BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Brad Klein reviews the week’s astronomical highlights with Bethlehem’s ‘Backyard Astronomy Guy,’ Marty McGuire.
This week, a striking conjunction in the late night sky may catch your eye in the predawn hours of Tuesday, August 27.
The planets Jupiter and Mars will share a small patch of the eastern sky with the crescent moon, and the star Aldebaran.
The best view for the Lehigh Valley will be in the eastern sky between 2 a.m. and dawn Tuesday morning.
The waning crescent moon will ‘mark the spot,' and just below it from left to right you’ll see the red planet, Mars; the bright gas giant, Jupiter; and the bright reddish star Aldebaran.
Given a clear sky, it’s a good chance to compare Aldebaran, the red ‘eye’ of the constellation, Taurus, with the red planet.
“One of NASA’s spacecraft will visit the star Aldebaran in a little bit,” according to McGuire. “About 2 million years from now!”
That’s a small 'bit' of time on a cosmological timescale, but a long wait for the average star gazer.
NASA’s Pioneer 10 spacecraft has completed its mission, but is sailing in the direction of Aldebaran, and will eventually fly by that conspicuous star.
