Can you see Comet Levy?

Tonight before moonrise at 10:30 p.m., binocular uses can spot something a little different. 19 million mile distant Comet Levy lies about one binocular field of view below bright Jupiter. (Jupiter is the brightest object shining high in the southwest.) The comet should appear as a dim smudge. View it again on Saturday and Sunday nights. It will have moved.

The moon moves in our sky near Mars tonight. Then on Monday morning, the moon, sporting a third quarter phase, lies next to Saturn and Spica, forming a tight triangle with them. Saturn appears to its left while the similarly bright Spica sits just above the lunar half disk.

Such is our view from Earth...

Where are the planets?

The appearance of the celestial dome is always changing. Here is brief rundown of where the moon and the planets lie in the sky above us.

Moon: Just past full, it is a waning gibbous phase. As the week progresses, its "fattness" becomes less. It moves near Mars as they rise on the 12th and 13th.

Mercury: Rises an hour before the sun, and remains very low in the southeast just before sunrise. It will be difficult to spot.

Venus: Very bright starlike object in the west an hour after sunset. If it is clear, you can't miss it.

Mars: Appears as a bright star in the east after 11 pm. Can you notice its orange-red color?

Jupiter: As the sun sets, Jupiter lies very high in the south. It is easily the brightest object in that area of the sky.

Saturn: Won't rise in the east until 2 am. It sits to the left of a slightly dimmer object, the star Spica. Bright Mars lies far to their upper right.

As a bonus celestial sight: The ever popular constellation Orion with its two bright stars, Betelgeuse and Rigel, can be found after 7 p.m. climbing in the east.

Such is our view from Earth...

Perihelion today

Our Earth moves in an elliptical orbit around the sun. It may seem strange with our recent cold winter weather, but today our planet reaches its annual minimum distance to the sun — called perihelion. Our distance now is about 91.4 million miles, which about 3 million miles closer, or about 3% closer, than in July. Therefore, the January sun appears a little brighter in our sky than the July sun! Odd.

such is our view from Earth...

Quadrantid Meteor Shower: 1/04/12 after 2 am

The waxing gibbous moon tonight sits just to the east of bright Jupiter. As they set around 2 a.m., the Quadrantid Meteor Shower takes hold in the northeastern sky. (The center of the radiant is located just south of the tip of the handle of the Big Dipper.)

From a dark location, upwards of 60 meteors per hour might be seen under good conditions. Keep warm and relax in a comfortable chair while watching for these swift streaks of light. Binoculars are not necessary, nor even useful. How many do you count?

...such is the view from our Earth

Mercury joins Jupiter in the evening sky

The smallest planet in the solar system, Mercury, joins Jupiter, the largest planet. On Sunday night, Mercury appeared to bright Jupiter's lower right. On Wednesday around 8 p.m., Mercury climbs to Jupiter's right. As the evenings pass, Mercury rises higher while Jupiter sinks lower, eventually disappearing by March 22. Mercury should remain visible until March 27 before it, too, disappears in the bright evening twilight.

Such is our view from Earth...

Astronomy conference in Greensboro that never disappoints!

Here is an amateur astronomy event in Greensboro that never disappoints!


*Tri*Star*
Saturday, 5 March 2011

A Day of Astronomy Speakers & Displays
Presentation Topics Include Galaxy Mergers & Evolution, Supernovae, and the Geology of Titan

Triad Starfest, *Tri*Star* for short, is a gathering of astronomers of all types, from novice to professional, for a full day of presentations, displays, and observing. The event allows astronomy enthusiasts to share ideas, learn about a range of astronomical topics, get together with old friends, and make new ones. The event will draw astronomers from North Carolina and surrounding states.
The upcoming edition of *Tri*Star* will take place on Saturday, 5 March 2011 in the Percy H. Sears Applied Technologies Center on the campus of Guilford Technical Community College in Jamestown, NC. In addition to a series of speakers scheduled throughout the day, there will be a wide range of astronomical displays, assorted astronomy-related vendors, prize drawings, "how-to" help for astronomy beginners, an astrophotography exhibition, and daytime and nighttime observing sessions (weather permitting).

*Tri*Star* Speaker Schedule – Saturday, 5 March

9:00 *Tri*Star* Opens
10:00 Mike Malaska, Organic Chemist, SCYNEXIS, Titan's Earthlike Landscape
11:30 Stephen van Vuuren, Local Filmmaker, Outside In – Saturn Flyby film clip
2:00 Stephen Reynolds, NC State Univ., Supernova remnants, Cosmic Rays, and Cosmology
3:30 Sheila Kannappan, UNC-Chapel Hill, Galaxy Evolution by Mergers
4:30 Prize Drawings and Final Announcements
Note: there will not be a pre-*Tri*Star* Friday lecture this year.

Information about *Tri*Star* is posted at http://www.gtcc.edu/services/observatory/triStar/index.html


Such is our view from Earth...

The 14th member of the zodiac

It may come as a surprise to many people, but the sun passes through 13 officially recognized constellations on its annual trek across the celestial dome. The 13th constellation is Ophiuchus, in which the sun spends nearly three weeks in December. There is another constellation in which the sun just nicks its boundary, Cetus, the Whale. Only 10% of the disk of the sun crosses into it and its partial border incursion lasts only twelve hours or so. Here are the dates and times that this relatively unknown event occurs:

Year Incursion begins Incursion ends
2010 3/27, 4:10 pm EDT 3/28, 5:40 am EDT
2011 3/27, 10:20 pm EDT 3/28, 11:45 am EDT
2012 3/27, 4:20 am EDT 3/27, 5:50 pm EDT
2013 3/27, 10:40 am EDT 3/28, 12:10 am EDT
2014 3/27, 4:50 pm EDT 3/28, 6:20 am EDT
2015 3/27, 10:50 pm EDT 3/28, 12:20 pm EDT

Keep in mind that the constellation boundaries are artificial constructs created by the International Astronomical Union about eighty years ago. They wanted to divide the sky into standardized sections so when an object in a particular spot in the sky was discussed, all astronomers would know where they were referring.

Such is our view from Earth...