USPS Star Calendar for 22-28 January 15 January 2012
Posted by amedalen in January 2012.Tags: Jupiter, Venus
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22 Jan Have you been watching Venus and Jupiter? They began the month 7½ fist-widths apart and are now only 5 fist-widths apart. Jupiter remains relatively stationary in relation to the background stars as Venus quickly climbs to meet the giant planet.
25 Jan Low in the west at dusk, magnitude -4.1 Venus is 4 finger-widths to the thin waxing crescent moon’s upper left. Less than 5 percent of the moon is illuminated.
26 Jan Venus is less than 4 finger-widths to the moon’s lower left, low in the west in the early evening. About 10 percent of the moon’s surface is illuminated.
28 Jan The moon is between Jupiter, less than 2 fist-widths to the upper left, and Venus, 2½ fist-widths below, close to the horizon. The two planets are less than 4½ fist-widths apart.
USPS Star Calendar for 15-21 January 8 January 2012
Posted by amedalen in January 2012.Tags: Antares, Arcturus, Jupiter, last-quarter moon, perigee, Saturn, Scorpion, Scorpius, Spica, Venus
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15 Jan Spica and Saturn are to the moon’s upper left in the southern sky before dawn. Growing closer, Venus and Jupiter are less than 6 fist-widths apart tonight.
16 Jan The last-quarter moon is high in the south before dawn, with Spica 2 finger-widths to the upper right and Saturn 3 finger-widths to the upper left. The bright star 3½ fist-widths above the moon is magnitude 0.2 Arcturus.
17 Jan The moon is at perigee, 57.99 Earth-radii, 370,000 kilometers, away.
18 Jan The thin waning crescent moon is just to the right of the head of the Scorpion constellation, Scorpius, low in the south before first light.
19 Jan Before dawn, the thin waning crescent moon will be low in the southeast with Antares less than 2 finger-widths to the lower right. Only about 20 percent of the moon is illuminated.
20 Jan The thin waning crescent moon rises less than 2½ hours before the sun this morning. About 10 percent of the moon’s surface is illuminated.
USPS Star Calendar for 8-14 January 1 January 2012
Posted by amedalen in January 2012.Tags: Big Dipper, Gemini Twins, Mars, Orion, Procyon, Regulus, Saturn, Spica
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8 Jan The moon is high in the southeast late tonight with the Gemini Twins to the left and Orion to the right. Far to the left in the northeast, the Big Dipper stands on its handle.
9 Jan The moon rises less than an hour after sunset with Procyon 1 fist-width to the right. They are high in the east later tonight, with the Gemini Twins 1 fist-width to the upper left.
10 Jan Late this evening, look for the moon between Procyon, 2 fist-widths to the upper right, and Regulus, 1½ fist-widths to the lower right. The Big Dipper is standing on its handle 5 fist-widths to the left.
11 Jan The moon and Regulus rise side by side 3 hours after sunset. Mars follows 2 hours later. By midnight, the moon is high in the east with Regulus 3 finger-widths to the left and Mars 2½ fist-widths to the lower left.
12 Jan In the southwest before dawn, Regulus is 3 finger-widths to the moon’s upper right, and Mars is 2 fist-widths to the moon’s upper left. The Big Dipper is high in the north with its handle pointing up.
13 Jan Low in the southwest before dawn, Regulus is 1½ fist-widths to the moon’s right while Mars is 1 fist-width to the upper left. Close together, Spica and Saturn are 4 fist-widths to the upper left. Magnitude 1.2 Spica is noticeably dimmer than magnitude 0.6 Saturn.
14 Jan Before dawn, Mars is 1 fist-width to the moon’s upper right. Today is 1 Jan. on the Julian calendar, the first day of the Roman year 2765 A.U.C., ab urbe condita or “from the city founded.”
USPS Star Calendar for 25-31 December 18 December 2011
Posted by amedalen in December 2011.Tags: Jupiter, Venus
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26 Dec Brilliant magnitude -4.0 Venus is 3 finger-widths to the moon’s left tonight. They set 2.5 hours after the sun, so look quickly with your binoculars. Less than 5 percent of the moon’s surface is illuminated.
27 Dec The moon is 1 fist-width above Venus in the early evening. Less than 10 percent of the moon’s surface is illuminated.
29 Dec The moon is between Venus, 3 fist-widths to the lower right, and Jupiter, 5 fist-widths to the upper left.
30 Dec High in the southwest at dusk, Venus is 4 fist-widths to the moon’s lower right, and Jupiter is nearly the same distance to the upper left.
USPS Star Calendar for 18-24 December 11 December 2011
Posted by amedalen in December 2011.Tags: first-quarter moon, Mars, Mercury, new moon, perigee, Saturn, Spica, winter solstice
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18 Dec High in the south at dawn, Mars is nearly 2 fist-widths to the moon’s upper right, while magnitude 1.2 Spica is 2 fist-widths to the lower left. Magnitude 0.7 Saturn is less than 3 finger-widths to the left of noticeably dimmer Spica. First-quarter moon at 0048 UT (1948 EST yesterday)
19 Dec In the south before dawn, Spica is 3 finger-widths left of the moon and Saturn is the same distance beyond Spica. With your binoculars, see if you can tell a difference in color between Spica and Saturn. Saturn should seem slightly yellow or orange compared to white Spica.
20 Dec Saturn and Spica are 3-4 finger-widths above the moon this morning.
22 Dec Get out your binoculars early this morning and try to spot the ever elusive Mercury as it reaches its greatest elongation west 21.8 degrees from the sun at 2200 EST tonight. Rising more than an hour before first light, Mercury is 4 finger-widths to the moon’s lower left before dawn. Less than 5 percent of the moon’s surface is illuminated. The moon is at perigee, 57.2 Earth-radii, or 365,000 kilometers, away. The winter solstice occurs at 0530 UT.
24 Dec New moon at 1806 UT
USPS Star Calendar for 11-17 December 4 December 2011
Posted by amedalen in December 2011.Tags: Gemini Twins, Mars, Orion, Procyon, Regulus
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11 Dec The moon rises a little more than an hour after sunset. By late evening, it’s high in the east with Orion to its right and Gemini to its left. Magnitude 0.5 Procyon is 2 fist-widths below the moon.
12 Dec Orion, the Gemini Twins and the moon rise within a few minutes of each other this evening. Later tonight, the Gemini Twins are close to the moon’s upper left high in the east. Orion is to the moon’s upper right, and Procyon is 1 fist-width to the lower right.
13 Dec The moon rises 3 hours after sunset. At midnight, Procyon is a little more than 1 fist-width to the moon’s right high in the southeast.
15 Dec After midnight, look for Regulus 1 fist-width to the moon’s upper left and Mars a little more than 1 fist-width to Regulus’ lower left. High in the southwest before dawn, the moon is between Regulus to the upper right and Mars to the upper left.
16 Dec Rising late this evening, Regulus, Mars and the moon are best viewed before dawn tomorrow. Regulus is 2 fist-widths to the moon’s upper right high in the south, and Mars is less than 1 fist-width above the moon.
USPS Star Calendar for 27 November-3 December 20 November 2011
Posted by amedalen in December 2011, November 2011.Tags: Alpheratz, Altair, Deneb Algedi, first-quarter moon, Fomalhaut, Sadalsuud, Venus
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27 Nov Tonight Venus is nearly 1 fist-width to the moon’s lower right.
28 Nov Altair is 2.5 fist-widths to the moon’s upper right low in the west at dusk. The moon sets less than 2 hours after the sun.
30 Nov Less than one-third of the moon’s surface is illuminated, so it shouldn’t outshine the dimmer stars nearby. Get your binoculars and look for magnitude 3.1 Sadalsuud 2 finger-widths above the moon and magnitude 3.0 Deneb Algedi 3 finger-widths to the lower left. You should also be able to spot several dimmer fourth and fifth magnitude stars within 2 or 3 finger-widths of the moon.
2 Dec The bright star 3 fist-widths below the moon tonight is magnitude 1.3 Fomalhaut. First-quarter moon at 0952 UT
3 Dec Magnitude 2.1 Alpheratz is 2.5 fist-widths above or to the upper left of the moon tonight.
