Daily Astronomy Fix

Take a stroll after dinner and watch the Sun set as the Full Moon rises in the east. September’s full Moon is known as the Drying Grass Moon by the Arapaho and Cheyenne peoples. Tomorrow, the Moon will be a day past full and will rise with Jupiter.

Venus is buzzing around the Beehive! Grab your binos before dawn and look eastward, low on the horizon to find our sister planet amongst one of the loveliest open clusters ( M44 ) in the sky. Graphic credit: SkySafari app

It’s Saturntime! The 2nd largest planet is at opposition tonight, meaning directly opposite of the Sun from our Earthly perspective. Saturn rises in the east as the Sun sets and sets in the west the Sun rises. Enjoy the view all night long!

Have you seen any “fire in the sky” yet? John Denver’s famous song ""Rocky Mountain High"" made the Perseid meteor shower iconic! The shower peaks on the 12-13th as Moon is full, but keep your eye out. You may see a stray bit of fire rainin’ here and there.

The Moon points the way to the heart of the Scorpion tonight - Antares! Also, known as the “Rival of Mars” because of its red color and similar appearance to Mars. This red supergiant star is the 16th brightest star in our sky and a mere 550 light years away...

EVERYTHING is moving… Earth spins on its axis, it orbits the Sun, the Solar System is moving within the Local Interstellar Cloud, & the Orion Spur/Arm is going around the center of our Milky Way galaxy—taking 250 million years to turn once. Feeling dizzy? Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Did you see the Milky Way yet? When you do, take a sec to ground yourself. You’re gazing out upon a huge galaxy…from within. Our solar system is 26,000 light years from the center of the galaxy which stretches 100,000 light years across. In terms of mileage, that’s 100,000 x...

Summertime is prime time for seeing our Milky Way galaxy! It stretches across the entire night sky from Cassiopeia in the north, overhead through Cygnus and Aquila, and down to the southern horizon in between Sagittarius and Scorpius. Tips: Find a dark sky away from city lights Avoid looking at...

Is the heat getting to you? Not to worry, the winter stars are rising earlier every day. Look to the east tomorrow before dawn to see the Moon nicely placed between the Pleiades and Hyades. Orion is rising too! Graphic credit: Stellarium

See the Super Full Moon tonight! The Moon’s orbit isn’t circular, it’s an ellipse (oval). During every orbit around the Earth it reaches a closer (perigee) distance and farther (apogee) distance from us. Tonight it happens to be near perigee + it’s a full moon = SUPERMOON!