Monthly Night Sky information provided by Chris Vaughan (@Astrogeoguy) at Starry Night Education (@StarryNightEdu).
The western sky on Friday, January 31 after sunset will offer a pretty sight and photo opportunity when the slim crescent of the waxing moon will shine below Saturn, with much brighter Venus gleaming above them. The moon and Saturn will be close enough to share the view in binoculars (orange circle). Hours later, observers […]
The western sky after sunset on Saturday, February 1 will offer a pretty sight when the slim crescent moon will shine close to the brilliant planet Venus, while the medium-bright, yellowish dot of Saturn shines about a fist’s diameter below them (or 10 degrees to their celestial southwest). After the sky darkens fully, around 6:30 […]
On Monday, February 3, the very bright planet Jupiter will temporarily cease its motion (dotted line) through the background stars of central Taurus – marking the end of a westward retrograde loop that it began in early October. The planet will be gleaming high in the southern sky every evening. After tonight, Jupiter will resume […]
The moon will complete the first quarter of its 29.53-day journey around Earth on Wednesday, February 5 at 3:02 a.m. EST, or 12:02 a.m. PST, or 08:02 GMT. At first quarter, the moon’s 90-degree angle from the sun causes us to see it half-illuminated on its eastern side. First quarter moons always rise around mid-day […]
On Wednesday night, February 5, skywatchers in North America west of Winnipeg, Manitoba and Kansas City, Missouri can watch the orbital motion (green dotted line) of the bright, 60%-illuminated, waxing gibbous moon carry it through the Pleiades star cluster (aka Messier 45, Subaru, and the Seven Sisters). In the Central Time zone, the moon will […]