Posts Tagged ‘Moon tonight’
Earthsky Tonight—August 4, Cassiopeia the Queen on
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org One of the most recognizable constellations is Cassiopeia the Queen, which now can be found in the northeastern sky a couple of hours after the sun goes down. This constellation has the distinct shape of a W, or M, depending on your perspective. Cassiopeia is associated with a queen of Ethiopia. She is sometimes called the Lady of the Chair. Queen Cassiopeia was said to have offended the sea nymphs, or Nereids, by boasting that ... Full Story
Earthsky Tonight—August 3, Dipper points to Polaris,
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org The two outer stars in the bowl of the Big Dipper – Dubhe and Merak – always point to Polaris, the North Star. To find this Dipper at this time of year, look toward the northwest in the evening. Once you have found it – after locating Polaris – look more carefully at the second star from the end of the Big Dipper’s handle. If your sky is dark enough, and your eyesight is good, you will see that this star, Mizar, has a ... 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 for ... 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 the ... 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 2010 By the way, ... 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 the famous ... 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 evening, the ... Full Story
Earthsky Tonight—July 9, 2010: Venus and Regulus in
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org The dazzling planet Venus and the star Regulus are in conjunction at 9 p.m. Central Daylight Time this evening. That means they are north and south of one another on the sky’s dome, with a small gap separating the two. This evening, Venus and Regulus shine about the same distance apart as the width of your little finger, held at arm’s length. Although Regulus is a very bright star, it pales next to Venus, which is the ... Full Story
July 8: 2010: Corona Borealis is also called the
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org To see what is shown on today’s chart, you would face east and look high overhead for Corona Borealis, also known as the Northern Crown. This constellation looks like a half-circle, in the middle of which is a white jewel of a star called Gemma. The Crown is located more or less along a line between two bright stars: Arcturus in the constellation Bootes the Herdsman and Vega in the constellation Lyra the Harp. Arcturus has ... Full Story
Earthsky Tonight—July 7, 2010: The moon will pass
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org Put your coffee pot on a timer and set your alarm for a couple of hours before sunrise, because you are going to want to get up early tomorrow. In the dark eastern skies before dawn tomorrow, the crescent moon passes near the Pleiades star cluster. The best views are from the North American East Coast and western South America, but chances are good from Europe and the rest of North America as well. In fact, the moon appears near ... Full Story
