February Viewing
The Celestial Sphere By Matthew Johnson The five planets visible to the naked eye, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, were present in our skies throughout the summer, fall and early winter of 2020, with Venus gracing the sky at dawn. The comet Neowise joined them briefly in July and August. But in January 2021, […]
December’s Great Conjunction
The Celestial Sphere by Matthew Johnson We begin the month of December with long nights reaching a maximum on the evening of the winter solstice, Dec. 21, with 14 hours and 55 minutes of darkness. After the 21st, the days begin to grow a few minutes longer each day, a time of year acknowledged throughout […]
Sights in the November Sky
The Celestial Sphere by Matthew Johnson Daylight Saving Time ends on Nov. 1 at 2 a.m. With the Sun now setting more than an hour earlier and rising an hour later than in June, additional hours of darkness extend the length of time in which one can observe. Astronomers look forward to the late fall […]
News of the September Sky
By Matthew Johnson The September or autumnal equinox will arrive on Sept. 22. The autumnal equinox marks the end of summer and the beginning of fall. The term “equinox” is derived from the Latin aequinoctium, meaning equal night. On both the spring and fall equinox, the earth experiences 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours […]
Discovery of a New Comet
By Matthew Johnson The discovery of Comet NEOWISE proved to be astonishing, especially to those who hunt for such objects. It surprised astronomers when it passed by the Sun emitting a bright tail as well as a darker dust tail. The comet was discovered March 27 by NASA’s Near-Earth Object Wide-Field InfraredSurvey Explorer. This space […]
Moonlight Serenade
Celestial Sphere by Matthew Johnson When one looks up at our moon, consider the number of moons that continue to be discovered in our solar system. The inner planets─Mercury and Venus─ both lack a moon. Our Earth has one moon, Mars has two moons-Deimos and Phobos. From there the number of moons increases. Uranus has […]
Twilight Over Norfolk
By Matthew Johnson Twilight is the time when the celestial sphere is partially illuminated. This occurs only before sunrise and after sunset. There are three ranges of twilight, defined according to the sun’s position below the horizon. Civil twilight occurs when the sun’s upper limb is below the horizon and its center 6 degrees or […]
The Moon at Perigee and Venus Shining
By Matthew Johnson April is a wonderful month for naked-eye viewing of the celestial sphere. April’s full moon, the pink moon, occurs April 7. The moon at this time is at perigee (closest to Earth in its orbit), thus this moon will be called a “super moon” by the media since it will appear larger […]
On the Bright Side of Interplanetary Dust
by Matthew Johnson One little-known celestial phenomenon is zodiacal light. Seen as a glowing wedge of diffuse light tilted in the direction of the sun’s path, zodiacal light is created as the sun backlights particles of interplanetary dust between itself and Earth. These illuminated remnants from the passage of comets, the collision of asteroids, and […]
Three Planets Enter Into Conjunction Early in Month
By Matthew Johnson Sunrise on Dec. 1 is at 6:57 a.m. and sunset at 4:21 p.m., and the nights will continue to grow longer as December progresses, reaching a maximum of 14 hours, 51 minutes, 28 seconds on the successive nights of Dec. 21 and 22. By month’s end, though, we will have gained back […]
