‘Earth & Sky’ Archives
Earthsky Tonight—July 31, Orion the Hunter: ghost of
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org If you are up early, and have an unobstructed view to the east, be sure to look in that direction in the hour before dawn. If you do, you will find a familiar figure, which is always in this part of the sky on late summer mornings. It’s the beautiful constellation Orion the Hunter – recently behind the sun as seen from our earthly vantage point – now ascending once more in the east before sunrise. EarthSky’s ... Full Story
Earthsky Tonight—July 30, Mars and Saturn closest
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org The first “star” to pop out into the evening twilight is no star at all but the dazzling planet Venus. After sunset, look westward for the brightest point of light that you can find. That will be Venus, the most brilliant celestial body to bedeck the heavens after the sun and moon. EarthSky’s meteor shower guide for 2010 As dusk deepens into night, notice the visible pair of planets to the upper left of Venus: ... Full Story
Earthsky Tonight—July 29, Summer Triangle and the
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org I pointed out the Summer Triangle earlier this month. This famous pattern of stars is now at its best in the night sky. The Summer Triangle consists of three bright stars – Vega, Deneb and Altair – in three separate constellations. If you can find the Summer Triangle, you can use it to locate three of the sky’s smallest constellations: Vulpecula the Fox, Delphinus the Dolphin and Sagitta the Arrow. EarthSky’s ... Full Story
Earthsky Tonight—July 28, Moonlight wipes out Delta
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org The annual Delta Aquarid meteor shower is expected to peak before dawn on Thursday, July 29. Not that it really matters in 2010. The almost-full waning gibbous moon will wipe out this year’s Delta Aquarid display. You would be much better off to wait for the Perseid shower, which should be at its best on the moon-free nights of August 12 and August 13. EarthSky’s meteor shower guide for 2010 Even in a favorable ... Full Story
Earthsky Tonight—July 27, Saturn, Mars, Venus –
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org The planets Saturn, Mars and Venus are still in the west after sunset, to the delight of stargazers across the globe. In addition, the planet Mercury –our solar system’s innermost world – teams up with Regulus around now in the same part of the sky. Regulus is the brightest star in the constellation Leo the Lion. Tonight, Mercury and Regulus form the year’s closest pairing of a planet with a first-magnitude star. Look ... Full Story
Earthsky Tonight—July 26, The ‘forgotten’
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org The faint constellation Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer appears in the southern sky at nightfall, and descends into the southwest sky as evening deepens into late night. Look for Ophiuchus above the bright ruddy star Antares, the brightest in the constellation Scorpius the Scorpion. Ophiuchus’ brightest star – called Rasalhague – highlights the head of Ophiuchus and is nowhere as bright as Antares, the star that depicts ... Full Story
Earthsky Tonight—July 25, Full moon falls on July 25
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org To the casual observer, the moon looks full for up to two or three days in a row each month. Astronomically speaking, however, the full moon has no actual duration, but occurs at a well-defined instant. The moon is astronomically full when it stands 180 degrees opposite the sun in Earth’s sky. That happens this evening – on Sunday, July 25 – at 8:36 p.m. Central Time (9:36 p.m. Eastern Time, 7:36 p.m. Mountain Time and ... Full Story
Earthsky Tonight—July 24,Why the hottest weather is
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org Look westward at nightfall to see three planets in the July evening sky. In their order of brightness, these worlds are Venus, Saturn and Mars. Venus outshines Saturn and Mars by leaps and bounds. Venus is the first “star” to pop into view after sunset. If you keep watching the western sky into early August, you will see these three form a tight cluster in the west after sunset. EarthSky’s meteor guide for ... Full Story
Earthsky Tonight—July 23, Jupiter appears to stop,
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org Jupiter may be a giant planet, but compared to Earth it moves like an oxcart in the race around the sun. The Earth’s average speed is about 67,000 miles an hour, while Jupiter lumbers along at less than half that speed, or about 29,000 miles an hour. Because of its faster speed and shorter distance to go around its orbit, our Earth laps Jupiter about once every 13 months. It is a lot like a fast racecar in the inner track ... Full Story
Earthsky Tonight—July 22, Shaula and Lesath near the
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org If you can see Antares and the moon – and if your sky is unobstructed in the direction toward the southern horizon – you might be able to pick out a graceful looping stream of stars, despite the moonlit glare. These stars represent the Scorpion’s curved Tail. They are the reason Scorpius has been identified as a Scorpion by stargazers. Now notice two stars in the Scorpion’s Tail, Shaula and Lesath. Together, these ... Full Story
