A note from a reader: “It is now 9pm. For the past few months, about this time in the evening, I view a very bright “planet.” I face west and this object is descending pretty quickly. Two months ago I figured it was Jupiter, now I am told Jupiter will not appear until a few more...
As twilight deepens, the starlike light of bright Jupiter appears above the southeastern horizon. Jupiter climbs to its highest point around midnight, then descends toward the southwest. On May 8-9, Jupiter, Earth and the Sun lined up, a momentous celestial phenomenon known as “opposition.” Around this time of opposition, the planet is brightest for the...
The Northeast Astronomy Forum (NEAF) is a magnet for amateur astronomers, professionals and those simply curious about astronomy and space exploration. Over Earth Day weekend, which included worldwide Astronomy Day, April 21, I was one of thousands who streamed along the paths to NEAF venues on the Rockland Community College campus, an hour northwest...
Towers of house lights, office tower lights, store lights, floodlights, streetlights, car lights, stadium lights, illuminated signage, decorative lights. Artificial light at night, indoors and outdoors, is second nature to us. But now that we’ve conquered darkness we’re learning that darkness is necessary to life on Earth – and becoming scarce. For billions of years,...
The pattern of a great lion outlined in stars, from billowy mane to tucked tail, climbs in the east-southeast as darkness deepens on early spring evenings. The head of Leo the Lion is a broad arc of stars that leads down to the constellation’s brightest star, bluish-white Regulus, Latin for “little king.” Leo’s body stretches...
Spring begins tomorrow when the Sun crosses the celestial equator from the southern to the northern hemisphere; the precise moment is 12:15pm EDT. Take part in the Vernal Equinox by observing sunrise due east at 7:00am, sunset due west at 7:07pm and the Sun at its highest point at midday, 1:03pm EDT While the Sun’s...