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Tuesday, March 19, 2024

‘Earth & Sky’ Archives

Earthsky Tonight — April 12: Star-hop from Leo to

Earthsky Tonight — April 12: Star-hop from Leo to the Coma star cluster

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org We show the constellation Leo the Lion for about 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. tonight. At this time, the Lion will be due south and at his highest point in the sky. Two distinctive star patterns make the Lion fairly easy to identify. Leo’s brightest star – the sparkling blue-white gem Regulus – dots a backward question mark of stars known as The Sickle. If you could see a Lion in this pattern of stars, The Sickle would outline the ... Full Story

Earthsky Tonight—April 10: Crescent moon above

Earthsky Tonight—April 10: Crescent moon above Jupiter at dawn

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org About 30 to 60 minutes before sunrise on April 11, look for the waning crescent moon to shine above the dazzling planet Jupiter, with Jupiter barely above the eastern horizon. Binoculars help you to spot these two worlds. Although the moon and Jupiter appear close together at Sunday dawn, they are not really near each other in space. These worlds simply reside on nearly the same line of sight now. The moon, our closest celestial ... Full Story

Earthsky Tonight — April 9: Star-hop to Canes

Earthsky Tonight — April 9: Star-hop to Canes Venatici, the Hunting Dogs

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org We show a larger section of sky than we normally do on this chart. We’re looking directly overhead at about 10:00 p.m., viewing the sky from the comfort of a reclining lawn chair, with our feet pointing southward. The constellation Leo the Lion stands high in the southern sky, while the upside-down Big Dipper is high in the north. Tonight, we star-hop to the constellation Canes Venatici the Hunting Dogs by using the Big Dipper ... Full Story

Earthsky Tonight — April 8, Mercury at greatest

Earthsky Tonight — April 8,  Mercury at greatest evening elongation

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org Mercury – the solar system’s innermost planet – goes unnoticed by most people, because it’s so often obscured by the sun’s glare. Even when Mercury is visible – like it is now – it takes a deliberate effort to catch this rather elusive world. This evening, Mercury reaches its greatest angular distance east of the sun. What this means is that Mercury sets a maximum time after sunset today, enabling you to spot ... Full Story

Earthsky Tonight—April 7, 2010: Kochab and Pherkad

Earthsky Tonight—April 7, 2010: Kochab and Pherkad in the Little Dipper

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org If you draw an imaginary line between the two outer stars in the bowl of the Big Dipper – and extend that line northward on the sky’s dome – you’ll come to Polaris, the North Star. Polaris marks the end of the handle of the Little Dipper, which is fainter and looks less like a dipper than the Big Dipper. Polaris is special because Earth’s northern axis nearly points to it. Polaris is less than a degree away from true ... Full Story

Earthsky Tonight — April 6, 2010: Use Big Dipper to

Earthsky Tonight — April 6, 2010: Use Big Dipper to find Polaris and Little Dipper

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org Here is the view northward on April evenings. Now the Big Dipper is high in the north. Notice the two outer stars in the bowl of the Big Dipper. These two stars – called Duhbe and Merak – always point to Polaris, the North Star. Polaris is special because it always stays in the same spot in the northern sky. It is the star around which the entire northern sky appears to turn. That is because Polaris is located more or less ... Full Story

Earthsky Tonight — April 5, 2010: Star in the

Earthsky Tonight — April 5, 2010: Star in the constellation Bootes makes history

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org In 2007, a faint star in the constellation Bootes the Herdsman made astronomical history. An international team of astronomers, led by Jean-Francis Donati and Claire Montau of France, caught the star Tau Bootis flipping its north and south magnetic poles while these astronomers were mapping the magnetic fields of stars. This was the first time a magnetic reversal had been observed on any star other than our sun. Astronomers are ... Full Story

Earthsky Tonight — April 4, 2010: Drive a spike to

Earthsky Tonight — April 4, 2010: Drive a spike to Spica

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org Notice that we have shrunk the scale of today’s chart, in order to take in a wide sweep of sky, from northeast to southeast. Tonight, let the Big Dipper introduce you to another bright star. This star is Spica in the constellation Virgo the Maiden. If you are outside this evening, you can follow the arc to Arcturus and drive a spike to Spica. In other words, today’s chart shows a wide sweep of sky, from northeast to ... Full Story

Earthsky Tonight — April 3, 2010: Mercury and Venus

Earthsky Tonight — April 3, 2010: Mercury and Venus closest for year

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org Have you seen the planet Mercury after sunset yet? If not, what are you waiting for? The first week of April presents your best chance to catch Mercury in all of 2010. Mercury is rather easy to spot right now, because it shines right next to the blazing planet Venus. Since Venus is the brightest celestial object after the sun and the moon, you should have little trouble seeing Venus low in the west some 30 minutes (or less) ... Full Story

Earthsky Tonight — April 2, 2010: Moon and Scorpius

Earthsky Tonight — April 2, 2010: Moon and Scorpius rise after Orion sets

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org Here is the waning gibbous moon near the star Antares in the southeast sky shortly after midnight on April 3. If you are looking for the moon on the evening of April 2, you won’t find it. The moon will not rise tonight until after the middle of the night – at about the same time that the constellation Orion’s bright star Betelgeuse sets in the west. Tonight, from about one after midnight until dawn, the moon will appear ... Full Story

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