Lacking a relevant space picture for this month’s post, I present instead a recently released “Blue Marble” photo, one of the more detailed images of Earth ever seen. Click the link for a bigger version, and more information.

This month, look for Venus and Jupiter at twilight!

As soon as the Sun sets, you’ll be drawn to a pair of unmistakably bright beacons that dominate the early-evening scene. Over in the southwest is dazzling Venus — a planet is so bright that you might try locating it even before the Sun slips away for the evening.

Shift your gaze to the upper left until you come to Jupiter, which is also really bright — but no match for Venus. Later in the evening, look for Mars rising in the east and, above it, the stars of Leo. Orion and his easy-to-spot three-star belt is striding high in the south. At upper left is slightly reddish Betelgeuse and at lower right ir icy-white Rigel.

Betelgeuse is at the center of what stargazers call the Winter hexagon, a broad six-sided pattern tipped by Rigel, Sirius, Procyon, Pollux, Capella, and Aldebaran.
— Sky and Telescope

The next Full Moon is on the 7th, and the next New Moon is on the 21st.

The International Space Station and various satellites can be tracked and viewed at Heavens-Above.com (link is set for Mt. Shasta’s location and elevation.)

For a full list of sky happenings this month, as well as a handy printable map, download The Evening Sky Map. (Translations to other languages are not currently supported, but they hope to have them back sometime in 2012.)

Hi! I’m Danielle Signor, MSCoC’s webmaster. I witnessed two out of three of the last space shuttle launches in the program: Discovery in February 2011, as part of the STS-133 NASA Tweetup event; and Atlantis in July 2011 (STS-135). Find me on Twitter at @silverrockets, and check out my blog at Silver-Rockets.com.

Quadrantid meteor shower 2011. Image credit/copyright to Jeff Berkes, all rights reserved.

The big news this month is tonight: head out in the wee hours to see the Quadrantids… for a limited time only!

The 2012 Quadrantids, a little-known meteor shower named after an extinct constellation, will present an excellent chance for hardy souls to start the year off with some late-night meteor watching.

Peaking in the wee morning hours of Jan. 4, the Quadrantids have a maximum rate of about 100 per hour, varying between 60-200. The waxing gibbous moon will set around 3 a.m. local time, leaving about two hours of excellent meteor observing before dawn. It’s a good thing, too, because unlike the more famous Perseid and Geminid meteor showers, the Quadrantids only last a few hours — it’s the morning of Jan. 4, or nothing.
— NASA

The month starts off with a bang, celestially speaking, as the annual Quadrantid meteor shower peaks on the morning of January 4th. This year’s edition favors North America, but to see these “shooting stars” you’ll need to be up well past midnight — or get up a couple of hours before dawn.

The early evening sky is anchored by dazzling Venus low in the west and very bright Jupiter high in the southeast. These are the two brightest planets, and it’s a visual treat to have them both in the sky at once.

Spend some quality time with Cassiopeia, queen of the northern sky. Nearly overhead right now, this constellation looks more like a squashed “M” than a feminine figure. But its five bright stars are still easily recognized.
— Sky and Telescope

The next Full Moon is on the 9th, and the next New Moon is on the 23rd.

The International Space Station and various satellites can be tracked and viewed at Heavens-Above.com (link is set for Mt. Shasta’s location and elevation.)

For a full list of sky happenings this month, as well as a handy printable map, download The Evening Sky Map. (Translations to other languages are not currently supported, but they hope to have them back sometime in 2012.)

Hi! I’m Danielle Signor, MSCoC’s webmaster. I witnessed two out of three of the last space shuttle launches in the program: Discovery in February 2011, as part of the STS-133 NASA Tweetup event; and Atlantis in July 2011 (STS-135). Find me on Twitter at @silverrockets, and check out my blog at Silver-Rockets.com.

Image Credit & Copyright: Javier Algarra

Get ready for a total lunar eclipse on the 10th (coinciding with the full moon), and the Geminid meteor shower on the 14th!

December is the month of the solstice, when the Sun appears farthest south in the sky. That means winter for us and summer for Australians. This year the December solstice comes at 12:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on the 22nd — and late on the 21st for those farther west.

Venus lurks low in the southwestern twilight after sunset. You’ll need an unobstructed horizon to see it.

But after it gets good and dark, swing around to the east to see dazzling Jupiter, the King of Planets, amid a tower of brilliant early-winter stars that extends from the horizon to overhead. Start with Orion low down, the climb upward through Taurus, Auriga, Perseus, and Andromeda.
— Sky and Telescope

The mid-December night sky hosts a lovely meteor shower. From December 13th to 14th, the bright and fast Geminids will skip across the upper atmosphere. Watch for meteors zipping away from the constellation Gemini after midnight.

Many skywatchers will enjoy a lunar eclipse on December 10. This happens when the Moon passes through Earth’s shadow. The Moon does not quite disappear but turns a coppery red. Viewers in North America will see the eclipsed Moon sink into the western horizon before dawn.
— HubbleSite – Tonight’s Sky

The next Full Moon is on the 10th, and the next New Moon is on the 24th.

The International Space Station and various satellites can be tracked and viewed at Heavens-Above.com (link is set for Mt. Shasta’s location and elevation.)

For a full list of sky happenings this month, as well as a handy printable map, download The Evening Sky Map. (Translations to other languages are not currently supported, but they hope to have them back sometime in 2012.)

Hi! I’m Danielle Signor, MSCoC’s webmaster. I witnessed two out of three of the last space shuttle launches in the program: Discovery in February, as part of the STS-133 NASA Tweetup event; and Atlantis in July (STS-135). Find me on Twitter at @silverrockets, and check out my blog at Silver-Rockets.com.

Photo © Masahiro Miyasaka, http://www.flickr.com/photos/43894176@N07/

Venus and Jupiter are planetary bookends at sunset, with Venus lurking low in the western twilight just as the King of Planets rises in the east.

High in the southeast, and galloping westward as the hours go by, is the easily recognized Great Square of Pegasus, the Winged Horse. In late evening look for the Circlet of Pisces, a lovely little pentagon of stars hanging directly under the Great Square. And just past Pegasus’s nose to the right is the little cluster of stars marking Delphinus, the Dolphin.
— Sky and Telescope

November boasts the Leonid meteor shower. Look for meteors after midnight when the peak occurs from November 17th to 18th. This shower is the result of Earth’s passage through the dust trails left by Comet Tempel-Tuttle, whose journey around the Sun returns it to the inner solar system every 33 years.
— HubbleSite – Tonight’s Sky

The next Full Moon is on the 10th, and the next New Moon is on the 25th.

The International Space Station and various satellites can be tracked and viewed at Heavens-Above.com (link is set for Mt. Shasta’s location and elevation.)

For a full list of sky happenings this month, as well as a handy printable map, download The Evening Sky Map (or click here for languages other than English.)

I was in Florida a year ago today, and again in February, to view the final launch of space shuttle Discovery as part of NASA’s STS-133 Tweetup event for Twitter users. I went back in July to see the final launch of the program, space shuttle Atlantis (STS-135). Find me on Twitter at @silverrockets, and check out my blog at Silver-Rockets.com.

Four planets bunch up low in the dawn for more than a week to come. This is the arrangement on Sunday morning May 8th. Bring binoculars; their visibility in the brightening sky is exaggerated here. (Sky & Telescope diagram)

There’s a pretty neat conjunction of planets happening this month! Above is a diagram demonstrating their positions on Mother’s Day (click on the image for weekly observing highlights.) Also coming up this month: the last launch of space shuttle Endeavour, which you will see in the night skies, once it gets into orbit (launch currently no earlier than May 10; view times will be available at Heavens-Above.com, see link below.)

You might want to make a habit of rising early this month. That’s because four planets — Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter — are clustered low in the east before dawn. It’s the most compact gathering of bright planets in decades.

Day by day throughout the month, this foursome will do a slow-motion shuffle to form different combinations. On May 11th, Jupiter and Venus sit just ½° apart. On the 12th, all four are within a space of 6°.

The only bright planet missing from the predawn pileup is Saturn, and it’s very easy to spot. Just watch where the Sun sets and then turn completely around to face east.

The next New Moon is tonight (May 3rd), and the next Full Moon is on the 17th.

The International Space Station and various satellites can be tracked and viewed at Heavens-Above.com (link is set for Mt. Shasta’s location and elevation.)

For a full list of sky happenings this month, as well as a handy printable map, download The Evening Sky Map (or click here for languages other than English.)

I was in Florida in November and February to view the final launch of space shuttle Discovery as part of NASA’s STS-133 Tweetup event for Twitter users. Click here for photos from my backstage NASA adventure! Find me on Twitter at @silverrockets, and check out my blog at Silver-Rockets.com.

Northern winter is finally over, so don’t just sit there — head outside and do some stargazing.

Low in the west, Jupiter has disappeared from view and the celestial tableau of Orion, Taurus, and company will soon be gone for the season as well.

But turn around to the east, and you’ll be greeted by the steady light of Saturn, which will grace our evening skies for several months. All around and above Saturn are the constellations of spring, led by Leo, the Lion.

The next Full Moon is on the 18th.

The International Space Station and various satellites can be tracked and viewed at Heavens-Above.com (link is set for Mt. Shasta’s location and elevation.)

For a full list of sky happenings this month, as well as a handy printable map, download The Evening Sky Map (or click here for languages other than English.)

I urge you to check out this aurora video, for some absolutely spectacular night skies over Norway. (And some truly PHENOMENAL cinematography!)

I was in Florida in November and February to view the final launch of space shuttle Discovery as part of NASA’s STS-133 Tweetup event for Twitter users. If you’d like to see photos from my adventure, click here. Find me on Twitter at @silverrockets, or check out my blog at Silver-Rockets.com.

Photo by Danielle Signor

As promised, this month’s What’s Up photo comes to you directly from Florida, where I watched Space Shuttle Discovery liftoff under beautiful clear skies! It was an amazing experience!

Celestially speaking, this will be a month of transition.

Northern skywatchers will be switching to Daylight or Summer time — on March 13th in the U.S. and Canada but two weeks later across Europe.

A second transition comes on March 20th at 7:21 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, when Earth reaches one of the two equinox points in its year-long orbit. This signals the beginning of northern spring, astronomically speaking, and autumn south of the equator.

Low in the west, Jupiter slides lower into the twilight glow week after week, and by month’s end it’ll be too low to spot by eye. Before it goes, however, the King of Planets will pair up with elusive Mercury to put on a pretty celestial dance in the early-evening sky. Meanwhile, Saturn rises in mid-evening as it readies for a leisurely cruise across the summertime sky.

The New Moon occurred on March 4th, and the next Full Moon is on the 19th.

Space Shuttle Discovery will be in orbit for a few more days, landing on March 9th. The space shuttle, the International Space Station and various satellites can be tracked and viewed at Heavens-Above.com (link is set for Mt. Shasta’s location and elevation.)

For a full list of sky happenings this month, as well as a handy printable map, download The Evening Sky Map (or click here for languages other than English.)

I was in Florida in November (scrubbed) and February (launched!) to view the final launch of space shuttle Discovery as part of NASA’s STS-133 Tweetup event for Twitter users. If you’d like to see the rest of my launch-day photos, click here (or click on the photo at the top.) Find me on Twitter at @silverrockets, or my blog at Silver-Rockets.com.

Contemplating the crescent Moon and Venus. Credit & Copyright: Amir Taheri

I keep saying I’ll be publishing “the next” What’s Up from Florida, and then space shuttle Discovery’s launch gets delayed again… Discovery rolled back out to the launch pad last night, and it appears the late February launch window will hold. Hopefully the March 2011 What’s Up will feature my very own launch photo! Here’s your skies this month:

For most of us, this will be the coldest month of the year. So when you’re heading outside make sure you’re bundled up warmly — don’t forget your head and feet.

New Moon falls on February 3rd, and three days later the delicate lunar crescent will pair beautifully with bright Jupiter in the southwest after sunset. Jupiter is nearing the end of a long evening run that began last September. In the months since then, Jupiter has moved a little farther away and gotten a little dimmer week by week. It’s only half as bright now as it was a few months ago.

Meanwhile, Venus is dramatically bright in the eastern sky before dawn. That’s when you can spot Saturn over in the southwest, getting ready for its arrival in the evening sky a few months from now.
— Sky and Telescope

The New Moon occurs on February 3rd, and the next Full Moon is on the 18th.

The International Space Station and various satellites can be tracked and viewed at Heavens-Above.com (link is set for Mt. Shasta’s location and elevation.)

For a full list of sky happenings this month, as well as a handy printable map, download The Evening Sky Map (or click here for languages other than English.)

I was in Florida in November to view the final launch of space shuttle Discovery (unfortunately, the launch was delayed), as part of NASA’s STS-133 Tweetup event for Twitter users. I will be going back to Kennedy Space Center in late February to watch Discovery launch, along with most of the other Tweetup attendees! Find me on Twitter at @silverrockets, or my blog at Silver-Rockets.com.

Photo by Wayne Jaeschke.

Two weeks ago, I thought I’d be publishing this month’s What’s Up from the press site at Kennedy Space Center, again, but the launch of space shuttle Discovery was delayed twice more since then. At present, I will be publishing the February 2011 What’s Up live from the launch site, barring further launch delays! Here’s your skies this month:

December doesn’t usually come to mind when you think of “best bets” for stargazing, but this year things are different.

For starters, you won’t have any trouble recognizing Jupiter, a dazzling “star” high in the south at dusk that far outshines all the real stars around it.

Even better, this December offers two skywatching treats. The first comes on the night of the 13th-14th, when the annual Geminid meteor shower reaches its peak.

Wish for clear skies one week later, December 20-21, when North Americans have front-row seats for the first total lunar eclipse in nearly three years.

Meanwhile, high above and to the north is the dysfunctional mythological family of King Cepheus, his vain wife Cassiopeia, their doomed daughter Andromeda, and the hero Perseus.

The next meteor shower is the Geminids on the night of December 14, with very favorable viewing this year. The New Moon occured on December 5th, and the next Full Moon is on the 21st — along with a total lunar eclipse! Jupiter remains a bright star in the sky, all night long.

The International Space Station and various satellites can be tracked and viewed at Heavens-Above.com (link is set for Mt. Shasta’s location and elevation.)

For a full list of sky happenings this month, as well as a handy printable map, download The Evening Sky Map (or click here for languages other than English.)

I was in Florida last month to view the final launch of space shuttle Discovery (unfortunately, the launch was delayed), as part of NASA’s STS-133 Tweetup event for Twitter users. I will be going back to Kennedy Space Center in February to watch Discovery launch, along with most of the other Tweetup attendees! Find me on Twitter at @silverrockets, or my blog at Silver-Rockets.com.

This is the countdown clock, just as Discovery’s launch was scrubbed this morning. I was there! This is the reality of spaceflight — things go wrong, things break, weather happens, and the launch date slips. Unfortunately, It’s slipped back all week, and keeps on slipping! But enough about Florida, here’s your skies this month:

The change back to standard time brings earlier nightfall — and a chance to get in some eyes-only stargazing before dinnertime!.

The undisputed king of the evening sky is mighty Jupiter, a dazzling “star” high in the southeast at dusk that far outshines all the real stars around it. Other planets are above the horizon at sunset, but to see them you need some kind of optical aid.

Hanging upside down above Jupiter is the winged horse Pegasus, and off to its left are the dysfunctional mythological family of King Cepheus, his vain wife Cassiopeia, and their daughter Andromeda.

The next meteor shower is the Leonids on the night of November 17. The New Moon occurs on November 6th, and the next Full Moon is on the 21st. Jupiter remains a bright star in the sky, all night long.

The International Space Station, the Space Shuttle should it launch Monday, and various satellites can be tracked and viewed at Heavens-Above.com (link is set for Mt. Shasta’s location and elevation.)

For a full list of sky happenings this month, as well as a handy printable map, download The Evening Sky Map (or click here for languages other than English.)

I’ve been in Florida all week to view the final launch of Space Shuttle Discovery, as part of NASA’s STS-133 Tweetup event. As one of 150 lucky Twitter users picked, I am tweeting and blogging from the VIP/press site, three miles from the launch pad. The experience has been wonderful, and if you want to hear more, find me on Twitter at @silverrockets, or my blog at Silver-Rockets.com.