Tag: Moon
Postcard from the Universe – Morning Conjuction
The Moon, Venus and Jupiter
The three brightest natural objects of our sky, after the Sun, will join to form a nice group tomorrow morning. The dawn of 14 July will see a thin crescent Moon and Venus only 11° apart. The bright Jupiter will be in between, only 6° from Venus. Jupiter will be shining brightly at better that -2 magnitude, Venus will be even brighter at over -4 magnitude. The pair will be a nice match for an 18% illuminated Moon.
The next morning, July 15th, will still see the trio quite close. The Moon will have moved east to a position just 4° north of Venus.
Full Moon
The Moon and Saturn
Saturn, the Moon and Spica will form a trio high in the sky at sunset tonight. The three will be within 7° of each other. The gibbous Moon will be 62% illuminated. Saturn will be shining at 0.4 magnitude while Spica is very close to 1.0 magnitude. Look for the planet Mars 25° west of Saturn at about the same brightness.
The Moon and Mercury
A very thin Moon will rendezvous with Mercury this evening. The pair will separated by about 8° and at the same elevation, over 20° at sunset. The Moon will be a very thin crescent, only 7% illuminated. A little over 5° north of Mercury will be Pollux, with Castor a bit further north, both stars about a magnitude dimmer than the planet which is currently about zero magnitude.
New Moon
The Moon, Venus and Jupiter
A nice trio will grace the dawn tomorrow, the morning of June 17th. Three bright objects will be visible just before sunrise. A brilliant Venus will be 14° above the horizon at sunrise. Above Venus will be a very thin crescent Moon, only 4% illuminated, will be 4° above Venus. About 8° above Venus will be Jupiter, shining brightly at -2.0 magnitude. Thus Jupiter will be the first to rise, at 04:02HST. Sunrise will occur about 05:43, leaving plenty of time to enjoy this bright conjunction.
Full Moon
A partial lunar eclipse will be visible from the west coast of North America to the east coast of Asia. At maximum about a third of the moon will have entered the Earth’s umbra, the inner shadow. Viewers in Hawai’i will be able to observe the entire event.
The Moon and Saturn
Saturn, the Moon and Spica form a trio high in the eastern sky at sunset tonight. The three will be within 7° of each other. The Moon will be just short of full, over 85% illuminated. Saturn will be shining at 0.4 magnitude while Spica is very close to 1.0 magnitude. Look for the planet Mars 38° west of Saturn and a bit brighter.