Sunday evening the 4.3-day old waxing crescent Moon will be about 4o from the star Regulus, the heart of Leo the Lion. Spread across the sky from west to east are three planets, Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn.
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.
Also Follow me and other great resources at Feedspot.
Saturday June 16th the waxing crescent Moon will be crossing the plane of the ecliptic moving north relative to the ecliptic. This is known as the ascending node, one of two intersections the Moon’s orbital path has with the ecliptic. The ecliptic is actually the Earth’s orbit and the Moon’s orbit is inclined about 6o from the ecliptic. So there are two node intersections, the ascending and descending nodes.
On Saturday evening June 16th the 3.5-day old waxing crescent Moon will be about 8o east (left) from the planet Venus and about 3o from the open star cluster, M-44 also, known as the ‘Beehive Cluster’.
Does our Moon actually go around the Earth as many graphics show? 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 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 return to bobs-spaces.
Also Follow me and other great resources at Feedspot.
Friday evening June 15th the 3.75-day young waxing crescent Moon will be to the left from the ‘Twin’ stars of Pollux and Castor. A little further east or higher above the Moon is the ‘hard-to-miss’ planet Venus.
Over the next 24 hours the Moon will have orbited eastward and by the same time Saturday evening June 16th the waxing crescent Moon will be ‘above’ Venus, or further east than Venus is.
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.
Also Follow me and other great resources at Feedspot.
Our Moon reaches perigee, (closest distance from Earth), for this orbit on Thursday June 14th. At that time the Moon will be at a distance of 28.18 Earth diameters (359,500 km or 223,383 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*
Thursday evening May 14th, shortly after sunset local time (8:26 CDT), look toward the western horizon for a conjunction between a thin 1.25-day young waxing crescent Moon and the innermost planet Mercury. The two will be about 2-3o apart but very low over the western horizon.
*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.
Also Follow me and other great resources at Feedspot.
Thursday evening June 14th the thin 1.25-day young waxing crescent Moon will be about 2-3o from the innermost planet Mercury as the two are setting about an hour after sunset local time.
As the graphic shows both will be low over the horizon before the sky is dark so this may be an interesting challenge to see either one or both. On the other hand further east, higher above the horizon, and very bright appearing is the other inner planet, Venus.
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.
Also Follow me and other great resources at Feedspot.
Sunday June 3rd the waning gibbous Moon will be crossing the plane of the ecliptic moving south. This is known as the descending node, one of two intersections the Moon’s orbital path (dark green line) has with the ecliptic.
On the morning of the node crossing the 19-day old waning gibbous Moon will be over the south-southeastern horizon about an hour before the Sun rises local time. The Moon will also be about 3o from the ‘red planet’ Mars. Off to the west is the planet Saturn nestled within the glow of the eastern side of the Milky Way.
Depending on how dark the sky is where you are viewing from and how early you want to go outside, the area around Saturn is rich with some of the best deep-sky objects visible with binoculars. So the earlier you are out, before moonrise, the darker the sky will appear making it easier to see some of Messier Objects in the area near Saturn.
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.
Our Moon reaches apogee, (greatest distance from Earth), on Saturday June 2nd. At that time the Moon will more or less be at a distance of 31.77 Earth diameters (405,300 km or 251,842 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 morning of the apogee the 18-day old waning gibbous Moon will be over the southern horizon and beteen the planets Saturn and Mars.
*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.
