Category Archives: constellations

Moon and Venus Are in Conjunction – But Not With Each Other

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   Tuesday evening April 24th the waxing gibbous Moon will be over the southwest horizon at sunset local time. The Moon will be about 3o from the star Regulus in Leo the Lion. Over the northwestern horizon at the same time will be the planet Venus about 3o from the open star cluster the Pleiades.

   Venus and the Pleiades will easily fit within the field of view of binoculars.

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to return to bobs-spaces.

Sun Not in astrological Sign of Taurus

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April 20th According to the pseudoscience of astrology the Sun enters the constellation of Taurus the Bull on Friday April 20th. When in fact the actual position of the Sun on the 19th is still within the boundary of the constellation of Aries the Ram, as this graphic shows. Actually the Sun had just entered Aries the day before on April 19th.

Read a little more about how astrology has the Sun incorrectly placed in a previous blog, and in another blog discussing the effects of precession.


Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to return to bobs-spaces.

April Moon at Perigee

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   Our Moon reaches perigee, (closest distance from Earth), for this orbit on Friday April 20th. At that time the Moon will be at a distance of 28.9 Earth diameters (368,714 km or 229,108 miles) from the Earth.

   Does our Moon actually go around the Earth as this graphic shows? From our perspective on the Earth the Moon appears to circle around the Earth. However, in reality, the Moon orbits the Sun together with the Earth*


   On the day of the perigee Moon the 5-day old waxing crescent Moon is above the western horizon. The Moon is about 5o west (to the left) from the open star cluster, M-35.

   *Click here to read my 2006 Scope on the Sky column “The Real Shape of the Moon’s Orbit”. (PDF)

   Read this very informative article about the Earth-Moon system and their orbital motions, written by Joe Hanson. “Do We Orbit the Moon?”

   
   
   

Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to go to bobs-spaces.

Sun Enters Astronomical Sign of Aries

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April 19th   Thursday April 19th the Sun in its apparent eastward motion along the ecliptic, moves out of the constellation Pisces the Fishes and into the constellation of Aries the Ram. This is the true or actual position of the Sun as opposed to the pseudoscience of astrology which usually has the astrological Sun one constellation ahead or east from the Astronomical Sun’s position.
   Read a little more about how astrology has the Sun incorrectly placed in a previous blog, and in another blog discussing the effects of precession.
   
   
   


Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to return to bobs-spaces.

A Week of Moon Conjunctions

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   Over the next 7 days (mornings) the Moon, as it wanes toward last quarter, will pass closely by several planets and brights stars in some close and some not so close conjunctions.
   Perhaps the best morning will be on April 7th when the near last quarter Moon will be 1-2o from Saturn and about 4o from Mars.
All three will easily fit within the field of view of binoculars.

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to return to bobs-spaces.

Mars and Saturn Conjunction

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   Monday morning April 2nd the planets Mars and Saturn will be separated by about 1-2o as they both rise in the east. Both planets are near the Milky Way and within the boundaries of the constellation Sagittarius the Archer.

   
   
   

Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to return to bobs-spaces.

Waning Gibbous Moon Near Spica

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   Sunday evening April 1st the waning gibbous Moon will be within about 6o from the blue-white star Spica in Virgo the Harvest Maiden.

   
   
   
   
   

Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to return to bobs-spaces.