‘Earth & Sky’ Archives
December 14, Focus on stars Betelgeuse and Rigel in
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org Orion the Hunter is one of the most prominent constellations in all the heavens. You cannot fail to spot Orion’s Belt – three medium-bright stars in a short, straight row – if you look eastward in the evening. The magnificent Orion Nebula, or M42, is a fuzzy patch in Orion’s Sword. Most constellations have only one bright star, but Orion has two: Rigel and Betelgeuse. Rigel is Orion’s left foot. A ... Full Story
EarthSky Tonight—Dec. 13, Best night for 2010
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org The best night for viewing the 2010 Geminid meteor shower might be the night of December 13 from late night until dawn (Monday before midnight, Tuesday morning after midnight). You will see the most meteors after the moon sets in the middle of the night. By the way, the bright “star” near tonight’s moon is the planet Jupiter. Generally, the shower intensifies after midnight and reaches its peak around 2 ... Full Story
EarthSky Tonight—December 12, 2010 Geminid meteors
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org Sunday, December 12 is one of the peak nights of the 2010 Geminid meteor showers. Monday, December 13 might be even better. The dazzling Geminid meteor shower should pick up steam from late evening until around 2 a.m. when the radiant point – near the star Castor in the constellation Gemini – is high in the sky. Radiant point for December’s Geminid meteor shower As a bonus, the moon is near Jupiter tonight. ... Full Story
EarthSky Tonight—Tonight December 11, Radiant point
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org Today’s chart shows the radiant point for December’s famous Geminid meteor shower. The 2010 shower is peaking around now. You might see some Geminid meteors on the night of December 11, but the forecast calls for them to be falling most richly after the moon sets on Sunday, December 12 and Monday, December 13 – from late at night until dawn. About the radiant point. You don’t have to locate a meteor ... Full Story
EarthSky Tonight—December 10, Celestial Chariot high
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org On these long December nights, you can find the constellation Auriga the Charioteer. The Heavenly Chariot – with its brilliant yellow star Capella – starts the journey in the northeast at dusk, flies overhead at midnight and finishes up in the northwest at dawn. Our chart shows Auriga at around midnight, when this pentagon-shaped pattern hits the zenith, or highest point in the sky. With no moon in sight, a ... Full Story
EarthSky Tonight—December 9, Find Orion the Hunter
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org You can find one of winter’s most famous constellations – Orion the Hunter – plus see the Milky Way tonight. Orion is bright and can be seen from inside smaller cities. For the Milky Way, you will need a dark sky! On these evenings in early to mid-December, the constellation Orion rises over your eastern horizon 2 to 3 hours after sunset. Orion swings south to his highest point around midnight, then sets ... Full Story
EarthSky Tonight—December 8, Earliest northern
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org The 2010 solstice comes on December 21, but the earliest sunsets for the northern hemisphere are around now. It seems paradoxical. At middle latitudes in the U.S. – and throughout the northern hemisphere – the earliest sunsets of the year come about two weeks before the solstice and the shortest day of the year. Everything you need to know about the solstice on December 21 Why isn’t the earliest sunset on ... Full Story
EarthSky Tonight—Young moon and Mercury after sunset
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org Can you find the slim waxing crescent moon and planet Mercury after sunset this evening? It will be a major sky-watching challenge. Binoculars can help you search, although both worlds are actually visible to the unaided eye in a clear sky shortly after sunset. To see the planets, find a level horizon in the direction of sunset. The moon and Mercury will pop out close to the southwest horizon some 35 to 60 minutes ... Full Story
EarthSky Tonight—December 6, Winter Circle up by
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org You will have to stay up until 9 or 10 p.m. tonight to see the exceptionally brilliant and huge Winter Circle filling up the eastern portion of sky. This famous sky pattern is not a constellation. It is an asterism: a noticeable pattern on the sky’s dome. In this case, the pattern is made of the brightest stars of winter, in many different constellations. From a dark sky, you will see the Milky Way’s hazy band ... Full Story
EarthSky Tonight—Algol, a famous variable star,
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org Algol – perhaps the most famous variable star in all the heavens – will be dimmest tonight at 8:29 p.m. Mountain Standard Time. Even at its dimmest, Algol is still bright enough to see with the eye. Algol is what astronomers call an eclipsing binary star. In other words, the single point of light that we see as Algol is really two stars. Like clockwork, these two stars revolve around each other every 2.87 ... Full Story
