Tag Archives: Saturn

In the Sky This Week – June 25, 2019

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This entry is part 102 of 102 in the series In the Sky This Week

The Moon appears in the eastern early morning sky all week. Venus appears very low in the east-northeastern sky just before sunrise all week; a very thin waning crescent Moon joins Venus on the morning of July 1st. Saturn rises shortly after sunset; Jupiter, high in the southern sky, made an exceptional observing target this last weekend at the Warren Astronomical Society’s Star Party and Open House – free to the public every 4th Saturday of the month! Early in the morning, Saturn and Jupiter are both high in the southern sky – perfect observing targets! Mercury and Mars might be a wee bit of a challenge to see low in the west-northwestern sky at dusk all week. Jupiter’s Moons After clearly seeing Jupiter’s cloud bands and moons in a very small telescope – and through the very large telescope in the Warren Astronomical Society’s Stargate Observatory this last weekend, I just could not choose a different target! Go see … Continue reading →

In the Sky This Week – June 11, 2019

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This entry is part 100 of 102 in the series In the Sky This Week

A dimming Mars, and a bright Mercury appear low in the west-northwestern sky at dusk. The Moon appears near the star Spica on June 15th and 16th. The Moon appears near Jupiter and the star Antares on June 15th and 16th. Saturn, Jupiter and the star Antares appear in the southern sky before dawn. Jupiter, currently at opposition, rises in the southeast with the sunset. Saturn rises in the southeast around 11:20 PM. Venus is very low on the horizon just before sunrise all week. The Summer Triangle The Summer Triangle is an astronomical asterism in the northern celestial hemisphere. The defining vertices of this imaginary triangle are at Altair, Deneb, and Vega, each of which is the brightest star of its constellation (Aquila, Cygnus, and Lyra, respectively). The term was popularized by American author H. A. Rey and British astronomer Patrick Moore in the 1950s. The name can be found in constellation guidebooks as far back as 1913. – Wikipedia There is a very detailed article about the Summer Triangle at Sky and Telescope. The Moon is a waxing gibbous, just past … Continue reading →

In the Sky This Week – June 4, 2019

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This entry is part 99 of 102 in the series In the Sky This Week

Mars continues to dim in the west-northwestern sky after sunset, and Mercury appears low near the horizon all week. A thin crescent Moon appears near Mars on June 5th, and moves towards the south each day. The Moon appears by the star Regulus on June 7th and 8th. Saturn, Jupiter and the star Antares have been slowly crawling across the southern sky for several weeks; Antares sets a bit earlier each morning. Venus appears very low on the horizon just before sunrise all week. Earthshine Earthshine is visible earthlight reflected from the Moon’s night side. It is also known as the Moon’s ashen glow or as “the new Moon with the old Moon in her arm.” Earthshine is most readily visible from a few nights before until a few nights after a new moon, during the (waxing or waning) crescent phase. – Wikipedia The next few days will be the ideal time to try and catch a glimpse of Earthshine!   The Moon is a … Continue reading →

In the Sky This Week – May 28, 2019

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This entry is part 98 of 102 in the series In the Sky This Week

Starlink Satellites Cause a Stir SpaceX has launched the first 60 of a planned 12,000 Starlink satellites, intended to provide global broadband internet service. Despite assurances to the contrary, a train of bright lights has been seen crossing the night sky, along with some reports of Iridium-like flares. Astronomers and observatories are understandably concerned, with some expressing concern that this could “ruin the night sky.” I’m more concerned about any effect this might have on asteroid discovery and planetary defense; needless to say, I’ll be following this developing story closely. Mars will soon be lost on the glare of the sunset in the west-northwestern sky. Saturn and Jupiter continue to be visible in the southern predawn sky all week; Jupiter rises in the southeast around 10:00 PM. A thin waning crescent Moon appears low in the eastern predawn sky for the next few days; I saw this out my kitchen window while making coffee this morning. Video: Asteroid Discovery I … Continue reading →

Space Camp Joy

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Children spinning their little handmade Saturn models with joy !! At Easter  I ran a small space camp for children. It was over three mornings in Louisburgh Co Mayo.The venue was Books at One, the local community bookshop.  We packed a lot of things into the three mornings, in fact, I had too much planned. Better too much than too little in my experience. Space Camp joy abounded ! Day 1 Space Camp We built paper rockets that we blew into space (in the room). I have a  box of interesting forever goodies. These are intended to be made into something at some time. In the box, I found some triangular stickers. These had rocket holograms on them !! Perfect for rocket fins, the kids agreed and they loved them. The stickers came from Recreate Ireland which encourages creativity through reuse. We checked out the news on The Planetary Society’s Light Sail 2 project. New information for  the children so … Continue reading →

In the Sky This Week – May 21, 2019

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This entry is part 97 of 102 in the series In the Sky This Week

Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is Unraveling! As I was writing this post, I came upon this story on SpaceWeather.com: Around the world, amateur astronomers are monitoring a strange phenomenon on the verge of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot (GRS). The giant storm appears to be unraveling. “I haven’t seen this before in my 17-or-so years of imaging Jupiter,” reports veteran observer Anthony Wesley of Australia, who photographed a streamer of gas detaching itself from the GRS on May 19th -SpaceWeather.com I realized I should probably headline this topic when I immediately stopped what I was doing, and went upstairs to tell my wife about it! Jupiter returns the the evening sky, rising in the southeastern sky around 10:30 PM. The Moon dances with Saturn and Jupiter for the next several days in the predawn sky: Mars will soon be lost on the glare of the sunset in the west-northwestern sky. Globular cluster Messier 68 The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope offers this … Continue reading →

In the Sky This Week – April 23, 2019

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This entry is part 93 of 102 in the series In the Sky This Week

Did you get a chance to see the conjunction of Jupiter and the Moon the the predawn sky this morning? I did as I drove my wife to work. Mercury and Venus appear very low in the eastern sky just before sunrise all week – seeing Mercury may be a challenge. There will be a conjunction of the Moon and Saturn in the eastern predawn sky on April 25th; Jupiter and the star Antares continue to appear in the southwest. Mars continues to move away from the Pleiades – which is very close to setting with the dusk; the constellations Orion and Taurus set shortly after sunset. Over the last several months, Earth’s orbit has taken it away from Mars (see solar system images below). M5 – The Rose Cluster Messier 5 or M5 (also designated NGC 5904) is a globular cluster in the constellation Serpens. Under extremely good conditions, M5 is just visible to the naked eye as a faint “star” near the star 5 Serpentis. Binoculars or small telescopes will identify the … Continue reading →

In the Sky This Week – April 16, 2019

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This entry is part 92 of 102 in the series In the Sky This Week

Updating the Near-Earth Object stats for this post, I noticed that the number of known NEO’s has crossed the 20,000 threshold! I need to update this chart every time I talk about asteroids – note the steep angle of the discovery curve, and how the curve keeps growing… precipitously! If you get up at the crack of dawn, and look really low towards the eastern horizon, you may catch a glimpse of Mercury near Venus. Both planets will appear a bit lower in the sky each morning this week. Saturn, Jupiter and the star Antares appear in southern predawn sky all week; it’s interesting to note that for the last several weeks these all appeared in the south-southeastern predawn sky. Mars and the constellations Orion and Taurus appear in the western sky after sunset. Mars has dimmed significantly since last year; it and the two constellations appear a bit lower in the western sky each evening. Mars continues a slow crawl away … Continue reading →

In the Sky This Week – April 9, 2019

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This entry is part 91 of 102 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 102 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 →

In the Sky This Week – March 26, 2019

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This entry is part 88 of 102 in the series In the Sky This Week

My wife was awarded 2019 Teacher of the Year for her school district! Connie teaches middle-school science in New Haven, Michigan – she is a volunteer NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and has an asteroid named after her – I’d like to think she’s a good influence on me. The Moon joins Saturn and Jupiter in the south-southeastern predawn sky for several days this week. The Moon will appear very near Jupiter on the 27th. And a couple days later, the Moon will appear near Saturn. The constellations Orion and Taurus are in the western sky after sunset; nearby, Mars continues a slow crawl towards the Pleiades star cluster. This week’s P.S.: It’s spring, and my parrots are now making it nearly impossible for me to even think; they are completely insufferable this time of year. Globular Cluster M3 Messier 3 (M3 or NGC 5272) is a globular cluster of stars in the northern constellation of Canes Venatici. It was discovered on May 3, 1764, and was the first … Continue reading →

In the Sky This Week – March 19, 2019

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This entry is part 87 of 102 in the series In the Sky This Week

Third time’s the charm – under clear skies, I got to set up my telescope and show the Moon to attendees of the Astronomy Night event at my wife’s school… finally! As always, looking through my telescope was a first-time for several viewers, and I got the customary “Oh WOW!” from several people! Saturn, Jupiter and the star Antares are in the south-southeastern predawn sky all week. The image below is the same patch of sky above seen in infrared light – the disk and bulge of the Milky Way can clearly be seen! The waxing gibbous Moon can be seen setting in the western predawn sky on Mar. 19th. The full and waning gibbous Moon set a bit later each morning. The Moon will appear near the star Spica in the southwestern predawn sky on Mar. 22nd. The Moon joins Jupiter and Saturn in the south-southeastern predawn sky Mar. 25th. Mars continues to crawl slowly towards the Pleiades, high in … Continue reading →