Latest news with #Spica
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
See the bright star Spica close to the waxing gibbous moon on July 3
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The moon will ride close to the bright star Spica above the southwestern horizon tonight (July 3) — and some well-placed viewers will see the lunar disk pass directly in front of the bright stellar body, occulting its light. Stargazers in the U.S. will find the waxing gibbous moon above the southwestern horizon as the sun sets on July 3, with Spica — the brightest star in the constellation Virgo — visible less than 2 degrees to the upper right of the lunar disk. Remember, you can estimate distances in the night sky using your outstretched hand. The width of your pinky finger measured at the tip accounts for roughly 1 degree in the night sky. By the time the pair set below the horizon in the early hours of July 4, the moon will have shifted to Spica's left-hand side. At a distance of 250 light-years from Earth, Spica appears to us as a single point of light in the night sky. In reality, it is a binary star system composed of two stellar bodies multiple times the size of the sun, which together shine roughly 12,100 times brighter than our parent star. The moon orbits our Blue Marble at an average distance of just 238,860 miles (382,500 kilometers) — close enough for its apparent position to shift by up to 2 degrees relative to the starfield beyond, depending on where you are viewing from on Earth. TOP TELESCOPE PICK Want to see Spica and the Moon? The Celestron NexStar 8SE is ideal for beginners wanting quality, reliable and quick views of celestial objects. For a more in-depth look at our Celestron NexStar 8SE review. As such, a very small percentage of our planet's population will see the moon slide directly in front of Spica in the coming hours. This event, known as an occultation, will occur in the hours following 3:51 p.m. EDT (19:51 GMT) on July 3 and will be visible to stargazers situated in Antarctica, the Falkland Islands, and the southernmost tips of Chile and Argentina. Editor's Note: If you capture a shot of the moon and Spica together and want to share it with readers, then please send your photo, comments, name and location to spacephotos@
The Guardian
30-06-2025
- Science
- The Guardian
Starwatch: Spica greets the passing moon
This week, the bright star Spica greets the passing moon. The chart shows the view looking south-west from London at 22.15 BST on 3 July 2025. At 8.3 days old, and with 60% of its visible surface illuminated, the moon will be just past its first quarter (half moon) phase and into its waxing gibbous phase, on the way to becoming full next week. Spica is the brightest star in the constellation Virgo, the maiden. It is the 15th brightest star in the night sky and lies about 250 light-years away from Earth. Although it appears as a single object to even our most advanced telescopes, detailed analysis reveals that Spica is in fact a binary star. It is composed of two giant stars, separated by about 18m km, that orbit each other once every four days. One of these component stars has a diameter just under eight times the size of the sun's diameter and the other is four times the diameter. Together they give out more than 12,000 times the light from our sun. From the southern hemisphere, the conjunction will appear to be higher in the sky, and therefore a little easier to see.
National Geographic
27-06-2025
- Science
- National Geographic
Venus, explained
Quadruple Conjunction The moon, Venus, Mars, and the star Spica appear in a quadruple conjunction as seen from Azul, Argentina. From its scorching temperatures to its oddball rotation, there's a lot to learn about the second planet from the sun. On September 14, 2020, scientists announced the possible detection of phosphine gas in the clouds of Venus. It's too early to say what's creating the gas, but if the result is confirmed, one possibility is that it was made by microbial life floating in the planet's thick atmosphere. Find out more about the tantalizing, if controversial, finding here. The first spacecraft to set mechanical feet on another planet landed on Venus. In the 1960s and '70s, the former Soviet Union's Venera probes plunged through the planet's punishing atmosphere, with a handful even sending back data from its rocky surface. In December 1970, for instance, the Venera 8 lander transmitted atmospheric data for more than 50 minutes after its turbulent touchdown. These early missions provided an important lesson: Venus is like a massive pressure cooker. Although the planet is the second closest planet to the sun, it's by far the hottest of the eight worlds in our solar system. Its thick atmosphere is mostly made of carbon dioxide with clouds of sulfuric acid, which traps the sun's heat and creates a runaway greenhouse effect. Thanks to this atmospheric blanket, temperatures on Venus' surface can soar over 880 degrees Fahrenheit—hot enough to melt lead. The surface pressure is around 90 times that on Earth, which would feel like standing under about a half a mile of water. Wintertime doesn't even provide a reprieve from the heat. With an axial tilt of three degrees, Venus has just one season: hot. The only planet named after a female figure, Venus is a celestial oddball. Though its rocks are shades of grey, its atmosphere imparts an eerie orange glow to the landscape. Together with Mercury, it's one of the few planets in our solar system without a moon. And like Uranus, it turns on its axis in the opposite direction to the rest of our celestial family. Due to this retrograde rotation, if you were to stand on Venus' surface, the sun would rise in the West and set in the East. But don't count on catching many Venusian sunsets; the planet turns stunningly slow. A single day there takes 243 Earth days—longer than a Venusian year, which lasts 225 Earth days. And because the planet rotates in the opposite direction as its orbit, 117 Earth days pass between each sunrise and sunset. Hellish Earth twin Despite the strange and scorching conditions, Venus shares a surprising number of features with Earth. Measuring 7,520 miles across, Venus is roughly the same diameter as our home planet. It also has a similar structure, sporting a rocky surface and an iron core, although the planet doesn't rotate fast enough to generate an Earth-like magnetic field. Thousands of volcanoes dot Venus' surface, some of which may still be active. Volcanic rock from cooled lava covers most of its surface—the oldest of which dates back some 500 million years. Many mountains also rise into Venusian skies. Its largest, dubbed Maxwell Montes, stands 36,000 feet tall. The processes driving the formation of this network of formations is unusual, however. Venus doesn't appear to harbor a churning seismic engine like that on Earth, which drives our bumper-car network of tectonic plates. Yet the planet does appear to have a spidery network of breaks in its surface, hinting at an entirely new type of plate tectonics. Scientists suspect that for up to two billion years after it formed, the planet may have even been habitable—harboring liquid oceans on its surface. Fascination with what drove that transition from happy to hellish has led many scientists to campaign for more robotic visits to Venus. Light bringer Venus' dense cloud cover has benefits for us Earthlings. It reflects the sun's rays, making the planet the brightest in the night sky. It's often called the morning star or evening star because its bright, steady glow persists either around sunrise or sunset. Ancient peoples spotted these dazzling points in the sky and believed them to be two different objects, one that glows in the morning and another that glows in the evening. Similar to Mercury, Venus can occasionally be seen making a lazy trip across the sun's face, known as a transit. But while Mercury zips across the sun every 13 to 14 years, Venus transits are much more rare. The planet's orbit is almost a perfect circle but is slightly tipped relative to Earth's path around our star. This means it's incredibly hard for the sun, Venus, and Earth to align in the right way. The last time a transit of Venus happened was in 2012, and it won't happen again until 2117. Magazine for all ages starting at $25/year
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Don't miss Spica shine with the waxing gibbous moon tonight
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The waxing gibbous moon will shine close to the bright star Spica in the night sky tonight, ahead of its full moon phase on June 11. Skywatchers in the U.S. will find the moon above the southwestern horizon an hour after sunset on June 5, with Spica twinkling a little over seven degrees to the left of the lunar disk. Remember, you can estimate distances in the night sky by holding an outstretched hand — or fist — in front of you. The width of your clenched first from your thumb to the other side of your hand is about 10 degrees, while the thickness of your little finger accounts for around 1 degree in the night sky. The red giant star Arcturus can also be found shining high above the moon close to the zenith (the point in the sky directly above an observer) on the night of June 5, while Mars will be visible in the west as a red point of light close to the kingly star Regulus, in the constellation Leo. The moon will be seen to close in on Spica throughout the night, with the duo eventually setting in close proximity on the western horizon in the pre-dawn hours of June 6. A small number of stargazers in the southern hemisphere may even witness the moon pass directly in front of Spica, blocking its light. This rare event — known as an occultation — will be visible to a handful of southern hemisphere countries and regions including Antarctica, Tasmania and the McDonald Islands in the hours following 8.23 a.m. ET (1223 GMT) on June 6, according to TOP TELESCOPE PICK: Want to see the planets of our solar system for yourself? The Celestron NexStar 4SE is ideal for beginners wanting quality, reliable and quick views of celestial objects. For a more in-depth look at our Celestron NexStar 4SE review. Spica is one of the brightest stars in the night sky, and can be found about 250 light-years away from Earth in the Virgo constellation. Spica is actually not one star but two, what is known as a binary system. These two stars, known together as Alpha Virginis, orbit closely around one another, making a full orbit every four days. The two stars of Alpha Virginis are only around 11 million miles (less than 18 million kilometers) away from each other and appear as a single point of light in the sky. In addition, these two stars orbit so closely together that the gravity of each star pulls on the other, making them egg-shaped. The combined light from the two stars of Spica is around 12,000 times more luminous than the light from our sun, on average. They are both also larger than the sun, with diameters estimated to be approximately 7.8 and 4 times greater than the sun's. Stargazers looking to explore the wonders of the night sky for themselves should check out our guides to the best telescope and binocular deals available in 2025. Photographers seeking to upgrade their gear ahead of June's full 'Strawberry Moon' should also read up on our guides detailing the best cameras and lenses for astrophotography. Editor's Note: If you capture an image of the night sky and want to share it with readers, then please send your photo(s), comments, name and location to spacephotos@
Forbes
02-06-2025
- Climate
- Forbes
See Jupiter Face Mercury Amid ‘Space Clouds:' The Night Sky This Week
Each Monday, I pick out North America's celestial highlights for the week ahead (which also apply to mid-northern latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere). Check my main feed for more in-depth articles on stargazing, astronomy, eclipses and more. As summer nears in the Northern Hemisphere, the nights are short. This week, they're dominated by the moon, which enters its bulging gibbous phase in advance of next week's full strawberry moon. As well as its close brush with star Spica, there's a post-sunset view of giant Jupiter and tiny Mercury and, later at night, the chance of 'space clouds.' Here's everything you need to know about stargazing and astronomy this week: Monday, June 2: First Quarter Moon Stellarium At 10:41 p.m. EDT, the moon reaches its first quarter phase, appearing half-lit in the southern evening sky. It's a lovely sight, but it does mark the point where its brightness begins to bleach the night sky, making faint stars and constellations tougher to find. Look below the moon for Mars in the southwest and bright star Regulus in the constellation Leo between the two. Thursday, June 5: Moon And Spica Stellarium Tonight, the 77%-lit waxing gibbous moon approaches Spica, the constellation Virgo's brightest star (see below). They may appear close, but it's all an illusion — they're 261 light-years apart. Friday, June 6: Jupiter In Mercury In Conjunction Stellarium If you can find a clear view low to the northwest sky horizon, take your place shortly after sunset to try for a view of two planets just a few degrees from each other — Jupiter and Mercury. Technically, it's a naked-eye target, but binoculars may be essential given that it's so low on the horizon. They'll shine at a similar brightness, with Mercury on the way up just as Jupiter is on its way down. Tonight offers a second view of the planetary pair, with Mercury slightly higher in the northwestern sky and Jupiter marginally lower. It's likely your last look at Jupiter for a while. It will now enter the sun's glare, passing behind it from our point of view on June 24 before eventually reappearing in the morning sky in July. Darkness may be in short supply in June in northern latitudes, but as twilight deepens, there can often be something spectacular high in the northern sky. Look around 10 p.m. for noctilucent clouds, thread-like structures about 50 miles up close to the edge of space. They're the product of ice crystals forming around dust from meteors in the high atmosphere. Constellation Of The Week: Virgo Stellarium The constellation Virgo, 'the Maiden,' is high in the southern sky after dark this week. Its brightest star, Spica — close to the moon on Thursday — can be found using the Big Dipper. Follow the stars of its handle in an arc to go 'arc to Arcturus,' the bright reddish star in the constellation Boötes, 'the Herdsman,' then 'spike to Spica' (those it's usually pronounced 'speaker'). Virgo contains the Virgo Cluster, a group of galaxies about 54 million light-years from the Milky Way. The times and dates given apply to mid-northern latitudes. For the most accurate location-specific information, consult online planetariums like Stellarium. Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
