Special to CosmicTribune.com, April 14, 2025 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. SUNDAY, APRIL 13 ■ Vega, the bright “Summer Star,” rises in the northeast these evenings. How early or late depends on your latitude and also on your longitude within your time zone. Exactly where should you watch for Vega to come up? Spot the Big Dipper […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, April 8, 2025 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. SUNDAY, APRIL 6 ■ The Big Dipper stands high in the northeast these evenings, tipping over to the left dumping water. Its handle plus the two stars of its bowl closest to the handle form a broad, rough arc. To the right of the arc, not […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, August 28, 2025 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. SUNDAY, MARCH 2 ■ February was Orion’s month to stand at his highest in the south in early evening. Now March pushes him westward and spotlights his dog, Canis Major with Sirius on his chest, standing center stage on the meridian. Sirius is not only the […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, February 24, 2025 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23 ■ Have you ever seen Canopus, the second-brightest star after Sirius? It lies almost due south of Sirius, by 36°. That’s far enough south that it never appears above your horizon unless you’re below latitude 37° N (southern Virginia, southern Missouri, central California). […]
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 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 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 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 […]