The Night Sky Guy

New Night Sky Episode

This week we talk about the Perseid meteor shower performance and weekend outlook for more shooting stars and a pretty planet, moon lineup.

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August Sky Highlights

Check out this great video put together by the folks at JPL NASA on the Perseids and planets this week.

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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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Venus and Moon Sky Show

Moon and Venus together int he West. Click image to enlarge

Monday and Tuesday evening the second planet from the Sun will be joined in the low western sky by a beautiful crescent Moon.  First up on Monday evening the Moon will be below Venus. Look to the right of the pair and you may notice two brilliant stars – Pollux and Castor – the Gemini twins.

By Tuesday evening Earth’s satellite will have skipped over to the left of the planet and will be a bit wider crescent.  Keep an eye on the waxing Moon as it continues its trek towards the southern part of the sky over the remainder of the week.

Enjoy the free celestial show.

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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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Watch Jupiter Mystery Unfold

You may have heard the big astronomy news the last few days about Jupiter’s lower cloud belt going missing. It is a big mystery that has left stargazer’s scratching their heads trying to explain the disappearance of one of the gas giants famous brown bands which encircles it.  According to a recent NASA press statement,”This is a big event,” says planetary scientist Glenn Orton of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab. “We’re monitoring the situation closely and do not yet fully understand what’s going on.” Known as the South Equatorial Belt (SEB), the brown cloudy band is twice as wide as Earth and more than twenty times as long.  The loss of such an enormous “stripe” can be seen with ease halfway across the solar system.

Courtesy NASA

This is a celestial event which anyone who wakes up at dawn and looks towards the eastern horizon can easily see. Look for a bright star hanging halfway up the eastern sky – that is Jupiter – easily seen with the naked eye but a small telescope will bring out the details and you can see the missing stripe for yourself.

“In any size telescope, or even in large binoculars, Jupiter’s signature appearance has always included two broad equatorial belts,” says amateur astronomer Anthony Wesley of Australia. “I remember as a child seeing them through my small backyard refractor and it was unmistakable. Anyone who turns their telescope on Jupiter at the moment, however, will see a planet with only one belt–a very strange sight.”

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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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Tonight: Moon Hangs out with Planets

Face the western horizon at dusk today and use the Moon to locate Venus and Mercury

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