EST, although both are below the horizon at that time. The Moon passes 9° south of Venus at 1 A.M. If you can bring yourself to get up early on a weekend, the planets will richly reward you with a wonderful lineup that includes the crescent Moon this morning. You should be able to spot movement after just two hours or so, but the more time you let elapse between subsequent observations, the more you’ll notice this distant world’s movement relative to the background stars. Today through the 28th, see if you can record the small world’s motion by comparing its position with nearby 37 Tau, which shines at magnitude 4.3 (compared with Ceres’ magnitude 8.5 glow). Dwarf planet 1 Ceres, the ruler of the asteroid belt, sits about 4.8° southeast of the Pleiades tonight, traveling northeast as the hours tick by. It should be easy to find the Pleiades (M45), a sparking, small dipper-shaped cluster of stars in the northwestern portion of the constellation. Today, let’s turn our gaze toward Taurus the Bull, already high in the southwest after sunset. Our satellite will then sit 228,533 miles (367,788 kilometers) away. The Moon reaches perigee - the closest point to Earth in its orbit - at 5:25 P.M. The Moon’s illumination is given at 12 P.M. *Times for sunrise, sunset, moonrise, and moonset are given in local time from 40° N 90° W.
And if you’re an astrophotographer, this is definitely a target not to be missed: In photos, the cluster’s single red giant star suddenly pops out to shows its colors. This system is not, however, associated with the cluster, and merely lies in the same field.
Many skygazers think it resembles a small fan or arrowhead of stars, tipped with the triple star Struve 131. Discovered not by Messier but by his colleague Pierre Méchain, this young cluster of stars glows softly at magnitude 7.4 and spans about 6′ from its position roughly 1° northeast of Ruchbah (Delta Cassiopeiae).Īlthough too faint to see unaided, M103 is easy to observe with binoculars or any small scope. Tonight, we look to Cassiopeia the Queen after sunset to catch a glimpse of the open star cluster M103.
0 kommentar(er)
