Venus is the bright "star" in the predawn sky. Its brilliance can be seen in a clear sky well into morning twilight. Bright Jupiter is now evident low in the east, although Venus is nearly 20 times brighter than Jupiter and the planets are 20 degrees apart. On October 25, Jupiter and Venus appear close together, … Continue reading Morning Planets, September 25, 2015
Category: Astronomy
Lunar Eclipse, September 27, 2015
On the night of September 27, the moon moves into the Earth’s shadow. Observers across the western hemisphere see a total lunar eclipse with the best part occurring from 9:11 p.m. through 10:23 p.m. No special equipment is necessary the eclipse. The October 8, 2014 Total Lunar Eclipse. The third eclipse in the current tetrad … Continue reading Lunar Eclipse, September 27, 2015
Venus, Mars & the moon, September 10, 2015
The moon joins Venus and Mars in the morning sky today at 5:15 a.m. CDT as seen from the Chicago area. This morning the planets are about 10 degrees apart and the moon is about 4 degrees from Venus. Watch Venus climb into the morning sky during the next several weeks. For more information about … Continue reading Venus, Mars & the moon, September 10, 2015
Venus and Mars, September 3, 2015
Venus is rapidly moving into the morning sky. (This observer first saw Venus on the morning of August 27.) On the morning of September 3, Venus appears about 9 degrees to the lower right of Mars. Venus appears about 300 times brighter than the Red Planet. For more information about: A Sky Full of Planets … Continue reading Venus and Mars, September 3, 2015
September 2015 Sun and Moon
The length of daylight decreases rapidly during September. At the beginning of the month, the sun is in the sky for over 13 hours. By month's end, the sun is above the horizon for about 11 hours, 45 minutes. On the chart above, the sun's yearly daylight hours is displayed in the red graph. The … Continue reading September 2015 Sun and Moon
A Sky Full of Planets in the Morning Sky, 2015
A recent appearance of Mars and Venus Venus, Jupiter, Mars and Mercury appear together in the morning sky during the second half of 2015. Brilliant Venus moves from the evening sky to the morning sky. After the Great Epoch Conjunction with Jupiter in the summer of 2015, the planets pass again in the morning sky, … Continue reading A Sky Full of Planets in the Morning Sky, 2015
Venus as a Morning Star, 2015-2016
This appearance of Venus has ended. A recent appearance (2012) of Venus with other planets in the morning sky. Venus appears in the morning sky after its spectacular Epoch Conjunction with Jupiter in the summer evening sky in 2015. As a Morning Star, Venus appears with three other planets during mid-October 2015. This article describes … Continue reading Venus as a Morning Star, 2015-2016
August 2015 Sky Watching
Sun The days of August lose about 75 minutes of daylight, finishing with about 13 hours, 10 minutes of sunshine. The red line on the chart above shows the length of daylight for each day during the year. The shaded area shows the daylight for this month. Moon Phase Date/Time Moonrise Moonset Last Quarter 08/06/15 … Continue reading August 2015 Sky Watching
Sun and Moon, July 2015
The sun's height in the sky is now past its highest point for this solar orbit. For the next several months, it appears lower in the sky each day at noon. As the noontime height lowers, the length of daylight decreases at the mid-northern latitudes. At the latitude of Chicago (42 degrees N), the length … Continue reading Sun and Moon, July 2015
Venus and Jupiter, June 30, 2015
Brilliant Venus and bright Jupiter are at their closest this evening as seen from the Chicago area. They appear less than an apparent moon diameter apart. Venus is over 11 times brighter than Jupiter. For more about the conjunction, see this summary article. See this article for more as Venus as an Evening Star.