Posts Tagged ‘waxing gibbous Moon’
Sky Tonight—March 15, Jupiter is your guide to
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org If you can find the blazing planet Jupiter in your western sky after sunset, you are virtually assured of seeing Mercury, the solar system’s innermost planet. As long as your western horizon is free of obstruction – like houses, trees, or cloud cover – Mercury should be yours tonight. Remember to start your search soon after sunset, because these two worlds will set about 80 minutes after sundown (at ... Full Story
Sky Tonight—February 16, Bright moon puts Cancer in
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
Sky Tonight—February 15, Moon close to Castor and
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org Tonight, the waxing gibbous moon shines close to Castor and Pollux, the constellation Gemini’s two brightest stars. Although the brilliant moon will obscure much of the starry heavens, Castor and Pollux will probably be able to withstand tonight’s lunar glare. Understanding moon phases When the moon leaves the evening sky by the last week of February, you can use the constellation Orion’s two brightest ... Full Story
Sky Tonight—February 14, Blue-white Rigel is at the
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org Jupiter is the dazzling object in the west after sunset The three sparkling blue-white stars of Orion’s Belt are easy to spot, even on this moonlit night. As viewed from this hemisphere, this compact line of stars can be found in the south to southeast sky at nightfall. Look in the southern sky at evening and the southwest sky later tonight. Chances are the pattern you will pick out will be Orion! You may ... Full Story
Sky Tonight—February 13, Moon points the way to
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org Tonight’s waxing gibbous moon resides inside the Winter Circle – an incredibly large star configuration made of six brilliant winter stars. Be sure to notice the variety in the colors of these stars. The Winter Circle – sometimes called the Winter Hexagon – is not one of the 88 recognized constellations. Rather, it is an asterism – a pattern of stars that is easy to recognize. Our sky chart cannot ... Full Story
Sky Tonight—February 12, Moon between stars Elnath
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org As seen from around the world, the waxing gibbous moon shines in front of the constellation Taurus the Bull tonight. Despite the moonlit glare, you may see the Bull’s two brightest stars: Aldebaran and Elnath. Aldebaran, the star depicting the Bull’s eye, is Taurus’ brightest star. Elnath, the constellation’s second brightest star, marks the tip of the Bull’s northern horn. Aldebaran: Fiery eye of the ... Full Story
Sky Tonight—January 18, Moon near Gemini stars
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at0 www.EarthSky.org The moon will look full tonight as it shines close to the constellation Gemini’s brightest stars, Castor and Pollux. The moon will not actually be astronomically full – or most opposite the sun – until tomorrow, on Wednesday, January 19. Although we draw in the stick figure of the Gemini Twins on tonight’s chart, you will not see much of Gemini in the moonlight except for Castor and Pollux. By the last ... Full Story
Sky Tonight—January 17, Sun moves toward star Vega
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org An Australia visitor wrote, I seek to find out what speed our sun is traveling at and also how many years does it take to circumnavigate the galaxy? Our Milky Way galaxy is a collection of several hundred billion stars. It has an estimated diameter of 100,000 light-years. Our sun does indeed circumnavigate the Milky Way galaxy. In space, everything moves. There are various estimates for the speed the sun travels ... Full Story
Sky Tonight—January 16, Cassiopeia and Big Dipper on
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org Bright star on January evenings? It’s the planet Jupiter The northern sky’s two most prominent sky patterns – the constellation Cassiopeia the Queen and the Big Dipper – both circle around Polaris, the North Star, once a day. They are opposite each other – one on either side of the North Star. The constellation Cassiopeia the Queen is easy to recognize in the northern sky, either in the evening or before ... Full Story
Sky Tonight—January 15, Moon near Aldebaran and the
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org Bright star on January evenings? It’s the planet Jupiter We are displaying a larger swath of sky than we usually do on tonight’s chart. That is because we are showing you how to star-hop from the three stars of Orion’s Belt to the star Aldebaran and the Pleiades star cluster. Aldebaran and the Pleiades cluster reside within the constellation Taurus the Bull. However, you will not need Orion’s Belt to ... Full Story
