What's in the sky tonight?
February 2, 2013
-our latitude makes a big difference in how the constellations appear. (Your longitude does not.) For instance, if you're as far north as 46° (roughly Portland, Minneapolis, Montreal, and central France), bright Capella passes straight through your zenith around 8 or 9 p.m. If you're as far south as 21° N (Guadalajara, Cuba, the mid-Sahara, and Kolkata), Jupiter currently crosses straight overhead in the evening.
-Wherever you are, Jupiter and Capella pass closest to your zenith exactly one hour apart. Jupiter goes first.
-Saturn and the last-quarter Moon rise together tonight around midnight or 1 a.m. By dawn (Sunday the 3rd) they're high in the south, as shown above.
News Posted Today:
February 1, 2013
The First-Ever Meteorite from Mercury?
Astro Picture of the Day:
February 2, 2013
Source:
Beyond a fertile field of satellite communication antennas at Kennedy Space Center, an Atlas V rocket streaks into orbit in this long exposure photograph. In the thoughtfully composed image recorded on the evening of January 30, the antennas in the foreground bring to mind the rocket's payload, a Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS; sounds like TEE-dress). This TDRS-K is the first in a next-generation series adding to the constellation of NASA's communication satellites. Operating from geosynchronous orbit 22,300 miles (36,000 kilometers) above planet Earth, the network of TDRS satellites relays communications, data, and commands between spacecraft and ground stations. Formerly the TDRS network provided communications for space shuttle missions. In fact, many TDRS satellites were ferried as far as low Earth orbit on space shuttles. The TDRS network continues to support major spacecraft like the International Space Station, the Hubble Space Telescope, and the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope.