. Central Daylight Time). Then Jupiter was only 368 million miles away. Today Earth passes between the sun and Jupiter, placing Jupiter opposite the sun in our sky. Astronomers call this event an opposition of Jupiter. The 2010 opposition is Jupiter’s ... Full Story
EarthSky Tonight—September 20, Fastest sunsets of
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org Comet Hartley 2 might brighten to binocular object by late September 2010 Does the sun set faster around the time of an equinox? The answer is yes. The fastest sunsets (and sunrises) occur at or near the equinoxes. What’s more, the slowest sunsets (and sunrises) occur at or near the solstices. This is true whether you live in the northern or southern hemisphere. By the way, when we say sunset here, we are talking about the ... Full Story
