‘Earth & Sky’ Archives
Earthsky Tonight—July 21,Moon and Antares even
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org The southernmost constellation of the Zodiac – Scorpius the Scorpion – lurks low in the evening sky tonight. You can recognize it easily because the moon is moving through this part of the sky. You will find tonight’s moon near Antares, the star that represents the Scorpion’s Heart. From the perspective of mid-northern latitudes, the Scorpion comes up in the southeast in evening twilight now and skitters near the ... Full Story
Earthsky Tonight—July 20, Moon and Antares cross the
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org There’s a bright star to the east (left) of tonight’s waxing gibbous moon. It’s Antares, often called the Heart of the Scorpion in the constellation Scorpius. You can’t miss this star because it’s bright and reddish in color. Because it’s low in the sky as seen from the northern hemisphere, people in this part of the world often notice that Antares twinkles a lot. You’ll find the moon to the west (right) ... Full Story
Earthsky Tonight—July 19, Summer Triangle: Altair
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org In the east after dark, near the horizon, Altair, the brightest star in the constellation Aquila, the Eagle, springs into view. This is the bottom star of the Summer Triangle. The Great Rift of the Summer Milky Way passes through the Summer Triangle, between the stars Vega and Altair. Thought the Great Rift and the Milky Way will be hard to see tonight because of the waxing gibbous moon. In dark skies in late July and the ... Full Story
Earthsky Tonight—July 18,Moon moves past Spica,
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org Can you see that the moon is farther from Spica tonight than it was last night? The moon is shifting farther and farthest east, with respect to the stars, each day. The moon always moves toward the east on our sky’s dome. This motion is a translation on our sky’s dome of the moon’s orbit around Earth. You can observe the moon’s orbital motion from one night to the next by watching the moon’s location with respect ... Full Story
Earthsky Tonight—July 17, Lunar night versus lunar
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org When darkness falls this evening the moon, as always, appears in a more easterly location on our sky’s dome than it did the night before. The bright star near the moon tonight is Spica in the constellation Virgo. The string of lights to the right and lower right of the moon and Spica at early evening are the planets Saturn, Mars and Venus. Tonight’s moon is still at a waxing crescent, but it’s an extremely fat ... Full Story
Earthsky Tonight—July 16, Summer Triangle: Deneb and
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org This evening, the fat waxing crescent moon shines by the planets Saturn and Mars in your southwest or western sky. For a sky chart of the evening planets, we refer you to yesterday’s program. Be sure to notice how the position of tonight’s moon relative to Saturn and Mars has changed since yesterday. Tonight’s chart faces a different section of sky than where the moon and planets reside. We are looking eastward at ... Full Story
Earthsky Tonight—Moon close to Mars. Venus, Mercury,
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org Have you been watching the string of planets adorning the July evening sky after sunset? If so, you might have noticed that the order of the planets from up to down – Saturn, Mars, Venus and Mercury – has remained steady throughout the month. However, the moon’s position relative to the planetary line-up has been changing, with the moon now climbing this stairway of planets day by day by day by day! Yesterday ... Full Story
Earthsky Tonight—July 13, Young moon, Mercury sit
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org Our sky chart shows the sky for mid-northern North American latitudes at about 45 minutes after sunset. If you have a level horizon and crystal-clear skies, you might catch the thin waxing crescent moon and the planet Mercury next to the horizon. Mercury sets about one hour after the sun and the moon sets about one hour and 15 minutes after. So, they’ll be hard to catch in the twilight glare. Try binoculars! Looking for ... Full Story
Earthsky Tonight— July 12, Summer Triangle: Vega and
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org Look eastward this evening, and it’s hard to miss the season’s signature star formation, called the Summer Triangle. Its stars — Vega, Deneb and Altair — are the first three to light up the eastern half of sky after sunset, and their bright and sparkling radiance is even visible from light-polluted cities. Try looking first for the most prominent star in the eastern sky, which is Vega in the constellation Lyra the ... Full Story
Earthsky Tonight—July ll, When is the next total
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org A total eclipse of the sun takes place today, but not in the United States. To see it – one of nature’s grandest spectacles – you must be located along today’s long yet narrow total eclipse path that stretches across the South Pacific. Eclipse path for July 11, 2010 total solar eclipse People ask when a total solar eclipse will be visible in the mainland United States. It won’t happen until August 21, 2017. ... Full Story
