Beyond Bones

Mars is still low in the west—visible right as night falls.  Venus remains in the evening sky this month. It overtakes Mars on July 12; the two planets appear about one half degree (the size of the Full Moon) apart that night. Venus outshines everything except the Sun and the Moon, so it is unmistakable low in […]

Mars remains almost as bright as the stars around it in May 2021. And Mars is low in the west—still visible right as night falls.  Jupiter and  Saturn are the morning sky this month, low in the south. Venus also slowly emerges into the evening sky this month. Venus outshines everything except the Sun and the Moon, so […]

April is the last month to see the full set of brilliant winter stars which now fill the western evening sky.  Dazzling Orion is in the southwest at dusk.  His three-starred belt is halfway between reddish Betelgeuse and bluish Rigel.  Orion’s belt points rightward to Aldebaran in Taurus the Bull.  To Orion’s upper left are […]

  Constellations in the November southern sky are almost entirely devoid of bright stars.  They represent beasts and gods related to water, indicating that they are part of the ‘Celestial Sea’.  Examples are Aquarius, the Water Bearer and Pisces, the Fish.  Even Capricornus, the Goat, has a fish tail because he’s originally Ea, Babylonian god […]