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AstronomyThe People's Guide |
The Solar SystemAll things held captive |
The ConstellationsEverything else |
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.
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).
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Current Solar Flare (X-ray) activity :
Current Status of Solar Geomagnetic Field : |
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(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 |  |
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| 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. |
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