Total Solar Eclipse The New Moon of Monday, August 21 casts its shadow onto the Earth, causing a total solar eclipse! And this time, the Moon casts its shadow across the USA, allowing Americans to join in the experience much more easily than in recent memory. (The last total eclipse visible form the contiguous […]
The Summer Triangle is high in the east. This consists of the brightest stars in Cygnus, Lyra, and Aquila. Scorpius, the Scorpion, is in the south, with the ‘teapot’ of Sagittarius to his left. Leo, the Lion, sets in the west. From the Big Dipper’s handle, ‘arc to Arcturus’ and ‘speed on to […]
This star map shows the Houston sky at 10 pm CDT on June 1, 9 pm CDT on June 15, and dusk on June 30. To use the map, put the direction you are facing at the bottom. The Big Dipper is high in the north. From the Big Dipper’s handle, arc to Arcturus […]
This star map shows the Houston sky at 10 pm CDT on May 1, 9 pm CDT on May 15, and dusk on May 31. To use the map, put the direction you are facing at the bottom. A swath of brilliant winter stars sets in the west at dusk. Orion, the Hunter, is […]
This star map shows the Houston sky at 9 pm CST on January 1, 8 pm CST on January 15, and dusk on January 31. To use the map, put the direction you are facing at the bottom. The Sky This Month The Great Square of Pegasus sets in the western sky. Taurus, […]
After months of renovation, the Burke Baker Planetarium at the Houston Museum of Natural Science will re-open March 11 with the best picture of the universe in the world! The Evans and Sutherland Digistar 5 digital projection system boasts the first True 8K image on the planet, with twice the resolution as an IMAX theater. The powerful digital […]
This month, Mars remains in the southwest at dusk this month as it pulls away from the teapot of Sagittarius. Mars continues to fade a little each night as Earth continues to leave it farther behind. Jupiter is now higher in the east at dawn; it is the brightest thing there. Venus is passing behind […]
The moon’s appearance in the sky follows a 29.5-day cycle. During the cycle, it first appears as a crescent. The lighted portion that you can in the night sky see becomes larger as days pass, growing until you see a full moon. As more days pass, the lighted portion gets smaller again, until no moon […]
Mercury briefly enters the evening sky this month. Greatest elongation (the greatest apparent distance from Sun) is February 16, so that’s when you’ll see it the longest. However, you can begin looking in a few days. Because Mercury sets soon after the Sun, you’ll need a perfectly clear horizon right over the point of sunset […]
