Here you will find notes about what you can see in the late night sky, just after sunset and also just before sunrise in Central Indiana.
Feel free to add information about the night sky in your neck of the woods! Just be sure to include your location!
The first comment below will be the one with the most up to date info as I will keep editing it.
— Nov 4th, 2009 —
1) PM – Jupiter is still lighting the night sky of late.
2) AM – Lots to see…On Nov 5th, from the east rising up you will see first the moon (it’s up all night) then Mars, then Saturn and finally Venus rises last at sunrise. Need to be looking East/Southeast from 4am on and then around 7am to see Venus.
Handy websites to use for fun…
Your Sky
http://www.fourmilab.ch/yoursky/
Explains Symbols
http://www.fourmilab.ch/yoursky/help/icons.html
Back in late February 2009 you could see Venus very well at night since its orbit placed it high in the night sky after sunset. It was a “crescent” Venus.
Here’s a snapshot that someone took of it next to the moon!
Click here and one of just Venus Click Here
That was a pretty good pic. I remember a couple months ago, here in Germany, Venus was REALLY bright. Probably -5 or -6 in magnitude. It was incredible.
Yes, It was at an extreme high at the end of Feb. and the beginning of March here. I can’t recall the last time I saw Venus in the night sky with the sunset completely gone.
For those interested in spotting satellites or the ISS [International Space Station], http://www.heavens-above.com is an awesome resource. All you have to do is plug in the coordinates of where your at, or choose from a database of preset locations. VERY cool!