Beyond Bones

    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 […]

  Jupiter is almost due south at dawn; it outshines all the stars we ever see at night.   Mars is in the south-southeast at dawn.   It brightens a little each morning as moves away from Jupiter and towards Saturn.    Saturn is in the southeast at dawn this month.     Venus is lost […]

This time of year, most planetariums (including ours) are offering shows explaining what the Christmas Star might actually have been.  Of course, to have this conversation we must make two assumptions, each of which many dispute: 1) the star was a true historical event and 2) it has a natural scientific explanation and is not […]

  .       Mars is higher in the southeast at dawn than it was last month.  It is in Virgo, leaving Spica and approaching Jupiter in Libra.   Jupiter is low in the southeast at dawn; watch Mars approach it this month.    Saturn is lost in the Sun’s glare and out of […]