Labor Day weekend astronomy guide
There will be plenty to see in the night sky this holiday weekend! If you find yourself outside at night, take a look skyward.
You can't miss the planets. The four brightest planets will be visible right after the sun goes down. You'll have to be quick to spot Venus; it sets around 9 p.m. Jupiter won't be far away. Mars and Saturn will be in the the sky through most of the night.
The moon will reach last quarter this weekend as it continues to wane. The moon will not rise until around midnight. So, if you want to spot some faint objects, like the Milky Way, the evening hours will be your best bet.
Speaking of the moon, look for it to be near the Pleiades this weekend. The Pleiades are a great target for a small telescope or binoculars. It's amazing how many bright blue stars are packed close to each other in this cluster!
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">M45 The Pleiades.Closer view of the cluster with a little more blue nebulosity visible and some nice star colours!⺠<a href="https://t.co/Nq1YHGOqJZ">pic.twitter.com/Nq1YHGOqJZ</a></p>— Ralph Smyth ð (@Celestman) <a href="https://twitter.com/Celestman/status/663485577908641792?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 8, 2015</a></blockquote>
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Meteor viewing will be down this weekend as we are in between meteor showers. But, you could catch a glimpse of an aurora. There are no expected solar storms. Aurora activity always picks up towards the equinoxes.
The best things in life are free, and not too many things are free anymore; however, looking at the night sky is still one of those things. Thanks for reading! Just look up; you never know what you will see.
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