Special to CosmicTribune.com, February 16, 2025 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16 ■ The waning gibbous Moon rises around 10 p.m. tonight, with Spica following it up just 2° or 3° below it (for North America). The Moon will draw closer to Spica through the night, to pass only about 1° under it around dawn […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, February 10, 2025 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10 ■ After dinnertime Sirius the Dog Star blazes in the southeast, the brightest star of Canis Major. Look below Orion. Every February, the Moon is full or nearly so when it crosses Gemini. This February Mars greets it there. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11 ■ Full Moon […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, February 3, 2025 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 2 ■ Today is the center of winter. We cross the midpoint between the December solstice and the March equinox at 6:50 p.m. EST (23:50 UT). That minute is the very bottom of the wheel of the year, astronomically speaking. ■ On Groundhog Day […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, January 27, 2025 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. MONDAY, JANUARY 27 ■ While the evenings are still dark and moonless, use big binoculars or a telescope to hunt down the 8th-magnitude globular cluster M79 in Lepus below the feet of Orion. Summer is the season for most globular clusters, but here we have a rare […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, January 13, 2025 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. SUNDAY, JANUARY 12 ■ Mars is nearest to Earth tonight, appearing 14.6 arcseconds wide and magnitude –1.4. That’s as bright as Sirius, which sparkles whitely about four fists to Mars’s lower right in early evening, and directly below Mars when they’re highest around midnight or 1 a.m. […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, December 9, 2024 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. SUNDAY, DECEMBER 8 ■ First-quarter Moon (exact at 10:27 a.m. EST on this date). The Moon shines upper left of Saturn this evening, as shown above. ■ After darkness is complete, can you make out the dim Circlet of Pisces less than a fist-width above the […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, December 3, 2024 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. MONDAY, DECEMBER 2 ■ Two faint fuzzies naked-eye. The Andromeda Galaxy (M31) and the Perseus Double Cluster are two of the most famous deep-sky objects. They’re both cataloged as 4th magnitude, and in a moderately good sky you can see each with the unaided eye. Binoculars make them easier. […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, November 18, 2024 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 18 ■ The waning gibbous Moon rises within an hour after dark this evening. Watch for it to come up lower left of Jupiter. Another couple hours and Castor and Pollux will stand in good view to the Moon’s lower left, while Orion sparkles about […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, November 10, 2024 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 10 ■ The waxing gibbous Moon shines quite near Saturn this evening for the Americas. In fact, its dark limb will occult Saturn for southern Florida, Central America, the Caribbean, and parts of South America. For instance, seen from Miami, Saturn will slowly disappear at […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, November 4, 2024 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 3 ■ If you know a place with a very low view to the southwest horizon, bring binoculars after sunset to try for the very thin crescent Moon close to Antares. They’re deep in the bright twilight and thick air near the horizon! Look […]