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 […]
A Good Month for Meteors
October 2019 by Matthew Johnson The Orionid meteor shower, which occurs every year in October, will reach its peak on the nights of Oct. 21 and 22. The debris that streaks through the night sky as the Orionid meteors was left in the trail of Halley’s Comet, whose path earth will start to cross in […]
