John Mosley was Program Supervisor of the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles for 27 years and is the author of “Stargazing for Beginners” and “Stargazing with Binoculars and Telescopes”. He and his wife live in St. George where he continues to stargaze from his retirement home while serving on the advisory committee for Stellar Vista Observatory.
Jupiter is the sole planet in the evening sky (not counting Uranus and Neptune, both visible in a small telescope in Aries and Aquarius respectively), and you’ll see Jupiter low in the west-southwest as the sky is growing dark. Jupiter far outshines even the brightest stars and its great brilliance lets you see it down […]
Jupiter is the sole bright planet in the evening sky. It sets 4 minutes earlier each night and we’ll lose it next month. You might see Saturn one-half hour after sunset only a few degrees above the west-northwest horizon at the 5 o’clock position from Jupiter, with binoculars, but it won’t be easy. That leaves […]
With Venus gone but Mercury trying to take its place we’re left with three planets in the evening sky, but only Jupiter will be easy to spot. It’s the brightest thing in the sky, other than the sun and moon, and it’s low in the southwest after sunset, setting three hours after the sun. To […]
As predicted, the “Evening Star” – Venus – has left us, and it’s now moving between the earth and sun, soon to reappear as the “Morning Star” during the third week in January. The ancient Greeks called the Venus “Hesperus” when it appeared in the evening and “Phosphorus” when in the morning, although they knew […]
I’ve been writing about the disappearance of Venus for weeks, and now it happens. Venus is moving between the earth and sun, and it’s most nearly in line with the sun on January 8th. That’s the day when it officially moves into the morning sky and becomes the “Morning Star” although you won’t actually see […]
Venus continues its rapid descent out of the evening sky, setting 3 minutes earlier each night as it moves between the earth and sun. This was explained in detail in earlier Sky Reports which are archived at https://stellarvistaobservatory.org/category/sky-reports/. Say good-by to the Evening Star. Jupiter and Saturn are low in the west, to the left […]
During the next two weeks something dramatic happens in the sky: Venus, which has been the reliable and brilliant “Evening Star”, disappears. The four diagrams posted last week show what you’ll see. Each night Venus is significantly lower at the same time than the night before and it sets earlier. On the 13th it’s conspicuous […]
We’ve enjoyed seeing brilliant Venus in the evening sky since June, but that’s about to end, and during the next four weeks you can watch it depart, then return to view in the morning sky late in January. Here’s what’s happening: Venus travels on an orbit that is inside ours, so as it orbits the […]
Do you recall that two weeks ago I invited readers to watch Venus approach Jupiter and Saturn and predict and then confirm the date on which Saturn is precisely midway between Jupiter on the left and Venus on the right? That date is December 4th when Saturn is 16-2/3° from both planets. As I emphasize […]
The bright planets Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn are nearly equally spaced in the southwest in the evening sky, with Saturn slightly closer to Jupiter than to Venus. Venus’ motion around the sun is carrying it eastward against the background stars of Sagittarius and closer to the outer planets, which, being slower in their orbits, are […]
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