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What's in the Sky Tonight?
March 13, 2012
-Jupiter and Venus are at their closest point together for the next few years today, 3 degrees apart. That's about the distance of 3 middle fingers side by side at arms length.
-Comet Garradd (At magnitude 6.5) is the brightest and longet lasting comet the northern hemisphere has had in recent memory. It will spend the next two or so days crossing Kappa Draconis in the constellation Draco. Unless you live out of the city, it may be worthless looking for the comet, as light pollution erodes all but the best of it. Use
this chart to find the comet as it makes its way towards the Big Dipper.
Astro Picture of the Day:
Source:
Under a completely dark sky in the southern hemisphere, if you went outside and tilted your head up while the sky was clear, this is what you would see after letting your eyes adjust for about 20 minutes to the faint lights the Milky Way galaxy has to offer. This picture specifically was taken on Mangaia, the southernmost of the Cook islands. The bright stars just off centre to the right are part of the constellation Centaurus. The brightest star is alpha centauri, which follows how stars are typically named. They are named from brightest to dimmest, beginning with the greek alphabet, and often extending into our alphabet. For example, "beta sagittae" is the 2nd brightest star in the constellation Sagittarius.