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[magic612]

This week, watch as the very young Moon revolves eastward through the sky each day, subsequently passing by the planets Mercury, Uranus, Venus and Jupiter. Each of these are potential photographic opportunities (except Uranus), but all can be spotted with binoculars, and all but Uranus naked eye. The constellation Gemini is given the highlight this week, noting the similarities - but mostly the differences - between Castor and Pollux, plus where to find the open cluster M35 in The Twins.

[Paulie pchris00]

Castor was the very first thing I saw in a large telescope, at Valparaiso University's observatory in 2008. The students had been observing the system before the open house started, and the telescope hadn't been slewed to anything else before they let us in. It was weird but cool to think of the three stars I could see as each a binary system.

[Kat]

I'm not an astronomer (think of me as Penny in Big Bang Theory) but all week, I've been noticing two very bright stars about a fist apart that look like eyes traveling across the sky. They are located almost 12 o'clock at 10:00 PM or so ~ just slightly south and I'm wondering if anyone knows what stars/planets these 2 are? It's driving me crazy! They are extremely bright and outshine any other stars that can be seen in the downtown Chicago night sky.

Thanks for your help!

[magic612]

Feb 25, 2012 13:24:50 GMT -6 Kat said:

I'm not an astronomer (think of me as Penny in Big Bang Theory) but all week, I've been noticing two very bright stars about a fist apart that look like eyes traveling across the sky. They are located almost 12 o'clock at 10:00 PM or so ~ just slightly south and I'm wondering if anyone knows what stars/planets these 2 are? It's driving me crazy! They are extremely bright and outshine any other stars that can be seen in the downtown Chicago night sky.

Thanks for your help!

Hi Kat,

Great question - it actually sounds like you're looking at Castor and Pollux, perhaps - the stars I mention in the second segment of the vido. I've attached a picture with a grid; where the lines all meet towards the upper part of the picture denotes directly overhead, and south is down/at the bottom

Is that about what you're seeing?

[Centaur]

Feb 25, 2012 13:24:50 GMT -6 Kat said:

I'm not an astronomer (think of me as Penny in Big Bang Theory) but all week, I've been noticing two very bright stars about a fist apart that look like eyes traveling across the sky. They are located almost 12 o'clock at 10:00 PM or so ~ just slightly south and I'm wondering if anyone knows what stars/planets these 2 are? It's driving me crazy! They are extremely bright and outshine any other stars that can be seen in the downtown Chicago night sky.

Thanks for your help!

Welcome to the discussion group and the world of astronomy, Kat.

I’m not sure what you mean by “12 o’clock”. In military parlance that means the direction that your plane is headed. In astronomical jargon, the zenith (straight up) is altitude 90°, and due south is azimuth 180°. An object appearing straight above another one is at zenith angle 0°, and one to the left is at zenith angle 90°.

Other than the Moon, Venus is the brightest nighttime celestial body, however yesterday it set at 21:17 for Chicagoans. The next brightest is Jupiter which would have been low in the west at 22:00. After that would have been the fixed star Sirius, which was not very high in the south-southwest at 22:00. As Dave suggests, the moderately bright stars Castor and Pollux (the “twins” of Gemini) would have been high in the south-southwest at 22:00. Pollux is the brighter of the two. Besides Jupiter and Sirius, other objects brighter than Pollux in the Chicago sky at that time were the fixed stars Arcturus, Capella, Rigel, Procyon, Betelgeuse, Aldebaran & Spica and the planets Mars & Saturn.

You’ve taken the first step toward becoming as astronomer, Kat. No license is required, just interest. My astronomical webpages may help you to find your way around the sky: www.CurtRenz.com/astronomical

[Paulie pchris00]

The 12 o'clock reference isn't very helpful. The fist apart is. Could it maybe be Spica and Saturn? The distance apart works, but they're not very high at 10 PM yet.

[Paulie pchris00]

What about Mars and Denebola?

[magic612]

It took me a bit to think about it, but I figured the 12 o'clock reference meant overhead. A quick look at Stellarium at 10pm from Chicago really only has those two stars in that position, slightly south, as described by Kat. Since they are high overhead, they would be least affected by light pollution, and given the buildings in the area, may be the brightest objects visible in a downtown location at that time of night.

But hopefully Kat will come back and provide a bit better detail as to what is being seen and where.