In the Sky This Week – December 11, 2018
Mercury joins Venus and Spica in the southeastern predawn sky this week. Mars remains high in southern sky after sunset all week; the Moon will appear near Mars on Dec. 14th. See if you can spot all these objects in the south-southwestern sky at dusk on Dec. 11th. Observing Target: Fomalhaut The star Fomalhaut (see above image) is one of the brightest stars in the sky; it is a main sequence class A star approximately 25 light-years from the Sun. In a small telescope, it looks pretty much like any another bright star – but this star has a story! A ring of dust was discovered around this star, being shepherded by a large exoplanet with a 2000-year orbit! This exoplanet has be directly imaged using the Hubble Space Telescope. This humorous video about exoplanet Fomalhaut B was released before Halloween 2012: The Moon The Moon is a waxing crescent, visible toward the southwest in early evening. The Moon will be … Continue reading →