May 3, 2024 As Jupiter heads to solar conjunction later this month, we unfortunately find ourselves with no planets to look for in the early evening. Planets will not return to the evening sky until Mercury starts another evening apparition in July. This image was captured by NASA’s Juno mission during its 40th close pass… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: May 2, 2024
May 2, 2024 Saturn and Mars are starting to climb out of the morning twilight glare. You can start looking for these planets by looking southeast after 5 am. Over the next few mornings look for the Moon to be near Saturn and Mars. Each month, the Moon will pass by each planet visible in… Continue reading
Photograph showing Pluto
Photograph showing Pluto ca. 1950 As early as 1905 astronomers believed that another planet existed in our solar system past Neptune and Uranus. Eventually in 1930, this planet was discovered. On May 1, 1930, Lowell Observatory selected Pluto as the name for this new planet, which was suggested by 11-year-old Venetia Burney from England who… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: May 1, 2024
May 1, 2024 Last quarter Moon occurred today at 6:27 am. For those looking for the Moon, it rises after 3 am. In about a week, the Moon reaches its new phase starting a new lunar cycle. Last quarter moon as it will appear on May 1, 2024. When viewing the Moon, the best place… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: April 30, 2024
April 30, 2024 After midnight you can find the bright red supergiant star Antares rising in the southeast. This bright star represents the heart of the constellation Scorpius. This image shows the bright star Antares near the Rho Ophiuchi region. The star cluster to the right of Antares is a globular star cluster called… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: April 29, 2024
April 29, 2024 Look northeast tonight around 10 pm and you will find the bright star Vega rising. This is the fifth brightest star we can see in the night sky, and it will be the North Star in about 12,000 years. Vega is the brightest star in the constellation Lyra. It is a class-A… Continue reading
Night Sky Update: April 27, 2024
This is the Saint Louis Science Center’s NIGHT SKY UPDATE for the week of Saturday, April 27, 2024. Information updated weekly or as needed. Times given as local St. Louis time this week will be in Central Daylight Time (CDT). For definitions of terminology used in the night sky update, click the highlighted text. If… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: April 28, 2024
April 28, 2024 If you look near the zenith tonight around 8:30 pm you should see a backwards question mark shape of stars. This shape represents the head of the constellation Leo. Maps of constellations like this one are useful for identifying brighter stars and other targets of interest in a given constellation. This map… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: April 27, 2024
April 27, 2024 Earlier this year, the Parker Solar Probe completed its 19th close approach to the Sun. The recent perihelion passage of the spacecraft occurred when it was only 4.51 million miles from the Sun. To put that into perspective, when Earth is at perihelion, we are roughly 91.4 million miles from the Sun.… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: April 26, 2024
April 26, 2024 On March 13 in 1781, astronomer William Herschel discovered the planet Uranus. He reported his findings later on April 26, 1781, originally describing it as a comet. Uranus had been seen by others before Herschel’s observations but those confirmed views listed Uranus as a star. Image of Uranus and its rings taken… Continue reading