The first planet to appear tonight is Venus, poetically called the Evening Star. You can see it during twilight north of due west and fairly low. Venus is so brilliant that you can see it at sunset – and even before — if you know where to look; find it one night, and then the […]
The good news is that there is a rare “annular” or ring eclipse of the sun on June 10 — but the bad news is that you won’t see it unless you’re in a small part of Russia, Greenland, or northernmost Canada. It will be a nice partial eclipse for some eastern states and much […]
This week we’ll recap what the moon and planets are doing. Two planets are in the evening sky and two are in the morning. Brightest of all is Venus, which is becoming very slightly easier to see day by day. It’s presently on the far side of the sun where it’s only 20° to the […]
This week’s main event is a total eclipse of the moon on the morning of Wednesday, May 26. A total eclipse of the moon happens when the full moon moves through the shadow of the earth and grows dark. Everyone on the side of the earth that faces the moon can watch the eclipse simultaneously. […]
This is the final week that all five planets are visible. Mercury is low in the west after sunset, where it has been all month, but this week it leaves us. A few weeks ago Mercury was on the far side of the sun and approaching us in a big arc. On the 27th it’s […]
This is the best week of the entire year to see the elusive planet Mercury as it achieves it’s greatest angular distance from the sun, 22°, on the 17th. You should easily see it without binoculars, but you do need a low northwestern horizon, important to see Mercury but essential to see Venus just below. […]
This week and the next two all five naked eye planets are visible at one time or another, beginning with Venus and Mercury. Both are very low in the west-northwest at sunset, and the trick is that 1) you need to look immediately after sunset, 2) you need a flat, low horizon, and 3) binoculars […]
Sky Report: April 26 – May 2 I always emphasize the planets because they’re what changes the quickest in the sky, and for the next two weeks all five naked-eye planets are visible at one time or another. Venus has been behind the sun since late last year, but it’s starting to peek out to […]
Venus is starting to return to the evening sky. You might see it extremely low in the west a few minutes after sunset, especially if you use binoculars and have a flat horizon. Mercury joins it next week, and more on it then. Orange Mars is half-way up the western sky as darkness falls. It’s […]
This is a quiet week, astronomically speaking, so let’s look at where the moon is each night. On the 12th the moon is one day past new and you won’t see it, but can you see it the following evening? On the 13th it will be the slimmest of crescents barely above the western horizon […]
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