As the Summer Triangle rises in the east-northeast, the last of the great stars of the Winter Circle set in the west-northwest.
Tag: Mercury
EYES TO THE SKY: Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Moon at dusk. Mars, Mercury dawn
As we approach the very shortest days of the year, the times of both dusk and dawn seem to belong more to daytime than night.
EYES TO THE SKY: Planet Mercury crosses Sun today, Venus and Jupiter meet on the 24th
The next Transit of Mercury visible in its entirety from our location will be in 2049.
EYES TO THE SKY: Summer nightlife, Summer Triangle, Jupiter’s triangles, Mercury
Whereas Altair’s magnitude remains constant going forward, Mercury dims and, of more significance, sets a minute or two earlier every night this week.
EYES TO THE SKY: Planets, crescent moons, Taurus’ third horn, Eta Aquariid meteors
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.
EYES TO THE SKY: Reach for extraterrestrial holiday lights on darkest, latest mornings
Below and left of Jupiter, relatively faint planet Mercury twinkles close above the skyline while, to the right of Mercury, red star Antares, also pale in the dawn light, rises into the winter morning sky.
EYES TO THE SKY: Solstice lights: Paired planets, shooting stars, Full Long Night Moon
This week December’s Geminid shower is predicted to peak Thursday the 13th after 10 p.m. into Friday the 14th before dawn, with 2 a.m. as optimum observing.
EYES TO THE SKY: Summer’s evening sky, morning’s winter sky
Be radical: Awaken in time to see the brightest star in Earth’s sky, Sirius, appear after a long absence.
EYES TO THE SKY: Five planets, summer solstice, fireflies flashing
At the first sight of the clearing, I was wonderstruck by an aerial display of countless blinking golden lights and dipping, curving, white gold lines streaking all over the meadow from the ground up to the treetops.
EYES TO THE SKY: Venus, Mercury paired in evening twilight. EDT the 11th, Earth Hour the 24th
Venus and Mercury appear in evening twilight, about half an hour after sunset, and sunset will be an hour later–artificially changed from 5:47 p.m. today to nearly 7 p.m. on the 11th.
EYES TO THE SKY: Bedazzling line-up of planets, stars; New Year’s Day supermoon
The year’s darkest days, the last of the shortest days of the year, end tomorrow, the 26th, with 9 hours, 6 minutes of daylight.
EYES TO THE SKY: Stargazing starts at 5 p.m. Turn down the house lights!
Like preserving natural landscapes for biodiversity, preserving access to clear skies that allow human contact with the cosmos is crucial to quality of life.
EYES TO THE SKY: New season, new moon – crescent moon cues the planets
The Autumnal Equinox occurs on Friday the 22nd at 4 p.m. Sunrise and sunset times are close to 12 hours apart for the rest of the month.
EYES TO THE SKY: Full Corn Moon, Sirius the Dog Star harbinger of autumn
For those of us who, two weeks ago, witnessed the total solar eclipse in faraway locations and those of us who observed the partial eclipse locally, this full moon is especially charged.
EYES TO THE SKY: Twilight planets, summer stars, waxing moon; midnight meteors
As sunlight fades from Earth’s atmosphere and dusk deepens, the golden light of true star Arcturus, summer’s brightest, comes into view above Jupiter.
‘Hidden Figures,’ the film about fallacies of racial stereotyping, enthralls MMRHS students
“Hidden Figures is a history lesson, a math and science lesson, a social lesson, a moral and ethical lesson, and [the Monument community] came together to share these lessons.”
— MMRHS Principal Marianne Young
EYES TO THE SKY: Vernal equinox, Mercury at dusk, NEAF
On this, the vernal equinox, let’s pause together to notice sunrise due east on the horizon and the higher arc our star draws as it climbs and then descends to its due west position on the skyline.
EYES TO THE SKY: Late afternoon – early evening planets, moon and Fomalhaut
Cinching evening darkness, new moon falls on the 29th, followed by evenings enhanced by a waxing crescent moon that sets early leading to long, dark, moonless nights.
EYES TO THE SKY: Attune to planetary movements, waxing moon
On Friday and Saturday, the 7th and 8th, follow a robust crescent moon from midafternoon in the southeast until it completes its arc before midnight in the southwest.
EYES TO THE SKY: Quicken to celestial lights at dawn, dusk
In the hour before sunrise during the last week of September and the first week of October, an additional incentive to prompt our waking up to go outdoors in the early morning is the promise of witnessing the ethereal zodiacal light.
EYES TO THE SKY: Five planets – awe-inspiring conjunctions, comings and goings
Each successive night, see Mars in a changed position, having moved in an easterly direction in relation to Saturn and Antares.
EYES TO THE SKY: Meteor shower, moon, star and planet gazing
There’s much more to lure us outdoors at 4 a.m.: Between catching shooting stars, skim the southern skyline to see one of the most compelling constellations, Scorpius the Scorpion, accented by brilliant, red-orange Mars and golden Saturn.
EYES TO THE SKY: Mercury, Jupiter, spring stars and constellations
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.
EYES TO THE SKY: A quintet of planets before dawn
This reasonably rare alignment of five planets is “essentially a quirk” of the universe, and is well worth seeing.
EYES TO THE SKY: New year alight with planets, stars, meteors
The Quadrantid meteor shower, cosmic fireworks for Earthlings celebrating the holiday season, is active from today, December 28, through January 12.
EYES TO THE SKY: Dusk with three planets, glittering stars
I am eager to locate Mercury as soon as it is physically possible for the eye to see it as daylight fades into twilight. It is said that the Greeks tested their eyesight in this way.
EYES TO THE SKY: Exquisite planet, moon pairings at dusk, dawn
In deepening twilight, above Venus the planet Mars emerges, with its dim but steady, rusty-gold to orange light. The two planets appear closer together each evening, an exquisite show culminating on the 20th when a waxing, eyelash crescent moon joins the pair the day before their closest approach.
Connections: ‘Zombie ideas’ are killing children
When a sufficient percentage of the community has been vaccinated, the entire community is protected. We have now fallen below that point with measles, and we are approaching that point with polio.
EYES TO THE SKY: Planetary drama at dawn, then dusk
Uniquely, right now it is easy for relatively late risers to enjoy the beauty and wonder of celestial dawn. Beginning today and lasting through January 10, sunup in our locale is at 7:22 a.m., the latest of the year.