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 […]
. 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 […]
The Summer Triangle now shifts towards the west as the Great Square of Pegasus appears higher, approaching the zenith. As the autumn ‘intermission’ in between the bright stars of summer and winter continues, Houstonians with a clear southern horizon can try to find a star that few Americans get to see. Due south and […]
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. […]
The Summer Triangle is overhead. This consists of the brightest stars in Cygnus, Lyra, and Aquila. Scorpius, the Scorpion, is in the southwest, with the ‘teapot’ of Sagittarius to his left. Saturn is between these two constellations. From the Big Dipper’s handle, ‘arc to Arcturus’ in the west. The Great Square of […]
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 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 […]
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. Source: http://www.eso.org/public/images/potw1431a/ This star map shows the Houston sky at 10 pm CDT on April 1, 9 pm CDT on April 15, and dusk on April 30. To use the map, put the direction you are facing at the bottom. Jupiter, near Spica in Virgo, is up virtually […]
The Moon This Month 1st Quarter: February 2, 10:19am Full: February 10, 6:33pm 3rd Quarter: February 18, 1:35am New: February 26, 9:00am The Full Moon of February 10 almost enters the Earth’s shadow. Rather, it enters the penumbra, a region of space where the Earth only partially […]
