Abrams Planetarium
Night Sky Notes
The Night Sky Notes is a place on our web site that we use to keep skywatchers up to date on what's up in the sky. Check back often to find out what's new and visible in our ever changing sky. As we learn about something new, we'll post it to this page as soon as we can. If you like to subscribe to news feeds, click the RSS link below. The posts will automatically show up in your news aggregator or feed reader.
If you would like more detailed information including star charts, check out our Sky Calendar. For just $11.00 per year, you'll get 12 issues mailed to you. Proceeds from the Sky Calendar help support the Abrams Planetarium and Night Sky Notes.
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The URL for the RSS feed of the Abrams Planetarium's Night Sky Notes is:
"http://www.pa.msu.edu/abrams/nightskynotes/nightskynotes.xml"
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The URL for the iCal feed of the Abrams Planetarium's Night Sky Notes is:
"http://www.pa.msu.edu/abrams/nightskynotes/nightskynotes.ics".
You may need to cut and paste this link into the "subscribe" option of your calendar.
If you maintain a web page, and would like the Night Sky Notes RSS feed on your site. Click HERE for information on how to put Abrams Planetarium's Night Sky Notes on your web page.
Monday, February 13, 2012
The Moon is to the lower left of Saturn and Spica. Look for the Moon in the southwest at dawn.
Night Sky Note for February 12, 2012
Sunday, February 12, 2012
The star Spica is a few degrees above the waning gibbous Moon. Look for the Moon and the star in the southwest at dawn. Saturn is 7 degrees to the upper right of Spica.
Night Sky Note for February 11, 2012
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Venus and Jupiter are 30 degrees apart. Their spectacular mutual conjunction will occur in 31 days on March 13th. Tonight, Venus is nearly in line with the east side of the Great Square of Pegasus.
Night Sky Note for February 10, 2012
Friday, February 10, 2012
Mars is above the waning gibbous Moon. Look for the Moon to rise in the east almost 4 hours after sunset.
Night Sky Note for February 9, 2012
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Uranus is 1/3 of a degree to the left of Venus. Look for Uranus with binoculars. Venus and Uranus are in the WSW at dusk. Jupiter is 32 degrees to the upper left of Venus.
Night Sky Note for February 8, 2012
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
The star Regulus is to the upper left of the Moon. Look for the Moon and Regulus in the east an hour and a half after sunset. Mars is to the lower left of the Moon.
Night Sky Note for February 7, 2012
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Mercury is at superior conjunction. Mercury reemerges from behind the Sun later this month. In the last week of February, look for Mercury in the evening sky.
Night Sky Note for February 6, 2012
Monday, February 6, 2012
Venus and Jupiter are 35 degrees apart. Watch as they converge. The pair will be just 3 degrees apart on March 13th. Venus and Jupiter are the two brightest "stars" in the evening sky right now.
Night Sky Note for February 5, 2012
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Venus is 5 degrees away from Uranus. Venus will pass Uranus by just 1/3 of a degree on the 9th of February. Use binoculars to see 6th magnitude Uranus to the upper left of Venus.
Night Sky Note for February 4, 2012
Saturday, February 4, 2012
The Moon is within the winter circle. The winter circle consists of seven stars: Sirius, Procyon, Pollux, Castor, Capella, Aldebaran and Rigel. Can you find them all?
Night Sky Note for February 3, 2012
Friday, February 3, 2012
Mars rises about 25 minutes before Venus sets. Can you spot them at the same time? Venus will be very low in the west when Mars is very low in the east. Search for them about 3 hours after sunset.
Night Sky Note for February 2, 2012
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Groundhog's day marks a cross quarter day. Cross quarter days are the days about halfway between the start of the seasons. Groundhog's day is about halfway between the winter solstice and the vernal equinox.
Night Sky Note for February 1, 2012
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
The waxing gibbous Moon is between the Pleiades and Hyades star clusters. Use binoculars to see the Pleiades above the Moon in the evening sky. Venus and Jupiter are 40 degrees apart. The two bright planets are moving about 1 degree/day closer to each other.
Night Sky Note for January 31, 2012
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Venus is 10 degrees from Uranus. Venus passes Uranus on February 9th by just 0.3 degrees. Look for 6th magnitude Uranus with binoculars. Uranus is to the upper right of Venus.
Night Sky Note for January 30, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
The First Quarter Moon is above Jupiter. Look for the Moon and Jupiter in the evening sky.
Night Sky Note for January 29, 2012
Sunday, January 29, 2012
The nearly first quarter Moon is to the right of Jupiter. Look for the Moon and Jupiter in the evening sky.
Night Sky Note for January 28, 2012
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Venus and Jupiter are less than 45 degrees apart and closing. The pair will pass each other on March 13th. Jupiter is high in the SSW. Venus is lower in the southwest, 45 minutes after sunset.
Night Sky Note for January 27, 2012
Friday, January 27, 2012
Venus and Jupiter are 45 degrees apart and closing. The waxing crescent Moon is between Jupiter and Venus. Look to the SSW at dusk.
Night Sky Note for January 26, 2012
Thursday, January 26, 2012
The crescent Moon is to the upper right of Venus. Look for the pair in the WSW an hour after sunset. Notice the earthshine on the Moon. Earthshine is the faint light that lights up the dark side of the Moon.
Night Sky Note for January 25, 2012
Look for the pair in the WSW an hour after sunset.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
The crescent Moon is to the lower right of Venus. Look for the pair in the WSW an hour after sunset.
Please send any comments, suggestions, or questions to
John French: frenchj@ msu.edu