Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, March 9th and 10th, the thin waning crescent Moon wil be passing by the planets Saturn. Jupiter, and the inner planet Mercury. On the 9th the 26-day old waning crescent Moon will be about 3-4o from Saturn and on the 10th the 28-day old Moon will be about 4-5o and about 6-7o from Mercury.
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.
On Saturday March 6th Mercury, the innermost planet, will reach its orbital position known as greatest western elongation at 27.3o. At that moment Mercury, the Sun, and the Earth, would be arranged in something close to approximating a right angle as this graphic shows. Even though it sounds confusing, at western elongation for either Mercury or Venus the inner planet will be to the right of the Sun as we view them, meaning that at western elongation an inner planet rises in the east before the Sun rises. And at eastern elongation with the inner planet on the left side of the Sun the inner planet follows the Sun across the sky setting after the Sun sets.
From our perspective the orbits of Mercury and Venus appear to move from one side of the Sun to the other – out to the left (east) from the Sun to eastern elongation, then reverse and move westward (inferior conjunction) between the Earth and the Sun to western elongation. From there the inner planet moves eastward going behind the Sun (superior conjunction) and eventually reappearing on the eastern side of the Sun for an eastern elongation. Repeat over and over – do not stop!
Mercury is currently visible in the morning skies before the Sun rises. This inner planet is steadily moving past Jupiter after having passed by Saturn last week.
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.
Over the next several mornings the innermost planet, Mercury, will be moving past the planet Jupiter, coming the closest on March 4th in the hour or so before the Sun rises.
In the same field of view as Mercury and Jupiter is Comet Tempel (10P) a periodic comet that has a 5-year orbit around the Sun. This comet is one of the many comets that is part of the Jupiter family of comets. Tempel (10P) is currently about 2.5 from the Sun and shining at about 10th magnitude. Too faint for the unaided eye or binoculars but possibly visible with a large enough aperture telescope and certainly visible with time exposure pictures.
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.
Saturday morning February 20th in the hour or so before the Sun rises look for the innermost planet Mercury to be about 4-5o from Saturn and Jupiter. All three should fit within the field of view of binoculars, but the three planets will be low above the horizon.
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.
Saturday evening watch for the 11-day old waxing gibbous Moon to be in conjunction with and about 3o from the reddish star Aldebaran in the constellation Taurus the Bull.
Earlier in the evening the innermost planet Mercury was visible over the western horizon shortly after sunset. Mercury, on this date, will be at its Easternmost Elongation for this orbit. At elongation, eastern or western, Mercury, and also Venus, will be as far ‘out’ from the Sun to the right or left as we see the inner planets from Earth. At eastern elongation the inner planets follow the Sun across the sky during the day and appear as evening planets over the western horizon. At western elongation the inner planets ‘lead’ the Sun across the Sky during the day which means they rise ahead of the Sun and are seen as morning planets.
But Wait – there’s still more!
Saturn reaches solar conjunction on this date. During solar conjunction for an outer planet that outer planet will either be too close to the Sun to be seen or is on the opposite side of the Sun. When an outer planet reaches solar conjunction it moves from the evening skies to the morning skies.
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Did you miss the 27-day old thin waning crescent Moon conjunction with Venus this past Monday morning? I did!
Well there is an opportunity to see the thin crescent Moon on this side of new phase this Thursday evening January 14th. The 1.7-day young waxing crescent Moon will be over the western horizon in a line-up of sorts with Mercury, Jupiter, and Saturn all angled downward toward the western horizon. From Saturn to the Moon will span about 13o with Mercury, about 3-4o to the west, (down to the right) being the closest of the 3 planets.
This animated graphic is set for 2-minute intervals starting at 5:30 pm CST.
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.
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Monday morning and evening, January 11th, offer an opportunity for catching a pair of conjunctions. Low over the eastern horizon at sunrise is the 27.7-day old very thin waning crescent Moon about 3-4o from the inner planet Venus.
This could be a chance to see the Moon when it is about 24-hours from its new phase.
Low in the western horizon at sunset is the ongoing triple conjunction between Mercury, Jupiter, and Saturn. Monday evening will be the closest Mercury and Jupiter will be as Mercury continues moving eastward away from the two giant planets.
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Just when you thought it was over, it is not! Yes Jupiter and Saturn are certainly low over the western horizon and both are setting closer to sunset, however…
The innermost planet Mercury will be passing by Saturn then Jupiter over the next several evenings (January 7th to 12th) in a series of conjunctions as the graphics below are showing.
Each of the conjunctions brings the three planets all within the field of view of binoculars and should make for an interesting contrast in apparent magnitudes. Jupiter: -1.94; Saturn: 0.60; Mercury: 0.89.
Be careful observing because the Sun is close.
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.
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The evening skies of this year’s New Year’s Eve begins at sunset with two of the giant planets, Jupiter and Saturn, low over the western horizon at sunset, but still within about 1o from each other. Higher over the southern horizon is the planet Mars. And with optical assistance or a camera the other two gas giant planets, Uranus and Neptune, as well as Dwarf Planet Ceres could be seen.
Later, at around midnight and centered over the southern horizon will be the ‘regular’ Northern Hemisphere winter display of stars. This is a familiar groups of bright stars in a rough circle around the constellation of Orion the Hunter, and sometimes referred to as the “Winter Hexagon” or ‘Winter Circle”.
As the winter hexagon the member stars are Rigel in Orion the Hunter, Aldebaran in Taurus the Bull, Capella in Auriga the Charioteer, Pollux and Castor in the Gemini Twins, Procyon in Canis Minor, and Sirius in Canis Major.
We’ve survived another orbit.
Happy New Year!
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.
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Our Moon reaches apogee, (furthest from Earth), for this orbit, on Thursday December 24th. For this apogee the 10-day old waxing gibbous Moon will be at a distance of 31.75 Earth diameters, 251,662 miles (405,011 km) from the Earth.
On the date of the apogee, and high above the southern horizon, is the 10-day old waxing gibbous Moon. The Moon will be about 13o to the east from the planet Mars, and about 2-3o from the outer planet Uranus. Jupiter and Saturn, still close together, are low over the southwestern horizon.
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*
*Click here to read my Scope on the Sky column “The Real Shape of the Moon’s Orbit”. (PDF)
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.
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