
Star Trak: April 2023
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Mercury and Venus will offer their best display of the year in April. Look for the two planets each evening, with Mercury at its best in the first two weeks of the month.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Mercury and Venus will offer their best display of the year in April. Look for the two planets each evening, with Mercury at its best in the first two weeks of the month.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- As March begins, Venus will be visible even before sunset if you look carefully 30 degrees high in the west. Jupiter will appear soon afterward less than a degree from Venus.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Three bright planets will be visible every evening in February.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- As the new year begins, the evening sky will offer fine views of the planets.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Mars, Venus, Saturn, Jupiter, and Mercury will all be on display in the evening sky during December.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Jupiter and Saturn will highlight the evening sky during November. The best time to begin viewing them will be as soon as the sky darkens.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Saturn will be a fine sight each evening in October, especially for observers with telescopes. The planet will be easy to spot 30 degrees high in the southern sky during the first few hours of darkness, and it won't set until 3 a.m. early in the month and 1 a.m. at month's end. Titan, Saturn's largest moon, will be north of the planet on the mornings of Oct. 8 and 24 and south on Oct. 16. Titan will be a good target for small telescopes.
Jupiter will be the brightest object in the night sky after the moon during September. The giant planet will rise around 8:30 p.m. local time on Sept. 1 and by sunset at month's end. The best time to view Jupiter will be when it is highest above the southern horizon, in the few hours on either side of midnight. Any telescope will show magnificent features in its turbulent and dynamic atmosphere
The annual Perseid meteor shower is one of the most popular because it happens on warm summer nights, when gazing at the starry sky is always enjoyable. This year the Perseids will peak on the night of Aug. 12-13. Unfortunately the moon will be full just one day before that, so moonlight will strongly interfere with observing meteors. Even in a clear dark sky only the brightest meteors will be visible.
The shorter nights of summer will still offer a variety of events for skywatchers, with all five major planets on display.