They’ve put on a brilliant show in the past several months, but Saturn and Mars slowly fade into the sunset this month in the southwestern sky. The two planets, along with the Moon and Venus, are a beautiful sight on Oct. 3-5 in the southwest. The Orionid meteor shower also peaks this month as the Earth passes through a stream of debris from Comet Halley. And there’s a “Black Moon” this month, defined as two New Moons in a single calendar month (as defined in Universal Time). Here’s what to look for in the night sky this month… [Read more…] about The Sky This Month – October 2016
Share This:Celestial Events
Happenings in the night sky and information about astronomical events.
The Sky This Month – September 2016
Jupiter finally fades from view this month but it goes out in style, attended in the west after sunset by brilliant Venus and, at the beginning of the month, by a slender crescent Moon. Mars lingers in the starry sky of Scorpius and Sagittarius, and finally starts to move eastward and pull away from Saturn and Antares. And the Sun reaches the September equinox and marks the changing of the seasons. Here’s what to see in the night sky this month… [Read more…] about The Sky This Month – September 2016
Share This:A Boost for the Perseid Meteor Shower in 2016?
The Perseid meteor shower, the most reliably active meteor shower of the year, peaks on the night of August 11-12, 2016. A summer favorite of northern stargazers, yet still visible in part in the southern hemisphere, this meteor shower sprays some 50-60 per hour, on average, across the sky. This year the waxing gibbous Moon obscures the view of meteors before midnight, but it sets shortly thereafter and leaves a dark sky during the predicted peak of the shower. And some astronomers are predicting the gravitational influence of Jupiter will make for many more Perseid meteors in 2016 than usual, perhaps as many as 100-200 per hour [Read more…] about A Boost for the Perseid Meteor Shower in 2016?
Share This:The Sky This Month – August 2016
In many ways, August is the best month for stargazing. For northern-hemisphere observers, the weather is still warm but much of the unsettled and humid summer air dissipates and skies become, on average, drier and clearer. Observers in the southern hemisphere enjoy warmer weather as winter nears an end, and the center of the Milky Way, the starriest part of the night sky, still lies just past overhead. And of course, the Perseid meteor shower peaks this month, with some reports suggesting it could be spectacular this year. There are also plenty of planets to see in the evening sky. Here’s what’s going on in the night sky this month:
[Read more…] about The Sky This Month – August 2016
Share This:The Night Sky This Month – July 2016
In July, the Milky Way wheels into view by midnight and draws the eye towards the constellations Scorpius and Sagittarius. In the northern hemisphere, these stars lie just over the southeastern horizon by midnight, while southern stargazers see these stars– and the thickest part of the Milky Way– almost directly overhead.
But this July, bright planets distract the eye from the deep sky. Ochre-colored Mars, which outshines all stars at the beginning of July, lies just to the west of the red-orange star Antares at the heart of Scorpius. Sand-colored Saturn lies to the east of Antares. Brilliant Jupiter, always attractive in a telescope, fades in the west in the constellation Leo this month. And Mercury and Venus play cat and mouse later in the month after sunset in the western sky. Here’s what to see in the sky this month [Read more…] about The Night Sky This Month – July 2016
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