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Tag Archives: Mars

In the Sky This Week – April 9, 2019

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This entry is part 91 of 93 in the series In the Sky This Week

This Friday, multiple planetariums and observatories in Michigan will host evening astronomy outreach events during Statewide Astronomy Night (SWAN) – the Warren Astronomical Society among them. Observing is planned at all sites, and while activities and presentations may vary between sites, all will be held rain or moonshine! Saturn, Jupiter and the star Antares appear in south-southeastern predawn sky all week; I saw Jupiter this morning as the sky began to brighten. The star Vega is high and bright in the east-northeastern sky in the early morning. A very thin waxing crescent Moon appears near the star Aldebaran and Mars in the western sky after sunset on Apr. 9th. The first-quarter Moon appears near the constellation Gemini southwestern sky after sunset on Apr. 12th. Elliptical Galaxy IC 1101 IC 1101 is a supergiant elliptical galaxy at the center of the Abell 2029 galaxy cluster, approximately 320 megaparsecs (1.04 billion light-years) from Earth. … IC 1101 is among the largest known galaxies, but there is debate in the astronomical literature about how to … Continue reading →

In the Sky This Week – April 2, 2019

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This entry is part 90 of 93 in the series In the Sky This Week

Stellarium version 0.19.0 has been released; I use Stellarium to create images for every one of these posts. When I receive new outreach requests, I frequently use Stellarium to see what the nighttime sky will look like on those future dates. The new version has code optimizations, some user interface improvements, and includes 5 new sky cultures. Stellarium is free, and available for the PC/MAC/Linux. Saturn, Jupiter and the star Antares appear in south-southeastern predawn sky this week. Mars continues to appear high in the western sky by the Pleiades all week. A very thin waxing crescent Moon appears low in the western sky after sunset on Apr. 6th. Mercury and Venus appear low in the eastern predawn sky Apr. 8th. The Moon joins Mars and the Pleiades in the western sky after dark on Apr. 8th. Coma Cluster The Coma Cluster (Abell 1656) is a large cluster of galaxies that contains over 1,000 identified galaxies. Along with the Leo Cluster (Abell 1367), it is one of … Continue reading →

NASA Night Sky Notes for March 2019

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Springtime Planet Party By David Prosper March brings longer days for Northern Hemisphere observers, especially by the time of the equinox. Early risers are treated to the majority of the bright planets dancing in the morning skies, with the Moon passing between them at the beginning and end of the month. The vernal equinox occurs on March 20, marking the official beginning of spring for the Northern Hemisphere. Our Sun shines equally on the Northern and Southern Hemispheres during the moment of equinox, which is why the March and September equinoxes are the only times of the year when the Earth’s north and south poles are simultaneously lit by sunlight. Exacting astronomers will note that the length of day and night on the equinox are not precisely equal; the date when they are closest to equal depends on your latitude, and may occur a few days earlier or later than the equinox itself. One complicating factor is that the Sun … Continue reading →

In the Sky This Week – February 19, 2019

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This entry is part 83 of 93 in the series In the Sky This Week

After a heavy snow, the full Moon put on a stunning show this frigid morning; I was able to see Jupiter out my kitchen window, but Venus and Saturn were obscured by low clouds. As I was shoveling, I thought about how my house blocks the sunlight – which never melts snow off my driveway – while the neighbors across the street have nice clear driveways, baked by the Sun… As tends to happen with me, thoughts wander to something astronomical – this time: permanently shadowed regions on the Moon and Mercury. Last Saturday, my wife and I got to see a fantastic presentation by astronaut Terry Virts about his time on the International Space Station! We got a signed copy of his book: “View from Above.” My wife Connie (@Sciteacher84) and I saw Astronaut Terry Virts (@AstroTerry) speak at @MacombCollege about his time on the @Space_Station! pic.twitter.com/oOSRBjY5Pl — Balrog's Lair (@BalrogsLair) February 11, 2019 Several planets are in the southeastern … Continue reading →

Opportunity Mars Rover Mission Ends

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The historic Opportunity Mars rover mission has come to an end. Opportunity last communicated with Earth on June 10, 2018 after a planet-wide dust storm covered the rover’s solar panels, denying power to the rover. After 800+ attempts to contact @MarsRovers Opportunity, today we’re announcing the end of a successful Martian mission. Intended to explore the Red Planet for 90 days, Oppy outlived its mission lifetime by 14+ years. Join us live now: https://t.co/zJwTTpQNwp #ThanksOppy pic.twitter.com/U4J26TfzDv — Jim Bridenstine (@JimBridenstine) February 13, 2019 Opportunity had a twin: the Spirit rover; their mission was to search of answers about the history of water on Mars – and boy did they find some interesting things! This video is a fantastic (and short) retrospective of the Spirit and Opportunity rover missions: Spirit and Opportunity landed on Mars in 2004 – in quite spectacular fashion! Spirit and Opportunity were designed for a 90-day mission; Opportunity lasted for over 14 years! I don’t want to … Continue reading →

In the Sky This Week – February 12, 2019

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This entry is part 82 of 93 in the series In the Sky This Week

My wife likes to alter her science student’s misconceptions about what a “scientist” is, and teaches them that anyone can be a scientist! This is especially true for her female students – many of whom never thought about a career in science. Feb. 11th was International Day of Women and Girls in Science, and it was trending hard on Twitter; it was great to see all the different organizations honoring their female scientists! Saturn and Venus are low, Jupiter and the star Antares are high(ish) in the southeastern predawn sky; Venus continues to move down towards Saturn on the horizon. There’s quite a show high in the south-southwestern sky on Feb. 12th! You may note Mars and Uranus nearly on top of each other in the image below: Mars will be less then a degree from Uranus on Feb. 12th,! I expect to post images about this next week. On the evening of Feb. 13th, the Moon will be about 2 … Continue reading →

Crater Virus infects Science Week Drawings

Recently here in Ireland we had the phenomena that is Science Week. A nationwide effort by hundreds of people to open the many facets of science to children and adults all over the country.  My offerings were workshops about the Apollo 11 moon landing called Let’s Go To The Moon – Apollo 11, Deadly Moons and Marvellous Mars. All of which I have written about in the past hit the links to check them out. This year a unique crater virus came to visit and spread itself around many drawings. Guidance Increasingly I have being introducing drawing techniques in my workshops.  Sometimes the effect has a slow uptake and other times it has an immediate viral effect. One such action is a tip on crater drawing , kids just love it. Here below we see some drawings that benefited from simple guidence. Examples of the crater virus that invaded hundreds of drawings and created smiles all over the room.   … Continue reading →


In the Sky This Week – December 18, 2018

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This entry is part 74 of 93 in the series In the Sky This Week

Venus shines so brightly in the southeastern predawn sky, you can practically read by it! Jupiter makes its reappearance this week, joining Mercury, Venus and the star Spica. Mars is high in southern sky after sunset all week; the waxing gibbous Moon appears to the east of Mars on Dec. 18th. The star Altair is now the “evening star” to the west at dusk; Saturn has almost vanished into the glare of the Sun. The Moon appears very near the star Aldebaran high in the western sky around 3:30 AM on Dec. 21st. On Christmas Eve, the waning gibbous Moon will appear in the eastern sky after sunset. Observing Target: M1 – The Crab Nebula M1, the Crab Nebula, is a supernova remnant located in the constellation of Taurus. The supernova was so bright in 1054 that it could be seen during the day for nearly a month; the supernova was documented by astronomers in several countries. X-Ray: Chandra Ultraviolet: ASTRO-1 Visible: DSS … Continue reading →

In the Sky This Week – December 11, 2018

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This entry is part 73 of 93 in the series In the Sky This Week

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 →

In the Sky This Week – December 4, 2018

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This entry is part 72 of 93 in the series In the Sky This Week

A very thin waning crescent Moon joins the weeks-long conjunction of Venus and Spica in the southeastern predawn sky on Dec. 4th. Mars remains high in southern sky after sunset all week; Mars is slowly fading in brightness as the Earth pulls away from it in its orbit (see solar system image below). The very thin waxing crescent Moon will appear near Saturn in the southwestern sky at dusk on Dec. 8th. The constellation Orion is high in the southeastern sky at midnight. Observing Target: M33 – The Triangulum Galaxy Messier 33 (or NGC 598) is a spiral galaxy located approximately 3 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Triangulum. The Triangulum Galaxy is the third-largest member of the Local Group of galaxies, which includes the Andromeda Galaxy and our Milky Way. M33 is one of the most distant objects that can be viewed with the naked eye. NGC 604 is a large star-birth region within The Triangulum Galaxy. NGC 604 is similar to the Orion Nebula in our Milky Way galaxy, but nearly 100 times larger! More … Continue reading →

In the Sky This Week – November 27, 2018

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This entry is part 71 of 93 in the series In the Sky This Week

Venus and Spica continue their predawn conjunction in the southeastern sky. Mars is high in southern sky after sunset all week. The International Space Station will pass very near Saturn low in the southwestern sky at 5:42 PM ET on Nov. 27th. To be honest, when I saw this in Stellarium I thought something was a bit weird – I knew there wasn’t going to be a bright star near Saturn … then I clicked on it to find it was the ISS. This ISS flyover will only be visible in southeastern Michigan (sorry). To check of you can see the ISS this week, go to heavens-above.com – you can get charts like this: The nearly third-quarter Moon will appear very near the star Regulus in the southeastern predawn sky on Nov. 29th. The Moon The Moon is a waning gibbous, rising after sunset, high in the sky after midnight, and visible to the southwest after sunrise. On Nov. 30th the Moon will be at third-quarter, rising … Continue reading →

In the Sky This Week – November 20, 2018

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This entry is part 70 of 93 in the series In the Sky This Week

Venus and Spica continue their weeks-long conjunction in the eastern predawn sky. Orion and Canus Major are in the southwestern predawn sky all week. A few months ago, I remember writing about Orion just becoming visible in the eastern predawn sky; watching constellations creep across the southern sky over the course of a season is pretty interesting. I’m certainly learning a lot about the sky from writing these posts… Saturn becomes the “evening star” in the southwestern sky at dusk; if you’re lucky, and have a clear horizon, you might catch a glimpse of Mercury very low in the sky around 5:30 PM ET on Nov. 20th. Mars and Neptune will be high in southern sky after sunset all week. Here’s a close-up of where Neptune is near the red giant star Lambda Aquarii (λ-Aqr , 73 Aqr): Uranus is above the Moon! Yea, I said it! Actually, when generating images for this post, this image made me laugh pretty hard… Uranus … Continue reading →

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