• Grace under the evening sky.
  • Mark Lovewell

What Happened to Comet Lovejoy?

Last winter a number of us had a chance to observe the faint Comet Lovejoy as it moved through the evening sky. The comet is considerably fainter now and not viewable with the naked eye. It can still be seen with a pair of binoculars with help from a chart telling where to look.

Comet Lovejoy is headed out of our solar system, moving slowly through the constellation Cassiopeia, a constellation appearing high in the northwestern sky just after sunset. There are star charts online that show where the comet resides. The ideal time to look is after the moon has set. Cassiopeia never sets and is a circumpolar constellation.

Moon and Jupiter

The gibbous moon appears near the bright planet Jupiter on Sunday night. The two are just west of the zodiacal constellation Leo. The moon moves into the constellation on Monday and appears near Regulus, the brightest star in Leo.

The moon continues to advance through the constellations of spring into Virgo in the week ahead.

April opens with the moon in Virgo. The moon is full on Friday, April 3.

 

Sunrise and Sunset
Day Sunrise Sunset
Fri., March 27 6:33 7:01
Sat., March 28 6:32 7:02
Sun., March 29 6:30 7:03
Mon., March 30 6:28 7:04
Tues., March 31 6:26 7:05
Wed., April 1 6:25 7:06
Thurs., April 2 6:23 7:07
Fri., April 3 6:21 7:08
Temperatures and Precipitation
Day Max (Fº) Min (Fº) Inches
March 20 35 21 0.00
March 21 35 27 0.14
March 22 39 32 0.16
March 23 38 19 0.00
March 24 33 22 0.00
March 25 40 23 0.00
March 26 48 36 0.13

 

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