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.

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

Orion’s Belt points up to the northwest towards Taurus (the Bull) and orange-tinted Aldebaran (α Tauri). Close to Aldebaran, there is a conspicuous ‘V’ of stars, called the Hyades cluster. (Despite appearances, Aldebaran is not part of the cluster.) Farther along, the same line from Orion passes below a bright cluster of stars, the Pleiades, or Seven Sisters. Even the smallest pair of binoculars reveals this as a beautiful group of bluish-white stars. The two most conspicuous of the other stars in Taurus lie directly north of Orion, and form an elongated triangle with Aldebaran. The northernmost, Elnath (β Tauri), was once considered to be part of the constellation of Auriga. August 30: Saturn hovers just above the Full Moon after nightfall. As Saturn’s at its best, it’s now easiest to identify with the Moon as aguide. On March 3, the waxing gibbous Moon is 1.7º south of Pollux (mag. 1.1) the brightest star in Gemini. On March 6, one day before Full Moon, it is 4.5º north of Regulus (mag. 1.4) in Leo. By March 10 it is 3.4º north of Spica and by March 14, one day before Last Quarter, it is 1.6º north of Antares in Scorpius. On March 19, the waning crescent is 3.6º south of Saturn (mag. 0.8). At New Moon, on March 21, it is 2.4º south of faint Neptune (mag. 0.8). The next day in twilight, it passes south of Mercury, and then 0.5º south of Jupiter (mag. -2.1). On March 24, the Moon occults Venus, partly visible from southeast Asia. On March 26, the waxing crescent is 8.7º north of Aldebaran in Taurus. It passes 2.3º north of Mars and on March 30 is again 1.6º south of Pollux. Occasionally, as it moves across the sky, the Moon passes between the Earth and individual planets or distant stars, giving rise to an occultation. As with solar eclipses, such occultations are visible from restricted areas of the world, but certain significant occultations are described in detail. The contents of this publication are believed correct at the time of creation. Nevertheless the Publisher can accept no responsibility for errors or omissions, changes in the detail given or for any expense or loss thereby caused.

The Planets

Beyond the Milky Way, Perseus and Cassiopeia, the constellation of Andromeda is beginning to be lost in the northwestern sky.

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

The charts in this book are designed to be used more-or-less anywhere in the world. They are not suitable to be used at very high northern or southern latitudes (beyond 60°N or 60°S). That is slightly less than the latitudes of the Arctic and Antarctic Circles, beyond which there are approximately six months of daylight, followed by six months of darkness. The design may seem a little complicated, but these diagrams should make their usage clear. The main charts are given in pairs, one pair for each month: Looking North and Looking South. Learn more about the full Moons of August, how they got their name, and best days by the Moon in our August Moon Guide. Certain other objects may be seen with the naked eye under good conditions. Some were given names in antiquity – Praesepe is one example – but many are known by what are called ‘Messier numbers’, the numbers in a catalogue of nebulous objects compiled by Charles Messier in the late-eighteenth century. Some, such as the Andromeda Galaxy, M31, and the Orion Nebula, M42, may be seen faintly by the naked eye, but all those given in the list here will benefit from the use of binoculars.

The astronomer Ptolemy, assisted by Urania, the Muse of Astronomy. Ptolemy is shown with a crown because at the time of this image (1508) he was confused with the rulers of Egypt. The First Point of Aries is sometimes known as the Cusp of Aries, and the equinox in September as the Cusp of Virgo.

Night Sky Almanac 2023 by Storm Dunlop, Wil Tirion - Waterstones

This month the constellations Lyra and Cygnus are seen almost overhead as darkness falls with their bright stars Vega, in Lyra, and Deneb, in Cygnus, making up the "summer triangle" of bright stars with Altair in the constellation Aquila below. (see sky chart above) Lyra

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On January 1, the Moon passes 0.7º north of Uranus (mag. 5.7). On January 3 it occults Mars in Taurus (visible from the Indian Ocean and southern Africa), and the next day is 8.1° north of Aldebaran. On January 7, it is 1.9º south of Pollux in Gemini. On January 10, it passes 4.6º north of Regulus, between it and Algieba. By January 14, a day before Last Quarter it will be 3.8º north of Spica in Virgo. As a waning crescent it will be 2.1º north of Antares on January 18. On January 20, one day before New Moon, it is 6.9º south of Mercury (mag. -0.6) just past inferior conjunction and invisible in the evening sky. On January 23, the thin waxing crescent will be 3.8º south of Saturn (mag. 0.8), and a little later, 3.5º south of Venus, much brighter at mag. -3.9. On January 31 it occults Mars again, this time visible from Central America and the southwestern United States. Why does February have such an odd number of days, and why do we tinker with it every four years? The answer is suprisingly complicated, and involves the ancient Roman lunar calendar, Roman emperors, including Julius Caesar, the Roman Senate, the priests, and the way in which politicians messed about with the calendar, and how we have avoided even greater confusion. A fairly comprehensive description of how these changes came about is given here. Mercury is essentially invisible in twilight. Venus is bright (mag. -3.9) and will become visible in the evening sky towards the end of the month. Mars is in Taurus and fades from mag. -0.3 to mag. 0.4 over the month. Jupiter, in Pisces, is mag. -2.1, but Saturn is in Aquarius, much closer to the Sun, and will be lost in twilight. Uranus remains in Aries at mag. 5.8, and Neptune is in Pisces at mag. 7.9 to 8.0, close to evening twilight. August 18: A Farewell to Mars (a literary allusion based on the planet being an anagram of “Arms”) is screened this evening, when the crescent Moon meets the soon-to-vanish Red Planet. Both are extremely low inthe west.

Night Sky Almanac 2023: A stargazer’s guide – HarperCollins Night Sky Almanac 2023: A stargazer’s guide – HarperCollins

Although the positions of the various shower radiants are shown on the charts, looking directly at the radiant is not the most effective way of seeing meteors. They are most likely to be noticed if one is looking about 40–45° away from the radiant position. (This is approximately two hand-spans as shown in the diagram for measuring angles here.) 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! Follow the progress of constellations throughout the seasons with this beautiful companion to the night sky from Astronomy experts Collins. This ebook contains the following accessibility features which, if supported by your device, can be accessed via your ereader/accessibility settings:Yet another factor that affects the visibility of objects is the amount of moonlight in the sky. At Full Moon, it may be very difficult to see some of the fainter stars and objects, and even when the Moon is at a smaller phase it seriously interferes with visibility if it is near the stars or planets in which you are interested. A full lunar calendar is given for each month and may be used to see when nights are likely to be darkest and best for observing. The Summer Triangle still shines bright and high in the evening sky! Just look to the East and up! See our free star chart and have fun spotting the three bright stars of the Summer triangle! The Summer Triangle is bright even in many city skies. All objects in the sky appear to be located on an imaginary sphere: the celestial sphere. There are, however, certain fixed points on the celestial sphere, related to points on the Earth. The North Celestial Pole (NCP) and the South Celestial Pole (SCP) are located in line with the projection of the Earth’s rotational axis onto that sphere. In the north, the NCP is very close to Polaris, which has been known as the North Star since antiquity. In a similar way, the celestial equator is the projection onto the sphere of the Earth’s equator. The second co-ordinate, declination, is simply the angular distance, in degrees, north or south of the celestial equator. The Sun has a declination of zero when it appears to cross the celestial equator at the equinoxes. The constellation of Orion dominates the evening sky during the first months of the year, and is a useful starting point for recognizing other constellations in the southern sky.