Astronomy Highlights
It’s officially summer! The longest day of the year for those of us living in the Northern Hemisphere.Take a moment to watch sunset this evening and notice how far north the Sun is setting along the western horizon. And, at dawn, you’ll also be able
Jupiter and Venus meet up tonight! This brilliant duo are only 1 1/2 degrees apart, but their distances are drastically different. Our sister planet is 110 miles away from us and the king of planets is 560 million miles away. The two brightest
Look to the east tonight at sunset to see a rare Blue Moon lighting up the night sky! It'll make for a beautiful view all night long. (Technically, the Moon is full at 2:45a.m. local time on May 31st.)Despite the name, the moon won’t actually
Step outside this evening around dusk to see an exquisite conjunction! The waxing crescent Moon will be next to brilliant Venus. Tomorrow night the Moon will have shifted to the east and will be between Venus and Jupiter. The following night it
Happy May Day! This time of year is astronomically significant and is known as a cross quarter day between the spring equinox and the summer solstice. Tonight is also the Full Flower Moon. But, it'll look somewhat smaller than normal, because
The Lyrid meteor shower is visible tonight! Start watching around 11pm with the action picking up after midnight til about 4am. The radiant is between the constellations of Lyra and Hercules. The trail of debris left by Comet Thatcher should produce
Look to the west this evening to find the Pleiades sandwiched between the waxing crescent Moon and dazzling Venus, at -3.9 magnitude. Orion will still be visible for a while longer and Jupiter is above within the bounds of Gemini, the twins.Graphic
It’s officially spring the Northern Hemisphere! Curious about the equinox? Why does the Sun rise due east and set due west?Why are day and night equal in length on the equinoxes?What happens in the Southern Hemisphere?What are some of the
Have you experienced a total lunar eclipse? No telescope required! Just bundle up and step outside at 3:45am tomorrow morning to watch the final phases of the partial eclipse leading up to totality at 4:04am (MST). The Moon will remain in Earth
Saturn slides down the southwestern sky tonight just behind the waxing crescent Moon. You’ll need telescope to see Neptune, but the Moon and Saturn will make a pretty pair without any optical aides.Graphic from SkySafari app.