Regulars (Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll)

Article - Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll; by J. Alex Knoll - 7/15/10

Sky Watch-Twilight’s Alignment

This week, the west is best

The sun this week passes a psychological yardstick, setting at 8:30 Friday and then a little less than a minute earlier each night. The sun’s exit, stage right, is the parting of the night’s curtain, revealing a stage full of luminaries. The waxing moon reveals a shadow of itself even in the glare of twilight, high in the southwest at week’s end. Thursday it shines just a few degrees below Mars and 10 degrees to the right of golden Saturn. Venus, unmistakably brilliant...

Article - Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll; by J. Alex Knoll - 7/8/10

Sentinels of the Sun

The statues of Easter Island have front-row seats for solar eclipse

Early risers Friday might catch the last of the waning crescent moon low in the east in the 90 minutes before daybreak at 5:48. Ten degrees to its left, glows Aldebaran, the bright red heart of Taurus the bull. Later that same day, as darkness settles in after 8:30, Venus appears above the west horizon. The bluish light of Regulus shines about one degree to the lower left of Venus, but there is no comparison, as the so-called evening star shines more than 150 times brighter than the real star....

Article - Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll; by J. Alex Knoll - 7/8/10

Sky Watch-Sentinels of the Sun

The statues of Easter Island have front-row seats for solar eclipse

Article - Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll; by J. Alex Knoll - 6/24/10

Sky Watch-Topsy-Turvy

Looking at a star map, the world really is turned upside-down

A reader asked what she was seeing from her northeast-facing window. “Would I see evening or morning stars in this direction?” And would the same be true for planets? “I did look at your column and thought I understood the paragraph about Venus, but now I'm not so sure. Help! Thanks a bunch.” Only after reading and re-reading did I realize her problem: I was flat-out wrong, falling victim to my own sky map, inverting east and west, thus greatly confusing this reader...

Article - Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll; by J. Alex Knoll - 6/17/10

Sky Watch - Summer’s Shortest Nights

Still plenty to see in nine hours

The waxing moon reaches first-quarter phase Friday, appearing high in the southwest with sunset at 8:24. Each night after, the moon appears 15 degrees farther to the east and sets roughly 30 minutes later. Thursday the moon shines less than 10 degrees to the right of Mars, well within the space of your fist held at arm’s length. A little beyond Mars shines Regulus, the heart of Leo the lion. While Mars is only a little brighter than its apparent stellar neighbor, the planet...

Article - Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll; by J. Alex Knoll - 6/10/10

Unraveling the Equation of Time

A lot of factors explain this puzzle

Summer solstice is still more than a week away, but the sun rises its earliest of the year just before 5:40 Monday the 14th. While solstice is the longest day of the year, it marks neither the earliest sunrise nor the latest sunset, which falls a week after solstice. This is due to several interacting factors cumulatively called the Equation of Time. Earth spins on its 231x2-degree tilt of rotational axis, which causes the changing seasons. It also affects the time of day that the sun...

Article - Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll; by J. Alex Knoll - 6/3/10

Elusive Summer Lights

While binoculars help reveal distant stars and planets, our own galaxy is disappearing before our very eyes

As the sun sets around 8:30 this week, Venus appears in the west, the brightest object visible. Note the difference between Venus and the two first-magnitude stars Castor and Pollux a few degrees above and to the left. Venus sets in the northwest around 11pm, and pretty much sticks to this schedule throughout summer. Sunset also reveals our other neighbor, Mars, high in the southwest. Mars has been inching to the east, toward the blue star Regulus of Leo the lion. The evening of Sunday...

Article - Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll; by J. Alex Knoll - 5/27/10

Just the Same Old Moon

All those phases are just figments of our own perception

May’s full moon rises at 8:22 Thursday in the southeast just as the sun sets in the northwest. It travels a low, shallow arc through southern skies, finally setting in the southwest just as the sun crests the northeast horizon at 5:44. With spring fully abloom, this is known as the Flower Moon, the Corn Planting Moon and the Milk Moon. Over the ages we have given the moon its many folksy names to describe the seasons here on Earth. Of course, it’s always the same old moon....

Article - Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll; by J. Alex Knoll - 5/20/10

Identifying the Unidentified

Look low in the west after sunset for your own UFO

The great astronomer-novelist Arthur C. Clark once said, “If you’ve never seen a UFO, you’re not very observant. And if you’ve seen as many as I have, you won’t believe in them.” A few hours after sunset, you may very well spot your own unidentified flying object hovering above the horizon or perhaps zipping through a stand of trees. While it may be breathtaking, fans of the X Files and Area 51 conspiracy theorists will likely be disappointed....

Article - Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll; by J. Alex Knoll - 5/13/10

Our Celestial Buzz-Bomb

Circling earth at more than 17,000 miles an hour, the International Space Station is a fleeting target

Sharp eyes and a clear view of the west horizon will reveal an ever-so-thin crescent moon emerging from the sun’s glare Friday just after sunset at 8:11. But you’ll also need good timing, as this nascent moon, just a day from new, dips beneath the horizon within 30 minutes of the sun. Sunset the next night is a minute later, and it reveals the moon 15 degrees higher. Above and to the left shines dazzling Venus. Sunday, the moon and Venus are still only six degrees apart...