Moon might look full, but it's waning for U.S.
7 comments Print Me Email to FriendTonight's Sky for Saturday, Jul 19 2008
For us in the U.S., the moon tonight is already past full. The crest of the moon’s full phase was two nights ago. Still, the moon looks full for more than one night. Tonight, although it may look full to the eye, but it is already in a waning gibbous phase.
The moon is still traveling in front of the faint constellation Capricornus the Sea Goat. Notice that this constellation looks like an arrowhead. You’ll need a fairly dark sky to see Capricornus, because its stars are faint.
There’s a little star near the moon tonight. It’s the brightest star of Capricornus, called Deneb Algiedi. The name deneb in a star name typically means tail, and this star represents the Tail of the Sea Goat.
Hi Deborah
I’m in UK, and just discovered your blog. I was down by the seaside, under a dark sky earlier this week, and saw Jupiter for the first time, alongside a beautiful waxing moon. So when I got back to London I googled the four moons of Jupiter (in theory we could see 2, but I didn’t)and found your site.
Love it – definitely worth bookmarking.
Hi Jane, welcome. Several people help write this blog, including Bruce McClure, Kelley Knight, Larry Sessions and me. We all love the sky as much as you do!
Adios and enjoy,
Deborah
Hi! I have been using this site for years, but wanted to let you know that I use it daily in my high school ESL classes. The kids love it and so do I because we can run out the same night and see whats in the sky. The kids can impress their friends with their knowledge, and one of my boys told me that he got his girl friend by his night time sky knowledge, plus a little bit of romance. Things never change! Tee hee! Just thot you’d like to know.
I have seen a very bright object in the southeastern sky just after sunset. I live in Dallas, TX, so it has to be very bright to be seen from here. It probably isn’t a star because it is so bright and probably isn’t venus because it is in the east after sunset. Does anyone know what it is???
Thanks!
Lynn Marie
You guys frequently talk about stars and other sky features near the moon, but it’s really the worst time to try to see these things. For instance, Capricorn is notoriously faint, and I’ll guarantee that 99% of your readers couldn’t see any part of it tonight amid the moonlight. Why do you set us up for failure this way?
Lynn Marie,
We just spotted Jupiter and 4 moons of it. i am certain that is what you are referring to.
Wendy – great story. Thank you!
Karina and Lynne Marie – it’s definitely Jupiter. Cool, huh?
RJ – you’re right. Faint stars are hard to see near the moon, so all the stars of Capricornus would not be easily visible, unless you have a really dark sky. From a moderately dark sky, though, many should be able to see Deneb Algiedi near the moon. Thousands of people read these charts under all sorts of skies. We hope they help spark some sense of connection to the sky, even if not everyone can see every star we’re pointing to.
Clear skies to all!
Deborah