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Post by princess on Dec 25, 2012 17:52:35 GMT -5
that will.be interesting if you ask me kira...*thinking*
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Post by AhkneeKitteen on Dec 25, 2012 20:07:26 GMT -5
Preview? Eh, let's do a week or two in. - Earth will be closest to the sun on the second of January for the year of 2013.
- On the third, if you look northeast and just below the Big Dipper, you may see the first meteor shower of the year - the Quadrantid shower. It will occur a couple of hours or so before dawn.
- Before dawn, the moon will hover between Saturn and Spica on the 6th. This can be helpful in finding Antares, which will be to the southwest of this formation. The next night, you can find Saturn and the moon hanging in front of the Libra constellation - with luck and dark surroundings, you may find Libra's alpha star in the sky.
- On the 7th, if you look south of Sirius, you may find the star cluster M41. If you can't find Sirius, look south of Orion's belt.
- The Moon and Venus will hang together low in the southeastern sky in the morning of the 10th.
- For the 11th, Cassiopeia and the Ursa Major will be chilling on either side of Polaris, the North Star. In the early evening, you can identify the former as it looks like a slightly flat M-shape, and the latter is easy because the Big Dipper is a part of it. This can also be seen in the early morning, as the two constellations simply rotate around Polaris, with Cassiopeia forming a W-shape due to the spin.
- From the 12th onwards, the Moon and Mars will share the sky.
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Post by moon yagami on Dec 26, 2012 1:10:00 GMT -5
that's really cool, my legal first name has an M in it... I think it would be awesome to see that on my birthday if it's not too cold for me to step outside
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Post by princess on Dec 26, 2012 23:27:09 GMT -5
oh wow...i wanna see
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Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2012 15:27:05 GMT -5
Interesting. Thank you Ahknee!
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Post by AhkneeKitteen on Jan 25, 2013 16:35:07 GMT -5
wow I need to keep up on this shit more often - Tonight, the moon will be hanging out below Gemini - you can glimpse Pollux and Castor chilling in the constellation, if you want. Look to the east.
- On the 27th, Regulus will be visible chasing the moon across the sky. It will reach its highest point in the sky in the late hours of the night. Regulus is a multi-star system and one of the brightest stars in the sky, several times larger than our sun; compared to the just-waning moon's light, it will be a bit dim, but should still be visible. The two will rise at nearly the same time on the evening of the 28th.
- While we're still in winter, see if you can catch Vega in the constellation Lyra the Harp in the east-northeast. It will make an appearance over the horizon right around dusk, setting shortly afterwards. It's a fleeting glimpse, but the star is very bright and shines with a blue-white light - it will only start to get brighter over the next several million years, as the sun (and thus our solar system) is slowly but steadily creeping towards it on a journey to complete a cosmic year.
- On the 30th, Jupiter will halt in its westward track across the sky - after this night, it will begin heading east once more. Check out the southern sky when the sun sets - you'll catch Jupiter hanging out in the Taurus constellation, between Aldebaran and the Pleiades star cluster. With a decent telescope, you might even be able to catch some moons as it gets a bit darker.
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Post by princess on Jan 29, 2013 0:01:28 GMT -5
keep them coming ya'll! ^.^
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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2013 17:38:00 GMT -5
How's February's forecast looking?
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Post by princess on Feb 2, 2013 20:13:01 GMT -5
*waiting*
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Post by AhkneeKitteen on Feb 8, 2013 19:35:58 GMT -5
Hmm, lesse here ... - Mars and Mercury visible after sunset tonight, chillaxin' together just above the horizon to the west. Mercury will be the dimmer of the two, and you might not catch them if you've a decent treeline blocking your view.
- Tomorrow night, keep an eye out for the double cluster of Perseus in the northwest. The Persei cluster, Chi and H, are best viewed in a dark sky with the aid of binoculars (though they are be visible to the naked eye, binoculars help). Remember the M/W shaped Cassiopeia? That's in a sharp backwards 3 shape, and the clusters will be up and to the left of it.
- 10th: To the south around 8pm, you'll be able to catch Orion, a common winter sight. What's of interest is below the belt - Lepus, the Hare, and Columba, the Dove. Lepus is a bizarre X-shaped constellation, while Clumba is like an extremely misshapen Y.
- 11th: Waxing crescent moon and Mercury hanging near the horizon. Also, speaking of Orion, make sure to give Betelgeuse, in the shoulder of the constellation, a gander - it's a red super giant, after all, and some astronomists think those are be a one-in-a-million thing (literally).
- 13th: Canopus is a star that hangs far below Sirius, very near the horizon, and can be a pain to spot for those of us in the northern latitudes. People below the equator have a much easier time spotting it.
- 15th: The Moon will be in Aries, and Jupiter in Taurus, so you can use them to help you find those constellations. The Moon will only hang out in Aries for a few days, but Jupiter and Taurus will stick together until they both depart the night skies come the warmer months.
- 18th: The Moon will be between the horns of Taurus and Jupiter will be hanging out just a little right of them. Keep an eye out for The Pleiades near Jupiter, too!
- 20th: The Moon will basically be in the center of the Winter Circle. Six stars, visible during winter, will form the circle around the moon, consisting of Capella at the top, and going clockwise, Aldebaran, Rigel, Sirius at the bottom, Procyon, and Pollux and Castor closing up the circle. Parts of Orion, including his belt, will be in the circle, and Jupiter will be hanging just a bit out of it, to the right.
- 21st: Remember, Castor and Pollux are part of Gemini, so you can also spot that once you know where they are (partially thanks to the Moon, which is hovering near them still).
- 23rd: My birth constellation, Cancer, will be out, but not visible - the Moon will be full around this time, and since Cancer is such a dim constellation (the faintest of all the zodiac ones), visible only on moonless nights, you won't be able to see it. But, if you were wondering, the Moon will basically be sitting right on top of it.
- 24th: Make sure you learn what Regulus is - it will be standing bright, to the left of the Moon on this night. Some occulting of Regulus will occur over the next handful of years, and you'll want to keep an eye out when it happens.
- 27th: Though it can be visible at any time during late winter and early spring, the Zodiacal light can be a bit troublesome to spot. It's a pyramid-shaped light glowing in the west, anywhere from 80 minutes to two hours after sunset. You'll almost definitely need a dark sky away from the light pollution of the city to see it.
- 28th: Spice is practically going to be kissing the moon on this night, with Saturn hanging a bit away, to the lower left of them.
... and before I knew it, I covered the rest of the month.
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Post by princess on Mar 1, 2013 0:51:20 GMT -5
ah....i sooo would love to see this
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Post by Deleted on Mar 16, 2013 15:46:36 GMT -5
I'm actually curious what's going on in March, around my birthday... whenever it's convenient, of course, Ahknee.
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Post by AhkneeKitteen on Mar 18, 2013 15:46:59 GMT -5
The equinox is before sunrise on the 20th. Moon and Gemini visible on the 21st. Cancer should be within the light of the moon on the 22nd.
There's not much to see besides the standard fare that one would expect for the season.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 21, 2013 16:37:06 GMT -5
Fair enough. Nothing crazy.
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Post by AhkneeKitteen on Jun 30, 2013 16:40:59 GMT -5
okay no I have totally got this July skies! - If you've a telescope, look for Pluto on the 1st west and slightly north of Scorpius. It will be visible around 9pm EST.
- Around the 8th, Saturn will be in Virgo. If you're in doubt, look for two bright stars near each other - one of those will be Spica, while Saturn will be northwest of it. This will be at around 11pm EST, I believe.
- Know how to find the two Dipper constellations? Between them will be Draco's tail. Check the northern sky and look for Vega - draw a line southwest of it, you can spy two stars in Draco's head, Eltanin and Rastaban. One of the stars in Draco's tail is Thuban, which, thousands of years ago, used to be the North Star.
- Low in the western sky you should be able to spot Venus, though it will only be visible for a short period before it also sets.
- On the 18th, the moon will be hanging around Scorpius, giving you a good chance to admire the stars in that constellation (or even just pick it out).
- The 20-22, Mars and Jupiter will be close together, but very near the horizon, during sunrise.
- If you have trouble spotting Zodiac constellations, just remember to look southward and try to follow the path the sun takes during the day - these constellations roughly align along that path. In July, you can catch fleeting glimpses of Leo right around sunset (if you're lucky); Saggitarius, Scorpius, Libra, and Virgo are visible during the night. And if you're into it, you can see Ophiuchus just a little north of Antares (it's a funky half-diamond shape sitting on top of the funky Serpens constellation).
- With a good telescope (and I mean really good, since it is six times dimmer than the faintest visible stars), you can spot Neptune near the moon and Aquarius on the 24th.
- Dawn, 29-30: Delta Aquarid meteor shower peaks, best around 1am. Don't get your hopes up on really seeing this, since it's much more favored for viewing from the Southern hemisphere. The moon's light will cause this to be even tougher to see.
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