Autumn begins on Wednesday, September 22nd, precisely at 1:20 p.m. MDT. That’s the moment when the sun, in it’s apparent annual motion around the sky (the reflection of the earth’s motion around the sun) crosses the sky’s celestial equator. The celestial equator is the projection of the earth’s equator into space; during the summer the […]
Beginning with planets, the first to appear as darkness falls is Venus, in the southwest. At the moment of sunset it’s 18° above the horizon, as seen from Kanab, and you can spot it with binoculars. An hour later it’s only 7° high and you may need to peer between buildings or trees to see […]
Venus and Mercury shine low in the west after sunset. Brilliant Venus is obvious but Mercury is so near the horizon and sets in twilight that you’ll have a tough time spotting it. The very thin crescent moon, only three days past new and only 12% illuminated by the sun, is just 3° from Venus […]
Join members of Kanab’s nonprofit Stellar Vista Observatory (SVO) for a Constellation Tour and Star Party – Friday, September 10, 8:00 PM, Jackson Flat Reservoir Boat Launch, Kaneplex Drive, Kanab. This location is close to town with restrooms. Learn how to operate a portable telescope or powerful tripod mounted binocular, or, bring your own and […]
Venus and Mercury both appear in the west shortly after sunset. Venus is brilliant and easy to see for about 90 minutes after sunset, but this is a poor evening appearance of Mercury and you’ll have trouble spotting it. The angle that the plane of the solar system and the path of the planets – […]
The first planet that appears tonight is brilliant Venus. Venus sits low in the west as the sky is growing dark and it sets about 90 minutes after the sun. Jupiter and Saturn are rising but still low in the southeast as Venus is setting in the west and you can see both Jupiter and […]
You can see all three planets that are visible tonight at the same time around 9 p.m. Then Venus is about to set in the west while Jupiter and Saturn have recently risen in the southeast. Venus is by far the brightest and it becomes visible in early evening twilight – or earlier if you […]
This week is the peak of the famous Perseid Meteor Shower and this Sky Report is devoted to it. The planets are pretty much where they were last week. Meteors are quick flashes of light that last for only seconds. The brightest leave smoke trails that can linger for minutes or longer. They fall at […]
All three planets that are visible tonight are in the evening sky. These are Venus, Saturn, and Jupiter. Venus is brilliant low in the west for the hour after sunset where it shines far brighter than any star. You can see Venus well before sunset if you know precisely where to look, and it is […]
After a year of visibility Mars is finally leaving the nighttime sky as it slips behind the sun. It was brilliant last autumn and a fleet of spacecraft took advantage of its close approach to land on and orbit it early this year, but that was then. On the 26th it’s 24° from the sun […]
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