Mercury transit In 1607, Johannes Kepler first predicted that Earth viewers could witness Mercury passing across the surface of the Sun’s disk, also known as a transit. On May 28, 1607 Kepler readied himself to witness Mercury’s transit by using a camera obscura, a device similar to a pinhole projector. While he did observe a …
Early in the night during the Fall, you may notice a few bright objects in the southern sky. Two of those are planets (Saturn and Jupiter) and one is the bright reddish star Antares. Jupiter is the planet closest to Antares. Antares is located in the constellation of Scorpius. It is classified as a red …
Enjoy your 4th of July and while you’re out watching the fireworks, enjoy these sights over the weekend. July 4th weekend: The Moon will start low on the horizon on July 4th and gradually climb higher in the sky over the weekend going from waxing crescent to first quarter moon. Right at sunset, Mercury and …
What’s In the Sky on the 4th of July Weekend (Besides Fireworks) Read More »
If you’ve seen or read any astronomy news blurbs over the last week or two, you have probably come across the terms Jupiter is at “opposition” and “perigee” making it bright and easily visible in the Eastern sky. In astronomy, opposition is a term used to describe when a planet is directly opposite the Sun …
Retrograde might sound like a ‘70s album, but when we’re talking in astronomy terms, it’s something much more ‘far out.’ When referring to the planets, retrograde motion describes the apparent backwards motion (observed in comparison to the background stars) a planet takes in its week-to-week journey across the sky and it only occurs for a …