Tonight's Night Sky

SKY HAPPENINGS- Updated DECEMBER 19

2011-10-10T21:10:00.000-07:00

Purple words are links. The * symbol means degrees.

New!! Saturn and Mars in early morning sky!

Mars is in Leo, just under zenith in south. Saturn is in Virgo,east/west more eastwards. Very worth it to get up an hour before sunrise to view them. I was out there and they are awesome for observing right now.

NEW! Venus Is Here!!

Venus is here to ring the new year with us! In the evening sky facing west it is spectacularly shining! CLICK HERE for the Venus section. Get your optics out! It's a treat!

New!! Comet Garrad in Hercules!!!

Comet Garradd is at sort of a standstill through Hercules from now until January 20. Awesome time to hunt it down. For Details CLICK HERE to go to the comets section. If you find more info for my Comets link, please send it in.

New!! Calendar Events!

Dec 20-Waning crescent Moon is 7* below Saturn in predawn sky.
Dec 23-Comet Garradd at perihelion.
Dec 26- Thin crescent Moon 6* north of Venus in evening sky.
Dec 27- Brief double shadow transit across Jupiter's disc from moons Europa & Ganymede 10:51pm to 10:55 pm EST.

Added December 10th:

December's Deep Sky!
December Treasures To Observe
The Moon & Jupiter Show Off Together In The Evening Sky
Orion Appears In Southwest
See The Stars On Long Winter Nights
Looking Up-bright stars fill the eastern Sky
DECEMBER NIGHT SKY, CLICK HERE
Bundle Up And Get A Look At The Night Sky
To your right check out new feature! Called "More night sky observing places on the Web". Nice links people have been sending in. Thanks everyone!
It is globular cluster season!! how many can you see? LOTS! click here.
Close up on Auriga! 3 star clusters to observe, click here!
In my Deep Sky Object section check out Perseus & the Demon Star!

Welcome To Tonight's Night Sky

2011-09-17T10:59:00.000-07:00

As an astronomer and very avid observer of the night sky I so get many emails and messages asking what is out to observe.

So I thought I would open a page where people can easily and quickly check to see and I can load up what I find. I look up what is out everyday and what sky events are happening all the time and share the links, I love sharing what to observe so there's another reason to open a page.

How My Page Is Put Together:

You can scroll down to see everything or look to your right for fast links to what you want to find. As I mentioned above I want it to be quick and easy, that's how I like to find my info. Instead of writing a huge report of what Is going on I chose to give you links to click on. In the deep sky section I chose some deep sky goodies for you to hunt and find. If you have goodies you would like to share feel free to send them in or where you find what I chose let people know in comments in the 'Deep Sky Objects' section. I love it when people share! The 'Sky Calendar' section is a daily calendar of events. Planetary and deep sky.

Clear skies and if you need help observing etc I love helping!

Meteor Shower Watch

2011-09-13T23:09:00.000-07:00

January February March

April May June July

August September October

November December

Comets To Catch

2011-09-13T22:22:00.000-07:00

Comet Garradd (c/2009 p1) Spends the entire season and early 2012 moving north through Hercules. Look for it in the western evening sky.

On December 28 & 29 the comet passes close to the fourth-magnitude star Lamda Herculis.

How to find Comet Garradd in December 2011
Orbital Info and Charts for Comet Garradd
A fun review on the comet: Telescope Reviews: M71 w/comet Garrad

Asteroids To Catch

2011-09-13T21:50:00.001-07:00

November Events Coming Soon

Deep sky Objects To Explore !

2011-09-13T20:38:00.003-07:00

It is globular cluster season!! how many can you see? LOTS! click here.

Close up on Auriga! 3 star clusters to observe, click here!

Close Up On Constellation Perseus And The Demon Star!!

Here are some great deep sky targets, See if you can find them all this month!
Mira the Wonderful, a famous variable star

M2 in Aquarius

Algedi Star system and m30 star cluster in Capricornus

PEGASUS GALLOPS ACROSS NIGHT SKY <--- thanks Meteor Mike for sending it in.

Mercury

2011-09-13T20:38:00.001-07:00

Mercury appears in both the evening and the morning sky during the last two months of this year. It reaches it's greatest angle away from the sun in the evening sky on November 14th. Mercury emerges into the morning sky for a good showing at dawn the end of December (greatest elongation is December 22).

Where Mercury will be in 2011-2012 click here to find out! (scroll down when you get there for Mercury)

Venus

2011-09-13T20:37:00.005-07:00

In December/January, Venus does a rapid climb higher in the sky. It will be visible in the darker sky and will not be setting until two hours after sunset. In the late spring Venus will shine high and bright in our evening sky, passing Jupiter in the mid march and Pleiades cluster in early April. Then in late spring Venus drops rapidly back toward the horizon with the Sun.

Where Venus will be 2011-2011 click here to find out!

Mars

2011-09-13T20:37:00.003-07:00

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Ruddy Mars rises in the east, well before the dawn.

-Mars remans a late night/early morning object this season,rising about 1 a.m in Leo and brightening through the late autumn from magnitude +1 to +.05.

On the mornings of November 10 and 11 Mars passes 1.5 degrees north of Regulus.

A very nice telescopic sight!

Where Mars will be 2011 - 2012 click here to find out!

Jupiter

2011-09-13T20:37:00.001-07:00

Good ol' Jupiter is the prime time planet this season. It dazzles at magnitude -2.8 on the Aries-Pisces border high in the southeastern sky at nightfall. It is out until sunrise.

Where Jupiter ill be in 2011-12 click here to find out!

Saturn

2011-09-13T20:36:00.005-07:00

Saturn begins to appear as a morning star this season, shinning at magnitude 0.7 just above Spica in Virgo. On November 22 the waning crescent Moon joins Saturn and Spica to form a tight line of three objects in the eastern predawn sky.

Where Saturn will be 2011-2012 click here to find out!

Uranus

2011-09-13T20:36:00.003-07:00

At magnitude 5.7 Uranus can be found in the evening sky in Pisces, just one Zodiac constellation away from From Neptune.

Where Uranus will be in 2011-2012 click here to find out!

Neptune

2011-09-13T20:36:00.001-07:00

Neptune is best sighted this season in November, when it appears due south at nightfall near the Aquarius-Capricorn border and is at a magnitude of 7.8

Where Neptune Will be in 2011-2012 click here to find out.

Pluto

2011-09-13T20:35:00.001-07:00

November Info Coming Soon