December 8, 2021 Looking southwest tonight around 5:30 pm, you will find the Moon between the planets Jupiter and Saturn. The Moon will be exhibiting a waxing crescent phase with roughly 28% disk illumination. Waxing crescent moon will be seen after sunset on December 8, 2021. Look along the terminator for the best views of… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: December 7, 2021
December 7, 2021 Today 1995, the Galileo spacecraft arrived at Jupiter and entered orbit after 6 years of travel including a flyby of Venus and two asteroids, Gaspra and Ida. Galileo spent a further 8 years examining Jupiter and its moons Io and Europa. In 1994, the Galileo orbiter was present to watch the fragments… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: December 6, 2021
December 6, 2021 The closest star to the Earth is the Sun which on average is 93 million miles away. The closest star to the Sun is Proxima Centauri. This red dwarf star is about 4.2 light years away. The most distant star ever observed is MACS J1149+2223 Lensed Star 1, nicknamed Icarus which is… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: December 5, 2021
December 5, 2021 Today in 1935, the first large hydroponicum was established in Montebello, California. The word hydroponics was coined in the early 1930s, by Professor Gericke at U.C.L.A. to describe the growing of plants with their roots suspended in water containing mineral nutrients. Hydroponics is used to grow plants on the International Space Station… Continue reading
Night Sky Update: December 3 – December 11, 2021
This is the Saint Louis Science Center’s NIGHT SKY UPDATE for the week of Friday, December 3, 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
Astronomy Fact of the Day: December 4, 2021
December 4, 2021 Today the Moon reached new moon around 2 am. When the Moon passed between Earth and the Sun today it was in syzygy. When three or more astronomical bodies are in alignment, a syzygy occurs. If those objects are the Sun, Moon and Earth, you get an eclipse. As this occurred at… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: December 3, 2021
December 3, 2021 Today in 1910, neon lighting, developed by French physicist Georges Claude, made its public debut at the Paris Motor Show. The colored light is produced by passing electrical current through inert gases in a vacuum tube. Neon gas glows a fiery orange-red; argon is soft lavender; argon gas enhanced with mercury is… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: December 2, 2021
December 2, 2021 The Earth is on average roughly 93 million miles from the Sun. This is called an astronomical unit (AU). By comparison, Saturn is 9.5 AU and Neptune is 30.1 AU from the Sun. Everybody’s favorite dwarf planet Pluto is 39 AU from the Sun. The most distant object observed in the solar… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: December 1, 2021
December 1, 2021 Today in 2013, China launched the robotic lunar exploration lander Chang’e 3, with China’s first lunar rover, Yutu-hao (‘jade rabbit’). Rover Yutu explored its landing area in Mare Imbrium and sent back pictures of the surface of the Moon for several weeks. A complete description of the mission may be found here.… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: November 30, 2021
November 30, 2021 Tonight the bright red supergiant star Betelgeuse can be found rising in the east at 8 pm. It is thought to be 16 to 19 times the mass of the Sun which means Betelgeuse is a star destined to end in a supernova. At over 500 light years away, this poses no… Continue reading