When you want to see the stars, find someplace dark
This evening will feature a 6 day old crescent Moon 7° from Mars. Look for a bright orange object a few degrees north (to the right) and a bit below the Moon to spot the planet. Mars should be bright and obvious at about +1 magnitude next to the Moon.
New Moon will occur today at 11:04HST.
Saturday Feb. 2nd was the best star party weekend this month, while the weekend of the 9th provides a five day old Moon. March 2nd and 9th both offer good observing weekends.
Continue reading “New Moon” Tomorrow morning will feature a very close pairing of a 15% crescent Moon and a brilliant Venus just
½° apart. The pair will be situated between Jupiter above and Saturn rising below.
The Moon is close to ½° across, thus the planet will lie quite close to the tip of a beautiful, slim crescent. Shining at a brilliant -4.2 magnitude the planet is also a match for the bright Moon.
A beautiful lineup of Moon and planets should make it worth the effort to rise early and enjoy the pre-dawn spectacle.
Full Moon will occur today at 19:16HST.
This evening look for the Moon rising in the east just as the Sun sets in the west. Across the Big Island this can often lead to moonbows as the low elevation moonlight interacts with fog and clouds.
This full moon will feature a total lunar eclipse. For the islands the eclipse will just be starting as the Moon rises with all of totality visible.
Continue reading “Full Moon”
This evening will feature a sunset total lunar eclipse visible across the islands. The eclipsed Moon will rise just as the Sun sets on the opposite horizon.
The eclipse will be just underway as the Moon rises on Hawaii island, with the Moon rising at almost exactly 18:00HST and the total phase of the eclipse starting 41 minutes later. Maximum will occur at 19:12HST with the Moon 14° above the horizon.
| January 20, 2019 Total Lunar Eclipse | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event | Contact | UT | HST | |
| Penumbral Begins | P1 | 02:36:28 | 16:36:28 | |
| Partial Begins | U1 | 03:33:55 | 17:33:55 | |
| Total Begins | U2 | 04:41:18 | 18:41:18 | |
| Greatest Eclipse | Max | 05:12:18 | 19:12:18 | |
| Total Ends | U3 | 05:43:18 | 19:43:18 | |
| Partial Ends | U4 | 06:50:42 | 20:50:42 | |
| Penumbral Ends | P4 | 07:48:05 | 21:48:05 | |
| *Data from Fred Espenak’s eclipse website | ||||
An easy to view evening eclipse, no reason not to get out and view this one, no need for an alarm clock!
This evening will feature a 6 day old crescent Moon 5° from Mars. Look for a bright orange object a few degrees above and to the north of the Moon to spot the planet.
New Moon will occur today at 01:28HST.
A partial solar eclipse will occur across parts of the North Pacific and Japan during this new Moon.
Continue reading “New Moon”The next full Moon on January 20th, will feature a sunset total lunar eclipse visible across the islands. The eclipsed Moon will rise just as the Sun sets on the opposite horizon.
The eclipse will be just underway as the Moon rises on the island of Hawaii, with the Moon rising at almost exactly 18:00HST and the total phase of the eclipse starting 41 minutes later. Maximum will occur at 19:12HST with the Moon 14° above the horizon.
| January 20, 2019 Total Lunar Eclipse | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Event | Contact | UT | HST |
| Penumbral Begins | P1 | 02:36:28 | 16:36:28 |
| Partial Begins | U1 | 03:33:55 | 17:33:55 |
| Total Begins | U2 | 04:41:18 | 18:41:18 |
| Greatest Eclipse | Max | 05:12:18 | 19:12:18 |
| Total Ends | U3 | 05:43:18 | 19:43:18 |
| Partial Ends | U4 | 06:50:42 | 20:50:42 |
| Penumbral Ends | P4 | 07:48:05 | 21:48:05 |
| Data from Fred Espenak’s eclipse website | |||
Many references state that the eclipse will occur on January 21st, and it will, in time zones further east than us here in Hawaii. We are ten hours behind UT, thus it will be the evening of the 20th when the eclipse occurs in the islands.
An easy to view evening eclipse, no reason not to get out and view this one, no need for an alarm clock!
The year begins with a nice pairing of a 17% crescent Moon and a brilliant Venus just 2° apart before dawn tomorrow on New year’s Day. Jupiter and Mercury are also visible in the glow of sunrise below the pair.
The month of January will feature a clutch of bright planets in the dawn. Mercury will disappear into the sun’s glare to be replaced by Saturn emerging from superior conjunction mid-month, joining Venus and Jupiter.
