Last Week's Stargazing Tips
What did you see in the sky last night? Check out the previous week of stargazing tips for the answer.
May 8, 2008
One of the closest members of the largest class of galaxies is NGC 4881. It is about 350 million light-years away in the Coma Cluster, a group of thousands of galaxies in Coma Berenices. It's about 50 times wider than our own Milky Way galaxy, and perhaps 10 times as massive.
May 7, 2008
The thin crescent Moon almost skewers itself tonight on the tip of one of the horns of Taurus, the bull. The star that marks the tip is called El Nath, an Arabic name that means "the butting one." It is just to the right or upper right of the Moon this evening.
May 6, 2008
If you look deep into the constellation Coma Berenices, you'll see that its streamers of stars are accompanied by a plethora of galaxies. The Coma Cluster, which is 300 million light-years away, contains thousands of galaxies of all types and sizes.
May 5, 2008
The golden tresses of Queen Berenice adorn the sky on May evenings. They form the constellation Coma Berenices, a spray of stars that is high in the east at nightfall. Legend says that Berenice sacrificed her hair to the gods to ensure her husband's safe return.
May 4, 2008
The planet Mercury is quite low in the northwest in early evening. It looks like a moderately bright star. Binoculars will help you find both Mercury and the little Pleiades star cluster, which is just to Mercury's lower right.
May 3, 2008
The planet Saturn and Regulus, the brightest star of Leo, stand high in the southwest at nightfall. Saturn looks like a bright golden star, with fainter Regulus a couple of degrees away. They will not pass this close together again for almost 30 years.
May 2, 2008
Mars and the twin stars of Gemini form a straight, almost equally spaced line high in the west at nightfall. Mars is at the left end of the line, Castor at the right, and Pollux in the middle. Mars and Pollux both shine orange.
Unless otherwise specified, viewing times are local time regardless of time zone, and are good for the entire Lower 48 states (and, generally, for Alaska and Hawaii).
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