Type: Astronomy Fact of the Day

The summer solstice occurs today at 10:32 pm. This officially marks the beginning of summer and is when the Sun reaches the Tropic of Cancer. We will now see the Sun lower in the sky each day until we reach the winter solstice in December.

In 1973 on this date, astronauts Pete Conrad and Paul Weitz (who, along with Joseph Kerwin, comprised the first crew aboard Skylab in orbit) went on a spacewalk outside the station to replace film cartridges in the station’s solar camera.

The Moon reached first quarter phase last night at 10:54 pm. By the time, the Sun sets at 8:28 pm, the Moon will exhibit a waxing gibbous phase with 60% of the lunar disk illuminated. You can find the Moon in the south as the Sun sets tonight.

On this date in 1967, China conducts its first thermonuclear bomb test, a 3.3-megaton device codenamed “Test No. 6.”

Comets are icy denizens of the solar system. They are leftover stuff from the formation of our solar system. As these Icy objects approach the Sun, they begin to sublimate. This process creates a gaseous atmosphere called a coma and contributes to the formation of tails.

In 1977 on this date, Wernher von Braun died. As the director of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and the chief architect of the Saturn V launch vehicle, von Braun’s work was fundamental to the entire US space program until his retirement in 1972. His official biography can be found at NASA’s page here.

Variable stars are stars that fluctuate in visual magnitude over time. Some exhibit variance cycles that last days while some can take hundreds of days. Tonight, an interesting variable star to find is called R Coronae Borealis. This variable star seems to fade randomly due to carbon soot that builds up near the star. You… Continue reading →

On this date in 1993, Donald Kent ‘Deke’ Slayton died. One of the original ‘Mercury 7’ astronauts, he was slated to fly the third Mercury mission; however, he was grounded due to a medical issue. He became NASA’s Astronaut Commander, as-signing crews for the Apollo lunar landings. He would ultimately fly to space on the… Continue reading →

Looking to the west tonight at 8:50 pm, you will find the Moon and Venus about 6° apart. The Moon will be exhibiting a waxing crescent phase with about 6% of the lunar disk Illuminated. You are seeing the Moon only 2.3 days into its current lunar cycle.

In 1986 on this date, Chesley Bonestell died. Bonestell was a renowned American architectural artist who achieved greater fame as the illustrator of von Braun’s vision of human space exploration in the 1950’s. His realistic paintings inspired a generation of engineers to make space travel a reality. You may view many of his images by… Continue reading →