This is the Saint Louis Science Center’s NIGHT SKY UPDATE for the week of Friday, December 17, 2021. Information updated weekly or as needed. Times given as local St. Louis time which is Central Standard Time (CST). For definitions of terminology used in the night sky update, click the highlighted text. If relying on times… Continue reading
This is the Saint Louis Science Center’s NIGHT SKY UPDATE for Comet Leonard. December 16, 2021 Update for Comet Leonard Position of Comet Leonard at 5:11 p.m. on December 16, 2021. Image created using Stellarium. Over the past few weeks, what was supposed to be a decently bright comet, appeared to be going down the… Continue reading
December 16, 2021 Tonight the Moon will appear between the Pleiades and the Hyades star clusters. The Hyades looks like a V-shape and the Pleiades looks like a small spoon. Both star clusters are in the constellation Taurus the Bull. Tonight, the Moon is found between the Pleiades and Hyades star clusters. The Moon will… Continue reading
In the 17th century, the Ashanti, or Akan peoples of Western Africa became the dominant force in the region and one of the richest African kingdoms. Historically the area contained substantial gold deposits and the Ashanti built their strength on the gold trade. This bronze chameleon was used as a counterweight to measure out exact… Continue reading
December 15, 2021 Today in 1923, physicist John Dyson was born. Dyson is best known for his speculative work on extraterrestrial civilizations. One of his theories proposed that a highly advanced civilization would be able to construct a giant shell around their host star to capture 100% of the star’s energy. A ‘Dyson Sphere’ was… Continue reading
December 14, 2021 Tonight you will find the Summer Triangle low in the west at 7 pm. This summer asterism is seen most of the year, but summer is when we see it the best. The constellations and asterisms we use are a reminder of how the night sky can be used to track the… Continue reading
The James Webb Space Telescope is the largest, most powerful space telescope ever built. It will allow scientists to look at what our universe was like about 200 million years after the Big Bang. The telescope will be able to capture images of some of the first galaxies ever formed. It will also be able… Continue reading
December 13, 2021 Today in 1962, the communications satellite Relay 1 was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Relay 1 was used to transmit telephone, television, teleprinter, and facsimile signals globally. Unfortunately, the leakage of a high-power regulator caused the satellite to revert to a low voltage state and communication was lost with the… Continue reading
This is the Saint Louis Science Center’s NIGHT SKY UPDATE for the week of Friday, December 10, 2021. Information updated weekly or as needed. Times given as local St. Louis time which is Central Standard Time (CST). For definitions of terminology used in the night sky update, click the highlighted text. If relying on times… Continue reading
December 12, 2021 The Geminid Meteor Shower peaks tomorrow night into the morning of December 14. The Geminids are caused as debris from asteroid 3200 Phaethon enters Earth’s atmosphere. The radiant for the Geminids appears in the constellation Gemini which can be found rising in the east by 7:30 pm. The Geminids will be impacted… Continue reading
