The Planetarium at Grosse Pointe Public Schools

06/23/2022

On Friday morning, there’s something special before dawn: Every naked-eye planet, plus our Moon, lines up in order of distance from the Sun.

06/23/2022

We'll have not one but many opportunities to enjoy a rare lineup of the bright planets, aligned in order of their distance from the Sun.

04/28/2022

🤞Cross your fingers for clear skies because you don't want to miss this!
🌌 A little before sunrise on 4/30 and 5/1, a close of and will occur. ✨ The two planets will be less than the diameter of the apart.

Want to learn all about the Venus-Jupiter conjunction? ⏰ Set your alarms for a special episode of Sky Observers Hangout on 4/29 at 5:00 am CT. Subscribe to our Youtube channel so you don’t miss it! https://youtu.be/QpimOMxtd98

04/13/2022

APOD: Milky Way over Devils Tower (2022 Apr 13)
Image Credit & Copyright: MaryBeth Kiczenski
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220413.html

Explanation: What created Devils Tower? The origin of this extraordinary rock monolith in Wyoming, USA is still debated, with a leading hypothesis holding that it is a hardened lava plume that never reached the surface to become a volcano. In this theory, the lighter rock that once surrounded the dense volcanic neck has now eroded away, leaving the dramatic tower. Known by Native Americans by names including Bear's Lodge and Great Gray Horn, the dense rock includes the longest hexagonal columns known, some over 180-meters tall. High above, the central band of the Milky Way galaxy arches across the sky. Many notable sky objects are visible, including dark strands of the Pipe Nebula and the reddish Lagoon Nebula to the tower's right. Green grass and trees line the foreground, while clouds appear near the horizon to the tower's left. Unlike many other international landmarks, mountaineers are permitted to climb Devils Tower.

https://www.shelbydiamondstar.com/emotional

Starship Asterisk* • APOD Discussion Page
http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=220413

04/11/2022

Sirius, Procyon, the Moon, and the Pollux-Castor pair form an enormous Y in the sky. Face southwest. Sirius is the Y's bottom. Procyon is its middle. The Moon marks the tip of its left branch, and Pollux and Castor are the end of its right branch.
https://buff.ly/3umJcc4

03/24/2022

Sunday and Monday mornings show an interesting scene: The thin crescent moon, Mars, Saturn, and Venus. Grab a pair of binoculars and see Saturn sliding under Venus with Mars immediately west!

What a great way to start your day!

03/21/2022

Look for Arcturus very low in the east-northeast after nightfall. By modern measurements Arcturus is visual magnitude –0.05, making it the fourth-brightest nighttime star. It's bested only by Sirius, Canopus, and Alpha Centauri. However, Vega and Capella are very close on its heels. Spring begins today (in the Northern Hemisphere; fall in the Southern Hemisphere)! The equinox is at 11:33 a.m. EDT. This is when the Sun crosses the equator — both Earth's equator and, equivalently, the celestial equator — heading north for the season. Venus is at its greatest elongation, 47° west of the Sun for the next couple days. But it's still not very high in the dawn. At this time of year, the ecliptic lies relatively low to the eastern dawn horizon for skywatchers at mid-northern latitudes. So that 47°-long line from the Sun to Venus lies at a low angle, not straighter up.
https://buff.ly/3MZnZvX

03/21/2022

Check out this post from the Astronomical League.

Keep your eyes on the planetary play in the southeastern sky before sunrise. What a great way to start your day!

02/22/2022

In just three more mornings, the moon joins the sky scene in the east-southeast 60-75 minutes before sunrise. Grab a pair of binoculars and head outside. Can you spot the nebula, M8, next to the crescent moon on Feb. 25?

What a great way to start your day!