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Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Posts Tagged ‘Sky Tonight’

Sky Tonight—April 9, Moon can guide you to objects

Sky Tonight—April 9, Moon can guide you to objects in Taurus and Gemini

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org Tonight’s moon shines near the border of the constellations Taurus the Bull and Gemini the Twins. This slender moon in the western sky can guide your eye to objects in both constellations. Grab your binoculars, and let’s go outside! Top tips for viewing the night sky with ordinary binoculars As seen from North America this evening, the moon will be next to the faint cluster of stars known as M35, in the ... Full Story

Sky Tonight—April 8, Star Capella and a heavenly

Sky Tonight—April 8, Star Capella and a heavenly Chariot fly west at nightfall

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org As darkness falls, there are several ways to distinguish the brilliant star Capella from the other bright stars in the western half of the sky. Capella, the northernmost first-magnitude star, is the farthest bright star to your right as you are facing west. In addition, Capella looks yellow, like our sun. Moreover, Capella has a famous trio of starlets accompanying her, dubbed “The Kids.” Capella: Stellar ... Full Story

Sky Tonight—April 7, Waxing crescent moon in front

Sky Tonight—April 7, Waxing crescent moon in front of Taurus

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org Look in the west tonight after dark to see the waxing crescent moon in front of the constellation Taurus the Bull. Tonight’s moon presents a great jumping-off spot to find your way around Taurus. The star glaring to the left or upper left of the moon is Aldebaran, Taurus’s brightest star. Aldebaran, the ruddy eye of the Bull, is a red giant star and in the autumn of its years. The other bright light above the ... Full Story

Sky Tonight—April 6, Pleiades cluster above crescent

Sky Tonight—April 6, Pleiades cluster above crescent moon

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org Look westward at nightfall to see the Pleiades star cluster above tonight’s smiling lunar crescent. As seen from middle and far northern latitudes, the moon and Pleiades stay out well past dark tonight. For an extra treat, note the soft glow of earthshine on the moon’s dark (nighttime) side with the unaided eye or binoculars. When can you see earthshine on a crescent moon? Top tips for using ordinary ... Full Story

Sky Tonight—April 5, Drive a spike to Spica

Sky Tonight—April 5, Drive a spike to Spica

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org Notice that we’ve shrunk the scale of today’s chart, in order to take in a wide sweep of sky from northeast to southeast. Tonight, let the Big Dipper introduce you to another bright star. This star is Spica in the constellation Virgo the Maiden. If you’re outside this evening, you can follow the arc to Arcturus and drive a spike to Spica. First follow the curve made by these stars in the Big Dipper’s ... Full Story

April 4, Catch a young moon on Monday

April 4, Catch a young moon on Monday

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org If you live in North America, Europe or far western Asia, you might be able to catch an exceedingly young lunar crescent after sunset on April 4, 2011, which is the day after new moon. All other things being equal, it’ll be hardest to spot the young moon in Asia and easiest to spot in North America. Springtime is the best time to catch a young evening crescent, because that’s when the waxing crescent moon ... Full Story

Sky Tonight—April 3, Saturn closest, brightest,

Sky Tonight—April 3, Saturn closest, brightest, opposite the sun

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org The best time of 2011 to see Saturn is here. Planet Earth flies between the sun and Saturn tonight, according to U.S. clocks. Our fast movement in orbit brings us between Saturn and the sun every year, to an event called opposition by astronomers. In other words, Saturn is now opposite the sun in Earth’s sky. At opposition, Saturn rises in the east at sunset and sets in the west at sunrise. So Saturn is up all ... Full Story

Sky Tonight—April 2, Follow the arc to Arcturus

Sky Tonight—April 2, Follow the arc to Arcturus

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org Now is a perfect time to look outside in the evening and learn a playful phrase useful to skywatchers. Scouts learn it. Grandparents teach it to kids. It was one of the first sky tools I learned to use in astronomy. The phrase is: follow the arc to Arcturus. First locate the Big Dipper asterism in the northeastern sky in mid-evening, maybe around 9 p.m. Can’t find the Big Dipper? Look ahead to our chart for ... Full Story

Sky Tonight—April 1, Use Big Dipper to find Polaris

Sky Tonight—April 1, Use Big Dipper to find Polaris and Little Dipper

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org Here is the view northward on April evenings. At present the Big Dipper is high in the north. Notice the two outer stars in the bowl of the Big Dipper. These two stars – called Duhbe and Merak – always point to Polaris, the North Star. Polaris is special because it always stays in the same spot in the northern sky. It is the star around which the entire northern sky appears to turn. That is because Polaris is ... Full Story

Sky Tonight—March 31, Moon and Venus side by side

Sky Tonight—March 31, Moon and Venus side by side before sunrise April 1

Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org Our sky chart shows the thin waning crescent moon and the planet Venus for about an hour before sunrise tomorrow (Friday, April 1, 2011), as seen from middle latitudes in North America. Mid-northern latitudes all around the world will see the moon and Venus shining more or less side by side as well. You will want an unobstructed horizon in the direction of sunrise, because the moon and Venus will be sitting low in ... Full Story

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