While we continue to learn how to dodge threats to our physical health from the pandemic, spring is arriving with opportunities to nurture mind and body in the safety of the outdoors.
Let morning stargazing begin! The darkness of night, when all naked eye stars and constellations are visible, prevails until about 5:35 a.m. this week and 5:50 a.m. at month’s end.
While venturing out at nightfall to enjoy the asterisms, be sure to appreciate the Crow careening in the south and the full figure of the Lion striding high in the southwest.
Even faint shooting stars may be visible in dark skies in locations away from artificial light. The peak of the Eta Aquariids is predicted to be before dawn Sunday morning, May 5.
Wherever the Big Dipper is in the sky, simply “arc to Arcturus” to be assured that you have located the second brightest star visible in northern skies.
By Friday, the 29th, a half moon, last quarter, rises close to midnight, accompanying springtime’s quintessential all-night constellation, Leo the Lion, visible now during the hours after midnight.
Seeing the rest of the planets visible this spring, especially the spectacle of red Mars increasing in magnitude, requires awakening by 5 a.m. close to a location with a clear view of the southeast to southwest horizon.
Every morning during the span of this post, it is worth the effort to be at a location with a west-southwest view an hour before sunrise to see the pairing of Jupiter with Virgo’s brightest star, bluish Spica.
As spring stars and constellations rise in the east and travel the heavens all night, winter’s dazzling stars and constellations are poised to set in the west before midnight.
November 16—29, 2015
Mt. Washington -- It was just as celebrity astronomy writers had described, except that I was indoors gazing out a picture window...
