Posts Tagged ‘sun’
Sky Tonight—January 2, Earth’s closest
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org When 2011 began on January 1, our planet Earth was very close to its perihelion – its closest point to the sun for the year. That closest point will come tomorrow. In 2011, Earth will be closest to the sun on Monday, January 3 at 19 hours Universal Time (12 p.m. Mountain Time). How do I translate Universal Time to my time? Earth is closest to the sun every year in early January, when it is winter for the ... Full Story
EarthSky Tonight—Nov 30, Sun in Ophiuchus until
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org If you could see the stars during the daytime, you would see the sun shining in front of the constellation Ophiuchus today. At about this time each year, the sun passes out of Scorpius to enter Ophiuchus. Like Scorpius, Ophiuchus is a constellation of the Zodiac, and every year the sun passes in front of Ophiuchus from about November 30 until December 17. The ecliptic – which translates on our sky’s dome as ... Full Story
EarthSky Tonight—August 19, Venus’ greatest
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org Because the planet Venus circles the sun inside of Earth’s orbit, Venus can never appear opposite the sun in Earth’s sky – like the moon does at full moon. In fact, Venus cannot even get as far as 90 degrees from the sun – as the moon does at its first and last quarter phases. As seen from Earth, Venus stays closely tethered to the sun. These next few evenings, however, will find Venus at the end of its tether, at 46 ... Full Story