Posts Tagged ‘EarthSky’
EarthSky Tonight—Nov 27, Orion the Hunter rises in
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org Orion the Mighty Hunter – perhaps the easiest to identify of all constellations – rises at mid-evening in late November and early December. Depending on where you live, Orion will climb over your eastern horizon by around 8 to 9 p.m. tonight. Orion appears to be lying on his side when he first ascends into our eastern sky. Orion’s Belt of three moderately-bright stars juts more or less straight upward from ... Full Story
EarthSky Tonight—Nov 26, Can you see the different
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org The stars are like wildflowers, in that each star radiates with a different color of the rainbow. Have you ever noticed star colors? Let’s explore some of the stars that you will see in the meadow of night tonight. In the northeastern sky at evening shines a bright star called Capella, the Little She Goat, in the constellation Auriga. Like brighter Sirius, which does not rise until several hours later in the ... Full Story
EarthSky Tonight—Nov 25, Find the Water Jar of
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org Will you spot the Water Jar in the constellation Aquarius to the west (right) of the blazing planet Jupiter tonight? You are only likely to see the Y-shaped Water Jar and the stars of Aquarius if you have access to a dark sky. From downtown in a major city, you have a good chance of spotting Jupiter at nightfall and early evening, but that might be about it. Look for Jupiter to blaze in the southern sky at ... Full Story
EarthSky Tonight—Nov 24,Venus getting brighter in
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org The planet Venus – the most brilliant celestial object after the sun and moon – is getting brighter day by day in the November predawn sky. This dazzling world was in our evening sky earlier this year. However, it recently passed between earth and the sun, so that it now rises about 3 hours before sunrise as seen from mid-northern latitudes. Moreover, at middle latitudes south of the equator, Venus rises less ... Full Story
EarthSky Tonight—Nov 23, Northern Crown shines
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org At nightfall and early evening, the bowl-shaped constellation Corona Borealis – the Northern Crown – shines to the lower right of the star Vega, close to your western horizon. Can you spot brilliant Vega shining rather high in the western sky at nightfall? It can guide you to the Northern Crown. You will need a dark sky to see the Northern Crown, which is a glittery semicircle of stars. See the pattern of ... Full Story
EarthSky Tonight—Nov 22, Month’s most northerly
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org No matter where you live worldwide, tonight you will see a moon that is as far north as the June solstice sun. That is because the moon will reach its northernmost point for the month tonight. Watch for the full-looking waning-gibbous moon to rise north of due east around nightfall tonight. Like the sun during the day, tonight’s moon will travel westward throughout the night as Earth spins beneath the sky. Look ... Full Story
EarthSky Tonight—Nov 21, Watch for Blue Moon near
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org Yes. Today’s November full moon is a Blue Moon. It is not blue in color. It’s only blue in name – at least, by one definition. Tonight’s moon is the third of four full moons in a season. So many will call it a Blue Moon. There is a more modern definition of Blue Moon. It is the idea that a Blue Moon is a second full moon in a calendar month. The next Blue Moon to fit this description will come on August ... Full Story
EarthSky Tonight—Nov 20, Nearly full moon near
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org At the instant that the moon turns full in November 2010, the moon will rendezvous with the Pleiades star cluster in the constellation Taurus the Bull. Before the full moon, the moon lies to the west of the Pleiades. (West is to the right as seen from our northerly latitudes.) After the full moon, the moon moves to the east of the Pleiades. At full moon, the moon swings just south of the Pleiades cluster according ... Full Story
EarthSky Tonight—September 22, Harvest moon,
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org Comet Hartley 2 might brighten to binocular object in late September The equinox falls at 9:09 p.m. on this Wednesday evening, according to clocks set to Mountain Daylight Time. That translates to 3:09 a.m. tomorrow – on Thursday, September 23 – Universal Time. So some calendars will show today as the equinox, and others will show tomorrow. Everything you need to know about the autumnal equinox of 2010 Here are some sky ... Full Story
EarthSky Tonight—September 21, Jupiter’s closest
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org Comet Hartley 2 might brighten to binocular object by late September 2010 In 2010, Jupiter came closest to Earth on September 20 – yesterday – at 21 hours Universal Time (4 p.m. Central Daylight Time). Then Jupiter was only 368 million miles away. Today Earth passes between the sun and Jupiter, placing Jupiter opposite the sun in our sky. Astronomers call this event an opposition of Jupiter. The 2010 opposition is Jupiter’s ... Full Story
