Northern Sky

October’s darkening skies provide a backdrop for planetary maneuvers and the unending stream of stars across the celestial stage.

As Venus holds its position above the sunset horizon, Saturn, followed by much brighter Jupiter, heads westward with the stars of Capricornus. On the 9th, red Antares, the heart of Scorpius, will be left of Venus and a waxing crescent moon in the sun’s afterglow. As Antares exits the sky, it draws closer to Venus and glimmers directly below the planet on the 16th. On the 14th, Jupiter and Saturn come out above a gibbous moon.
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With daylight slipping away, September’s skies make an excellent background for watching stars and planets.

Venus shines briefly above the western horizon after sunset. On the 9th, a young crescent moon joins the planet. As both sink, the brilliant star Arcturus, in Bootes, the herdsman, comes out above them.
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Summer is officially settling in. The summer solstice arrives at 10:52 p.m. on Sunday, June 20. At that moment the sun reaches a point over the Tropic of Cancer, and ends its annual journey north. Then it reverses and starts heading south again. Slowly. When the sun is near a solstice, it moves at glacial speed. It seems as though the sun is at its maximum height, and the days are about as long as they get, for two months centered on the summer solstice. In fact, the word “solstice” comes from the Latin for “sun standing still.” On that day the Earth will be lighted from the Antarctic Circle up to the North Pole and beyond to the Arctic Circle on the night side of Earth.
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June has three big events in store for us: the summer solstice, the last of 2021’s three supermoons, and a partial eclipse of the sun.

First up is the solar eclipse, which will be in progress at sunrise on the 10th. Here are the times when the eclipse will be at its maximum in towns in the four corners of Minnesota, along with the percent of the sun’s face that will be covered at that moment: Pipestone, 5:45 a.m., 1.1%; Hallock, 5:31 a.m., 28.5%; Grand Marais, 5:07 a.m., 63%; and Winona, 5:31 a.m., 13.4%. To see it, make sure you have a clear view of the eastern horizon, and even though the sun will be very low, watch it only with proper eye protection.
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As the winter constellations head into the sunset, Mars struggles to avoid the same fate.

May Day finds the red planet on course to glide between the bright stars Procyon, in Canis Minor, to the east and Capella, in Auriga, the charioteer, to the west. At the end of the month, Mars will be close to Pollux, the brighter Gemini twin. All the while, the planet is steadily dimming and, despite its relatively fast orbital motion eastward, sinking toward its inevitable exit from the evening sky this summer.
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As the winter constellations head into the sunset, Mars struggles to avoid the same fate.

May Day finds the red planet on course to glide between the bright stars Procyon, in Canis Minor, to the east and Capella, in Auriga, the charioteer, to the west. At the end of the month, Mars will be close to Pollux, the brighter Gemini twin. All the while, the planet is steadily dimming and, despite its relatively fast orbital motion eastward, sinking toward its inevitable exit from the evening sky this summer.
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Dean Morrison is a science writer at the University of Minnesota where she authors the Minnesota Starwatch column.
In WTIP’s “Northern Sky”, Deane shares what there is to see in the night sky in our region.
February 13 – 26, 2021

Deane Morrison is a science writer at the University of Minnesota where she authors the Minnesota Starwatch column.
In WTIP’s “Northern Sky”, Deane shares what there is to see in the night sky in our region.

Now that we’re in the middle of August, it’s two months since the June solstice, and summer is
noticeably fading. But the good news is, the night sky is expanding, meaning the stars come out
earlier and fade away later.
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Deane is a science writer at the University of Minnesota and authors the Minnesota Starwatch column.

Deane Morrison is a science writer at the University of Minnesota.

She authors the Minnesota Starwatch column, and in this feature,
she shares what there is to see in the night sky – in our region.

Venus has just left the evening sky, and now Jupiter and Saturn are moving in. By mid-month both will be up in the southeast before midnight. Jupiter, by far the brighter planet, shines west of Saturn and leads the ringed planet across the night sky.

Mars doesn’t quite make it into the evening sky. But it rises earlier each day, approaching midnight from the morning side. By dawn Mars will be a fairly bright dot in the southeast. As for Venus, it reappears in the morning sky this month, but doesn’t climb out of the sun’s foreglow until late June or early July.
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In late April and early May, we get to watch Venus sink into the sun’s afterglow. To see our sister planet at its best and brightest, we have to wait for a dark sky, and this time of year the sun is going down later each night. And the longer we wait, the lower Venus gets.

On Saturday, April 25, a waxing crescent moon appears below Venus and next to Aldebaran, the eye of Taurus, the bull. The next night, Sunday, April 26, a fatter moon appears at about the same level as Venus. Both these solar system objects will be between Betelgeuse, the gigantic red star in Orion, to the lower left, and Capella, the brightest star in Auriga, the charioteer, to the upper right. On the 27th and 28th, the moon moves through the stars of Gemini. On May 1st, the moon is just past first quarter, and it appears above Regulus, the brightest star in Leo, the lion. The moon will also be part of the backward question mark of stars known as the Sickle, which outlines Leo’s head. The moon may wash out the stars of the Sickle, but they’ll be easier to find in several days, after the moon has moved on. Between the 4th and 5th of May, the moon passes over Spica, the brightest star in Virgo, the maiden.
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The outer planets have all arrived on stage, and in middle and late March they perform the first act of their big morning show. On Sunday, the 15th, look to the southeast for brilliant Jupiter, then just to the west for a little reddish dot. That, of course, is Mars. East of Jupiter and lower in the sky is Saturn, which is following Jupiter as it approaches Mars. On Wednesday, the 18th, Jupiter will have moved noticeably closer to Mars and a waning, but hefty, crescent moon will be hanging right below them. The next morning, Thursday, the 19th, Jupiter and Mars are even closer and a slightly thinner moon joins all three planets when it rises at 5:26 a.m. On the 20th, Jupiter passes a mere 0.7 degrees—slightly more than a moon width—above Mars. And the moon rises at 6 a.m.
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In March, the action in the predawn sky really picks up. The month opens with Mars, Jupiter and Saturn forming a straight line, in that order from right to left, above the southeastern horizon. On the 4th, the three planets are spaced almost evenly apart.

But that neat arrangement soon gives way as the planets switch positions. Jupiter and Saturn are about to leapfrog past Mars, and all because Mars, being the closest to the sun, orbits the fastest.
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In the second half of February, it doesn’t matter if you’re looking at the post-sunset or the predawn sky; you’re going to see upwardly mobile planets.

In the evening, Venus is still blazing away as a gorgeous evening star. If you look to the west, you won’t have any trouble finding it. As it climbs farther above the horizon, it sets later. Venus is currently up and bright for more than three hours after sunset.
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