Tag: Mars Lunar occultationt

Jupiter Joins the Sun and the Morning Moon Posing with Planets Gives Us Galaxy-gazing!

The prominent galaxies Messier 81 or Bode’s Nebula (left) and Messier 82 or the Cigar Galaxy (right) are located near the Big Dipper’s bowl in the northern sky. This image by AstroDoc Ron Brecher of Guelph, Ontario from February, 2017 spans about 1.5 degrees, or three full moon diameters. Messier 81 is large and bright…
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Complete Planets in Evening, the Full Oak Moon Moves Across Opposition Mars, and Jupiter Shows Spots!

This labelled map of Mars shows which features will be facing Earth-based telescopes around midnight EST on December 7-8, the night of Mars’ opposition. Mars’ northern polar cap will appear as a bright spot that the darge wedge of Syrtis Major points toward. Your telescope will probably mirror image and/or invert this view. (Starry Night…
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