The night sky this month

Northern HemisphereIan Morison tells us what we can see in the Northern Hemisphere night sky during December 2021.The PlanetsJupiter As darkness falls at the start of December, Jupiter, having a magnitude of -2.29 and an angular size of 38.3 arc seconds, may be seen in the south. It transits at 17:15 GMT with an elevation of ~24 degrees. By month's end its magnitude will have reduc

Northern HemisphereIan Morison tells us what we can see in the Northern Hemisphere night sky during May 2021.The PlanetsJupiter: As May begins and given a low horizon towards the southeast, Jupiter, rising at 03:36 BST around 2 hours before the Sun, may be glimpsed just before dawn shining at magnitude -2.2 and having an angular size of 37.44 arc seconds. By month's end, it rises a

Northern HemisphereIan Morison tells us what we can see in the Northern Hemisphere night sky during December 2020.The PlanetsJupiter, along with Saturn, still remains visible, low in the sky, west of south when darkness falls as December begins and sets around 19:00 GMT. Towards the end of the month it will be seen towards the southwest after sunset and sets by ~17:30 GMT. Its magn

Northern HemisphereIan Morison tells us what we can see in the Northern Hemisphere night sky during November 2020.Highlights of the MonthEarly November - still a good time to view Mars. This is still a great month to observe Mars which had its closest approach to Earth on October the 6th when it will lay 39 million miles from Earth and reached opposition on the 13th so the highest

Northern HemisphereIan Morison tells us what we can see in the Northern Hemisphere night sky during October 2020.The PlanetsJupiter Jupiter is now visible, low in the sky, just west of south when darkness falls as October begins and sets around 10:30 pm BST. Towards the end of the month it will be seen towards the southwest after sunset and sets by ~08:30 pm GMT. Its magnitude dims

Northern HemisphereIan Morison tells us what we can see in the Northern Hemisphere night sky during September 2020.Haritina Mogosanu and Samuel Leske from the Carter Science Centre in New Zealand speaks about the Southern Hemisphere night sky during September 2020.The First point of LibraThese fancy words are naming the point on the celestial map where from Earth it looks like the

Northern HemisphereIan Morison tells us what we can see in the Northern Hemisphere night sky during August 2020.The PlanetsJupiter. Visible throughout the hours of darkness and lying up to the left of the 'teapot' in Sagittarius, Jupiter reached opposition on July 14. It is now visible in the south-southeast as darkness falls and crosses the meridian, so highest in elevation, at 11

Northern HemisphereIan Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky above the world's middle line during Month 4 2020.The PlanetsAs April begins, Jupiter rises some three and a half hours before the Sun shining at magnitude -2.1. It then follows Mars and precedes Saturn, just above Mars, into the pre-dawn sky. During the month it brightens to magnitude -2.3 whilst its angular

Northern HemisphereIan Morison tells us what we can see in the Northern Hemisphere night sky during March 2020.Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the northern hemisphere’s night sky during November 2019.The PlanetsJupiter As March begins, Jupiter rises more than 90 minutes before the Sun shining at magnitude of -2. It then follows Mars and precedes Saturn into the pre-dawn s

Northern HemisphereIan Morison tells us what we can see in the Northern Hemisphere night sky during February 2020.The PlanetsJupiter As February begins, Jupiter rises more than 90 minutes before the Sun shining at magnitude of -1.9. During the month it brightens to magnitude -2.0 whilst its angular size increases slightly from 32.5 to 34.1 arc seconds. A low south-eastern horizon w