Posts Tagged ‘Vega’
Sky Tonight—April 23, Two stars lead to
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org The constellation Hercules the Kneeling Giant can be seen ascending in the east-northeast on these spring evenings. Our chart today shows the sky for late night, when all of these objects are well up in the northeastern to eastern sky. The stars Arcturus and Vega can help you identify Hercules, whose most noticeable pattern is a squarish figure in the center of the constellation. This sky pattern, or ... Full Story
Sky Tonight—April, 22, Peak of Lyrid meteor shower
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org Tonight presents the expected peak of the Lyrid meteor shower, from late night Friday (April 22) until dawn Saturday (April 23). Usually, the hour before dawn is best, except that a bright waning gibbous moon will be lighting the sky. This year, some people may choose to watch late at night, during the dark hour before moonrise. Moonrise time for your sky Our chart shows the constellation Lyra again – a closer ... Full Story
Sky Tonight—April 21, Lyrid meteors fly in
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org Photo credit from Computer Science Geek’s photostream The 2011 Lyrid meteor shower will pepper the night tonight between late night and dawn (April 21/22). However, the more likely peak night will be tomorrow (April 22/23), from late night Friday until dawn Saturday. However, you may see nearly the same number of meteors tonight. However, these meteors will be flying in the light of a bright ... Full Story
Sky Tonight—April 20, Vega marks radiant point of
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org The 2011 Lyrid meteor shower is now picking up steam in the light of the waning gibbous moon. We hear from people all the time who see marvelous meteors in the light of the moon. Still, a dark sky is best for meteor showers, and the moon will drown all but the brightest Lyrid meteors from view this year. Understanding moon phases This shower is expected to produce the most meteors before dawn on April 22 ... Full Story
Sky Tonight—March 8, The Summer Triangle, a signpost
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org To see Jupiter in March 2011, look west soon after sunset As seen from our northern temperate latitudes, the three brilliant stars of the Summer Triangle – Vega, Deneb and Altair – are out for at least part of the night every night of the year. Presently, the Summer Triangle shines in the eastern sky at and before dawn. Like the Big Dipper, the Summer Triangle is an asterism – a pattern of stars that is not ... 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 11,Two stars flag sun’s path
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org You can use the brilliant star Sirius – and the star Vega – to imagine the direction our sun and solar system are traveling through space. The sun in its orbit is traveling away from Sirus and toward the star Vega. Although we could not fit them both on one chart, Vega shines over your northwestern horizon, opposite Sirius, at nightfall at this time of year. If you stand outside in early evening with your back ... Full Story
EarthSky Tonight—Nov 28, Summer Triangle in west on
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org The Summer Triangle – the signature star formation of summer – is made up of the three brilliant stars Vega, Deneb and Altair. Although December is just around the corner, the Summer Triangle still lights up these autumn evenings. What’s more, the Summer Triangle will continue to shine after dark throughout December and January. Look for it at early evening, fairly high in your western sky. In late June ... 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—September 27, Summer Triangle high
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org Even as autumn is beginning, we still have several months to watch the large asterism known as the Summer Triangle. This huge star pattern looms from south to overhead in the autumn evening sky. The Summer Triangle consists of three bright stars in three separate constellations. The stars are Vega in the constellation Lyra, Deneb in the constellation Cygnus, and Altair in the constellation Aquila. Today’s chart has you looking ... Full Story
