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Rare Venus Transit Across the Sun
Early evening sky watchers may have noticed that the brilliant planet Venus is now appearing lower in the dusk sky each evening; this is nothing to be concerned about. It happens because Venus is orbiting the sun and, within only a week or so, it …Read more.
Antares After Dark
"If you've seen one star, you've seen 'em all." How many times have I heard that phrase over my long stargazing career!
I suppose it's true to one who seldom peers at the nighttime sky. It's really too bad, though, because those of us who …Read more.
Solar Eclipse!
It's been quite a while since we in the United States have enjoyed an eclipse of the sun — about seven years, to be exact. But one is about to occur next Sunday, and you'll definitely not want to miss it.
A solar eclipse occurs when the moon …Read more.
The Celestial Water Snake
Here's a trivia question for you. Which is the largest of all constellations? If you answered "Hydra", you know more about the night sky than you admit.
At this time of year, we can find Hydra, the water snake, low in the southern sky …Read more.
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Week of May 31-June 6, 2009A few weeks ago, early morning stargazers watched as the waning crescent moon slipped silently in front of the brilliant planet Venus in a beautiful sky show known as an occultation. Occultations of stars are equally interesting. They allow scientists to refine their knowledge of the moon's orbit and even to discover companion objects orbiting distant stars. In fact, a faint companion star orbiting the red supergiant Antares first showed up during a lunar occultation in the early 19th century. Antares is the reddish-orange star that marks the heart of the constellation Scorpius, the Scorpion. On the evening of June 6 it will co-star with the full moon in just such an occultation. Because the moon is so bright that night, Antares will pale by comparison, so you might need binoculars or a small telescope to see it. As the moon approaches Antares from the west, keep a watchful eye on the star until it winks out instantly behind the moon's edge. This occurs for two reasons. The first is that the star is so distant that it appears as only a point of light in our sky. The second is because the moon has no atmosphere to dim the star's light before blocking it completely. Because viewers around the country will see the event from different angles, its times will differ from place to place.
Unfortunately, West Coast viewers can't watch the star's disappearance because the moon will lie below the horizon at that time. California sky watchers, however, will see Antares reappear on the moon's western side shortly after moonrise — around 7:45 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time. To find exact times for your location, visit www.lunar-occultations.com/iota/bstar/0607antares.htm. Remember, these times are tabulated in Universal Time and must be converted to your local time. Subtract seven hours from Universal Time to get Pacific time, six hours for Mountain time, five hours for Central time and four hours for Eastern time. Always begin your watch at least ten minutes early so you can watch as the moon approaches Antares in the sky. Don't worry if weather should interfere, you'll have another chance on Aug. 27. 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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