Moon and Planets over Glatfelter Hall

Jupiter (upper L), the waxing crescent moon, and Venus. Evening of Feb. 25.

I had been planning to take this photo for a few weeks, but certainly did not count on the wind!

Venus, Jupiter, and the Moon Feb 22-26

Here's a look at the local evening sky over the next few days, as the waxing crescent moon emerges from the sunset glow and passes Venus and then Jupiter. At just about 24 hours "old" tonight, the moon will be the thinnest of crescents less than 10 degrees above the horizon. Good conditions are a must for seeing the moon this soon after new. The crescent will grow and become easy to see over the next few days as the moon orbits the earth and proceeds through its usual phase cycle. It will be near Venus on the 25th and near Jupiter on the 26th. The moon's track is shown in the images below (moon size exaggerated for clarity). The images were created with Stellarium and combined with the GIMP.


Venus and Jupiter themselves will be only three degrees apart in early March. Hear more about that at our Sky this Month Show for March, 3/1 at 4:00 PM and 3/2 at 12 Noon.

Feb 22-24, 6:00 PM.

Feb 24-26, 7:00 PM.

Observing Report: Thurs, Feb 9

Jupiter and Venus (below) above the GC Observatory dome.

 Thursday lab had a good session at the observatory, if a bit cold (28 F at the end of the second session). Both the 7 and 8 PM groups had a sky tour, including celestial sphere concepts, Jupiter and Venus in the west, and bright stars and major constellations of the season (Ursa Major, Orion and the Winter Oval, Pegasus and more). We used Meade telescopes to observe Venus, Uranus (less than one degree away!), the Orion Nebula, star clusters M37 and M35, and the Andromeda Galaxy. Before the 8 PM session was over, Mars and the waning gibbous moon were rising in the east. Both session finished with a tour of the observatory (CCD carts, research telescope, control room). We're looking forward to going out again later in the semester and hopefully using the CCD cameras to take some telescopic images. All images here by Ian Clarke with a Panasonic FZ-100.

From lower L to upper R: Orion, the Hyades, and the Pleiades.

Uranus (L) and Venus.

Mars and the moon.

Sky this Month Shows Coming Up

Our February "This Sky this Month" show will be offered this Sunday, Feb. 12, at 4:00 PM and Monday, Feb. 13 at 12:00 Noon. Topics will include the stars and constellations of late winter, the approach of Jupiter and Venus in the evening sky, as well as current astronomy news. Shows are free and open to the public as always. Directions, etc., are available on the web site.

Astro 102 Observing Lab, Monday, 2/6

Photo by Ian Clarke

Monday lab had a good session last night, though a little cold. After a visual tour of the sky (dominated by the almost-full moon), we used a Meade telescope to observe Venus, Jupiter, the Orion Nebula, the Andromeda Galaxy and the moon. A look at the dome room and control room of the observatory building wrapped up the evening. The image on the right, taken at 6:38 PM, shows Jupiter (above), Venus (below), and the observing deck illuminated by moonlight. Look for Venus and Jupiter to draw closer together over the next few weeks, eventually passing about three degrees from each other on March 12.