Moon Phases
Tuesday, March 31, 2026
Waxing Gibbous 96% illuminated
Rise: 6:01 PM
Set: 5:47 AM
Eye on the Night Sky, May 9, 2026
Saturday, May 09, 2026
Today:
Stretched through the east and southeast near 10 o’clock, the brilliant stars Arcturus, two-thirds of the way up in the southeast, and Vega, well to its lower left, and one third of the way above the eastern horizon, help you to locate a faint semi-circle of stars between them, the Northern Crown, closer to Arcturus.
Sunday:
While the King and the Queen, Cepheus and Cassiopeia languish near the northern horizon, Draco, the Dragon has slithered higher into the northeast. Though his stars aren’t overly bright, look for his tail starting between the Big and Little Dippers, then curving around the Little Dipper to the right and down, becoming the Dragon’s body, curving back to the right with his neck, topped off by his head.
Monday:
The star Spica, due south at 10:50 this evening, will help guide you to the stars of Corvus, the Crow. Well to the lower right of Spica, look for an odd shaped “box” of stars. The lower left star is the tail of the Crow, while the three other stars form his head, flanked by out-stretched wings.
Start Chart:
Total Lunar Eclipse
The Moon passes into the Earth’s shadow early Tuesday morning, March 3rd, 2026.
The Moon moves into the Earth’s shadow late at night on Tuesday, March 3rd, just as twilight increases. By the time the Moon is fully eclipsed, it becomes difficult to see in the brightening twilight, and it sets only 20 minutes after the eclipse is total.
The Earth’s rotation causes the stars, as well as the Moon, to rise in the east and set in the west. The Moon’s orbital motion, however, goes the opposite way, with the Moon actually moving from west to east, but much, much more slowly. This means the Moon’s expected motion, lowering toward the western horizon, comes from the Earth’s rotation. The Moon’s actual orbital motion causes it to move into the Earth’s shadow from lower right to upper left. This explains why the shadow starts on the Moon’s upper left, and progresses to the lower right.
Lunar eclipses aren’t rare, but they are also not frequent. The next Total Lunar Eclipse visible here is in June 2029, followed by another in December of 2029.
This program is a partnership between the Fairbanks Museum and Vermont Public.