The first big event in Saturn’s fun year will be a VERY CLOSE conjunction with Venus on the morning of Saturday, January 9. If you are able to spot these two planets when the Moon was nearby during the week, you should be able to spot them again on Saturday morning when they draw closest. Saturn is the little “speck”… Continue reading
The fun begins in 2016 with the morning conjunction of the waning crescent Moon with the bright planet Venus this week, on the morning of Thursday, January 7, before sunrise. But as a special added bonus, Venus is currently lining up with the planet Saturn, which recently emerged from the sunrise, after being invisibly hidden on the opposite side of… Continue reading
Friends, 2015 was a very interesting year for conjunctions of the Moon and planets. Long-time readers of this newsletter and other experienced sky observers understand that the classical planets are among the brightest objects in the sky, and are brighter that the actual fixed stars. The planet Venus is blazingly bright, the third brightest object in the sky, exceeded in… Continue reading
Before sunrise on Monday morning, December 7, there will be a VERY CLOSE conjunction of the “Old Moon” with the blazingly bright planet Venus in the constellation Virgo! The Moon and this bright planet will be sharing the morning sky with the planets Mars and Jupiter! ALASKA AND NW CANADA… But on Monday morning, the waning crescent Moon will… Continue reading
Keep your eye on the sky before sunrise on the morning of Friday, December 4, as the waning crescent Moon lines up with the bright planet Jupiter in the constellation Leo! Over the weekend, the waning Moon moves into the constellation Virgo and passes by the red planet Mars! But the weekend dance of the planets is just a prelude… Continue reading
In the early morning hours of Thursday, November 26, the Moon will COVER OVER the bright star Aldebaran in Taurus, as seen from the northern USA. This is called an “occultation,” from the Latin word “to hide.” (And no, it has nothing to do with “the occult”!) Occultations are amazing events, and though common enough, it’s rare to have them… Continue reading
MORNING LUNAR CONJUNCTIONS OF NOVEMBER!!!! The waning crescent Moon will swing back into the scene in the first week of November. By then, Venus will be below Mars. Look for the Moon to line up with Jupiter on the morning of Friday, November 6, and with Venus and Mars on Saturday, November 7. KEEP WATCHING CLASSICAL ASTRONOMY TO LEARN ABOUT… Continue reading
LUNAR CONJUNCTIONS THIS WEEK!!! On the morning of Thursday, October 8, the Moon will be closest to the bright planet Venus, and will form a line with all the other morning planets, as shown. On the morning of Friday, October 9, the Moon will be in conjunction with Mars, though it will also be closest to Jupiter, as seen from… Continue reading
If you were reading our newsletter in the spring and summer of 2015, you read that we enjoyed a rare extended alignment of the blazingly bright planets Jupiter and Venus. If you missed those newsletters, you can read them in the online newsletter archive. As we frequently explain, Venus and Jupiter are the brightest “stars” visible in the sky, respectively… Continue reading
THE MOON PASSES THE PLANET SATURN! It’s that time again! Once again, the Moon lines up with the planet SATURN on the evening of Friday, September 18! Look to the southwest to see the bright “star” very close to the waxing Moon! Even a cheap dimestore telescope is sufficient to reveal the famous RINGS of Saturn! You can get a… Continue reading
