Monthly Night Sky information provided by Chris Vaughan (@Astrogeoguy) at Starry Night Education (@StarryNightEdu).
If the weather forecast calls for clear skies to the southeast on Saturday morning, December 28, it will be worth venturing outside around breakfast time to see the pretty spectacle of the old, waning moon’s slender crescent shining close to Scorpius’ bright star Antares and brighter Mercury. All three objects will clear the treetops by […]
The moon cycles through its phases every 29.5 days, allowing a phase to repeat if it first occurs early in a calendar month. For the second time in December, the moon will reach its new moon phase on Monday, December 30 at 5:27 p.m. EST, 2:27 p.m. PST, and 22:27 GMT. At that time our […]
In the evening during early January, the prominent open star cluster known as the Pleiades, the Seven Sisters and Messier 45, is climbing the southeastern sky. The stars of its home constellation Taurus, the Bull will be below the cluster. This year, the brilliant planet Jupiter will be shining about 1.3 fist diameters to the […]
After the sky fully darkens in early January, the Andromeda Galaxy is positioned near the zenith, which is ideal for viewing it through a minimum of Earth’s atmosphere. The galaxy will descend the western sky as the hours roll by, but you’ll have plenty of time to enjoy it. This large spiral galaxy, also designated […]
The southwestern sky will provide a beautiful photo opportunity on Friday evening, January 3 when the slender waxing crescent moon will shine near the brilliant planet Venus. They’ll be close enough to share the view in binoculars (orange circle) from sunset until they set at about 8:30 p.m. local time. Keep an eye out for […]