Posts by

Bruce McClure

Moon and Spica on May 22 and 23

Spica is the brightest star in Virgo the Maiden. It's the star near the moon on May 22 and 23, 2021. Learn this star's place in starlore, here.

Bruce McClure

May 22, 2021

Jupiter at west quadrature on May 21

If you could look down on the solar system plane from above on May 21, 2021, you'd see that the sun, Earth and Jupiter form a 90 degree angle in space, with our planet Earth at the vertex of this angle.

Bruce McClure

May 20, 2021

Regulus and the 1st quarter moon on May 19

This evening - May 19, 2021 - the moon is at or near its 1st quarter phase, shining rather close to Regulus, the constellation Leo the Lion's brightest star.

Bruce McClure

May 19, 2021

Mercury at greatest elongation on May 16-17

With an unobstructed horizon in the direction of sunset, there's a good chance that'll you spot Mercury with the eye alone in mid-May 2021. Look for it above bright Venus in the west, an hour or so after the sun goes down.

Bruce McClure

May 16, 2021

Moon and 3 evening planets May 12-15

Use the waxing crescent moon to find 3 planets from May 12-15, 2021. You'll find Mercury, Venus and Mars in the west after sunset. Find them - look down at Earth below your feet - and you'll be seeing the whole inner solar system.

Bruce McClure

May 12, 2021

Star-hop to the Hunting Dogs

Star-hop to Canes Venatici, the Hunting Dogs, tonight! You can do it, if you can find the constellation Leo the Lion and the famous Big Dipper asterism.

Bruce McClure

May 6, 2021

Moon sweeps by Saturn and Jupiter May 3-5

Watch for the waning moon to swing to the south of the ringed planet Saturn and then south of the king planet Jupiter around May 3, 4 and 5, 2021.

Bruce McClure

May 1, 2021

May 2021 best month for Mercury after sunset

Live in the Northern Hemisphere? If so, May 2021 presents the year's best month for spotting the planet Mercury in the evening sky.

Bruce McClure

May 1, 2021

Year’s 1st supermoon on April 26-27

The April 2021 full moon presents the first of a "season" of 3-straight full moon supermoons. April's supermoon is the 2nd closest full moon supermoon of the year.

Bruce McClure

April 25, 2021

Moon near star Spica on April 25

From around the world tonight, use the waxing gibbous moon to locate Spica, the brightest star in the constellation Virgo the Maiden.

Bruce McClure

April 25, 2021

Bruce McClure

Bruce McClure served as lead writer for EarthSky's popular Tonight pages from 2004 to 2021, when he opted for a much-deserved retirement. You can still find many articles at EarthSky.org that were originally written by Bruce, and which the EarthSky editors still update regularly. Bruce is a sundial aficionado, whose love for the heavens has taken him to Lake Titicaca in Bolivia and sailing in the North Atlantic, where he earned his celestial navigation certificate through the School of Ocean Sailing and Navigation. He also wrote and hosted public astronomy programs and planetarium programs in and around his home in upstate New York. Bruce he loves cycles of all kinds! You can still find many articles at EarthSky with Bruce's name on them, exploring the various, intricate cycles of the sky.