September 6 is International Observe the Moon Night. As the evening’s sponsors say, “International Observe the Moon Night is an annual event that is dedicated to encouraging people to ‘look up’ and take notice of our nearest neighbor, the Moon. From looking at the Moon with a naked eye to using the most sensitive telescope, every… Read More International Observe the Moon Night
The annual Perseid Meteor Shower peaks tomorrow (Tuesday) night and early Wednesday morning. Due to the bright glow of the city lights, it’s unusual to see more than one or two meteors per hour anywhere in Chicago. Making things worse this year is the nearly full Moon (Supermoon!), keeping the skies bright during peak viewing… Read More Perseid Meteor Shower: Don’t Expect Fireworks
Tomorrow night, August 10: SUPERMOON. That is, the Moon is full and it is near the point in its orbit where it is closest to Earth. Thus, it looks larger than usual. I’ve posted this video from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center before: It’s a great visualization of how the Moon not only changes in… Read More Supermoon!
If the skies are clear tonight, Monday, July 7, look for the gibbous Moon. It will pass very close to the bright planet Saturn. In fact, if you are in Argentina or Chile, the Moon will pass directly in front of Saturn, an event called an occultation (times and viewing locations in the Southern Hemisphere… Read More Tonight: Moon and Saturn
Attention Chicagoans, if the skies clear up, you will be able to see the International Space Station tonight. It will look like a bright star or planet moving quickly across the sky. It will appear above the west-southwest horizon at 9:39 PM CDT and will swing around to the northeast before dipping below the horizon 6… Read More Tonight: See the ISS
Take a look at the moon tonight (Monday, July 15). You will notice that it is very close to a bright star. This is the star Spica, and you may remember the moon passing by there last month. This month the moon is nearly on top of Spica, and indeed, for some observers in Hawaii,… Read More Tonight: Moon and Spica
