Tonight after midnight, you can find the Moon, Jupiter and Saturn rising in the southeast. The Moon will be exhibiting a waning gibbous phase with 75% of the lunar disk illuminated.
Astronomy Fact of the Day: May 28, 2021
The zodiac constellation Sagittarius can be found rising around 1 am. This is one of the zodiac constellations, which means the Moon will pass through it each month.
Astronomy Fact of the Day: May 27, 2021
On this date in 1999, STS-96 (Discovery) launched from Cape Canaveral, carrying astronauts Dan Barry, Rick Husband, Tammy Jernigan, Ellen Ochoa, Julie Payette, Kent Rominger, and cosmonaut Valeri Tokarev on a resupply and crew-rotation mission to the International Space Station.
Astronomy Fact of the Day: May 26, 2021
Looking southeast tonight at 11:00pm, you will find the Moon rising in the constellation Ophiuchus. This constellation is the 13th zodiac constellation. In modern times, zodiac constellations are defined as those that cross the ecliptic; there are 13 constellation that do this.
Astronomy Fact of the Day: May 25, 2021
In 1961 on this date, President John F. Kennedy, in his second State of the Union Message to Congress, announced his intention that the United States ‘…land a man on the Moon and return him safely to Earth’ by the end of the 1960s. This is now seen as the beginning of the Space Race… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: May 24, 2021
In the early morning hours of May 26, 2021, a total lunar eclipse will occur. For us in St. Louis, we unfortunately miss totality because the Moon will set about 7 minutes before totality. The eclipse begins at 3:47 am as the Moon enters the Earth’s penumbral shadow. The partial eclipse begins at 4:45 am… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: May 23, 2021
On this day in 1965, the Life Sciences Committee of the National Academy of Sciences’ Space Science Board recommended that NASA, for at least three weeks, quarantine all astronauts returning from the moon to prevent possible contamination of the Earth by extraterrestrial organisms.
Night Sky Update: May 21 – May 29, 2021
This is the Saint Louis Science Center’s NIGHT SKY UPDATE for the week of Friday, May 21, 2021. Information updated weekly or as needed. Times given as local St. Louis time, which is Central Daylight Time (CDT). For definitions of terminology used in the night sky update, click the highlighted text. If relying on times… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: May 22, 2021
Tonight at 10:00pm, the constellation Hercules will be easy to find in the east. Those with binoculars can find the famous star cluster Messier 13 (M13) between the stars 40Her and 44Her. M13 is a globular star cluster that is roughly 22,000 light years from Earth. Through binoculars, M13 will appear as a fuzzy cotton… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: May 21, 2021
In 2005 on this day, the US unmanned probe Cassini successfully flew by Enceladus, the sixth-largest moon of Saturn.