Big Dipper
Summer is an enjoyable time to look at the Big Dipper. Around 10 p.m., it stands high in the northwest. Its bowl looks like it is pouring its contents onto the ground below. The bowl’s outer stars point toward Polaris, the North Star.
Crab Nebula
The Crab Nebula spreads its claws in the dawn sky this month. It is in one of the horns of Taurus, the bull, low in the east before sunrise. Although the Crab is too faint to see without a telescope, it’s close to the upper left of Venus, the Morning Star.
Crab Nebula
The Crab Nebula spreads its claws in the dawn sky this month. It is in one of the horns of Taurus, the bull, low in the east before sunrise. Although the Crab is too faint to see without a telescope, it’s close to the upper left of Venus, the Morning Star.
Moon and Antares
Antares, the brightest star of the scorpion, stands close below the Moon at nightfall. It’s a bit hard to see its color when the Moon is around, but Antares shines bright orange. That tells us that its surface is cool — more than 4,000 degrees cooler than the Sun.
Moon and Antares
Antares, the brightest star of the scorpion, stands close below the Moon at nightfall. It’s a bit hard to see its color when the Moon is around, but Antares shines bright orange. That tells us that its surface is cool — more than 4,000 degrees cooler than the Sun.
Bright Vega
A bright star crowns the sky this evening. Vega is the leading light of Lyra, the harp. It’s the fifth-brightest star in the night sky, so it’s hard to miss. Vega is about twice the size and mass of the Sun and just 25 light-years away.
Bright Vega
A bright star crowns the sky this evening. Vega is the leading light of Lyra, the harp. It’s the fifth-brightest star in the night sky, so it’s hard to miss. Vega is about twice the size and mass of the Sun and just 25 light-years away.
First Quarter Moon
The Moon reaches its first-quarter phase today at 7:33 a.m. CDT. It stands at a right angle to the line that connects Earth and the Sun, so sunlight illuminates exactly half of the lunar hemisphere that faces our way.
First Quarter Moon
The Moon reaches its first-quarter phase today at 7:33 a.m. CDT. It stands at a right angle to the line that connects Earth and the Sun, so sunlight illuminates exactly half of the lunar hemisphere that faces our way.
Epsilon Lyrae
If you look toward Lyra, the harp, with a telescope, you might think you’re seeing double. One of the constellation’s stars, Epsilon Lyrae, is known as the Double Double. It consists of two pairs of stars that are moving through the galaxy together.