October 17, 2022 The Moon reaches last quarter phase today at 17:15 UT. In St. Louis that would be 12:15 pm. At this time, you can find the Moon in the west about 23° above the horizon. The western sky as it will appear at 12:15 pm. At this time, the Moon will reach third… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: October 16, 2022
October 16, 2022 On this date in 1975, The GOES-1 Satellite was launched aboard a Delta Rocket. This was the first geosynchronous weather satellite to take pictures of Earth at night. The most recent GOES satellite to launch was GOES-18 on March 1, 2022. Above is the first image transmitted by the GOES-1 satellite. It… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: October 15, 2022
October 15, 2022 On this date in 1997, the Cassini spacecraft was launched from Cape Canaveral. It studied Saturn for roughly 13 years. To learn more about Cassini visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/ This image shows the launch of Cassini/Huygens as seen from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. A booster retrieval ship can be seen in the foreground.… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: October 14, 2022
October 14, 2022 On this date in 1947, Chuck Yeager piloted the Bell X1 rocket plane in the first supersonic flight. Sound can travel at 761 mph at sea level. Light can travel at the speed of 186 thousand miles per second! Chuck Yeager posing with the Bell X-1 rocket plane on October 14, 1947.… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: October 13, 2022
October 13, 2022 Today, a meteor shower called the Northern Taurids begins. This meteor shower is active from October 13, 2022, to December 2, 2022. It is one of two meteors currently active that is caused by comet 2P/Encke. Alone, the Northern Taurids is a minor meteor shower but when active with its counterpart called… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: October 12, 2022
October 12, 2022 NASA’s Space Shuttle program saw 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The first Space Shuttle to launch to space was Columbia in 1981. The last shuttle mission was STS-135 which involved the Space Shuttle Atlantis. The space shuttle Atlantis as seen from the International Space Station prior to docking. Atlantis can be… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: October 11, 2022
October 11, 2022 Looking to the south around 6 am, you will see the bright winter star Sirius. This is the brightest star of the night sky as viewed from Earth. Sirius is a double star system but the primary in this double star is so bright that its companion is difficult to see with… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: October 10, 2022
October 10, 2022 Looking east around 11 pm you will see an orangish red star called Aldebaran. This star is part of the constellation Taurus the Bull and is about 65 light years away. North of this star will be a brighter orange/red object which is Mars. You can tell the difference between stars and… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: October 9, 2022
October 9, 2022 Full moon occurs today at 3:55 pm CDT. Full moons occur roughly 29.5 days apart. This cycle of the Moon is called a synodic month which is still the basis for our calendar month. Because there are 12.4 lunar cycles in a calendar year, it is possible to have more than 12… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: October 8, 2022
October 8, 2022 Tonight you will find the Moon near the bright planet Jupiter. The Moon was the only moon we knew about until Galileo pointed a telescope at Jupiter observing the moons Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. The sky as it will appear tonight at 10 pm. The Moon and Jupiter can be found… Continue reading