Posts by

Bruce McClure

Black Moon on September 30?

A Black Moon is the second of two new moons in a single calendar month. Whether you have one depends on your location on the globe.

Bruce McClure

September 30, 2016

Moon and Mercury on September 29

Mercury and the moon get close on the morning of September 29! They're easiest to see from the Northern Hemisphere or southern tropics.

Bruce McClure

September 28, 2016

Moon and Mercury shortly before sunrise

September 28 is also the day of Mercury's greatest elongation, when the planet will be 18 degrees west of the sun on our sky's dome. Look shortly before sunup.

Bruce McClure

September 27, 2016

Moon and star Regulus before dawn

Everyone around the world can see the moon and Regulus these next 2 mornings. From the Northern Hemisphere, you might also see Mercury.

Bruce McClure

September 26, 2016

Sun enters Virgo on September 16

The sun will stay in front of the constellation Virgo until it passes in front of the constellation Libra on October 30.

Bruce McClure

September 15, 2016

2016 Harvest Moon penumbral eclipse

There will be a subtle penumbral lunar eclipse of the 2016 Harvest Moon, visible from half of Earth, unfortunately not North America. Details here.

Deborah Byrd

Bruce McClure

September 15, 2016

September 16 full moon a supermoon?

Start watching for the waxing moon. The upcoming Harvest Moon is an especially big and bright one, but is it a supermoon? That depends on your definition.

Bruce McClure

September 14, 2016

Supermoons and the Saros cycle

Here's one you might not know ... the intriguing relationship between supermoons and the famous 18-year Saros cycle of eclipses.

Bruce McClure

September 13, 2016

Smallest Martian phase on September 13

Did you know Mars shows phases as seen from Earth? As darkness falls tonight, the waxing gibbous moon simulates Mars' smallest phase of 2016.

Bruce McClure

September 13, 2016

Minor lunar standstill and Harvest Moon

A phenomenon known as a "minor lunar standstill" will cause a shift in characteristic moonrise times on the nights around this year's Harvest Moon.

Bruce McClure

September 10, 2016

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. He's 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.