Night Sky Almanac 2023: A stargazer’s guide

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In the northern hemisphere, February is often the coldest month, and most countries on both sides of the Atlantic see significant falls of snow. The Full Moon of February is thus often called the ‘Snow Moon’, although just occasionally that name has been applied to the Full Moon in January. Some North American tribes named it the ‘Hunger Moon’ because of the scarcity of food sources during the depths of winter, while other names are ‘Storm Moon’ and ‘Chaste Moon’, although the last name is more commonly applied to the Full Moon in March. To the Arapaho of the Great Plains, the Full Moon was called the Moon ‘when snow blows like grain in the wind’. A beautiful guide of what to expect to see within the night sky in 2023. I think it's amazing that it can be used anywhere in the world, it'd be a great present to get for someone who travels a lot, you could certainly take it away with you!

Night Sky Guide October 2023 | Jodrell Bank Centre Monthly Night Sky Guide October 2023 | Jodrell Bank Centre

Apart from ‘explaining’ the retrograde motion of the planets, the epicyclic theory also provided a solution to the apparent changes in the distances of the planets from the Earth. The Moon and planets are to be found in a band of sky that extends 8° on either side of the ecliptic. This is because the orbits of the Moon and planets are inclined at various angles to the ecliptic (i.e., to the plane of the Earth’s orbit). This band of sky is known as the zodiac, and when originally devised, consisted of twelve constellations, all of which were considered to be exactly 30° wide. When the constellation boundaries were formally established by the International Astronomical Union in 1930, the exact extent of most constellations was altered, and nowadays the ecliptic passes through thirteen constellations. Because of the boundary changes, the Moon and planets may actually pass through several other constellations that are adjacent to the original twelve. It is incredibly detailed and highlights important features, noteworthy dates and contains very useful diagrams and maps. At the equinox in March and again, in September, the Sun rises due east and sets due west. In theory, but not in practice, day and night are of equal length (see here). At the equinoxes, the Earth’s axis is exactly at right angles to the Earth–Sun line, and the Earth is neither tilted towards, nor away from the Sun. But then the priests messed things up again. They started counting leap years every three years. The error was corrected by the emperor Augustus and by 8 CE the matter had been solved and the months and the Sun were in agreement. But then the Senate decided to rename one month in honour of Augustus – so the month of Sextilis became our August. Unfortunately, under Caesar’s scheme that month had just 30 days, whereas Caesar’s (our July) had 31 days. Obviously Augustus had to have the same number of days, so they pinched one from poor February, leaving it with 28 days, except in leap years. (At the same time, to avoid having three months with 31 days in succession they also tinkered with the lengths of the months after August, which is why September and November now have 30 days and October and December 31.Saturn. As November begins, Saturn can be seen in the southwest after sunset having a magnitude of 0.74. Its angular size will then be 18 arc seconds with its rings spanning some 42 degrees. By month's end, it will have a magnitude will have reduced to 0.87 and with an angular size of 17 arc seconds.

2023 Night Sky Almanac | Astronomy Technology Today

For observers between about 30 and 50°N, the constellation of Auriga is near the zenith (and thus difficult to observe). This important constellation contains bright Capella (α Aurigae) and farther to its west lies the constellation of Perseus, with Algol, the famous variable star. The southern sky is dominated by Orion, visible from nearly everywhere in the world and prominent during the northern winter months. For observers near the equator it is, of course, high above near the zenith. Orion is highly distinctive, with a line of three stars that form the ‘Belt’. To most observers, the bright star Betelgeuse (α Orionis), shows a reddish tinge, in contrast to the brilliant bluish-white Rigel (β Orionis). The three stars of the belt lie directly south of the celestial equator. A vertical line of three ‘stars’ forms the ‘Sword’ that hangs south of the Belt. With good viewing, the central ‘star’ appears as a hazy spot, even to the naked eye, and is actually the Orion Nebula (M42). Binoculars reveal the four stars of the Trapezium, which illuminate the nebula. March 22–24 • In the evening twilight, the narrow crescent Moon passes Jupiter and Venus (as seen from central USA).

August 11/12/13: The great Perseid Meteor Shower will have excellent dark sky viewing conditions, since the peak is close to the new Moon (i.e., no moonlight to interfere!). The Perseids deliver a meteor a minute in dark cloudless skies. These shooting stars are best seen after midnight. Learn all about the Perseids. SummerStargazing Beyond Crux, and on the other side of the Milky Way, lies the rest of Centaurus. Northeast of Crux is the finest and brightest globular cluster in the sky, Omega (ω) Centauri also known as NGC 5139. It is the largest globular cluster in our Galaxy and is estimated to contain about 10 million stars. Although appearing like a star, its non-stellar nature was discovered by Edmond Halley in 1677. At some time or other, nearly everyone has seen a meteor – a ‘shooting star’ – as it flashed across the sky. The particles that cause meteors – known technically as ‘meteoroids’ – range in size from that of a grain of sand (or even smaller) to the size of a pea. On any night of the year there are occasional meteors, known as sporadics, that may travel in any direction. These occur at a rate that is normally between 3 and 8 in an hour. Far more important, however, are meteor showers, which occur at fixed periods of the year, when the Earth encounters a trail of particles left behind by a comet or, very occasionally, by a minor planet (asteroid). Meteors always appear to diverge from a single point on the sky, known as the radiant, and the radiants of major showers are shown on the charts.

NIGHT SKY ALMANAC 2023: A stargazer’s guide - Goodreads

I appreciate the language they use to explain everything and I appreciate how they highlight memorable moments of the planetary calendar and combine this with facts and history about space. I just really appreciate these books when they come out and look forward to adding this purple copy to my collection so far! But even this idea proved inadequate to describe the motion of the planets, so the concept of the deferent was added. In this the circular motion of the epicycle was carried round the Earth on a circle that was itself not centred on the Earth, but offset from its centre. A finder chart for the position of minor planet (2) Pallas, at its opposition. The grey area is shown in more detail on the map below. Both the planets Mars and Uranus end their retrograde motion in January 2023 and revert to direct motion. This image was taken using the Faulkes Telescope North by Daniel Duggan - for some time a member of the Faulkes telescope team. It shows the barred spiral galaxy M109 that lies at a distance of 83 million light years in the constellation of Ursa Major. It is the brightest galaxy in the Ursa Major group of some 50 galaxies. Our own Milky Way galaxy is now thought to be a barred spiral like M109.At 21:54 on the evening of 28 February 2021, a brilliant fireball (a bolide) was observed over Gloucestershire. Observations allowed the orbit of the parent body to be determined, showing that the body’s original location was the outer region of the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Beyond the Milky Way, Perseus and Cassiopeia, the constellation of Andromeda is beginning to be lost in the northwestern sky.

2023 Night Sky Almanac: A Month-by-Month Guide to North

This ebook contains the following accessibility features which, if supported by your device, can be accessed via your ereader/accessibility settings: Lyra is dominated by its brightest star Vega, the fifth brightest star in the sky. It is a blue-white star having a magnitude of 0.03, and lies 26 light years away. It weighs three times more than the Sun and is about 50 times brighter. It is thus burning up its nuclear fuel at a greater rate than the Sun and so will shine for a correspondingly shorter time. Vega is much younger than the Sun, perhaps only a few hundred million years old, and is surrounded by a cold,dark disc of dust in which an embryonic solar system is being formed! It is often useful to be able to estimate angles on the sky, and approximate values may be obtained by holding one hand at arm’s length. The various angles are shown in the diagram, together with the separations of the various stars in the asterism, known as the Plough or Big Dipper, and also for stars around the constellation of Orion. As it passes across the sky from west to east in its orbit around the Earth, the Moon moves by approximately its diameter (about half a degree) in an hour. Normally, in its orbit, the Moon passes above or below the direct line between Earth and Sun (at New Moon) or outside the area obscured by the Earth’s shadow (at Full Moon). Occasionally, however, the three bodies are more-or-less perfectly aligned to give an eclipse: a solar eclipse at New Moon, or a lunar eclipse at Full Moon. Depending on the exact circumstances, a solar eclipse may be merely partial (when the Moon does not cover the whole of the Sun’s disc); annular (when the Moon is too far from Earth in its orbit to appear large enough to hide the whole of the Sun); or total. Total and annular eclipses are visible from very restricted areas of the Earth, but partial eclipses are normally visible over a wider area. Two forms of solar eclipse occur this year, and are described in detail in the appropriate month.Eventually, Julius Caesar instigated the Julian calendar reform. Months alternated between 30 and 31 days. This was slightly too long, giving 366 days, so one day was removed from the last month of the year: February, to give it 29 days. An additional day was returned to February every four years, to keep things in step with the Sun. One month, Quintilis, was named Julius (the month of Caesar’s birth).