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Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Posts Tagged ‘Leo the Lion’

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—February 18, Moon rises with Leo the

Sky Tonight—February 18, Moon rises with Leo the Lion, harbinger of spring

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org About two hours after sunset on February 18, look for the waning gibbous moon and the constellation Leo the Lion shining side by side over the eastern horizon. The fainter stars of Leo might be hard to make out in the lunar glare tonight, but you should be able to spot Regulus, Leo’s brightest star, and one of the brightest stars in our night sky. Tomorrow, the moon will rise more than an hour later than it does ... Full Story

Earthsky Tonight—June 16, Waxing Crescent Moon meets

Earthsky Tonight—June 16, Waxing Crescent Moon meets the “Little King” of Leo

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org If you have been watching the crescent moon over the past few days, you know that since it passed Venus a couple of nights ago, it slips farther east and is slightly fuller each evening. Tonight it is well placed in the sunset sky in the early evening, appearing to pass near Regulus, the “Little King” or “Heart of the Lion,” in Leo. Face the western sky just after it gets dark and you can easily find the lunar crescent, ... Full Story

Earthsky Tonight—May 19, Moon and Mars close

Earthsky Tonight—May 19, Moon and Mars close together

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org This evening, the rather fat waxing crescent moon sits fairly close to the ruddy planet Mars. Yesterday evening, a somewhat thinner lunar crescent shone closer to the Gemini stars, Castor and Pollux. Tomorrow evening, the first quarter moon will shine more closely to Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation Leo the Lion. The moon, always in motion, continually goes eastward in font of the background stars. It goes full ... Full Story

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 — March, 26, 2010: Moon swings

Earthsky Tonight — March, 26, 2010: Moon swings close to Regulus

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org Can you find the star that is shining close to the big and bright waxing gibbous moon tonight? That is Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation Leo the Lion. Regulus is the only first-magnitude star to sit almost exactly on the ecliptic. The ecliptic is the Earth’s orbital plane projected outward onto the sphere of stars. The ecliptic is often shown on sky charts, because the moon and planets are always found on or ... Full Story

Earthsky Tonight—March 14, Leo loses his tail, we

Earthsky Tonight—March 14, Leo loses his tail, we gain a constellation

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org Tonight’s chart again shows the evening sky high to the east. Below and to the left of the constellation Leo the Lion are dozens of very faint stars. They are Coma Berenices, otherwise known as Bernice’s Hair. The Greek-Egyptian astronomer Ptolemy and others considered it Leo the Lion’s bushy tail. Coma Berenices remained part of Leo until several hundred years ago, when it was first listed as a separate constellation. The ... Full Story