Tag: comet c/2020 F8 (SWAN)

The Full Strawberry Moon, Maximum Mercury after Sunset, Both Gas Giant Planets Enter Evening Skies, and Comet PanSTARRS Passes Dubhe!

NASA’s Moon Phase and Libration visualization tool will generate hour-by-hour annotated views of the moon, such as this one for 10 pm EDT on May 31, 2020. You can find more at https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4768. There is also an option to generate south up views for use at your telescope eyepiece. Hello, Moon Lovers! Here are your…
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A Farewell to Venus, a Week of Waxing Moon Viewing, Jupiter Sports Shadow Spots, and then Enters the Evening Sky!

This inverted picture of the crescent Venus was taken by holding my smartphone over the eyepiece of my telescope at 9 pm on Thursday, May 21, 2020. The crescent was also visible in binoculars. If you have clear skies after sunset in the next several days, have a go! Hello, Late-May Stargazers! Here are your…
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Dark Nights’ Targets, Bright Pre-Dawn Planets Bracket a Globular Cluster, and a Moon and Planet Party in the Post-Sunset Sky!

This image of globular star cluster Messier 13 was captured by Martin Pugh of New South Wales, Australia. Left to right, it spans 40 arc-minutes, or 1.3 times the full moon’s diameter. The cluster, which could hold up to million yellow and blue stars, is approximately 23,000 light years away from our solar system. NASA…
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Mercury Joins Evening Venus, the Old Moon Moves Past Pre-dawn Planets, and Dark Night Skies Bring Galaxies Galore!

This image of the LeoTrio of Galaxies was captured by Marcus Bauer. It was a NASA APOD for April 18, 2019. Top to bottom, the image spans one degree of the sky. The Hamburger Galaxy (NGC 3628) is at centre left. M65 is at top centre and M66 is at centre right. Happy Mother’s Day!…
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A Bright Comet, Appreciating the Moon when Super or Otherwise, Moon Phase Information, and Prominent Planets at Dawn and Dusk!

This image of the moon by Michael Watson of Toronto was taken 9 hours after it was full on February 22, 2016 – replicating how the May, 2020 full moon will appear on Thursday night. Note that the moon’s right-hand edge shows some shadowing – evidence that it is slightly past full. The many bright…
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