Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Oct 10 - Young Moon Returns

FaceBookShare
TwitterShare
color-instagram-96.png
color-link-96.png

View larger. | Here is last month's young moon - September 12 - from Marsha Kirschbaum in California. Jupiter is to the left of the moon; Venus is below. You can see Jupiter near the moon this week; Venus is now nearly buried in the sunset glare.

Good morning!
 

Next few evenings ... Young moon and Jupiter
The moon is back in the evening sky - low in the west after sunset - as a waxing crescent. The bright object near it is our solar system's biggest planet, Jupiter. Read more.
Is Voyager 2 nearing interstellar space?
Voyager 2, launched in 1977, is now about 11 billion miles (18 billion km) from Earth. NASA said this week the spacecraft has detected an increase in cosmic rays. That might mean it'll soon become the 2nd human-made object, after Voyager 1, to exit the realm of our sun's influence. Read more.
Astronomers detect ghostly afterglow of cosmic explosion
For the 1st time, astronomers have detected the faint radio afterglow of a ghost explosion - a kind of cosmic sonic boom - possibly the result of a weird kind of gamma-ray burst. Read more.

Michael due for landfall today in Florida

Today's early morning update from the National Hurricane Center shows Michael has strengthened more than expected to Category 4. The storm is due to make landfall today on the north Florida coast. Read more.

This image shows Michael from GOES16 satellite data, ending at Wednesday morning at 10:00 UTC (6 a.m. EDT; translate UTC to your time). Image via WeatherNerds.org.

SHOP THE EARTHSKY STORE TODAY!


Your support means the world to us and allows us to keep going. At our store you'll find astronomy tools, EarthSky tees, hats, cool gadgets and even toys! Click here to shop

Young moon and Jupiter, Northern Hemisphere
It's autumn now in this hemisphere and the autumn ecliptic - path of the sun, moon and planets (green line on our chart) - slants low with respect to the evening horizon. That'll keep the moon low in the sky on October 10. 
Young moon and Jupiter, Southern Hemisphere
From south of the equator now, it's spring. The spring ecliptic makes a steep angle with the horizon. In springtime, young moons and planets near the sunset are much easier to spot. So Southern Hemisphere observers likely will see the moon on October 10, and they'll also spot Venus, now heading into the sunset glare.
Submit your photo to EarthSky here!
Did a friend forward EarthSkyNews to you? Click here to get your own subscription!
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Instagram
Website