Steve’s Virtual Planet

Saturn is back for 2025

Saturn is back in the late evening sky again for 2025 and easy to find in the southeastern sky after about 10:00, in the western part of the constellation Pisces. The ringed world has been getting higher in the sky daily, making for better views each week.

Opposition is on September 20 for this apparition and the rings are around 2 degree tilt, almost a straight line (edge on) but still looking very impressive. During this event, the rings will be their brightest due to the Seeliger Effect. Here’s a detailed account of this phenomenon as description by renowned observer Stephen James O’Meara. The Cassini division will still easy to make out with the rings still exposed in the eastern and western edges.

Looking ahead to October, I hope to get get some good views of the ringed planet through Fernbank’s 36 inch Cassegrain. There will be plenty of opportunities to catch the Lord of the Rings through Christmas and from late October, it will share the night sky with Jupiter. In the telescope, the Saturn’s pail yellow color is a easy to detect and fun to compare to the richer hues of Jupiter to the east.

EarthSky has some great resources for viewing the visible planets so you can keep up with all of these solar system objects in advance.

Wish you great views of Saturn this year! Clear skies!

First published Aug 7, 2024, Update Aug 27, 2025

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Full Moon Names - August

The most common traditional full moon name for July is the Full Sturgeon Moon. This month’s full moon appears early on Saturday, August 9th, around 3:55 AM EDT. In the evening that same day, the moon will rise around 9:01PM and should clear the tree line around 10:20PM. As a bonus, the moon will reveal a close conjunction with planet Saturn two nights later!!

Check the almanac references in the links below:

From the older Old Farmer’s Almanac - August Full Moon. See the article to access a moon rise calculator. There are also alternative names from early American history various native cultures.

From the newer Farmer’s Almanac - August Full Moon. There is a deeper explanation of the history of the Full Buck moon in North America and some additional alternate names.

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Full Moon Names - July

The most common traditional full moon name for July is the Full Buck Moon. Summer is here in full force and this months full moon appears early on Thursday, July 1th, right after sunset. In the evening, the moon will rise around 9:15 PM and should clear the tree line between 10 and 11 PM. Check the almanac references in the links below

From the older Old Farmer’s Almanac - July Full Moon. See the article to access a moon rise calculator. There are also alternative names from early American history various native cultures.

From the newer Farmer’s Almanac - July Full Moon. There is a deeper explanation of the history of the Full Buck moon in North America and some additional alternate names.

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Full Moon Names - June

The most common traditional full moon name for June is the Strawberry Moon. Check the alternate names in the links below. Summer is on the way and this months full moon happens on the solstice.

This year, the full Moon appears on Wednesday, June 11th. In the eastern US, the moon will rise just after sunset, around 8:48 PM and should start clearing the tree line around 11:30 PM.

From the older Old Farmer’s Almanac - June Full Moon. See the article to access a moon rise calculator. There are also alternative names from early American history various native cultures.

From the newer Farmer’s Almanac - June Full Moon. There is a deeper explanation of the history of the worm moon in North America and some additional alternate names.

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Full Moon Names - May

The most common traditional full moon name for May is the Flower Moon. One might think of spring time and the trees and shrubs in bloom, but check the alternate names in the links below,

This year, the full Moon appears on Monday, May 12th. In the eastern US, the moon will rise at 8:56 PM and should start clearing the tree line around 11:00 PM.

From the older Old Farmer’s Almanac - May Full Moon. See the article to access a moon rise calculator. There are also alternative names from early American history various native cultures.

From the newer Farmer’s Almanac - May Full Moon. There is a deeper explanation of the history of the worm moon in North America and some additional alternate names.

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How stars shine

One of my previous posts considered the use of the terms magnitude and size when talking about a star. Well, as I pointed out then, when we are talking about stars, one has to start with the term “mass”. Everything depends on the stellar mass. That is the starting point when trying to understand all of the other physical properties of any star. The star’s initial mass sets the course for the life of that star and even its life span.

These links get you to the heart of a star quite literally to detail a star’s radiation and stellar structure. Star’s shine because of the enormous amounts of energy released in their cores due to nuclear fusion. The star’s mass, in combination with the force of gravity and the electromagnetic and nuclear forces, provides the means for a star to brightly shine for millions and even billions of years.

Without duplicating all that is written already about stars, the additional links below take you to more of the Wikipedia pages on stars and their complex characteristics.

Wikipedia: Star

Wikipedia: Stellar_evolution

Wikipedia: Star_formation

Wikipedia: Stellar_structure

Wikipedia: Stellar classification

Originally published 5-10-15, revised 6-26-25

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Full Moon Names - April

The most common traditional full moon name for April is the Pink Moon. One might think of spring time and the robins looking for worms, but check the alternate names in the links below,

This year, the full Moon appears on Saturday, April 12th. In the eastern US, the moon will rise at 8:22 PM and should start clearing the tree line around 9:45 PM.

From the older Old Farmer’s Almanac - April Full Moon. See the article to access a moon rise calculator. There are also alternative names from early American history various native cultures.

From the newer Farmer’s Almanac - April Full Moon. There is a deeper explanation of the history of the worm moon in North America and some additional alternate names.

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Orion, The Hunter - Part One

For this first installment of “The Constellations” series, I am going take the opportunity to begin with perhaps my favorite of them all, Orion.

Orion is one of most recognizable star patterns in the sky and is often depicted as a male human figure, for example, The Hunter. The Greek mythology concerning Orion is the one most well known in modern time, however, peoples all over the world have invented all manner of stories about this prominent constellation. For at least 50 centuries cultures have been known to idolize this god like character in their myths and legends.

As fascinating as these eons of myths are, the stars, clusters and deep sky objects within Orion are truly the highlight of this wonderful constellation. Many of these features are easy to locate and study through a modest size telescope. Even in a suburban sky, one can see 8 stars bright enough to peep through the typical sky pollution of a big city. Some objects are even more impressive through binoculars for a wider field of view. The Orion Nebula, for example, is the main feature that reveals more and more detail as you view with increasing magnification.

The most well known and studied objects in Orion are between about 240 to around 1500 light years from Earth, part of the Milky Way. These primary targets that we see in the constellation reside in the same spiral arm of the galaxy, which is where our own Solar System is found. This concentration of stars is known as the Orion-Cygnus Arm. At this relatively close distance, Orion’s stars and nebula are truly in our cosmic neighborhood.

Check out the links above as there is a wealth of information and history related to Orion. Look for more additions on Orion as part of the series “The Constellations”. I will be exploring the key objects already mentioned and describing binocular and telescope views for suburban and country skies.

Originally published on 2-24-24, updated 3-20-25

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Full Moon Names - March

The most common traditional full moon name for March is the Worm Moon. This year we also get a “Blood” Moon as a bonus, a full lunar eclipse visible from all of North America!

This year, the full Moon appears EARLY on Friday, March 14th. In the eastern US, the moon will rise at 8:19 PM EDT however the lunar eclipse begins around 11:57 PM EDT.

One might think of spring time and the robins looking for worms, but check the alternate names in the links below.

From the older Old Farmer’s Almanac - March Full Moon. See the article to access a moon rise calculator. There are also alternative names from early American history various native cultures.

From the newer Farmer’s Almanac - March Full Moon. There is a deeper explanation of the history of the worm moon in North America and some additional alternate names.

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Full Moon Names - February

This year, the full Moon appears on Wednesday, February 12. In the eastern US, the moon will rise at 11:43AM.

The most common traditional name for this month is the Snow Moon.

From the older Old Farmer’s Almanac - February Full Moon. See the article to access a moonrise calculator. There are also alternative names from other cultures.

From the newer Farmer’s Almanac - February Full Moon. There is an expanded explanation of the history of the wolf in North America and some additional alternate names.

Originally published 2-24-24; updated 2-12-25

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