The Night Sky Guy

Tonight: Moon Meets Mars’ Rival

Check out a real pretty celestial get together in the evening sky tonight, Tuesday, about a half hour after sunset. By that time the sky will start to become dark enough to reveal the orange-hued star Antares next to the crescent Moon . Lying more than 600 light years from Earth, Antares is the lead star in the constellation Scorpius and it’s name literally means – Anti-Mars – given to it by ancient Greek astronomers because it reminded them of the Red Planet in the sky. Check out this spectacular pairing for yourself int he southern sky tonight.

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Sky Show: Planetary Triangle

If you have clear skies after sunset anytime over the next week,  don’t miss a great opportunity to catch sight of a great meeting of three planet superstars in the sky.   Mars, Saturn and Venus will form a tight triangle in the western sky at dusk .  Called a conjunction- when planets get close to each other in the sky – this is one sky how you don’t need binoculars or telescopes to enjoy. Venus will be the first planet to pop into view as it is the brightest of the trio.

Venus is affectionately called the evening star because it appears soon after sunset as the first star like object.  A few minutes later as the sky darkens orange hued Mars and creamy coloured Saturn will become visible too. The three worlds will make a spectacular triangular configuration that will look quite spectacular to the naked eye – even from light polluted suburbs. Remember that while they may look close together they are in fact separated by hundreds of millions of kms.  The three planets will appear separated by only 5 degrees – that is about 10 full moon disks.

Don’t  forget you can always get late-breaking stargazing news anytime by joining my fanpage on Facebook, or get  email alerts sent directly to your inbox

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Worlds Align in Sky Show

Planets and Moon align in the West Tonight; credit: Earthsky.org

Both Thursday and Friday nights will see a stunning sky show with four planets – Saturn, Mars, Venus and Mercury – lined up in a diagonal row in the western sky at dusk. As an added bonus the crescent Moon will be joining the show for these two nights only.

No need to get away from the bright lights of the city to see these points of light. They will appear easily to the unaided eye from just about anywhere you have clear skies and a clear line of sight towards the low western horizon.

Don’t  forget you can always get late-breaking stargazing news anytime by joining my fanpage on Facebook, or get  email alerts sent directly to your inbox

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Planet Star Sky Show

Venus Pairs up with Bright Star; Click to enlarge

Friday through Sunday evening check out a close encounter between planet Venus and one of the brightest stars in the heavens.

Face towards the western horizon after sunset and look for the brightest star-like object about a third way up the sky. That is Venus – also known as the evening star. Once dusk sets in and it gets dark enough look just underneath Venus and you should see a fainter star pop out- Regulus. As an added bonus check out the planets Mars and Saturn too. The three planets are lined up like a row of ducks – quite a sight too!

By Saturday evening Venus-Regulus will be their closest to each other – only 1 degree apart – that is equal to the width of your finger held out at arms length.  If you keep watch into Sunday and Monday you will notice Venus moving off towards the southwest – that is the actual motion of Venus in its orbit you can watch happening right before your eyes.

The lead member in the constellation Leo- the lion, Regulus marks the heart of the lion and lies 78 light years away. A hot blue-white star, it is about 3.5 times larger than our Sun and is a young teenager when it comes to star lifetimes at 300 million years old.

It is about 150 times fainter in the sky right now than Venus, yet it is still the 19th brightest star in the entire sky.

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Double Star Show Tonight

If you have clear skies tonight then check out a really beautiful pairing of the planet Mars with Regulus, the lead star in the constellation Leo. What will make this event particularly neat to see is the contrasting colour between the orange-hued planet and the white star. The pair will be separated by less than a degree – 2 full moon disks apart.

Mars and Regulus are in close conjunction Sunday night

Don’t  forget you can always get late-breaking stargazing news anytime by following me on Twitter and Facebook, or get  email alerts sent directly to your inbox

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Moon Near Lion’s Heart

Face the southern horizon tonight and look for the Moon pairing up with the lead star in the constellation Leo, the lion. Also if you look carefully you may notice that the Moon is also sandwiched between two  bright star-like objects – planets Mars and Saturn – both a bit of  a distance away from Luna but still a pretty show.

Friday night: Moon sits under 78 light year distant Regulus

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Mars Buzzes Beehive

Mars and Beehive cluster in Cancer tonight; click image to enlarge

Over the next week or so check out the planet Mars as it positinos itself next to the beautiful Beehive cluster (M44). The pair will easily fit inside the view of an average pair of binoculars. Both call the constellation Cancer – the crab – their home and are easy to track down in the southwest these nights. While Mars looks like a bright orange coloured star to the naked eye -thanks to the planets  iron oxide rich deserts – surface details can only be seen under high magnification in medium sized telescopes. The Beehive cluster however can be glimpsed easily from a dark sky location without optical aid, but really looks like a swarm of bees when you magnify the 500 light year distant cluster even a little. The cosmic odd couple are now only separated by about 1.5 degrees – equal to 3 full Moon disks. By Wednesday and Thursday nights the Moon will join in on the fun and pass just underneath them;  making for a pretty show.

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Moon with Cluster Tonight

Moon and star cluster tonight; click image to enlarge

Check out the Moon late tonight paired up with the bright cluster M35. Both will be in the constellation Gemini-located at the twin’s feet. While the cluster is visible to the naked-eye from a dark sky, a pair of binoculars will really bring out the details in the 2,800 light year distant cluster nicely, especially from a light polluted suburban backyard. This open star cluster consists of several hundred stars and measures about 24 light years across. In our Earthly skies it takes up about the same chunk of sky as the full Moon does. M35 is one of the eternal favourite targets of beginner stargazers looking for deep sky treasures.

Best time to look for the cluster would be after local 9  pm, before which the sky will be to bright to make out details . Remember that low magnification is all you need when using a telescope to get the whole cluster in  your field of view.

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New Night Sky Episode

This week i talk about the Moon paying visits to planets and star clusters over the weekend period.

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Tonight: Moon Meets with Planets

Check out the striking waxing crescent Moon in the western horizon at dusk tonight as it huddles together with Venus and Mercury for a beautiful sky show. Try using binoculars to spot Mercury more easily.

Thursday evening Moon/Planet alignment; Click image to enlarge

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