Step outside around 45 minutes after sunset on Saturday evening (Aug. 21) and in a single glance you’ll be able to partake in a gathering of the moon and the biggest planet of our solar system, very low in the east-southeast sky.
Assuming your skies are reasonably clear, you’ll be able to see the moon passing near to the planet Jupiter. By about 10:30 p.m. local daylight time, the eye-catching celestial duo will be visible, roughly one-quarter up from the southeast horizon to the point directly overhead (called the zenith). The moon will be less than 12 hours from officially turning full and will be situated to the lower right of Jupiter, a distance of roughly 5 degrees.
That’s equal to about ten times the apparent size of the moon, and that means you should be able to fit at least 10 full moons in the gap between them in Saturday’s evening sky. And yet when you see them in the sky, they’ll be seemingly much closer together because the moon appears normally twice as big to our eyes compared to what its half-degree size would otherwise suggest; indeed, an incredible illusion!
If you know a youngster who can’t get enough of the moon, then they’ll be delighted with views through the Orion GoScope II. Revealing craters and seas up close, this little telescope comes with a carry case and moon map.View Deal
This sky map shows the view from New York City of the moon, Jupiter and Saturn on Saturday (Aug. 21) at 10 p.m. local time. (Image credit: SkySafari app)
Point this “dynamic duo” out to your friends on Saturday evening and ask them to estimate how many moons would fit in the gap between Jupiter and the moon. Likely their response will be something like “Four … maybe five.” Then watch the look of incredulity that spreads across their face when you reveal that the correct answer is closer to 10.
An Illusion of perspective
Keep in mind that what you’ll be seeing on Saturday evening is all a matter of perspective. Jupiter is 373 million miles (600 million kilometers) away from Earth, while the moon is only 233,000 miles (375,000 km) distant. As a result, the moon appears to move much faster (its own diameter per hour) against the starry background compared to the giant planet.
But on Saturday night, they will be aligned as seen from our Earthly perspective to make them appear as eye-catching sights in our sky
And as a result of its more rapid movement, on Saturday evening, the moon will change its position rather noticeably relative to Jupiter. Right after sunset, Jupiter will appear to the upper left of the moon. By 1 a.m. local time, Jupiter will “top” the moon, appearing almost directly above it. And by 5 a.m. Sunday morning, as both are about ready to call it a night low in the west-southwest sky, Jupiter will have shifted to a position to the upper right of the moon.
The full moon slides beneath Jupiter on Sunday (Aug. 22). (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
A red spot and four other moons to view
If you have a telescope or high-power binoculars, make sure to train your sights on Jupiter, a prime attraction best observed between 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. when it’s high in the sky and its image reasonably calm.
Jupiter was at opposition to the sun during the overnight hours of Aug. 19-20, meaning it was at its biggest and brightest of the year. As such, you can observe Jupiter from dusk to dawn throughout the remainder of this month. Dark belts, light bands and many other features (sometimes referred to as “garlands” and “festoons”).
Over the past 30 years or so, Jupiter’s famous Great Red Spot has gone from oval to a more circular shape, while displaying a plush orange-red coloration. It will appear nearly dead-center on Jupiter’s disk at around 11 p.m. EDT on Saturday night (0300 on Sunday, Aug. 22 GMT).
On Sunday (Aug. 22) observers with telescopes across Eastern Europe, eastern Africa, and Asia can watch the small black shadows of two of Jupiter’s moons cross the planet’s disk at the same time. At 8:42 p.m. CEST (1842 GMT), Ganymede’s large shadow will join Europa’s smaller shadow already crossing. The two shadows will appear together for two hours until Europa’s shadow moves off at 10:40 p.m. CEST (2040 GMT), leaving Ganymede’s shadow to complete its transit at 12:20 a.m. CEST (2220 GMT). In eastern Asia, the double shadow event will be observable during the wee hours of Monday morning. (Image credit: Starry Night)
And Jupiter’s four bright Galilean moons are always performing. They seem like small stars, though two of them are really larger than our own moon. It’s indeed possible to watch them change their positions relative to each other from hour to hour and from night to night.
Related stories
In fact, if you look at Jupiter with a small telescope or even steadily held binoculars on Saturday evening, you’ll see all four of those big satellites. On one side of Jupiter will be the moons Callisto and Io (much closer to Jupiter), while on the other side you’ll be able to see the biggest of the four (Ganymede) and the smallest (Europa) engaged in an incredibly tight conjunction. The two will appear closest together at around 11:30 p.m. EDT (0330 GMT), when Europa will be passing less than 3 arc seconds above Ganymede — so closely spaced that binoculars and low-power telescopes will likely show them as a single object. But only a couple of hours before and after this time, both should be readily visible in smaller instruments.
And if clouds hide your view of Jupiter and the moon, you’ll have another chance to see them near each other again on Sept. 17-18.
Editor’s note: If you snap an amazing photo of the Jupiter and the moon in August 2021 and would like to share it for a story or photo gallery, send images and comments to spacephotos@space.com!
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
