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Yahoo
3 days ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
Wyoming Skies: June brings summer solstice and constellations in every direction
June 20, 2025, brings us the summer solstice. Supposedly, that means warmer weather has finally arrived in Wyoming. This month, if you go out after it gets dark, you will see some wonderful stars and constellations in every direction. If you face north you will see a 'W' above the northern horizon; those five stars are the constellation Cassiopeia. The Little Dipper, also known as Ursa Minor, is halfway above the northern horizon. And almost overhead you can see the Big Dipper, the most well-known group of stars in Ursa Major. If you follow the arc of the handle of the Big Dipper you'll run into the brilliant star Arcturus. Arcturus marks the bottom of Boötes, a constellation that looks like a kite or ice cream cone. If you continue the arc from the handle of the Big Dipper, you'll hit another bright star, that is Spica in the constellation Virgo. And follow that curve to Corvus, a quadrilateral-shape group of stars. Facing west you'll see the twin stars of Gemini, Pollux and Castor, above the horizon. They'll slip toward the horizon more each day. And higher in the sky, you can see the spring constellation of Leo. It's easily picked out by locating the Sickle, a group of stars that look like a backward question mark. The bright star at the bottom of the Sickle is Regulus. If you look to the south, you can see two constellations very close to the horizon; Scorpius resembles a fishhook or the letter 'J,' and Sagittarius is obvious as a group of stars that resembles an old-fashioned teapot. And here's a fun fact, the spout of the Teapot it is pointing toward the center of our Milky Way galaxy. Finally, when you face east you will see a definite sign that summer is here because the Summer Triangle shines brightly in the sky. The Summer Triangle is made up of these three bright stars: Vega in Lyra, Deneb in Cygnus, and Altair in Aquila. Under dark skies, you'll see the Milky Way arching up from the northeast horizon, starting under Cassiopeia, passing overhead through Cygnus and Aquila, finally ending up in the south going through Sagittarius and Scorpius. What's cool about the Milky Way is that this glowing patch of stars, gas and dust is a spiral arm of our galaxy. In order of brightness in the evening sky you will find: Mercury, Arcturus, Vega, Capella, Altair, Antares, Spica, Pollux, Deneb, Regulus and Mars. Planets this month are split between the evening and morning sky. In the June evening sky, look for Mars as a steady red light slowly moving across the stars of Leo. Mars will be closest to the bright star Regulus on the evening of June 16. Jupiter has dominated the evening sky for months, but is challenging to spot in the bright western twilight and will slip away toward the beginning of the month. It's being replaced by Mercury emerging in the evening sky about 30-40 minutes after sunset. Mercury will reach its greatest distance from the sun on July 4. Morning observers can catch brilliant Venus before dawn; it reached its greatest distance from the sun at the end of May. Golden Saturn is higher in the sky than Venus and will move away from Venus each day. The moon is a great way to locate stars and planets. The moon is near Mars on the evening of June 1, and will float near Saturn on the mornings of June 18 and 19. Then it visits Venus on the mornings of June 21 and 22. Then it will move back to the evening sky, so the moon will float near Mercury on June 26 and will pay Mars another visit on the evening of June 29. The full moon of June occurs overnight on June 10-11. It's the Full Strawberry Moon — named to coincide with the abundance of strawberries harvested this month — and will lie near the bright star Antares in Scorpius the Scorpion. The full moon will be visible all night. A fun trio to look for on the evenings around June 24 is Mercury forming a line with Pollux and Castor in the evening twilight. Binoculars might help spot them. There is a meteor shower this month that might be worth watching for before dawn on the morning of June 7. It's the daytime Arietids. They are the most active daytime meteor shower, but how can you watch for them in the daytime? Its radiant — or point where the meteors seem to originate — rises before the sun. So you might catch meteors shooting up from the horizon before dawn. How fun would that be to see?
The Age
25-05-2025
- Business
- The Age
The Sydney football club fighting plans for 200 apartments
A Sydney football club is fighting against a plan to build eight-storey apartment blocks overlooking its home ground, worried that an influx of neighbours will bring a barrage of noise complaints. Developer Platino Properties has lodged a planning proposal seeking permission to construct four buildings – two with eight storeys and two with six storeys – on industrial land next to Lambert Park, home of the APIA Leichhardt Football Club. The development is the latest example of rising tensions between locals and developers in the inner west, as established suburbs are set to get more high-density buildings under council's mass rezoning plan to deliver 30,000 new homes. APIA president Tony Raciti fears that once residents move into the new units, the club will become 'the next Luna Park' and that it will be flooded with complaints from neighbours. In 1995, the NSW Supreme Court restricted the operating hours of the Big Dipper rollercoaster after a group of neighbouring residents complained about noise. 'It's a sports facility used from 7am up to 10pm, and we make a lot of noise. We scream, shout, the referees blow whistles, floodlights would be penetrating into people's bedrooms,' he said. 'We aren't anti-housing. We want skyscrapers in Leichhardt. The more people that move here, the more registrations we get – [but this proposal] is just not compatible.' The developer wants to build 210 dwellings with retail space on the ground floor and extra public green space. The site is next to the light rail tracks and the GreenWay, and a short walk to the Marion stop. Currently, the site is occupied by a warehouse and car parking spaces.
Sydney Morning Herald
25-05-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney football club fighting plans for 200 apartments
A Sydney football club is fighting against a plan to build eight-storey apartment blocks overlooking its home ground, worried that an influx of neighbours will bring a barrage of noise complaints. Developer Platino Properties has lodged a planning proposal seeking permission to construct four buildings – two with eight storeys and two with six storeys – on industrial land next to Lambert Park, home of the APIA Leichhardt Football Club. The development is the latest example of rising tensions between locals and developers in the inner west, as established suburbs are set to get more high-density buildings under council's mass rezoning plan to deliver 30,000 new homes. APIA president Tony Raciti fears that once residents move into the new units, the club will become 'the next Luna Park' and that it will be flooded with complaints from neighbours. In 1995, the NSW Supreme Court restricted the operating hours of the Big Dipper rollercoaster after a group of neighbouring residents complained about noise. 'It's a sports facility used from 7am up to 10pm, and we make a lot of noise. We scream, shout, the referees blow whistles, floodlights would be penetrating into people's bedrooms,' he said. 'We aren't anti-housing. We want skyscrapers in Leichhardt. The more people that move here, the more registrations we get – [but this proposal] is just not compatible.' The developer wants to build 210 dwellings with retail space on the ground floor and extra public green space. The site is next to the light rail tracks and the GreenWay, and a short walk to the Marion stop. Currently, the site is occupied by a warehouse and car parking spaces.
USA Today
24-05-2025
- Science
- USA Today
Look up: Venus nears its greatest distance from sunrise. Plus, a New Moon is coming soon.
Look up: Venus nears its greatest distance from sunrise. Plus, a New Moon is coming soon. Show Caption Hide Caption Astronomy events to mark on your May calendar One of the most exciting stargazing events for the month of May include the Eta Aquarid meteor shower, which will peak on May 5-6. The next New Moon will fall at around 11:02 p.m. ET on Tuesday, May 27. Manhattanhenge, a biannual event in Manhattan, New York, will occur at around 8:13 p.m. ET on Wednesday, May 28. Venus will reach its greatest distance from sunrise at midnight ET on Sunday, June 1. May is nearing an end, but the night sky still has plenty to offer for stargazers this month. Several visible planets, a New Moon, Venus' pull from the sunrise and Manhattanhenge will all occur within the coming week. Throughout the remainder of May, Jupiter, Saturn and Venus are visible in the early morning and evening hours. In the evening, Jupiter will be visible low, toward the western horizon each night. And in the mornings, both Venus and Saturn will be visible in the sky, shining in the east for about an hour before sunrise, according to space publication EarthSky. But planets aren't the only things to keep an eye out for as May comes to a close. Here's a look at some stargazing highlights through June 1. Stargazing: This US airport was just Dark Sky certified Exploring outer space: Where are the best places to view the night sky? Astrotourism explained Here's what stars, constellations are the best to spot in May Stargazing this May? The Big Dipper and Leo the Lion will be the easiest collections of stars to spot. Here's how: Big Dipper: Appears like a dot-to-dot kitchen ladle. In the Northern Hemisphere, the Big Dipper is visible above the horizon continuously. Appears like a dot-to-dot kitchen ladle. In the Northern Hemisphere, the Big Dipper is visible above the horizon continuously. Leo the Lion: You can use the Big Dipper to locate Leo the Lion. Find the Big Dipper's pointer stars − located on the outer edge of the ladle. Draw an imaginary line southward to locate Leo. The constellation's most prominent feature is a backward question mark, which is Leo's head and mane. For a map of the best places to stargaze, visit EarthSky's interactive map at May 25: Moon and Venus share morning sky On the morning of Sunday, May 25, about 30 minutes before sunrise, a thin, waning crescent and bright Venus will be visible near the eastern horizon, according to EarthSky. May 27: New Moon The next New Moon will fall at around 11:02 p.m. ET on Tuesday, May 27, EarthSky reports. Because the moon isn't visible during this phase, it will be one of the best nights to go stargazing, as the night sky isn't illuminated. May 28: Manhattanhenge in New York City Manhattanhenge, or Manhattan Soloistic, happens twice a year when the setting sun is aligned with the east-west streets of Manhattan's main grid, illuminating both the north and south sides of the borough. The upcoming Manhattanhenge will occur at around 8:13 p.m. ET on Wednesday, May 28, according to the American Museum of Natural History. According to NYC Parks and the American Museum of Natural History, the best places to view Manhattanhenge are: 14th Street 23rd Street 34th Street 42nd Street 57th Street Tudor City Overpass in Manhattan Hunter's Point South Park in Long Island City, Queens The next Manhattanhenge to occur this year will be around 8:22 p.m. ET on Saturday, July 12. June 1: Venus reaches greatest distance from sunrise Since March, Venus has been visible in the morning sky, just east of sunrise. But the planet's greatest elongation, when it will be the farthest from sunrise, is coming up on Sunday, June 1 at midnight ET. This occurs when Venus is the farthest from the sun on the sky's dome, according to EarthSky. Greta Cross is a national trending reporter at USA TODAY. Story idea? Email her at gcross@
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
May's best stargazing week is about to begin. How to see a lion, an upside-down bear, a mini 'planet parade' — and more.
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Why do stargazers get so excited about a new moon? At 10:02 p.m. EDT on Monday, May 26, our natural satellite will slip between Earth and the sun and completely disappear from view. As it does, it will leave the night skies free from moonlight, which serious stargazers view as light pollution. In the week before the new moon, and for a couple of nights after, the night sky gets as dark as possible. That makes the period from May 20 to May 30 the best time of the month to get outside and look up. Here's what to see from mid-latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, including the continental U.S., at about 10 p.m. (unless otherwise stated). Most people can find the seven stars of the Big Dipper in the night sky, but did you know it's not a constellation? Known as an asterism — a shape of stars — the Big Dipper forms the rear end (and, unhelpfully, long tail) of Ursa Major, the great bear." May is a great time to trace out the many stars of Ursa Major because it's almost directly overhead in the early evening in the Northern Hemisphere as darkness falls, though the bear is upside down. The easiest way to begin finding it is to start with the bear's three visible paws, which are each marked by a set of double stars — Alula Borealis and Australis, and Tania Borealis and Australis for the bear's two back paws, and Talitha and Talitha Australis for the one visible front paw. Below the latter, the star Muscida marks the bear's head. Look to the south as soon as it gets dark, and you'll see a backward question mark of stars that mark the head and forequarters of Leo, the lion. The dot in that question mark (called "the sickle" by stargazers) is the bright star Regulus, which means "little king," according to EarthSky. If you only get up early once this month, make it 45 minutes before sunrise on Friday, May 23 when, in the east, a crescent moon will appear close to a very bright Venus, with Saturn close by. Return to Ursa Major and trace its tail — the handle of the Big Dipper — in an "arc to Arcturus" to the next bright star in the night sky. The fourth-brightest star in the night sky, Arcturus is the brightest star in the constellation Boötes, the herdsman, a key yet little-known shape of stars in spring. Its nine stars trace out the shape of what looks most like a kite, but skip that and focus on what's easy — four stars that are in the shape of a "Y" or champagne flute. Hidden in the halo of the Milky Way galaxy are strange groups of ancient stars called globular clusters. Huddled in dense balls and thought to be the remains of ancient galaxies gobbled up by our own, there are about 150 of these in the night sky. Remarkably, they are the oldest visible objects in the universe. One of the best is M13 in the constellation Hercules, the hero, which is high overhead after dark. You'll need a pair of stargazing binoculars, or better still a good backyard telescope, to glimpse it as a dense fuzzy patch. It contains more than 100,000 stars, according to NASA, and is 25,000 light-years distant on the outskirts of the galaxy.
