In last month’s installment, we highlighted a striking “near miss” (or conjunction) of the two innermost planets of our Solar System—Venus and Mercury. This month, on the early evening of February 20th, an amazing triple conjunction will occur. And again, although it will be visible to the unaided eye as was last month’s event, the view in binoculars will be nothing short of spectacular!
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A fascinating celestial event sure to thrill sky-watchers will happen on the early evening of January 10th when the two innermost planets of our Solar System will have an apparent “near miss” in the sky! And while this can be witnessed with the unaided eye, it will be a superb sight in binoculars of all sizes and types. So dust off those glasses should you have a pair and hope for a clear night.
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Regular readers of this column know that whenever we’ve covered the various annual meteor showers, it seems that they always reach peak activity in the pre-dawn hours of the morning—and that relatively few “shooting stars” are seen during evening hours. (The reasons for this are discussed below.) But this month we have the very “considerate” Geminids which display lots of evening action, to the delight of those skywatchers who must get to bed at a reasonable hour!
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One obvious galaxy that surely everyone has seen (especially in the summer and fall months when its big billowy star-clouds pass overhead) is the one we live in—the magnificent Milky Way! But there’s another equally famous one that is perfectly placed for viewing on November evenings and which can be seen even without optical aid on a dark moonless night. It’s the great Spiral Galaxy of Andromeda.

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Wow! What a month for celestial spectaculars—a total eclipse of the Moon (for those who were clouded out at the one in April) and a partial eclipse of the Sun just two weeks later! Both will be readily visible to the unaided eye and thrilling sights in binoculars and small telescopes (given proper safety precautions in the case of the Sun).
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We’re all aware of the negative impact human activity is having on our planet’s land masses, oceans and atmosphere. But it goes beyond far that to the very night sky above us. And sadly, only sky-watchers seem aware of this increasing menace which is destroying the beauty of a star-filled sky for those living in or anywhere near large metropolitan areas.
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Sky-watchers will have a unique opportunity to see two conjunctions of bright planets this month—one in the evening sky after sunset and the other in the morning sky before dawn. Both are showstoppers, but the one before sunrise will be quite spectacular and definitely worth the effort to rise early that day.
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Have you ever heard of a star named after one of the planets? Well there actually is one! And it, along with its namesake, is currently visible in the evening sky after sunset. Both objects are unmistakably bright and will jump out at you facing south as the twilight fades.
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Skywatchers this month have an ideal opportunity to see the two brightest of all the stars of the northern heavens at the same time. Not only are they brilliant and unmistakable—but they also display a truly striking color contrast between them sure to surprise anyone who thinks that stars are all just plain white!
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Ask someone to name the best-known planets and invariably Mars, Jupiter and Saturn will be the response. Indeed, the last two are the biggest such bodies in our solar system, while Mars—despite its diminutive size—is perhaps the most famous of all such worlds due to its long association with life elsewhere in the public mind. May evenings offer an opportunity to see all three at once. Continue reading →