COLUMBIA, S.C. — Another week is upon us which means more to look at in the night sky! A big difference from the past few weeks is that we have some great weather for almost the entire week for viewing; a very nice change.
Let's start off with an easy target in this weeks sky: The Moon.
The moon will be visible at pretty much any time of the night this week as it gets closer and closer to approaching the full moon which occurs next week. Right around sunset the moon should be right overhead so just look up.
If you are more of a morning person, we have a wonderful view about an hour before sunrise each day. Looking towards the east you will see Mercury, Mars, and Venus. Venus will be the brightest of the entire year on the 12th so go out and take a look, it will be quite the view.
Looking for a constellation? Well this week we are highlighting Ursa Minor. "The Little Bear" is a smaller constellation but contains one of the more important stars in the night sky. Polaris is known as The North Star because it remains in the northern sky the entire year in the northern hemisphere. Before modern technology it was used to navigate the world due to its relatively constant location in the sky.
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With all of this to view, what will the weather be like? Well, things are looking much better than the past few weeks. With a much quieter pattern, outside of Saturday night and possibly Sunday as well, the weather will be crystal clear and not terribly cold every night. Great conditions for looking at the night sky!
