Month: January 2011

Mercury wil also be visible in the early morning sky  before sunrise, reaching it’s greatest (angular) distance today, just a day after Venus did. And no, it doesn’t usually happen in sequence like this. Mercury will be about magnitude -0.3, which makes it brighter than most stars, but nowhere near Venus’ -4.4.

Venus will be as far west of the sun as it will get this time around (47°) rising well before the sun. If you are up early, have a look in the east before sunrise and you’ll have no trouble finding brilliant Venus

Visible in parts of northern Africa and most of Europe. See also NASA’s solar eclipses for 2011-2020.

To be held at the University of Massachussetts in Amherst. See also: http://www.uml.edu/college/arts_sciences/physics/APS-AAPT/

This is the closest approach of the Earth to the Sun.

To be held at Creighton University in Omaha, NE.

Winter meeting in Jacksonville, FL. See also: 2011 AAPT Winter Meeting Home.

Today is the day when Earth makes its closest approach to the Sun, around 2pm EST (New York time). If you live in the northern hemisphere, you might find it surprising that the Earth is closer to the Sun during winter than during summer, but it is. The difference in distance is “small,” astronomically speaking, …

Perihelion Day!Read More