The Pleiades, or Seven Sisters, on the upper left, and Comet Lovejoy, the blueish dot on the lower right.
Mark Lovewell

In Vineyard Skies: Venus and the Moon

The brilliant planet Venus appears in our western sky soon after sunset tonight. The crescent moon is not far away. Venus will appear in our western sky well through spring and into summer. Venus spent most of last year as a morning planet.

Those who are fortunate enough to benefit from clear visibility can see the fainter planet Mercury, appearing to the lower right of Venus. Mercury is only in the western sky for a short time, before it drops back into the glare of the setting sun.

Looking ahead towards summer, Venus will continue to brighten as it gets closer, and appears higher in our evening sky.

In the coming week, the moon will appear higher and higher in the west. Next Tuesday night the moon is in its first quarter and appears in the zodiacal constellation Aries, headed towards Taurus. As it continues on its journey along the zodiac, the moon will lighten the sky around it making Comet Lovejoy and all faint stars difficult to see.

The moon is full on Feb. 3.
 

Sunrise and Sunset
DaySunriseSunset
Fri., Jan. 237:014:45
Sat., Jan. 247:014:46
Sun., Jan. 257:004:48
Mon., Jan. 266:594:49
Tues., Jan. 276:584:50
Wed., Jan. 286:574:51
Thurs., Jan. 296:574:53
Fri., Jan. 306:564:54

Temperatures and Precipitation
DayMax (Fº)Min (Fº)Inches
Jan. 163425*0.01
Jan. 1739130.00
Jan. 1847150.04
Jan. 1952350.33
Jan. 2044310.00
Jan. 2138240.00
Jan. 2235290.07

 

Comments

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 01/25/2015 - 10:50

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Marion Morris Wash, DC

I enjoy your star gazing and descriptions of what to look for in the night sky. How did you ever manage to photograph that blue comet Loveyou?! Fantastic!

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