In the Sky Tonight

last SG · 2005-08-23T14:26:28+00:00

Spotting the Summer Triangle Wednesday, May 17, 2006 Looking East-Northeast in Late Evening In the east-northeast in late evening, you'll find a famous...

poon cho tang SG

Jupiter in southeast before dawn

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Looking Southeast One Hour Before Sunrise

Jupiter is the second-brightest planet visible in Earths sky, after Venus. Right now, Venus is long gone below the western horizon by the time Jupiter ascends in the east-southeast about three hours before dawn. And after Jupiter rises it lives up to its reputation for being bright! It dominates the predawn sky, outshining everything else up there with the exception of the moon. If you would like to catch Jupiter, try looking for the planet an hour before dawn, when youll find it in the southeastern sky, along with the stars Spica to the upper right and Arcturus shining to its upper left. By April of next year, Jupiter will be appearing at a more convenient time of night. Earth will pass between Jupiter and the sun on May 4, 2006.

poon cho tang SG

Winter vs. summer sky

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Looking East-southeast in Late Evening

"Why do stars seem so much brighter in winter than in summer?"

In winter, as in summer, we can see edgewise into the disk of our Milky Way galaxy (marked in translucent blue on today's chart). However, in contrast to late summer (when we face the galaxy's center), on winter evenings we're looking toward the outskirts of the galaxy. The winter stars are so bright because many of them -- for example, Betelgeuse, Rigel, Mintaka, Alnitak, Alnilam -- are really giants in the spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy in which our sun resides. Another difference between winter and summer skies is that there's a "hazy" quality to the summer sky due to the center of the galaxy being farther away than the nearest outer edge. The "haze" is really the combined light of billions of stars in the direction toward the Milky Way's core. The winter sky, in contrast, looks darker and sharper. Winter stars shine with a diamond clarity because on winter evenings there are fewer stars (and less gas and dust) between us and the vast space beyond.

poon cho tang SG

Solstice sunset and company

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Looking West-Southwest At Sunset

The December solstice takes place today at 1:35 p.m. Eastern Standard Time in the U.S. Today's chart shows the solstice sunset. The sun is now setting at its farthest south along the western horizon. Theres only one instant each year when the sun reaches the December solstice. Its the same instant for all of us. . . when the sun reaches its southernmost point in our sky. The planet Venus is so big and bright in the southwest at sunset that it is possible you may spot her even before the sun has completely sunk below the horizon. To spot the star Altair of the constellation Aquila the Eagle, however, you will have to be patient and wait for evening twilight to dissipate.

ndmmxiaomayi SG

Just a question, can all these be seen in Singapore? I have only seen satellites (not moon), but not the planets and stars. Even under good conditions, dark night, no clouds and no moon, I still don’t see stars.

poon cho tang SG

nope, too much light pollution, unless in secluded places away from city lights like pulau tekong n lim chu kang

ndmmxiaomayi SG

Go Lim Chu Kang before and want to see stars. But a disappointment. No stars. Crying or Very sad

poon cho tang SG

i could even see the milky way at pulau tekong Laughing

ndmmxiaomayi SG

Sure or not? Last year Singapore big blackout I didn't even see a single star. Or my area cursed? Cannot see stars? Or I am just that unlucky?

poon cho tang SG

dark, means perfectly dark, faraway from any ambient light, far from city lights, at least a few tens of km away Laughing

ndmmxiaomayi SG

Maybe that blackout does not make Singapore dark enough. I should go some other countries to see the stars and planets.

poon cho tang SG

bright stars like sirius and the orion constellation and a few planets like venus, mars, jupiter n saturn can still be seen here Laughing

ndmmxiaomayi SG

Never see most of the listed before. Probably have seen Venus, but I am not sure. I have either seen Mars or Jupiter but because they are too small and I have no telescope, cannot really be sure. Just see a red dot in the sky.

poon cho tang SG

of cos, u cant expect much to see much in sg Laughing

poon cho tang SG

Ursid meteor shower peaks tonight

Friday, December 23, 2005

Looking North-Northeast After Midnight or Before Dawn

Some meteor showers have been watched each year at the same time for many centuries. But the Ursid meteor shower, which peaks tonight, has been observed for only a single century. It was first observed around the turn of the 20th century, when a skywatcher noticed that some meteors seen around this time of year werent random in their direction of motion across our skys dome . . . but instead appeared to radiate from near the star Kochab in the bowl of the Little Dipper asterism. The Little Dipper asterism is in the constellation Ursa Minor the Lesser Bear: hence, the Ursid meteor shower. This shower has been known to produce short bursts of over 100 meteors per hour. But typically the shower is much sparser than that. It might produce only five to 10 meteors per hour at its peak. If you want to watch the Ursids, find a country location where you can camp tonight or tomorrow night. Dress warmly, and plan to spend several hours reclining under a dark sky, sometime during the night. Todays chart shows the Big and Little Dippers around 1 a.m. when the Big Dipper is well up in the north-northeast.

poon cho tang SG

Hunter in close view

Friday, December 23, 2005

Looking East-Southeast at Nightfall

This month, we have focused a lot of our charts on the constellation Orion the Hunter, now in the east-southeast in early evening. And what a rich constellation it is! Besides the obvious placement of the stars on Orion's Belt -- Mintaka, Alnilam, and Alnitak -- the Hunter is comprised of a number of very bright stars. One star whose name we particularly love is Bellatrix. According to the classic book by Richard Hinckley Allen called Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning, the name Bellatrix means Female Warrior or Amazon Star. Rigel, which represents the left foot of the Hunter, is a blue-white supergiant and one of the most luminous stars known. Meanwhile, Betelgeuse represents the Hunter's right shoulder. It's a red supergiant whose outer layers extend very far from the star. In fact, if Betelgeuse replaced the sun in our solar system, its outer layers would extend beyond the orbit of Jupiter! Also look for the star Saiph which, like most of Orion's stars, is located very distantly, at approximately 720 light-years away.

poon cho tang SG

Moon occults Spica before dawn for some

Sunday, December 25, 2005

Looking South-Southeast Before Dawn

The star near the moon tonight is Spica, the brightest light in the large, rambling constellation Virgo the Maiden. Since August, the moon has occulted (or passed in front of) Spica from someplace on Earth about every 28 days -- and will continue to do so until the year 2007. Tomorrow morning marks the first visible event for parts of the U.S. this year. In the wee hours of the morning, the waning crescent moon can be seen rising in the east-southeastern horizon, with the star Spica located less than a degree to the bottom of it. The moon and Spica will travel in each others company until a couple of hours before dawn, when the moon will actually occult, or pass in front of the star Spica in some locales. Although most of North America is in a prime location to see this, it will occur after sunrise for most of us -- making it a difficult occultation to view. It will happen before sunrise for those in eastern Alaska, western Canada, and parts of southern and western U.S.

Angelo09 SG

the sky shalt rain fire.

Angels spreading wings of purity and donned gloden armour shalt swarm mdist buring skies;

wielding flamming swords and whips. visages a beauty beyond compreshension.

smiting all, felling all, F$%king all, cleansing all...acting in god;s divine name. carry out gods divine instruction.

earths rotted; trees bear putrid fruits. the dead shalt rise from tier resting place to consume the living.
.
the seas shalt boil and pour forth in fiery tsumanis burying entire cities; evil encased in watery fiery tomb. they are a symbol to be forgetten. yet remembered.

the virtious shalt fall before the wicked. the wicked shalt fall before Gabriel.
Miachel and their host of holy serraphims

burn them all!!!! kill them all!!!! f$%k them all!!!!!

Very Happy

poon cho tang SG

Five planets visible throughout night

Sunday, December 25, 2005

Looking East in Late Evening

Monday, December 26, 2005

Looking Southeast Before Dawn

You can spot all five of the most easily visible planets in our solar system tonight -- all in different areas of the sky and times of day. The planets Venus and Mars are the most easily visible, as they are up in early evening. Venus is in the southwest shortly after sunset. Fiery red Mars is high in the southeast shortly after sunset. In late evening, you can spot the farthest easily visible planet, Saturn, in the east along with the famous star pair Castor and Pollux -- twin luminaries of the constellation Gemini the Twins. Just before dawn in the southeast, you will find the two remaining planets -- Jupiter and Mercury -- along with the waning crescent moon. Mercury is the white object near the horizon, while giant Jupiter is the brightest object near the moon.

poon cho tang SG

Dark side of Venus

Monday, December 26, 2005

Looking Southwest Shortly After Sunset

Heres Venus in the southwest after sunset, where youll see it nearby the bright star Fomalhaut in the constellation Piscis Austrinus the Southern Fish. The pink line represents the plane of the solar system, translated onto our sky. Notice that Venus lies along this line. We got this question: Why doesn't the always bright object in the sky, Venus, ever dim when its orbit places it between the Earth and the sun, presumably showing its dark side to us? That's good logic. When Venus is between us and the sun, its dark or night side is facing our way. But, at such times, we cant see Venus. Its only up in the daytime, and so lost in the suns glare. Venus will reach its inferior conjunction -- come between the sun and our planet -- on January 13th, 2006.

poon cho tang SG

Scorpion returns in southeast

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

Looking Southeast Shortly Before Dawn

Legend says that the constellation Orion the Hunter and Scorpius the Scorpion are never in the sky at the same time. Since Orion is up in the evening now, you can only spot the Scorpion shortly before dawn, rising in the southeast. Tomorrow morning a very slim waning crescent moon will be resting on the top part of the constellation, known as the Crown of the Scorpion. Scorpius has a curved line of stars at its base resembling the curved tail of a true scorpion... but you wont see it now. The lower part of Scorpius is still lost in the suns glare before dawn. At best, you might spot its brightest star Antares, the ruby heart of the Scorpion. Scorpius is just now returning to the predawn sky, after being located behind the sun from our earthly vantage point. Youll see it all in another month or so, in the southeast before the sun comes up, when Earths motion in orbit around the sun has moved Scorpius farther from the sun along our line of sight.

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