Cottontail Rabbit, Sylvilagus audubonii January 22nd was the official start of the Chinese New Year in 2023, marking the end of winter and beginning of the spring season. Each year, an animal from the Chinese zodiac is assigned in a repeating twelve-year cycle based on the traditional Chinese lunar calendar. 2023 is the Year of… Continue reading
January 24, 2023 On this date in 1986, Voyager 2 successfully completed a flyby of Uranus at 9:59 PST where it came within 50,600 miles of the uppermost atmosphere. In addition to sending back images of Uranus and its moons, Voyager 2 used several scientific instruments to provide new data on the ring system, complex… Continue reading
January 23, 2023 Tonight just after sunset it is possible to see a very thin waxing crescent Moon close to Venus and Saturn. The Moon appeared closest to these planets at 1 am this morning; however, none of them were visible at this time as they were all below the horizon. By January 25th, the… Continue reading
January 22, 2023 Today at 2 pm CST, Venus will appear to pass approximately 0.4° S of Saturn. Although neither of these planets will be visible in St. Louis at that time, they will still appear very close together just after sunset. At approximately 6 pm, Venus and Saturn can be found low in the… Continue reading
This is the Saint Louis Science Center’s NIGHT SKY UPDATE for the week of Friday, January 20, 2023. 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
January 21, 2023 On this date in 1972, Apollo 16 astronauts Charlie Duke and John Young explored the lunar surface near their Lunar Module, and deployed ALSEP unmanned scientific equipment while astronaut Ken Mattingly held station in the Command Module in lunar orbit. The Earth rises above the lunar horizon in this Apollo 16 image.… Continue reading
January 20, 2023 A new moon occurs tomorrow afternoon at 2:43 pm CST. During the full and new moon phases, the gravitational pull of the Moon and Sun align to create larger “spring tides” on Earth. This month the Moon also reaches perigee – it’s closest point to Earth – at the same time as… Continue reading
January 19, 2023 On this date in 2006, the New Horizons spacecraft was launched. The primary objective was to explore Pluto and its moons, which it successfully completed in 2015. Additionally, New Horizons sent back images of the Kuiper Belt Object Arrokoth. In June 2022 the spacecraft was put into hibernation mode to reduce wear… Continue reading
January 18, 2023 It is possible to approximate angular degrees in the sky with only your fingers on an outstretched hand. A pinkie held up to the sky estimates 1°, first three pointer fingers is 5°, the width of a fist is 10°. By outstretching your first pointer finger and your pinky, it is possible… Continue reading
Black Bear, Ursus americanus Today is #MuseumSelfieDay! Our Collections Manager snapped a pic with Shadow, the Science Center’s American black bear, to celebrate. Did you know that black bears live in 40 of the US states? An estimated 100,000 of these omnivores live in Alaska where Shadow called home. Found only in North America, approximately 800,000… Continue reading
