August 30, 2021 Last quarter moon occurs today. Moonrise occurs a little after midnight. At the time of moonrise, the Moon will have an azimuth of 58.9° so look east northeast to find the Moon.
Astronomy Fact of the Day: August 29, 2021
August 29, 2021 Today in 1965, Gemini V returned to Earth following an 8-day orbital mission. Due to a programming error in their navigational computer, the astronauts had to guide the spacecraft to its splashdown manually. Cape Kennedy and Kennedy Space Center seen during the Gemini V mission. Credit: NASA, Charles Conrad
Astronomy Fact of the Day: August 28, 2021
August 28, 2021 Tonight at 8:00 pm, you can find three planets in the sky. To the west, you will find Venus and to the southeast you will find Jupiter and Saturn. All three planets will be low at this time so you will need a clear view of the horizon.
Astronomy Fact of the Day: August 27, 2021
August 27, 2021 In 2003, the private spacecraft SpaceShipOne, built by Scaled Composites, performed its second glide test flight. SpaceShipOne would go on to win the Ansari X-Prize by becoming the first non-government organization to launch a reusable crewed spacecraft into space twice within two weeks. SpaceShipOne landing after its June 21, 2004, spaceflight. Image… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: August 26, 2021
August 26, 2021 Tonight at 9 pm, you can find the fifth brightest star we see at night directly overhead. This star is named Vega which will be the North Star in about 12,000 years due to precession.
Astronomy Fact of the Day: August 25, 2021
August 25, 2021 In 1965, President Johnson announced the Department of Defense’s $1.5 billion Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL). Publicly, this was an Air Force program to place military personnel in orbit to conduct scientific experiments. The classified, actual mission of the MOL program, was to place a manned surveillance satellite into orbit. More information about… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: August 24, 2021
August 24, 2021 At 9 pm you will find two bright and familiar patterns of stars to the north. In the northwest you will see the Big Dipper and to the northeast, you will find the W-shaped constellation Cassiopeia. These circumpolar patterns can generally be seen year-round because they are near the North Star.
Astronomy Fact of the Day: August 23, 2021
August 23, 2021 In 1961, NASA launched Ranger I, the first of a series of lunar probes intended to crash-land on the Moon. Unfortunately, due to a rocket malfunction, the probe never left Earth orbit and eventually burned up on re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere. Ranger 1 block diagram displaying scientific instruments. Credit: NASA
Astronomy Fact of the Day: August 22, 2021
August 22, 2021 Today is full moon for the month of August. This will be the third of four full moons this summer which means it is a blue moon. Currently there are two ways to define a blue moon. One type occurs if there are two full moons in one month. The second type… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: August 21, 2021
August 21, 2021 In 1965, Gemini V was launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida, carrying astronauts Pete Conrad and Gordon ‘Gordo’ Cooper into orbit on an 8-day mission. More information about Gemini 8, its objectives and results, may be found here. Gemini V Astronauts L. Gordon Cooper Jr. (Right) Charles “Pete” Conrad Jr. (Left) and the… Continue reading