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Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Posts Tagged ‘constellation’

Sky Tonight—May 11, Moon brushes the belly of Leo

Sky Tonight—May 11, Moon brushes the belly of Leo

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org The moon is waxing larger in the evening sky each night. The first quarter phase happened yesterday, and now it is a waxing gibbous moon. Tonight’s moon is near the star Regulus and brushing up against the belly of the constellation Leo the Lion throughout the evening. Regulus is the brightest star in the constellation Leo the Lion. It dots the backward question mark of stars dubbed the Sickle. The Sickle is ... Full Story

Sky Tonight—April 26, Star-hop from Leo to the Coma

Sky Tonight—April 26, Star-hop from Leo to the Coma star cluster

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org Our diagram shows the constellation Leo the Lion for about 9 p.m. to 10 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 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 see a Lion in this pattern of stars, the Sickle outlines ... Full Story

Sky Tonight—February 16, Bright moon puts Cancer in

Sky Tonight—February 16, Bright moon puts Cancer in spotlight

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org The almost-full waxing gibbous moon puts the constellation Cancer in the spotlight – but out of view – this Wednesday night. Demure Cancer the Crab is the faintest constellation of the Zodiac. You can see it only on dark, moonless nights. Understanding moon phases The starry sky is like a great big connect-the-dots book, enabling stargazers to star-hop from brighter stars to more obscure nighttime treasures. ... Full Story

EarthSky Tonight—Nov 30, Sun in Ophiuchus until

EarthSky Tonight—Nov 30, Sun in Ophiuchus until December 17

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org If you could see the stars during the daytime, you would see the sun shining in front of the constellation Ophiuchus today. At about this time each year, the sun passes out of Scorpius to enter Ophiuchus. Like Scorpius, Ophiuchus is a constellation of the Zodiac, and every year the sun passes in front of Ophiuchus from about November 30 until December 17. The ecliptic – which translates on our sky’s dome as ... Full Story

EarthSky Tonight—October 17, Solar system’s

EarthSky Tonight—October 17,  Solar system’s outermost planet near moon

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org Do not expect to see Neptune, even though it is close to the moon tonight. Neptune, the 8th planet out from the sun, is the only solar system planet that you absolutely cannot see with the unaided eye. Pluto is not visible to the unaided eye, either, but in 2006, this distant world was reclassified – some say demoted – to “dwarf planet” status. Because of the moonlit glare, you probably will not even see the rather faint ... Full Story