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.
The highlight of this week is a modest meteor shower which peaks on the morning of the 21st. These meteors are debris shed by Comet Halley as the sun heats the frozen dirty iceball that is the comet, thaws it, and liberates dust particles mixed in with its ice. It’s called the Orionid Shower because […]
This week we’ll focus on the planets. The brightest planet in the evening sky is the king of the planets, Jupiter. You’ll see Jupiter low in the southeast as darkness falls, and high in the south around 1 a.m. No star or other planet is brighter. This is a good week to look at Saturn […]
For a while last spring there were no planets in the evening sky. Now we have three: two that are out from sunset while a third rises before midnight. As the sky is growing dark notice Saturn, almost 1/3 of the way up the southeastern sky. Saturn is in Capricornus, in a section of the […]
First, a quick run-down of the three planets visible tonight. Saturn is already up when the sun sets, and at the end of twilight you’ll find it low in the southeast, where it’s noticeably brighter than any nearby star. Saturn is highest around 11 p.m., and that’s the best time to observe it with a […]
The moon rises late, leaving the evening sky dark, so this week and next is a great time to enjoy the wonders of the summer sky. There’s a lot you can see with your eyes alone, and of course more with binoculars. This week I’ll describe what you can see of the Milky Way, our […]
Four bright planets are out tonight, although not at the same time. In order of rising they are: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, and Venus. Mercury is between the earth and sun and can’t be seen. Saturn is everybody’s favorite planet when seen through a telescope. It’s low in the east as darkness falls. If you do […]
Starting in the evening with the planets, you might look for Mercury low in the west immediately after sunset but you probably won’t see it, it’s so low. I mention it for completeness. On the evening of the 29th it’s 7° below the thin crescent moon and you might look for it then. Have a […]
The naked-eye planets are pretty much where they’ve been all month, but you might look for one “minor planet”. More on it momentarily. First, Mercury is making a poor appearance in the evening sky. You might see it in twilight slightly to the left of where the sun just set. Mercury is only about 10° […]
We seldom see a planet in the daytime, for good reason. Venus is surprisingly easy to see if you know exactly where to look, and that’s the trick – where in the sky is it, exactly? You can see Jupiter and sometimes Mars too, with greater effort, but again the trick is to know where […]
The good news is that the best meteor shower of the year happens this week. The bad news is that bright moonlight will ruin it. Every year the earth passes through a swarm of debris shed long ago by Comet Swift-Tuttle and we see a meteor shower as these sand-size debris particles fall through our […]
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