Picnickers, yesterday, looked out from the Greenwich Observatory (or near it) over the universe (or at any rate over London).
Category: astronomy
Jupiter closely touched by two
The crescent Moon will make a show with distant Jupiter, low over the sunset horizon on Friday, August 5.
And there is, in a sense, a third body in this line-up, a human-made one called Juno. Continue reading “Jupiter closely touched by two”
Queen Bee and Drone
Mercury, overtaking Venus, passes only half a degree north of it as seen by us.
Spatial view of the travels of the three inner planets in July, with sightlines from Earth on July 16. Actually the sightlines are at the beginning (0 hour) of the day by Universal Time. The overtaking happens at the end of the day, 23h UT (which is 7 PM by summer clocks in eastern North America. The planets are exaggerated 400 times in size, the Sun 5. The dashed line is the vernal equinox direction, our customary baseline in the celestial sphere. Continue reading “Queen Bee and Drone”
Eddington and the angle
I’ve just added this to the “Eclipse Stories” section Continue reading “Eddington and the angle”
A lamp to tell you where you are
The Moon – like me and like the United States – celebrated its birthday on Continue reading “A lamp to tell you where you are”
You can’t boil an astronaut
Our correspondent Anthony Barreiro has a letter in Continue reading “You can’t boil an astronaut”
End of a loop
Mars becomes stationary on June 30. It has fallen back, as far as it will go, Continue reading “End of a loop”
From here on down
On Monday June 27 comes the year’s Continue reading “From here on down”
Somersaulting toward the Sun
Today the Sun reaches solstitium, Continue reading “Somersaulting toward the Sun”
Nights of the Scorpion
Here is how Mars, Antares, and Saturn are now grouped as the Moon again comes cruising over them.
