Weekly observing highlights, skywatching quiz and deep sky observing challenge.
Created for znamenski.spacecom@blogger.com | Web Version
Hello, Stargazers!
Welcome to Space.com's "Night Sky This Week" newsletter! Every Monday, our experts will guide you through the best, brightest and weirdest things to look out for in the night sky.
Whether you're a seasoned astronomer or just love looking up, our weekly updates will explain what to look for in the night sky that week, highlighting celestial events, moon phases, must-see observing targets, and even a fun quiz to test your stargazing knowledge.
Wondering what that bright red dot is in the sky? It might be Mars! How about tips to see the next great total solar eclipse? We'll have that, too. (It's never too early to plan). Plus, we'll have guides on skywatching gear like telescopes, cameras and more to help you level up your night sky experiences (but we can't do anything about clouds I'm afraid).
The young crescent moon will showcase Mare Crisium, a dark, oval lunar basin visible with the naked eye, binoculars, or a telescope. This 345-mile-wide feature near the moon's eastern edge shifts position due to lunar libration, offering a changing view over time.
After dusk, the half-lit moon will shine below brilliant Jupiter, with the sparkling Pleiades star cluster nearby. Grab binoculars for the best view! As the night progresses, the moon will drift closer to Jupiter. Look early, as they set around midnight.
The moon reaches first quarter at 11:32 a.m. EST, appearing half-lit in the evening sky. This phase offers stunning views of lunar terrain in low-angled sunlight. After dark, spot the bright star Elnath, marking Taurus' northern horn, just to the moon's upper left.
Mercury reaches its best evening appearance for Northern Hemisphere observers, sitting high in the western sky after sunset. It will be a half-lit disk in a telescope, with brighter Venus positioned above. Look around 6:30 p.m. local time for the best view.
Once night falls, reddish Mars will shine near the gibbous moon, alongside Gemini's twin stars, Castor and Pollux. Binoculars or a small telescope will capture Mars and the moon together. As the night progresses, the moon will drift between Mars and Pollux.
Clocks spring forward by one hour at 2 a.m. local time in regions observing Daylight Saving Time. With later sunsets near the equinox, dark-sky viewing will start much laterβperhaps past bedtime for young astronomers!
The delicate waxing crescent moon is one of my favorite phases to observe. During this time, you may catch a glimpse of Earthshine β a soft, ghostly glow on the moon's darkened portion, poetically known as "the old moon in the young moon's arms." This phenomenon occurs when sunlight reflects off Earth, illuminating the lunar night side and casting a gentle glow visible from our perspective.
Heads up aurora chasers! A partially Earth-directed solar storm is on its way, and if it hits just right, we could see geomagnetic storm activity reaching G1 to G2 levels by March 5. So get those camera batteries charged, those eyes on the skies and your aurora alerts turned on!
If you're interested in tracking space weather and knowing when and where to spot auroras, download a space weather app that provides forecasts based on your location. One option I use is "My Aurora Forecast & Alerts," available for both iOS and Android. However, any similar app should work well. I also use the "Space Weather Live" app, which is available on iOS and Android, to get a deeper understanding of whether the current space weather conditions are favorable for aurora sightings.
Astrophotographer Rod Prazeres shared this stunning image of the Wolf's Cave Nebula (LDN 1217) with us. "This region is a dense molecular cloudβa vast reservoir of gas and dust where future stars may one day form," Prazeres told Space.com in an email. "Unlike emission nebulae, which glow due to ionized gas, dark nebulae like Wolf's Cave absorb and scatter background starlight, creating eerie, shadowy structures against the starry sky." Based in the Southern Hemisphere, Prazeres was unable to capture the nebula directly, as it is not currently visible from his location. Instead, he acquired the image data through Telescope Live, a platform that provides online access to a global network of 10 robotic telescopes.
Deep Sky Challenge
(Free use Group & Licensees : Creative Commons)
The Blue Snowball Nebula (NGC 7662)
Want to take a closer look at a more challenging night sky target? Check out the Blue Snowball Nebula (NGC 7662).
Although this eight-magnitude planetary nebula in the Andromeda Constellation can be seen through small telescopes, its blue color is only visible through instruments six inches and larger.
Quiz
T Coronae Borealis (T CrB), also known as the "Blaze Star," is a recurrent nova expected to brighten dramatically. How often does this rare event occur?
Blue Ghost moon lander aces historic lunar landing | Space Quiz! How many dwarf galaxies are known to orbit the Andromeda galaxy? | This Week In Space: Episode 150 - Our Listener Special
Created for znamenski.spacecom@blogger.com | Web Version
Blue Ghost just became the second private spacecraft ever to soft-land on the moon. Blue Ghost aced its touchdown try early yesterday morning (Mar 2). The lander hauled 10 science experiments to the lunar surface for NASA, which was understandably happy with today's result. "We're on the moon!" Nicky Fox, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, said during the landing webcast. "I'm sorry -- I'm just so excited right now."
On Episode 150 of This Week In Space, Rod and Tariq answer your questions, respond to your comments, and have lined up a number of your most tummy-tickling space jokes. This one is more fun than wearing new shoes!
The first two weeks of March provide a great opportunity to sight four bright naked-eye planets in the early evening sky. Mercury puts on its best evening apparition of 2025 for Northern Hemisphere observers during these two weeks. Then, well up in the southern and western sky is Jupiter. Mars, accompanied by its stellar companions Pollux and Castor, climbs almost overhead a couple of hours after sunset and continues to noticeably dim as it pulls away from Earth.
Europe's powerful new Ariane 6 rocket will fly for the second time ever today (March 3), and you can watch the action live. The Ariane 6 is scheduled to launch a French spy satellite from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana today at 11:24 a.m. EST (1624 GMT; 1:24 p.m. local time in Kourou). Watch the action live at Space.com or directly via the France-based company Arianespace. Coverage will begin about 30 minutes before liftoff.
Dozens of dwarf galaxies swarming around the Andromeda Galaxy like bees have been caught on camera by the Hubble Space Telescope, which took more than a thousand orbits of the Earth to take enough images to get a full family portrait of Andromeda's brightest satellites.
SpaceX plans to launch the eighth test flight of its huge Starship rocket today (March 3), and you can watch it live. Starship, the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built, is scheduled to lift off from SpaceX's Starbase site in South Texas today during a window that opens at 6:30 p.m. EST (2330 GMT; 5:30 p.m. local Texas time).
NASA's experimental X-59 aircraft continues to make progress toward its first flight with a new successful round of testing. The X-59 "quiet" supersonic jet was designed to break the sound barrier without producing the thunderous sonic booms that typically accompany supersonic flight. And based on the results of the vehicle's latest tests, conducted at the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California, the X-59 might accomplish that feat soon.
