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Week of February 12-18, 2012: As the World Turns …
Most people know that Earth's rotation causes the sun to rise in the east and set in the west. Of course, the same is true for the moon, planets and stars.
To understand what's happening, try this experiment. Stand in the middle of a room and, …Read more.
Week of February 5-11, 2012: The ‘Linking' Star
Constellations are like states.
Just as the continental U.S. is divided into 48 such states — some large and some small — the heavens are also divided into 88 constellations. And just as every city in the U.S. (except for the District of …Read more.
Week of January 29-February 4, 2012: The Great Celestial Hunter
One of my favorite constellations in all the heavens has made its grand return to our evening sky, much as Robert Frost described in the opening lines of his famous poem "Star-Splitter":
You know Orion always comes up sideways.
Throwing a …Read more.
Week of January 22-28, 2012: The Moon and Venus at Dusk
Last week, I wrote about a rather faint group of stars known as Camelopardalis, the giraffe. I don't know how many of my readers took my challenge to get out and find this constellation, but I thought it wise to come back this week with something a …Read more.
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Week of May 17-23, 2009A virtual planet fest occurs in the sky this week, but to see it you'll need to set your alarm pretty early. About 1 1/2 hours before sunrise, step outdoors and five planets will lie above your head. Two are very bright; two are quite faint. And one is so-so. The brightest is Venus, low in the east. Right now, Venus glistens about as radiantly as ever, with its white cloud cover reflecting nearly two-thirds of all sunlight that reaches it. Aim a small telescope at Venus and you might be surprised to see a thick crescent not unlike that of the moon just before it reaches its first quarter phase. Venus orbits the sun and, consequently, reflects sunlight from different angles along the way. Below Venus, much closer to the horizon before daybreak this week, lies the much fainter Red Planet, Mars. Now about as distant from us as it ever gets, Mars is not well-situated to view with a small telescope right now. The other very bright planet in the morning sky this week shines high in the southeast. It certainly can't compete with Venus, but the giant planet Jupiter is still quite impressive.
Two more planets now lie in the early morning sky, but these are quite faint. The planet Uranus lies nearly midway between Venus and Jupiter, but finding it will be a challenge. You'll need binoculars and a star map — at least until mid-September, when it'll become faintly visible to the unaided eye. The faintest of all planets presently appears quite close to Jupiter. In fact, on the morning of May 25, Neptune will lie less than one-half degree north of the Giant Planet. To see it, however, you'll need to aim a small telescope in this direction. When you do, not only will you get a nice view of Jupiter and its four Galilean moons, but just to its north you'll spot the tiny and faint blue-green disk of Neptune — the solar system's most distant planet — 2.7 billion miles away. That's quite a bit of celestial traveling before leaving for work or school! To find out more about Dennis Mammana and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2009 CREATORS SYNDICATE INC. 
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