Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll

Projecting the Sun’s Light

Full moon is like a celestial movie screen

J. Alex Knoll

As the sun sets, Venus beckons above the west horizon until it sets around 9pm. This evening star is losing ground, setting a little earlier each night. Saturn is in the southwest at dusk and sets around midnight. Don’t confuse its steady golden glow with twinkling Spica a dozen degrees to its east.

Prepare for Celestial Fireworks

With up to 100 meteors an hour, don’t miss the Perseids

J. Alex Knoll

This year’s Perseid meteor shower peaks late Sunday and Monday nights. And with the moon just a few days past new phase and setting in the early evening, the Perseids are worth staying up late or waking before the sun. The Perseids are one of the great meteor showers of the year, and this year the International Meteor Organization predicts up to 100 an hour at the peak.

article – Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll

– by J. Alex Knoll – 8/8/13

Earth’s Twisted Sister

Its beauty aside, Venus is no place like home

J. Alex Knoll

As the suns sets and the sky darkens, Venus beckons in the west at the feet of Leo and less than 10 degrees from the lion’s heart, Regulus. Venus is called our sister planet, but that puts a hellish twist on familial relationships. Yes, Venus and Earth are similar in size. And Venus has a gravitational field similar to that of Earth. Like Earth, Venus has a cloud-based atmosphere. But there the similarities end.

article – Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll

– by J. Alex Knoll – 8/1/13

Lost Among the Stars

The summer Milky Way is backdrop for the Delta-Aquarid meteor shower

J. Alex Knoll

The moon wanes through morning skies, reaching last quarter on the 29th. That offers a chance to see the great Milky Way arcing across the heavens. You’ll need to escape any urban glare, but the reward is worth the effort. The Milky Way is our home galaxy, as well as home of all the stars you can see with the unaided eye. It encircles the globe and is visible from anywhere on earth, where we are looking edgewise into its center.

article – Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll

– by J. Alex Knoll – 7/25/13

Night Lights from Dusk to Dawn

Bright pairings flank the full moon

J. Alex Knoll

Thursday the 18th, look to the lower left of the waxing gibbous moon for fiery Antares, the heart of Scorpius. Saturday, the near-full moon is less than 10 degrees below and to the right of Altair, the gleaming eye of Aquila the eagle and one of the three points in the Summer Triangle. Monday, the full moon blazes amid the dim stars of Capricorn. This moon is called the Buck Moon, the Thunder Moon and the Hay Moon.

article – Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll

– by J. Alex Knoll – 7/18/13

What’s a Few Million Miles?

It’s not enough to break the heat

J. Alex Knoll

If you’re up Friday or Saturday morning before dawn, look for the waning crescent moon low in the east-northeast. Friday look for the bright star Aldebaran, the heart of Taurus the bull, positioned just above the two points of the thin crescent, while farther to the north are Mars and Jupiter just reemerged from behind the glare of the sun. Saturday morning, the dwindling sliver of moon is just a few degrees above the two planets.

article – Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll

– by J. Alex Knoll – 7/4/13

The Nesting Doll of the Stars

Lyra the harp has star upon star hidden amid its strings

J. Alex Knoll

As the sun dips toward the horizon around 8:30, Venus burns through the haze of twilight low in the west. By 9pm this evening star dominates the heavens, shining at magnitude –3.8 about 10 degrees above the skyline. With a clear view below Venus and perhaps binoculars, you may be able to spot Mercury tight against the horizon within a half-hour of sunset.

article – Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll

– by J. Alex Knoll – 6/27/13

Following the Sun and Moon

Supermoon comes just days after summer solstice

J. Alex Knoll

Thursday, June 20, is Midsummer’s Night, the shortest night of the year, with barely nine hours of darkness. Then, at 1:04am Friday, the sun reaches its northernmost position above the earth, marking the astronomical beginning of summer for us in the Northern Hemisphere. It is our longest day, with more than 14 hours 54 minutes of sunlight.

article – Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll

– by J. Alex Knoll – 6/20/13

No Celestial Role Model Here

The strained relationship of Cepheus and his daughter Andromeda

J. Alex Knoll

When we look to the night sky for father figures, we’re hard-pressed. There are heroes and rogues, serpents and dragons, birds and beasts, fish and fishermen, harps and chariots. But there is only one father among the constellations, and not a good role model at that.

article – Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll

– by J. Alex Knoll – 6/13/13

Tight Against the Horizon

Three planets toy with the sun

J. Alex Knoll

This week boasts the earliest sunrises of the year, when old Sol crests the horizon at 5:41am. We’re still a couple weeks from solstice, the overall longest day of the year, and the latest sunset won’t come for another two weeks after that. Why? Several reasons, including earth’s not-quite-spherical shape, its elliptical orbit around the sun and the varying point of high noon across the globe.

article – Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll

– by J. Alex Knoll – 6/6/13

Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll

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