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Sorry for the delay -- Christmas Bird Counts in the way. Also, lack of clear skies doesn't help motivate. ================================================================================ Date: Sat, 18 Dec 2010 **This week's Sky at a glance *On Monday night, December 20 start thinking of the spectacular t**otal eclipse of the Moon*. The partial phase begins 2:33 a.m. Tuesday morning; total eclipse runs from 3:41 to 4:53 a.m., partial eclipse ends at 6:01 a.m. The Moon will be very high in the sky. ? The Moon will enter its full phase at the same time so we will continue to see it all night for the nights following. Also expect lower low tides and higher high tides. *Tuesday, December 21* will be the longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere; winter begins at the solstice, 7:38 p.m. In the Southern Hemisphere it's the /shortest/ night of the year and the start of summer. *On Friday, December 24* the Christmas star: Brilliant Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, rises around 9 p.m.. When Sirius is low it often twinkles in vivid, flashing colors, an effect that binoculars reveal especially clearly. *This Week's Planet Roundup* *Mercury* is hidden in the glare of the Sun. *Venus* (magnitude --4.8) blazes in the southeast before and during dawn, at its greatest height as the "Morning Star." In fact Venus rises some two hours before the first glimmer of dawn. Look for the fainter star Spica well to Venus's upper right, and for Saturn above or upper right of Spica.. *Mars* is lost deep in the glow of sunset. *Jupiter* (magnitude --2.4,) shines in the south at dusk and southwest later in the evening. It's the brightest starlike point in the evening sky. *Saturn* (magnitude +0.8,) rises around 2 a.m. and is high in the south-southeast before and during dawn, far upper right of brilliant Venus. Don't confuse it with Spica below it. Saturn's rings have widened to 10° from edge-on. Nelson Poirier, Nature Moncton ================================================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Blake Maybank White's Lake, Nova Scotia mailto:maybank@ns.sympatico.ca
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