Abrams Planetarium
Night Sky Notes

The Night Sky Notes is a place on our web site that we use to keep skywatchers up to date on what's up in the sky. Check back often to find out what's new and visible in our ever changing sky. As we learn about something new, we'll post it to this page as soon as we can. If you like to subscribe to news feeds, click the RSS link below. The posts will automatically show up in your news aggregator or feed reader.

If you would like more detailed information including star charts, check out our Sky Calendar. For just $11.00 per year, you'll get 12 issues mailed to you. Proceeds from the Sky Calendar help support the Abrams Planetarium and Night Sky Notes.

Subscribe to the RSS feed for Abrams Planetarium's Night Sky Notes

The URL for the RSS feed of the Abrams Planetarium's Night Sky Notes is:
"http://www.pa.msu.edu/abrams/nightskynotes/nightskynotes.xml"

The Night Sky Notes are now available as a feed for iCal, Windows Calendar, Google Calendar and many other calendar programs. Click the link to subscribe to the Night Sky Notes in your favorite calendar program.

The URL for the iCal feed of the Abrams Planetarium's Night Sky Notes is:
"http://www.pa.msu.edu/abrams/nightskynotes/nightskynotes.ics".
You may need to cut and paste this link into the "subscribe" option of your calendar.

If you maintain a web page, and would like the Night Sky Notes RSS feed on your site. Click HERE for information on how to put Abrams Planetarium's Night Sky Notes on your web page.

Monday, May 20, 2013
Venus is 7.7 degrees to the lower right of Jupiter. Mercury is 3 degrees to the lower right of Venus. Look to the WNW 20 minutes after sunset. Use binoculars.

Sunday, May 19, 2013
Venus is 8.8 degrees to the lower right of Jupiter. Mercury is 4 degrees to the lower right of Venus. Look to the WNW 20 minutes after sunset. Use binoculars.

Saturday, May 18, 2013
Venus is 9.8 degrees to the lower right of Jupiter. Mercury is 4.7 degrees to the lower right of Venus. Look to the WNW 20 minutes after sunset. Use binoculars.

Friday, May 17, 2013
Venus is 11 degrees to the lower right of Jupiter. Mercury is 5.6 degrees to the lower right of Venus. Look to the WNW 20 minutes after sunset. Use binoculars.

Thursday, May 16, 2013
Venus is 12 degrees to the lower right of Jupiter. Mercury is 6.5 degrees to the lower right of Venus. Look to the WNW 20 minutes after sunset. Use binoculars.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Venus is 13 degrees to the lower right of Jupiter. look to the WNW 30 minutes after sunset.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013
The waxing crescent Moon is between the twin stars, Castor and Pollux and the little dog star, Procyon. Look to the lower left of the Moon for Procyon. Look to the upper right for Pollux and Castor.

Monday, May 13, 2013
Venus is 15 degrees to the lower right of Jupiter and closing. The two planets pass each other on May 28th.

Sunday, May 12, 2013
The crescent Moon is to the upper left of Jupiter. Look to the WNW 30 minutes after sunset. Venus is 16 degrees to the lower right Jupiter.

Saturday, May 11, 2013
The crescent Moon is between Jupiter and Venus. Look to the WNW 30 minutes after sunset. Jupiter is to the upper left of the Moon. Venus is to the lower right of the Moon.

Friday, May 10, 2013
Venus is 18 degrees to the lower right of Jupiter. A very thin young Moon is close to Venus. Look with binoculars 30 minutes after sunset in the WNW.

Thursday, May 9, 2013
An annular eclipse is visible in Australia and parts of the Pacific Ocean. The Hawaiian Islands will see a partial solar eclipse.

Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Look for the old thin crescent Moon in the east 30 minutes before sunrise.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Look for a very thin crescent Moon in the east 30 minutes before sunrise.

Monday, May 6, 2013
Look for a thin crescent Moon in the east 45 minutes before sunrise.

Sunday, May 5, 2013
The Eta Aquarid meteor peaks overnight. Be on the lookout for shooting stars. The Eta Aquarid shower is a meteor shower that lasts for several days. It's peak happens around May 5/6 each year. Halley's Comet is the source of the debris that causes the Eta Aquarids.

Saturday, May 4, 2013
Venus is 24 degrees to the lower right of Jupiter. Look to the WNW 30 minutes after sunset.

Friday, May 3, 2013
Venus is 25 degrees to the lower right of Jupiter. Look to the WNW 30 minutes after sunset.

Thursday, May 2, 2013
Jupiter and Saturn are both 18 degrees up from the horizon at the end of nautical twilight, when the Sun is 12 degrees below the horizon. Look for Jupiter in the WSW and Saturn in the ENE. Jupiter and Saturn are 140 degrees apart.

Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Jupiter and Venus are 27 degrees apart and closing. Look to the WNW 30 minutes after sunset. Venus is very low on the horizon to the lower right of Jupiter. The pair will pass each other at the end of the month.

Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Venus is low on the WNW horizon 30 minutes after sunset. Venus will be easier to spot in coming weeks.

Monday, April 29, 2013
Leo, a constellation of spring, is high in the evening sky this time of year. Look for a backwards question-mark shape and a triangle that mark the stars of Leo the Lion.

Please send any comments, suggestions, or questions to
John French: frenchj@ msu.edu