Tag: Moon

The Moon and Saturn

Tonight the planet Saturn will be quite close to the Moon. The pair will rise about 18:20 HST and be well up in the east in the late evening. Look for 0.1 magnitude object just north of the Moon, there are no nearby stars bright enough to confuse for the planet. The Moon is full at 09:16HST tomorrow, just short of full for tonight’s pairing.

Observers in the islands will see the Moon pass less than 1° south of the planet during the early morning hours of the 14th. Observers in the southern hemisphere will be able to view an occultation if at the correct latitude, check a planetarium program for the view from your location.

The Moon and Mars

Tonight the Moon will be close to Mars. The pair will be obvious at sunset, having risen mid-afternoon. Look for the bright planet just 3° north of the Moon. Just a month after opposition the planet is still quite bright, shining at magnitude -0.9 and notably orange in color. The star Spica is about the same magnitude and visible 15° east of the Moon.

New Moon

Young Moon
A very young moon over Waikoloa, this is only 26 hours after new, visible to the unaided eye as a sliver in the fading glow of sunset
New Moon will occur today at 20:14HST.

An annular solar eclipse will be visible from Australia, Antarctica and across the southern Indian Ocean today. This is a somewhat odd eclipse as the center of the Moon’s shadow misses the Earth entirely. The eclipse will be quite short and visible over a limited geographic area.

Continue reading “New Moon”

The Moon and Venus

Tomorrow morning, April 25th, will see a brilliant Venus paired with a crescent Moon. Look for the pair to rise about 03:41HST to be 30° above the horizon at sunrise. A 15% illuminated Moon will be a nice match for Venus shining brilliantly at -4.1 magnitude. Separation will be about 4&deg.

The following morning, April 26th, will see the Moon much closer to the horizon, over 11° west of the planet.