Tag Archives: moon

Comet 2020 F3 (NEOWISE) and Venus-Hyades Transit – Follow up

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General location of the comet

   Here are pictures of the inner planet Venus in transit across the Hyades open star cluster, and of Comet 2020 F3 (NEOWISE) as both appeared over the northeastern to eastern horizon.
   Pictures were taken around 5:00 am CDT with a Canon Rebel EOS T7i DSLR using a variety of settings for exposure, shutter speed and so on. Location was near a baseball field at Legacy Park in Lee’s Summit, MO.
   
   
   
   
   
   



   
   
   

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Venus, the Bull, and a Comet (yes!)

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   The next several days offer some exciting opportunities for viewing: a few of the visible planets; the waning phases of our Moon and a few conjunctions with stars and planets; Venus crossing the stars of the Hyades open star cluster; and Comet 2020 F3 (NEOWISE).
   Comet 2020 F3 (NEOWISE) is one of the many comets discovered by the NASA NEOWISE mission.
   NEOWISE is a space-based telescope used to find and track ‘Near Earth Objects’, comets and asteroids, that may pose a threat to our planet.
   Click on this link to go to the SkyLive web site for viewing information about Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE).

   
   
   

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A Lunar Eclipse and 2 Planet Conjunction

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   Our Moon reaches full phase on July 5th and will be rising around sunset local time. Two of the giant outer planets, Jupiter and Saturn will be passed by the Moon over a two day period. On the 5th the full Moon will be about 6-7o to the west from Jupiter. The next day, July 6th, the waning gibbous Moon will have passed the two planets and the Moon will about 1-2o from Saturn. Both days should prove to be ‘binocular-worthy’ with the morning of the 6th having the Moon the closest to the planets.
   There will also be a partial penumbral lunar eclipse however this type of eclipse has the Moon passing through the faint outer shadow cast by the Earth. Even a total penumbral lunar eclipse is barely noticeable so as a partial do not expect to see much change in the Moon’s brightness.

   
   
   

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July Moon at Descending Node

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   Friday July 3rd the 11-day old waxing gibbous Moon crosses 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 date of the descending node the waxing gibbous Moon will be over the southern horizon around local time for sunset. Look for the Moon to be about 9-10o from the heart of Scorpius the Scorpion, the reddish star Antares.

   
   
   
   
   

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June Moon at Perigee

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   Our Moon reaches perigee, (closest to Earth), for this orbit, on Tuesday June 30th. At that time the Moon will be at a distance of 28.92 Earth diameters, 229,259 miles (368,958 km) from the Earth.

   On the day of the perigee Moon the 10-day old waxing gibbous Moon will be over the southeastern horizon around mid-evening.

   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 2006 Scope on the Sky column “The Real Shape of the Moon’s Orbit”. (PDF)

   
   
   
   
   
   

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Virgo Spikes the Moon

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   Our Moon, after traversing the boundaries of the constellation Leo the Lion, will then do a similiar crossing of the constellation Virgo the Harvest Maiden. Roughly midway across Virgo is the bright blue-white star Spica. From mythologies the star Spica represents a harvested bundle of grasses, maybe wheat or oats.
   On the evening of June 28th the Moon will be about 7o to the west from Spica, and the next evening, June 29th the Moon will about 9-10o to the east from Spica.

   
   
   

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Leo and the Moon

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   The next several evenings, as our Moon waxes through its phases, the Moon will pass by some familiar celestial objects – stars, star clusters, and planets. They all have something in common, that being that these objects are near the ecliptic. Our Moon follows the ecliptic in a more or less parallel path assuming that parallel paths may be bent! The Moon’s orbit is inclined or tilted about 6o from the ecliptic meaning that the Moon will at times be above, below, or on the ecliptic.
   So with the above in mind on the evenings of June 24th and 25th the 3 to 5-day old waxing crescent Moon will be passing by the heart of Leo the Lion, the bright star Regulus. As you can see from the graphic above Regulus lies nearly on the ecliptic.

   
   
   

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Thin Moon on the Move

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   Sunday June 21st, on the other side of the Earth from the U.S.A., the new Moon will be passing between the Earth and the Sun giving that side of the world an annular solar eclipse.
   About 1/2-day later the just past new Moon, an 0.80-day young thin waxing crescent Moon may be seen just above the western horizon at sunset local time. If you see the Moon look closely for a star-like object just to the left from the Moon. This is the inner planet Mercury.
   If you miss the Moon and Mercury on Sunday evening wait until Monday evening June 22nd to see the still thin 1.85-days old waxing crescent Moon near one of the Gemini ‘Twin’ stars, Pollux.
   Not had enough? On Tuesday June 23rd the 2.80-days young waxing crescent Moon will be near M44, the Beehive Cluster.
   Any of these conjunctions will look great in binoculars.

   
   
   

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June Moon at Ascending Node and a Solar Eclipse

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   Sunday June 21st the new Moon will be crossing the plane of the ecliptic moving north. 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.
   Whenever our Moon at either new or full phase crosses the plane of the ecliptic, a node crossing, there will be an eclipse of the Sun with a new Moon, or a lunar eclipse with the full Moon phase. On the 21st the new Moon will be aligned with the Sun for a solar eclipse. (Not visible from North America) However this solar eclipse is an annular solar eclipse, where at mid-eclipse the Moon does not completely cover the Sun. There is no ‘diamond bead’ effect, no corona like what is seen with a total solar eclipse. This is because the Moon and our Sun appear to be about the same size in the sky with the exception that the Moon’s orbit is more elliptical than the Earth’s orbit around the Sun. This means that the Moon can be closer or further away during a solar eclipse. With this annular solar eclipse the Moon is further away, appears smaller than the Sun, and at mid-eclipse leaves an annulus, a ‘ring of fire’ around the Sun as this animated graphic is showing.
Note, I have brightened the side of the Moon facing toward us. During a solar eclipse we would only see a silhouette of the Moon.

   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)


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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Crescent Moon – Venus Close Conjunction

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   Friday morning June 19th about an hour before sunrise look toward the eastern horizon for the 27.5-day old waning crescent Moon and the inner planet Venus. The two will be separated by about 1-2o and both will easily fit within the field of view of binoculars making for a striking view.
   You will be looking at a Moon that is about 24-hours from new Moon phase, and shines with an apparent magnitude of -8.90 compared with Venus shining with a -4.29 apparent magnitude.
   Off to the west over the eastern-southern horizon are the outer planets, Uranus, Neptune, Mars, and Dwarf Planet Ceres. Further to the west are the planets 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.


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