Category Archives: ‘Casts

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'Casts, Jupiter, Mars, planets, saturn, venus

Bright Lights in the Sky

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No UFOs Here

The post-sunset view on March 11, planets Venus and Jupiter. Click for a larger view.

Unless you’ve been buried under a blanket of clouds the past few weeks, you’ve probably noticed some bright lights in the western sky just after sunset.  Aside from the Moon (and you know what that looks like, don’t you?), you might be wondering what they are.  Well, if they’re not moving rapidly (like changing position over the space of a few minutes, as aircraft would do), then what you’re seeing are the planets Venus and Jupiter.  Here’s tonight’s view of the pair, well after sunset. You won’t see Mercury (too close to the Sun), but you can’t fail to notice how dazzling the two planets appear these early springish nights.

If you have binoculars or a small telescope, check out Jupiter. You might be able to see its four largest moons. They’ll look like little pinpoints of light on either side of Jupiter.

Mars is just below Leo, and Saturn and Spica rise together later in the evening. Click to ensaturnate.

 

The next couple of nights, these two planets snuggle up really close together in the western sky.   Once you’ve found them, and turn toward the east and look for Mars snuggled up underneath the constellation, Leo the Lion.  An hour or two later, you should be able to find Saturn just rising in the East. It’s a planet spectacular!

Of course, there are a lot of other things to look at in the sky this month, so don’t run back inside after you’ve seen the planet.  Dress warmly (if it’s cold where you are), and explore that sky!  There’s a lot to be found.

By the way, check out “Our Night Sky” at Astrocast.TV for a short program I did on what’s up this month.  It’s free to embed on observatory and planetarium Web sites (with proper credit, of course), so check it out!

 

 

 

'Casts, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, saturn, venus

Awesomeness

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Celebrate It

I just read somewhere that March 10th is the International Day of Awesomeness.  It’s probably not an official government holiday or anything, but seems to exist to celebrate all things awesome.  So, what could be more awesome than the starry sky?  Living where I do (high in the mountains) with reasonably clear skies on many nights, I can step outside and look up and grok the awesomeness of the stars. And, this past week or so — and into March — the awe-inspiring sight of the planets Venus, Jupiter and Mercury just after sunset.  Mars is rising in the East, and if you wait a few more hours, you can see Saturn rising very late in the evening.  If you have binoculars or some kind of telescope, so much the better. You can check out Jupiter’s moons, for example. Or, if our own Moon is up, you can scan its cratered surface.  That’s the kind of astronomy awesomeness that gets people hooked on stargazing for life.

Speaking of telescopes, I know that people have a lot of preconceptions and misconceptions about ‘scopes.  When I worked at Sky & Telescope, we regularly answered questions in our magazines about the “best” scope to buy, the “most economical” and so on. Truth is, what you buy depends on what you want to look at, or if you’re planning to do astrophotography. Or, if you just want something you can easily pick up and take outside.  That’s where binoculars come in handy, and I’ve always recommended people start out with a pair of 10x50s as a good choice.  But, telescopes can give you awesome views, too.  I’d recommend you peruse Sky&Telescope.com or Astronomy.com for some good advice there.

The Galileoscope. Courtesy Galileoscope.org.

A former colleague from Sky & Telescope got involved a few years ago in a cool project called the Galileoscope. It was originally created to help celebrate the Interational Year of Astronomy in 2009. The Galileoscope is a small, build-it-yourself telescope that thousands and thousands of people have constructed and used to look at the sky. It’s a perfect way to introduce children to the sky and the instruments we use to observe it with.  You can learn more about the Galileoscope here, including where it can be purchased.  By the way, if any readers work in or run planetarium or science center gift shops, there are special discounts for bulk purchases to sell in gift shops. Check it out!  It’s awesome in its own right and worthy of celebration!

I mentioned above about how the planets are lining up for some gorgeous views in the next few weeks.  In fact, I focus on those views in the latest installment of Our Night Sky, the monthly stargazing program I produce for Astrocast.TV.  So, if you’re into some planetary viewing awesomeness, check it out. It’s about four  minutes long, and along with the planets, we look at a few constellations and a couple of deep-sky objects. It’s enough to get you started on some awe-inspiring sightseeing through the cosmos!