Astronomy

[SingingAnalyst]

Mars, still very bright but dimming, resumes forward motion Nov. 13. (no more retrograde)

Jupiter and Saturn are in conjunction Dec. 20-22.

Otherwise, after the great astronomical year that was 2020, 2021 looks to be rather boring. Maybe we can make a big breakthrough in space exploration?

[T'Chenka]

The earth is flat and the sky / space are a hologram. Get woke.

[͘]

Space has been boring since the world stopped sending men to the moon.

[TDAS04]

At one point back in September, Uranus was visible to the naked eye.

[Sirius_]

I finally spotted Mercury today. Its the hardest major planet to find and is often invisible but right now you can see it to the west around sunset. It should be visible for several days.

[Storebought]

Forum users living below 37 degrees N (San Francisco to Richmond VA): Please make an effort to observe the star Canopus. Astronomical guides usually ignore it, so I linked to one that doesn't.



Canopus is bright -- the second brightest of of the night sky -- and easily visible even one degree above the horizon provided you stand in an open field. And don't wait until February to see it -- by then it rises in the early evening when observation is poor from city lights and traffic.

[Storebought]

I finally spotted Mercury today. Its the hardest major planet to find and is often invisible but right now you can see it to the west around sunset. It should be visible for several days.

Seeing Mercury firsthand is always a great thing. Even Copernicus couldn't manage.

[Sirius_]

Also notable that Uranus is currently right next to Mars, making it easy to find with binoculars or telescope.

[SingingAnalyst]

I finally spotted Mercury today. Its the hardest major planet to find and is often invisible but right now you can see it to the west around sunset. It should be visible for several days.

I'll try to catch it in mid-May, when it should be easier to see in the evening at mid-northern latitudes.

[An American Tail: Fubart Goes West]

Also notable that Uranus is currently right next to Mars, making it easy to find with binoculars or telescope.

I’ll have to give it a shot!

[Samof94]

I finally spotted Mercury today. Its the hardest major planet to find and is often invisible but right now you can see it to the west around sunset. It should be visible for several days.

I'll try to catch it in mid-May, when it should be easier to see in the evening at mid-northern latitudes.

Venus should be in the evening sky by then.

[afleitch]

Just missed aurora borealis this past week. Gutted.

[retromike22]

My picture of the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction:

[Sirius_]

After all this time I finally spotted Canopus at around 6am in columbia.

[GeorgiaModerate]

In the spring of 1986 I went on a Halley's Comet cruise in the Caribbean and Atlantic.  Even at low latitude and far from land, the comet wasn't much to see; Hale-Bopp at its peak was far more impressive, even from light-polluted metro Atlanta.  But there was a more interesting (to me) astronomical combination visible on the cruise.  On one completely clear night at sea about 10 degrees North latitude, I was able to easily see both Polaris and the Southern Cross in the sky at the same time (in opposite directions, of course).

Amazing to think that Halley is almost at aphelion now and will be starting back toward the Sun in a couple years.  I hope I'm around to see it a second time, although I'll be over a hundred then.