The Great American Eclipse is coming up on Monday. The Moon will briefly cover the Sun, turning day to night across a narrow slice of the United States. The rest of the country will see a partial eclipse, with the Moon covering only a portion of the Sun’s disk.
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Last Week's Stargazing Tips
August 19: More Eclipse
August 18: Eclipse Watching
Venus, the “morning star,” looks down on the Moon at first light tomorrow. The Moon is headed toward an even more spectacular encounter on Monday, when it will cross in front of the Sun, creating a total solar eclipse.
August 17: Moon and Venus
The “morning star” stands to the lower left of the crescent Moon before dawn tomorrow. Although it looks like a brilliant star, it’s really Venus, our nearest planetary neighbor.
August 16: Solar Corona
Skywatchers along a narrow path across the U.S. will see a rare sight on Monday: the Sun’s corona, its hot, faint outer atmosphere. It will look like a silvery curtain around the Sun during a solar eclipse, which will be visible from Oregon to South Carolina.
August 15: Moon on the Move
The Moon will pass several bright objects over the next week. Tomorrow, bright Aldebaran, the eye of the bull, will stand just above the Moon at first light. And on Friday and Saturday, the Moon will pass by the planet Venus, the “morning star.”
August 14: Solar Eclipse
A total solar eclipse will take place on August 21. It will cover a narrow slice of the United States, from Oregon to South Carolina. Millions of Americans are expected to travel to the eclipse path, making it the most-viewed solar eclipse in history.
August 13: Sakurai’s Object
Sakurai’s Object, a dying star in Sagittarius, was “reborn” a couple of decades ago as it began “burning” helium around its core. Although it is too faint to see, it is above the teapot formed by the brightest stars of Sagittarius, which is in the south as night falls.