Tag Archives: Venus

In the Sky This Week – June 12, 2018

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This entry is part 47 of 48 in the series In the Sky This Week

Mars and Saturn are visible in the southern sky before sunrise. Mars is getting larger in telescopes as we near opposition with the planet at the end of July. Jupiter remains near the double-star Zubenelgenubi II (Alpha Librae) in the southern sky after sunset on June 12th. Venus is almost aligned with the stars Pollux and Castor shortly after sunset on June 12th. The Moon The Moon is a waning crescent and will be new on June 13th. The Moon will be a waxing crescent after the 13th, visible in the western sky near sunset. Observing Target: NCG 6910 I found this gem while scanning around the constellation Cygnus with my 8 inch Dobsonian telescope. NGC 6910, also known as the Inchworm Cluster, is an open star cluster near the star Sadr in Cygnus. In small telescopes, NGC 6910 appears (kinda) like a three-armed starfish. Time exposures of the cluster reveal the rich nebulosity of emission nebula IC 1316, that the cluster … Continue reading →

In the Sky This Week – June 5, 2018

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This entry is part 46 of 48 in the series In the Sky This Week

The Moon joins Mars and Saturn in the southern sky before sunrise. Jupiter is very close to the double-star Zubenelgenubi II (Alpha Librae) after sunset on June 5th – so close you might be able to get the double-star and Jupiter with its moons in the same view through a telescope! Venus aligns with the stars Pollux and Castor on June 10th shortly after sunset. The Moon The Moon is a waning gibbous, and will be at third quarter on June 6th. The Moon will be a waning crescent after the 6th, visible low in the eastern sky before dawn. Observing Target: M57 The constellation Lyra is high in the eastern sky after sunset; the boxed area in the image below is the location of M57 – the Ring Nebula: M57 is a planetary nebula – expanding shells of luminous gas expelled by stars at the ends of their lives. Planetary nebulae can be some of the most beautiful objects in … Continue reading →

In the Sky This Week – May 15, 2018

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This entry is part 43 of 48 in the series In the Sky This Week

Mars and Saturn agree that they rather like the early morning sky, and have decided to stay there forever… or so it seems… Jupiter just past opposition, is slowly leaving the morning planets and making its way towards being visible only in the evenings. I was playing with the equatorial grid feature of Stellarium and noticed how close Polaris was to the North Celestial Pole. So, of course, I HAD to see how the South Celestial Pole looked… and I noticed the the southern hemisphere doesn’t have a convenient star near the pole – which led me to find this article on the One-Minute Astronomer about how to find the South Celestial Pole. The Moon The Moon is new on the 15th, and joins Venus in the western sky near sunset as a thin waxing crescent on the 17th. The Moon will be high in the western sky after sunset on the 20th &21st. The Sun Although there is some impressive coronal loop … Continue reading →

In the Sky this Week – May 1, 2018

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This entry is part 41 of 48 in the series In the Sky This Week

The Moon appears in the southwestern predawn sky near Jupiter on May 1st, and makes it way between Mars and Saturn in the southern sky on May 5th. Ursa Major (and the Big Dipper) are in the northwestern predawn sky, and Arcturus is bright in the western sky. Venus remains low in the western sky near sunset. Jupiter can be seen rising the in the eastern sky after sunset. Jupiter will be at opposition on May 9th – its face will be fully illuminated by the Sun, and it will be visible all night long! Sidewalk astronomers from around the world do a collective dance of joy! The Moon The Moon is a waning gibbous just past full; the Moon will be at third quarter on the 8th; May 7-10th would be good days to do some early morning sidewalk astronomy at schools! The Sun The Sun has been spot-free for 2 days. There are coronal holes at both poles, and a small … Continue reading →

In the Sky this Week – March 27, 2018

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This entry is part 39 of 48 in the series In the Sky This Week

This week, Mars whips past Saturn in the southern predawn sky; the conjunction of the two planets will last into next week. The Moon joins the morning planets after the weekend. Mercury has vanished into the glare of the Sun, but Venus is still low in the western sky after sunset all week long. Shortly after sunset, the winter constellations Orion and Taurus are visible in the southwestern sky. I use Stellarium to generate many of the sky images in this post series; a new version of the app was released on March 25th. One REALLY COOL feature in the new version is the ability to map data from dozens of different sky surveys onto the night sky. The image below shows far-infrared data from the European Space Agency’s  Akari space telescope. When I brought this image up on my computer, I sat there staring at my screen in dumbfounded amazement. I thought: “I’m seeing the Interstellar Medium” – the clouds of … Continue reading →

In the Sky this Week – March 13, 2018

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This entry is part 37 of 48 in the series In the Sky This Week

A thin waning crescent Moon departs from the planets spayed across the southern predawn skies and heading towards the new Moon this weekend. I got to see yesterday’s morning crescent Moon through my kitchen window. Mercury and Venus are low in the western sky at dusk – a bit higher in the sky than last week, but not much. The Moon joins Mercury and Venus in the western sky at dusk on the 18th; Mercury is fading and will vanish by the 22nd. The bright star Vega in the constellation Lyra is almost directly overhead in the sky before dawn. The Moon The Moon is a waning crescent rising in the southeastern sky around 6 AM, and vanishing in the glare of the Sun shortly after sunrise. The new Moon will be on the 17th. The Moon will reappear in the western sky at dusk as a very thin waxing crescent on the 18th. The Sun The Sun has been spot-free … Continue reading →

In the Sky this Week- September 26, 2017

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This entry is part 23 of 48 in the series In the Sky This Week

Winter stars are getting higher and higher in the predawn skies; if you are an early-riser, the Orion Nebula is visible for several hours before dawn in the southern sky. Regulus, Venus and Mars aligned in the predawn sky on Sept. 26th. The waxing crescent Moon will be very close to Saturn after sunset on the 26th; the next few days will be excellent for telescope observing. The first quarter Moon will be on Sept. 27th; the Moon will still be fairly close to Saturn that evening. The Moon will almost be full by the beginning of next week; it should be a great observing target all week long. Venus and Mars will be very close to each other in the predawn on Oct. 2nd. The Double Cluster is high in the northeastern sky after sunset. The Double Cluster (NGC 869 and NGC 884) is two open star clusters which appear close together in the constellation Perseus. Both visible to … Continue reading →

In the Sky this Week – September 12, 2017

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This entry is part 29 of 48 in the series In the Sky This Week

Mercury is about as high as it’s going to get in the eastern predawn sky on the 12th, and will start getting lower each morning. Sirius is high in the sky, and the constellation Canis Major is now fully visible above the southeastern horizon before sunrise. Mercury and Mars will appear very close to each other in the eastern predawn sky on the 16th. Saturn continues to be a great observing target in the southern sky after sunset. The Moon will be in conjunction with the star Aldebaran on the morning of the 12th, and will appear between(ish) the stars Aldebaran and Betelgeuse on the 13th. The eastern predawn sky on the 18th should look pretty interesting: Mercury, Mars, a sliver of a waning crescent Moon, the star Regulus and Venus will all appear in a line. Sunspot AR2680 has rotated into view; this sunspot is about the same size as AR2673 was from last week – which ballooned out and blew off … Continue reading →

In the Sky This Week – July 25, 2017

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This entry is part 20 of 48 in the series In the Sky This Week

Venus is still bright in the eastern predawn sky, but a little bit lower each morning. The constellation Orion is rising with the dawn; a little more of the constellation visible each morning. A wafer-thin waxing crescent Moon will be visible for a short time after sunset in the west on July 25th. Jupiter is visible low in the southwestern sky, and will be a little lower in the sky each evening after sunset. Saturn is high in the southern sky, and is a great target for telescope observers. Jupiter will be a scant 3° South of the Moon after sunset on July 28th. The Moon will be at First Quarter on the evening of July 30th, surrounded by Jupiter and Saturn, and the Southern Delta Aquariids Meteor Shower peaks on July 29-30th; this would be a great evening to host an astronomy outreach event! Apps used for this post: Stellarium: a free open source planetarium app for PC/MAC/Linux. NASA … Continue reading →

Venus and Mars in the Evening, Jupiter in the Morning

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Venus is low and bright, and Mars is high and dim in the southwestern sky after dusk. Jupiter is low in the predawn sky to the southeast. Venus orbits the Sun faster than the Earth, and as it catches up with the Earth over the next couple months, it will continue to appear higher in the evening sky. In mid-February, Venus will start to appear lower in the sky each evening, until it disappears into the glare of the Sun in early March. Venus will reappear in the predawn sky starting in early April. Mars will continue to dim as the Earth puts more distance between the two planets, until it disappears into the glare of the Sun in mid-April. Mars will reappear in the predawn skies in late September. Jupiter will be visible in the predawn skies for several months, slowly moving from east to west; it will appear high in the southern sky in January, and low in … Continue reading →