This month, Mercury transitions from evening to morning object. It’s already hard to see in the evening sky for most observers at the month’s start, especially in the northern hemisphere. From high northern latitudes, it’s just not possible. From middle northern latitudes, it’s a challenge with the glow of sunset still strong as the planet […]
Mars and Mercury meet up in the evening sky this month, but the view will be challenging for some northern hemisphere sky watchers, impossible for others. Observers near and south of the equator will get the view. Along the way, Mercury passes 1.7° from Spica on the 2nd. The red planet passes a half-degree from […]
Total lunar eclipse We have a total lunar eclipse this month. On the 7th Universal Time, Africa,Europe, Asia, Australia, and the Pacific Ocean get to see at least part of it. Parts of eastern Brazil and western Alaska do too. Everywhere else in the Americas will be on the wrong side of the earth for […]
Morning sky watchers get a nice view of two planets and the moon close together as they rise this month. The setup is worth watching from the start of August. On the 1st, you’ll see Venus just over the club Orion holds and just below the feet of twin Castor in Gemini. Jupiter is closer […]
Mercury and Mars are nice evening objects at the start of July. Look west at dusk. Mercury is at greatest elongation on the 4th at 25.9° east of the sun. It passes right by Asellus Australis that evening. That’s the southern donkey star in Cancer. It’s said to be one of the two donkeys feeding […]
This month starts with Jupiter and Mars in the west at dusk. Jupiter is slowly leaving the evening sky and is low enough to signal that its exit will be soon. As Jupiter approaches the feet of Gemini, Mercury comes up to join it about one week into the month. Mercury quickly leaves Jupiter behind. […]
Jupiter is on its way out of the evening sky. The big planet will be in conjunction with the sun on June 24. Most observers will see it heading into the sunset this month. Then for June and July, it will be too close to the sun to see until it emerges into the morning […]
A crescent moon is in our evening sky as April starts. You’ll see it to the west after sunset, below the Pleiades and the Hyades. With binoculars, you may find Uranus in that area too. Jupiter is above the Hyades V asterism. And Mars is on the east side of Gemini, near the star Kappa […]
Four planets have conjunctions with the sun this month: Saturn on the 12th, Neptune on the 19th, Venus on the 23rd, and Mercury on the 24th. Of course, none of this is directly observable. But knowing that something is happening is a big part of the fun of astronomy. This cluster of planets has been […]
Last month, Venus pulled above Saturn in our evening sky. You can still see them after sunset as this month begins. You’ll see a young moon with them at the very beginning of February. You’ll continue to see Venus and Saturn climbing the starry background while the background itself sinks a little farther into the […]