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July 9, 2026Radio: Today’s Episode
The Coathanger
Hanging up a star cluster.
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Radio: Yesterday’s Episode
61 Cygni
Zeroing in on a nearby star.
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Stargazing
The Coathanger
The Coathanger is a pattern of 10 stars in Vulpecula, the fox, and is a good target for binoculars. Sweep them from the bright star Altair, low in the east at nightfall, toward brighter Vega, far to its upper left. The Coathanger is a third of the way along that line.
61 Cygni
61 Cygni was the first star to have its distance accurately measured. It’s 11.4 light-years away, in Cygnus, which is in the east at nightfall. 61 Cygni is to the lower right of Deneb, the swan’s brightest star, and is barely visible to the eye alone.
Venus and Regulus
Venus, the brilliant Evening Star, nuzzles the lion the next few nights. It will pass quite close to Regulus, Leo’s brightest star. At their closest, they will be just one degree apart, which is roughly the width of a pencil held at arm’s length.
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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