What's Up? The Space Place

 Hey, Space Placers! The waning crescent Moon hangs with Venus, Mercury, and Antares in the dawns of January 7th through 9th. On the 8th the Moon occults Antares in morning darkness for the West Coast. Farther east, the occultation happens in twilight or broad daylight. Credit: SkyandTelescope.org From  SkyandTelescope.org: ■ On Monday morning the 8th, the waning crescent Moon  will occult 1st-magnitude Antares  low in the southeast during darkness or dawn for the western U.S. and Canada. The occultation will happen in full daylight for most of the rest North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. In a bright sky the event may be a tough catch even with a telescope, depending on the atmospheric seeing (usually poor in the daytime but often excellent around sunrise) and also the clarity of the air. Map and timetables  for this event. The first two tables, for many cities, are very long. The first gives the times of Antares's disappearance; the second its re...

 Hey Space Placers! Tonight in the Western sky a nice grouping of several celestial bodies will take place. Credit: EarthSky.org This will be visible around the entire planet but in North America smoke from the Canadian wildfires is making the sky very hazy. Try taking some smartphone pics too. Sky Guy in Hazy Skies VA

Hey Space Placers! Happy Friday the 13th! Now is the time to get out and see the summer sky as I explain in this article . Mars will mesmerize you and the Venus and the Moon amaze you. Enjoy! Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! As March progresses make an effort to watch the movements of Mercury and Venus in the Western sky this month. I got this pic on 8/3/18 when the two were at their closest to one another. Venus is on the left and always the brighter of the two. Venus (L) and Mercury in the West after sunset Greg Redfern For the next two weeks the planetary pair will rise higher in the West making them easier to see and on the 18th the Waxing Crescent Moon will join them to make a nice view. To see them find a Western horizon clear of obstructions, and go outside about 20 minutes after sunset. Look to the left of where the Sun set, or to the left go the bright horizon glow of the set Sun. If you have binoculars this will help too although they will be visible to the unaided eye as the month progresses. Venus and Mercury will change their positions in the sky due to their respective orbits around the Sun as well as that of our own planet. It is viewing opportunities like th...

Hey Space Placers! Predawn on 10/26 Venus and Jupiter are going to be very close - a little over two Moon-widths. Go outside an hour or more before dawn to see Venus (brightest) near Jupiter with Mars just below both. If you have a clear view of the horizon Mercury might be visible just before it gets light. Sky Guy in Cloudy VA

Hey Space Placers! If you have clear skies on 2/20 and 2/21 be sure to look at the triple pairing in the western sky after sunset of Mars, Venus and the thin Crescent Moon. This will be a pretty sight to see. Sky and Telescope Diagram http://www.skyandtelescope.com You can get more details here . Sky Guy In Siberia, VA

Hey Space Placers! If you are out and about after sunset any time soon and look at the sky you will see two bright planets. Venus is dazzling in the Southwestern sky as it gets dark and cannot be missed. It is well placed for viewing in the sky over the next few months and will have some interesting alignments with the Moon and the planet Mars this month that I will be writing and Tweeting about. On the other side of the sky you will see bright Jupiter in the East. Today it is directly opposite the Sun and will be visible in the sky for the whole night for the coming weeks. Jupiter is 36 light minutes from Earth which means it took the reflected sunlight that you are seeing form the planet 36 minutes traveling at 186,000 miles per SECOND (the speed of light) to reach your eye. When you look at Jupiter see what time it is and subtract 36 minutes, that will tell you what time the light left Jupiter to travel over 400 million miles to you. Binoculars can show the 4 main moon...

Hey Space Placers! UPDATED: I have updated the links for Mercury-Venus pairing and Comet Lovejoy. All 3 are STILL prime time viewing objects as it gets dark. Here is my pic of Comet Lovejoy from 1/10/15 I know it is cold - hey, it IS winter - but there are some sights to see in the night sky that ARE worth bundling up and getting out to see. First up right after sunset is the pairing of bright Venus and Mercury in the Southwest sky. Venus is easy to see when it starts to get dark and Mercury is just to the lower right. These two inner planets of our solar system have been getting closer to one another each night and they will be closest, less than the width of your little finger at arm's length, on Saturday. Use this to help find them . Binoculars are a big help and will show the color contrast between the two. To me Venus is a greenish-white while Mercury is a yellowish-golden-white color. If you have never seen Mercury, most of humanity hasn't, this is your c...

Hey Space Placers! Tonight and the next two nights, the crescent Moon will will be a sight to see and then will pass by Jupiter and then Venus in the west at dusk forming a beautiful sight. The best time to view the lovely trio will be when the deep blue of the sky forms a gorgeous contrast and background for viewing. The Moon will have Earthshine present - the dark of the Moon will be visible because of the sunlight reflecting off of Earth's clouds and oceans to illuminate the Moon's surface. Get and enjoy this viewing treat as Jupiter is sinking low into the west and will soon disappear into the Sun's glare. Also, the launching of the 5 ATREX sounding rockets - see my blog on the 17th - is now set for March 26, probably midnight to 3 a.m. Tomorrow I will have an amazing report on the amount of energy dumped into our atmosphere by the recent solar storms....you will not want to miss it. Sky Guy in Cloudy and Rainy VA

Hey Space Placers! Took these pics on 3-13-12. Click on the photos for a larger view  Jupiter is now lower than Venus after months. They will still be mesmerizing for a few more days before they move apart. Mars in the eastern sky with distinctive color. Sky Guy in Light Polluted NVA

Hey Space Placers! What a great weekend for sky watching! The show is not over as Venus and Jupiter will continue to get closer to one another by a finger width a day and Mars will start gracing our evening skies all night long when it gets to opposition (directly opposite the Sun) on March 3rd. Mars is bright orangish-red and is in the east at 8 p.m. Saturn rises in the east around 10 pm so we have planets aplenty. Oh, and don't forget Mercury in the west about a fist-width above the horizon in the west. It is bright yellowish-white and to the lower right of Venus by several fist widths. Sky Guy in VA Watchin' the Sky

Hey Space Placers! Be sure to get out tonight (2-24), tomorrow and Sunday night for the celestial dancing of the cresecent Moon, Venus and Jupiter. This will be something to see. Check out my blog of 2-17-12 to get all of the details.    If it is cloudy for your area, try tuning in to Slooh as they will be carrying the events live as stated in their press release: "Slooh Space Camera will broadcast a free, real-time feed of the Venus/Moon and Jupiter/Moon conjunctions on Saturday, February 25, and Sunday, February 26, starting at 02:30 UT / 6:30 p.m. PST / 9:30 p.m. EST. Slooh will provide multiple observatory feeds, including from Arizona and the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa. The broadcast can be accessed at Slooh’s homepage - http://events.slooh.com/ - or by visiting Slooh’s G+ page, where you will be able to see the panel interact live via G+ Hangouts On Air." Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! If you have clear skies and a clear western horizon, make sure you look for the heavenly trio in the west right after sunset. Binoculars will help your search. The Moon will get higher in the western sky over the next few days and Venus and Mercury will remain close to one another. A great view if you can see it!