Hello there Stargazers!
Today’s post will be dedicated to a follower of this blog that goes by alias of cheezypoofs182.
He had a question that dealt with what to expect from the western skies within the next week.
After research on various astronomy sites I found out that Venus was under a spotlight!
For those who don’t know much about Venus it is known as the Evening and Morning star.
“Venus, shrouded in cloud, is the
Brightest of the planets in our sky,
But she reveals her secrets reluctantly.”
-Levy
The Facts:
Venus is covered by clouds of water vapor and sulfuric acid so dense that we cannot see its surface without the use of advanced radar systems like the NASA’s Magellan spacecraft.
It also undergoes phases much like the moon because; its orbits are so close to the Sun’s than the Earth’s.
This time of year will be the time where the planet will be at it’s brightest particularly closer towards the western skies showing only a large thin crescent.
Why does this happen?
Because Venus will be closer to Earth.
Now what to look for?
Venus can be seen high in the west after sunset shining at magnitude -4.5 so can hardly be missed! Venus will be seen lower in the sky week by week and by the 20th will start to become hard to spot in the glare of the Sun. It will lie between us and the Sun (called inferior conjunction) on March 27th so will be invisible for some time before reappearing in the pre-dawn sky around the 5th of April.
For more details on where I obtained all of these updates just check out http://www.astronomy.com/ your number one resource on whats happenin in your night sky! Also I discovered this great feature they have called StarDome http://www.astronomy.com/asy/stardome/default.aspx which shows you what to expect near by.
That’s all for now, I do encourage your feedback and additional comments on all the happenings that I may have failed to mention, or if you want to know more about your skies just let me know where you may be by and I will be sure to make a post in your honor!
Thanks once again for your input cheezypoofs and to all my followers may you have a great evening and remember keep looking up!
Posts
wow, i wouldn't of known. yesterday was such a chaotic day but i took 10 mins out of my time to look up towards the west. after the sunset there she was, venus. i had no equipment with me to get a closer look but you can see the venus and it looks like the brightest star out there. tonight i will be gazing at the horizon to watch another sunset and get a closer look at venus.
ReplyDeletequick question, i was talking to someone about clusters of stars and i'm still unsure what that means. is it like stars fused together? you think you can tell me what they are and if there are any visual in the sky?
Hey there Cheezypoofs how are ya?
ReplyDeleteI’m glad ya spotted Venus that made me happy that I happen to have guided you in the right direction.
So you want to know about star clusters? W
ell for starters they contain tens to thousands of young stars grouped together that range in different types called associations. One of the most commonly seen by basic telescopes is the Galactic (Open) Clusters. They can be can be near or far, young or old, and diffuse or compact.
If ya look at this website you can see a very good explanation. http://www.seasky.org/celestial-objects/star-clusters.html
Stay tuned for my next posts and I hope to hear more from you soon.
As Mr. Horkheimer always says keep looking up.