What's Up?

"Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp,
Or what's a heaven for?"
- Robert Browning (1812-1889)

Visit the Sandburg Sky Poetry Web page, including CSMS student-authored sky poems.

Complete Sun and Moon Data for One Day for Washington, D.C. (use default settings; click "Get data" button)...

Monthly calendar of sunrise/set, twilight times, moonrise/set, and Moon phases...

The line that divides day & night is called the terminator. As the Earth rotates counterclockwise, the terminator appears to move from east to west.

(Graphic produced using Xearth.)

(Graphic courtesy US Naval Observatory.)

New Moon: Jul 10

First Quarter: Jul 17

Full Moon: Jul 24

Last Quarter: Aug 01

New Moon: Aug 08

Sandburg Center for Sky Awareness
A Fairfax County Public Schools Planetarium

What's Up in the Sky?

Plan your skywatching sessions by visiting several of the better online sky guides...

This Week's Sky at a Glance and Planet Roundup, courtesy Sky & Telescope magazine
StarDate Online Weekly Stargazing Tips, courtesy The University of Texas McDonald Observatory
Jack Horkheimer: Star Gazer - The world's first and only weekly TV series on naked-eye astronomy
Two resources from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Albert Einstein Planetarium: the Weekly Skywatcher's Report; and the Monthly Skywatcher's Report, featuring detailed black-&-white star charts perfect for printing (showing Moon phases/positions, planet positions, and other night sky observing targets).
Abram's Planetarium Skywatcher's Diary (for the current month)
SCSA Constellation of the Month (CoM) features one or two prominent constellations visible high in the southern and/or northern skies, including one (or more) non-Zodiac and one Zodiac constellation (as shown on FCPS Starfinder). Associated mythology is highlighted.
Skymaps.com - free monthly star maps, available in Adobe Acrobat PDF
Call the Smithsonian Institution's Skywatcher's Report at 202-357-2000 (a free, tape-recorded message).
Astronomy in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Region
Sky & Telescope magazine's Visual Observing - "How to see the wonders of the heavens with your own eyes with or without a telescope."

...and don't forget to check the weather forecast--you can't see stars if it's cloudy!

WeatherNet4 Forecasts, courtesy WeatherNet4
Current Conditions and Five-Day Forecast for Washington, D.C., courtesy USA TODAY
Forecast and Current Conditions for Washington, D.C. (including links to local Doppler radar, regional Doppler radar, and regional weather satellite imagery), courtesy The Weather Channel