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, January 6, 2025 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. MONDAY, JANUARY 6 ■ First-quarter Moon (exactly first-quarter at 6:56 p.m. EST). Find the Great Square of Pegasus to the Moon’s upper right shortly after dark, and directly right of the Moon later. A diagonal through the Square points at the Moon (for evening in North America). […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, December 30, 2024 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. SUNDAY, DECEMBER 29 ■ As the year nears its end, Orion fully comes into his own. He’s striding up the east-southeastern sky as soon as it gets dark, with his three-star Belt nearly vertical. Left of the Belt is orange Betelgeuse and right of the Belt […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, December 23, 2024 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. ■ Last-quarter Moon (exact at 5:18 p.m. EST). The Moon rises around midnight, under the hind feet of Leo. MONDAY, DECEMBER 23 ■ The little Pleiades cluster shines very high in the southeast after dinnertime, no bigger than your fingertip at arm’s length. How many Pleiads can […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, December 16, 2024 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. SUNDAY, DECEMBER 15 ■ The Summer Triangle is finally sinking low in the west, and Altair is the first of its stars to go (for mid-northern skywatchers). Start by spotting bright Vega, magnitude zero, the brightest star in the northwest right after dark. The brightest one […]
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 25, 2024 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25 ■ 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 fairly good sky you can see each with the unaided eye. Binoculars make them easier. Did you […]
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 […]
