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Stardate:

September 13, 2024

Radio: Today’s Episode

  • First Blazar

    Blazing across a billion light-years

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Radio: Yesterday’s Episode

Stargazing

  • The Lizard

    Lacerta, the lizard, is in the east-northeast at nightfall, to the upper left of the Great Square of Pegasus. It passes high overhead around midnight. Its stars are all so faint that you need fairly dark skies to see any of them.


  • High and Low

    The curving body of Scorpius, the scorpion, and the teapot shape of Sagittarius hunker low in the south and southwest at nightfall. Cygnus, the swan, soars high overhead. And W-shaped Cassiopeia is about a third of the way up the northeastern sky.


  • Zodiacal Light

    If you have clear, very dark skies before dawn over the next few mornings, look toward the eastern horizon for a ghostly pyramid of light, called zodiacal light. It is sunlight reflecting off of tiny grains of dust scattered throughout our solar system.


Moon Phases

At the new Moon phase, the Moon is so close to the Sun in the sky that none of the side facing Earth is illuminated (position 1 in illustration). In other words, the Moon is between Earth and Sun. At first quarter, the half-lit Moon is highest in the sky at sunset, then sets about six hours later (3). At full Moon, the Moon is behind Earth in space with respect to the Sun. As the Sun sets, the Moon rises with the side that faces Earth fully exposed to sunlight (5).

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Stardate Magazine

Current Issue: september/october 2024

The Life and Death of a Stellar Corpse

by Jasmin Fox-Skelly

This issue highlights the life and death of white dwarfs. We’ll also have all the latest astronomy news, a comprehensive two-month stargazing guide for the months of September and October, detailed skycharts, and answers to your astronomy questions from our science guru Merlin.

StarDate: September/October 2024 cover

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