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March 28, 2024

Radio: Today’s Episode

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Radio: Yesterday’s Episode

Stargazing

  • Head of Hercules

    The star that represents the head of Hercules rises below his body. It is called Rasalgethi, and it actually consists of three individual stars. Look for it clearing the northeastern horizon by midnight.


  • Struggling Mars

    Mars is struggling to climb into view in the dawn sky. It looks like a moderately bright star, quite low in the east-southeast during dawn twilight. It’s fairly easy to spot from the southern latitudes of the U.S., but harder to see from farther north.


  • Pyramid Star

    When the pyramids were built, north was marked not by Polaris, today’s North Star, but by Thuban, a star in the sinuous body of Draco, the dragon. Egyptian architects used the star to align the sides of the pyramids with the cardinal directions.


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).

Today’s Sponsor

Stardate Magazine

Current Issue: March/April 2024

The Great North American Eclipse

by Damond Benningfield

This issue answers all of your questions about the upcoming Great North American Eclipse on April 8th, 2024! This is our guide to one of nature’s most beautiful and astounding events: a total solar eclipse. We’ll also have all the latest astronomy news, a comprehensive two-month stargazing guide for the months of March and April, detailed skycharts, and answers to your astronomy questions from our science guru Merlin.

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Fun Factoid

Star Teachers

  • Stars and Galaxies

    Galaxies contain billions of stars. Do galaxies collide? Do the stars within them collide?

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