The night sky this week has a few treats including the asteroid Vesta, Mars and the Moon getting close, Jupiter’s moons crossing the planet and the fantastic nebulae in Sagittarius showing off.
A Kiwi perspective on astronomy and space science news and how to get the most out the night sky
Tag: neptune
ESA’s CHEOPS exoplanet hunting mission
ESA is planing on launching the CHEOPS satellite later this year. It will be used to collect more accurate information on exoplanets from systems known to already have exoplanets.
The night sky 15 to 21 January 2018
Next week, Mars and Jupiter are better positioned in the early morning, before dawn, to get some good views and it might be the last chance to see Mercury for a while. With the moon taking a break the opportunity exists for some great views of some of the more fainter objects.
In the Sky in December 2017
The evening sky is mostly devoid of visible planetary landscapes, with the exception of Mars and Jupiter late in the morning and Uranus and Neptune throughout most of the night (which you will need a telescope to see).