Monthly Night Sky information provided by Chris Vaughan (@Astrogeoguy) at Starry Night Education (@StarryNightEdu).
On Tuesday evening, December 17, the bright, 90%-illuminated moon will shine a short distance above (or celestial WNW of) the prominent reddish dot of Mars. The moon and the reddish planet will be close enough to share the view in binoculars, which will also show the widely scattered stars of the Beehive Cluster below Mars. […]
The star Algol in the constellation of Perseus represents the glowing eye of Medusa from Greek mythology. Also designated Beta Persei, it is among the most accessible variable stars for skywatchers. During a ten-hour period that repeats like clockwork every 2 days, 20 hours, and 49 minutes, Algol dims noticeably and re-brightens by about a […]
On mid-December evenings the constellation of Perseus is climbing the northeastern sky. Just for 2024, bright Jupiter will also be gleaming to the lower right of Perseus. The outer rim of our Milky Way galaxy runs through Perseus’ stars, filling its territory with rich star clusters. The largest of those surrounds his brightest star, Mirfak, […]
Located only about 150 light years away from the sun, Taurus, the Bull’s triangular face is actually one of the nearest open star clusters to our solar system. Its stars are commonly called The Hyades, named for the five daughters of Atlas in Greek mythology. It also has the designations Melotte 25 and Caldwell 41. […]
The Ursids meteor shower, which is produced by particles of debris dropped by the periodic comet 8P/Tuttle, runs from December 17 to 26 every year. The weak, short-duration shower will peak (usually with only 5 to 10 meteors visible in an hour) while Earth is traversing the densest part of the debris field on Sunday […]