Corona Borealis

Planets Light Morning Skies

The constellation Corona Borealis, known as the Northern Crown, is visible arcing just to the left of the foreground tree. The location of the recurrent nova, T Coronae Borealis, is indicated in red. If/when this star explodes, it may briefly become as bright as Alphecca, the star near the center of the crown's arc and the brightest star in Corona Borealis.

Our evening skies are almost totally devoid of bright planets during May and June. The planetary action has shifted entirely to the morning sky. The first planet to appear is Saturn, well up in the eastern sky during the pre-dawn hours and rising around midnight by the end of June.

Total Eclipse

Total Eclipse of the Sun

Total eclipse of the sun on February 26, 1979, from Southern Manitoba, Canada. The sun’s extensive outer atmosphere—or corona—is visible, along with a couple of prominences—large loops of ionized gas. PHOTO BY ALAN HALE

The top celestial event during April will be the solar eclipse on Monday, April 8. The eclipse will be total—the moon will completely block the sun—along a path that crosses north-central Mexico and central Texas, then continues across the midwestern and northeastern U.S.

Comet Nishimura, a somewhat bright comet that was visible late last summer, as it appeared September 5, 2023. During late March and early April, comet Pons-Brooks should exhibit a similar appearance when viewed with binoculars. IMAGE COURTESY OF MICHAEL JAEGER

Comets in the Night

The planetary show we’ve been enjoying in the evening sky since the latter part of 2023 still has a few more months to run, although only a few planets remain visible. The primary performer is Jupiter, which is high in the western sky at the end of dusk and sets an hour or so before midnight.

Uranus

Bright Constellations

Uranus, with its system of thin rings and several of its moons, as imaged by the James Webb Space Telescope on February 6, 2023.

COURTESY NASA/ESA/CSA/SPACE TELESCOPE SCIENCE INSTITUTE/JOSEPH DEPASQUALE

The planetary show we’ve been enjoying in the evening sky since the latter part of 2023 still has a few more months to run but loses one of its main performers during February.

Virgin Galactic’s carrier vehicle, the White Knight Two, approaches the runway at Spaceport America during the runway’s dedication ceremony on October 22, 2010. Virgin Galactic successfully completed its first commercial space flight in June. PHOTO BY ALAN HALE

Flying Into The Final Frontier

Venus has now departed from our evening sky, but two other planets remain visible low in the dusk during August. During the first half of the month, Mercury can be seen close to the horizon, while Mars is slightly higher. The Red Planet disappears into twilight by month’s end, not to reappear in our morning sky until about six months from now.

Our solar system’s two largest worlds dominate the skies this month. Saturn, already in the southeast by the end of dusk, is at opposition directly opposite the sun in the sky August 26 and remains visible throughout the night.