Editor’s Note: We are looking up as HMNS Astronomer James Wooten explains the sky happenings for the month of May and the collision of our Milky Way against the horizon. Venus is even higher in the evening sky this month. It is slightly higher in the west at dusk each evening. Mars is now high […]
Mars continues to fade a little bit each night now that Earth has overtaken it and is pulling away. However, it fades out gradually; Mars remains almost as bright as the stars around it in May 2021. And Mars is high in the west–well placed for observing right as night falls. Jupiter and Saturn are the morning sky […]
Celestial Happenings This Month Autumn represents sort of an ‘intermission’ in the sky, with bright summer stars setting at dusk, while bright winter patterns such as Orion have not yet risen. The ‘teapot’ of Sagittarius sets in the southwest early in the evening. The Summer Triangle is high in the west. […]
It’s been a wet, cloudy year for George Observatory, but flooding and poor viewing nights at Brazos Bend State Park haven’t kept astronomers from dreaming. Big breakthroughs have happened at the George in the past, and with a complete restoration of the 36-inch, deep space Gueymard Research Telescope, a return to astronomical research is quite […]
The Burke Baker Planetarium and Friedkin Theater renovation project reached a milestone this week, and we at the museum are brimming with anticipation! Okay. That’s an understatement. When we first heard the news, we all ran around screaming, “The dome is finished! The dome is finished!” That’s what really happened. The dome is indeed complete, […]
Saturn sets in twilight for the first week of November and is lost in the sun’s glare the rest of the month. Venus, Mars and Jupiter are still close together in the morning sky this month. Right now, Venus is close to Mars, with Jupiter above them. Venus and Mars are 0.68 degrees apart the morning […]
The galaxy, not the candy, of course! photo by DerekSteen This Friday night, the George Observatory will offer one of the first summer viewings of the Milky Way — with extended hours from 5 to 11 p.m. And as with the George’s usual Saturday night viewings, research telescopes will also be available to stargazers along […]
