Andy’s Astronomy: The Night Sky is Fascinating

By ANDY KOBER
Jupiter remains incredibly bright in the night sky, but is not the only planet to see.
Those with exceptionally sharp vision in a very dark area might spot the planet Uranus, which can be seen on a compass heading of 285 degrees at an inclination of 34 degrees – this according to amateur astronomer Ms. Lynn. Many people struggle to see Mars or Venus, planets much close to Earth, but she makes spotting Uranus almost a hobby.
Just to the right and a bit higher in the sky is Pleiades, also known as the Seven Sisters.
Pleiades is a star cluster located about 444 light-years from Earth and is dominated by hot blue stars. It can be seen with the unaided eye even in areas with considerable light pollution.
In 1610, Galileo was the first to view Pleiades with a telescope and produced a sketch showing 36 stars and in 1779, French astronomer Edme-Sebastian Jeaurat drew a map of Pleiades showing 64 stars. Today, the cluster is reported to contain over 1,000 stars with 14 viewable with the unaided eye.
Keep your eyes on the sky for passing fireballs.
Meteors can flash across the sky anytime, day or night, and extraordinarily bright meteors are often referred to as fireballs — and they are spotted quite often.
On Saturday, March 14, five people across Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, and Tennessee, reported seeing a fireball.
The fireball was first reported at 1230 am Central by a skywatcher in Owens Cross Roads, AL. The fireball was seen as far north and east as Benton, TN, as far south as Tuscaloosa, AL, and as far west as Steens, MS. The fireball appeared to be travelling from the south-southwest to the north-northeast.
One person reported hearing the fireball make a sound, but none witnessed it fragment.
Anyone seeing a fireball is urged to report the sighting to https://amsmeteors.org
We will continue researching planets found in science fiction soon. In the meantime going outside and looking at the sky, especially the night sky, can be fun and educational for the entire family.
There are a number of free apps available to help identify stars and constellations, and some of the apps will show satellites.
Happy skywatching!