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Man must rise above the Earth, to the top of the atmosphere and beyond, for only then will he fully understand the world in which he lives.
Socrates, 469 - 399 BC

Astronomy

The People's Guide
to the Cosmos

The Solar System

All things held captive
by the Sun.

The Constellations

Everything else
in the Universe.




The Sky This Month

spring2012 (52K)
(Latitude 30° North, Longitude 95° West)

The Stars Of Spring

As the seasons change, so do the stars. During the winter we look out towards the edge of the Milky Way Galaxy, and the stars of the mighty Orion and his family. During the summer we look down towards the centre of the galaxy, and the star rich constellations of Scorpius, the two Centaurs on either side of it, and the two great birds of the Milky Way, Cygnus, the swan, and Aquila, the eagle.

From one end of the Milky way to the other, from solstice to solstice. And in between, the vernal equinox and the stars of spring. Looking not through the length of the galaxy at all, but out towards the dark depths of intergalactic space, we see a multitude of faraway galaxies through the relatively thin ceiling of stars in the spring skies.

We see the galaxy rich constellations of Leo, (in which we find the fiery red planet Mars), and Virgo, (currently housing the spectacular ringed planet Saturn. To the north the brilliant star Arcturus blazes away in the constellation Bootes, as he drives the bears Ursa Major, and Ursa Minor, around and around the pole star, Polaris.



March 25, 2012
Venus (top), Jupiter, Moon
Santa Elena, Oaxaca, Mexico
venus-jupiter-moon-mar25-2012 (56K)

Vernal Equinox

Equinox is Latin for equal nights. It is one of two moments in Earth's orbit around the Sun when the poles are pointed neither towards nor away from the Sun, and days and nights all over the world are the same length. It marks the halfway point between the winter and summer solstice, and is celebrated as the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere. The moment of this year's vernal equinox occurred at 1:14 AM, EDT, Tuesday, March 20. Solstice is Latin for the standing still of the sun, and this year's summer solstice is just around the corner on June 20, 7:09 PM (EDT).

equinox (29K)




The Sun is in Pisces.

sun_soho (4K) Current Solar Flare (X-ray) activity :

Current Status of Solar Geomagnetic Field :
Status
Status
(Updated every ten minutes from the NOAA Space Environment Center through n3kl.org.)


Sunday, May 13 Monday, May 14 Tuesday, May 15 Wednesday, May 16 Thursday, May 17 Friday, May 18 Saturday, May 19
Sunrise 6:28 am 6:27 am 6:26 am 6:26 am 6:25 am 6:25 am 6:24 am
Sunset 8:05 pm 8:06 pm 8:07 pm 8:07 pm 8:08 pm 8:09 pm 8:09 pm
Moonrise 2:04 am 2:37 am 3:09 am 3:41 am 4:13 am 4:47 am 5:24 am
Moonset 1:55 pm 2:50 pm 3:44 pm 4:37 pm 5:30 pm 6:23 pm 7:16 pm
Moon Phases moon (1K) moon (1K) moon (1K) moon (1K) moon (1K) moon (2K) moon (2K)

Current Morning Star(s): Arcturus, low in the west, just before sunrise. (mag -0.04) Current Evening Star(s): The planet Venus, (mag -3.9), low in the west.

ORRERY

Real Time Positions of Planets In Our Solar System

Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.
orbits (3K)


Venus And The Crescent Moon, November 27, 2011
Santa Elena, Oaxaca, Mexico venus-nov27-2011 (61K)





Moonrise over the blossoms of a Poro Poro tree,
January, 2011, Santa Elena, Oaxaca, Mexico.
moonrisejan2011 (84K)


More Astronomy

highway 61 covers (76K)

Terrestrial Matters

Free Astronomy Software
The best things in life really are free.
Our Place
Global News and Weather
Astrology
Astronomy's Evil Twin?
The Mexican Skies Observatory
Santa Elena, Oaxaca, Mexico.
Photo Gallery
Original observatory photos.
Music
Guitar tutorial, music to download and more...
International Space Station
The first Human home in space.
Humor Gallery
Time for a few laughs.

Click here to read this and other works
by Richard J. Kerk-Hecker







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