Night Sky Almanac 2023: A stargazer’s guide

Product Information

This way of explaining the motion of the planets, where the circular epicycle was carried around the Earth in a larger circlar orbit prevailed for some years. Times of disappearance and reappearance are given for Durban and Pretoria (as seen from South Africa). Both branches of this shower reach a low maximum, with an hourly rate of about 5–6 meteors per hour, on February 8.

2023: Night sky events not to miss - EarthSky Best of 2023: Night sky events not to miss - EarthSky

It is now moving up the ecliptic and reaches an elevations of ~52 degrees when crossing the meridian this month. Chondrules are small, spherical bodies of silicate minerals that appear to have been melted and formed when floating in space. Because the howling of wolves is often heard in North America in winter, the Full Moon in January is often known as the ‘Wolf Moon’. The Murchison meteorite has been particularly important and the subject of numerous, significant studies. At 21:54 on the evening of 28 February 2021, a brilliant fireball (a bolide) was observed over Gloucestershire.

If you are looking north (or south), once you get to the zenith, you can switch to the other chart, showing the view from the southern (or northern) horizon to the zenith.

2023 Night Sky Almanac | Astronomy Technology Today

This in-depth guide first introduces readers to the objects in the sky – from stars, to comets, to globular clusters – and then takes them through the cosmic events to look out for each month in 2023, with sky maps, moon phase charts and info about the planets. Most early civilizations were in the northern hemisphere and they started their year, and the cycle of seasons, at the spring equinox. The calendar date varies from March 19 to March 21 over the course of the 400-year long leap-year cycle. On the opposite side of the sky to the head of Draco, the whole of the faint constellation of Camelopardalis is visible. The answer is suprisingly complicated, and involves the ancient Roman lunar calendar, Roman emperors, including Julius Caesar, the Roman Senate, the priests, and the way in which politicians messed about with the calendar, and how we have avoided even greater confusion.It has been found to contain a phenomenal number of molecular compounds (at least 14,000), including some 70 amino acids. Apart from the chondrules, these may contain organic material (such as amino acids), water and pre-solar grains. In the northern hemisphere, February is often the coldest month, and most countries on both sides of the Atlantic see significant falls of snow. Craterlets are seen on the floor of Plato and the rille along the centre of the Alpine valley is clearly visible. To mark International Year of Astronomy, a team of British astronomers have made the largest lunar image in history and gained a place in the Guinness Book of Records!

2023 Night Sky Almanac: A Month-by-Month Guide to North

Observing conditions at maximum are not very favourable in 2023, because the Moon is near or at Last Quarter (Days 22 and 23 of the lunation). At the beginning of the last century it spanned 40,000 km across but now appears to be only ~16,500 km across - less than half the size. As with Mars 10 days earlier in June 2023, binoculars will help show you the Beehive around June 12 and 13, 2023, with Venus off to one side.

As shown in the diagrams, the altitude of the celestial pole is equal to the observer’s latitude, whether in the north or south. Some bright stars have no individual names, and for many years, they were identified by terms such as ‘the star in Hercules’ right foot’. In the north, the NCP is very close to Polaris, which has been known as the North Star since antiquity.

NIGHT SKY ALMANAC 2023: A stargazer’s guide - Goodreads NIGHT SKY ALMANAC 2023: A stargazer’s guide - Goodreads

The diagrams here show how this varies for the nine locations, which have been chosen to show the range of variation, rather than just for the importance of the places that have been included. The date and time are that on the Greenwich meridian (GMT), and ignore any changes for Summer Time / Daylight Saving Time (DST), and any adjustments for local time at the observer’s location. As the chart shows, this is just circumpolar for anyone at latitude 40°N, except for Alkaid (η Ursae Majoris), the last star in the ‘tail’.Orion’s Belt points up to the northwest towards Taurus (the Bull) and orange-tinted Aldebaran (α Tauri). Most features become difficult to see at Full Moon, although this is the best time to see the bright ray systems surrounding certain craters. Between Achernar and the SCP lies the triangular constellation of Hydrus, next to the constellation of Tucana which contains the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). Twinkling nearby will be much-dimmer Regulus, brightest star in Leo the Lion and considered the Heart of the Lion.