Friday, August 18, 2023

Today: A very challenging meeting of the extremely thin Crescent Moon, and the departing Mars, very low in the west, within a few minutes of 8:30 PM. Binoculars, and a low, level view to the west are needed to bid Mars farewell for several months. The Moon, of course,...

Thursday, August 17, 2023

Today: Looking low above the southern horizon at 9 o’clock, the vapors of the Milky Way seem to steam upward, a nice connection to the teapot-shaped pattern, due south, the brighter stars of Sagittarius. Although imagined as a centaur with a bow and arrow, the...

Wednesday, August 16, 2023

Today: The dark skies near the New Moon reveal the splendors of the Milky Way arched over the top of the sky. Directly overhead, notice there are lighter and darker patches of light within the star fields of the Milky Way. The stars are evenly distributed, but vast...

Tuesday, August 15, 2023

Today: The Andromeda Galaxy is the only distant galaxy we can see with our own eyes. In the next few nights look in the northeast, just below the Milky Way, and about one third of the way up from the horizon near 10:00 PM EDT. It appears as a small, oval smudge of...

Monday, August 14, 2023

Today: With the Summer Triangle almost overhead, look at its lowest star Altair, and then to the left of Altair. A faint, compact collection of stars may catch your eyes, the constellation Delphinus, the Dolphin. It appears like a comma, but perhaps you can imagine a...

Sunday, August 13, 2023

Today: The Perseid Meteor Shower continues this evening, though past its peak. Even so, it is thrilling to see even a few “shooting stars” etch their path through the stars. Meteors are almost always favored after midnight, because ou spinning Earth turns...