dipper@utastro.UUCP (Debbie Byrd) (01/13/86)
If you missed Jupiter, the moon and Comet Halley Sunday evening, try again Monday. More -- after this. January 13 More Halley, Jupiter and the Moon The moon is back in the evening sky now -- waxing or getting larger with each passing day. That waxing moon will soon interfere with our view of Comet Halley -- but before it does, you might catch sight of the moon near Halley. The two will be nearly side by side Monday evening. By Tuesday, the moon will be above the comet. The planet Jupiter is also nearby -- lower than the moon or the comet now in the western twilight sky. If you look and can't see the moon -- then probably you're looking too late Monday evening, after the moon has already set. But if you do see the moon -- and don't see the comet -- you may be looking in a sky that's too brightly lit with city lights. Hop in your car and drive out to someplace dark -- say, 20 or 30 miles out from the city. Or stay in the city, and try scanning the western sky near the moon with an ordinary pair of binoculars. You may or may not see the comet that way -- but it's definitely worth a try. After today, Comet Halley will be moving about half a degree to the west each day against the background stars. Jupiter -- which is now below Halley in the west after sunset -- will be moving about a quarter of a degree toward the east each day. So Jupiter and Halley are due to pass on the dome of the sky -- to appear more or less side by side in the west -- shortly before they both disappear into the glare of twilight. Watch for them next week. Script by Deborah Byrd. (c) Copyright 1985, 1986 McDonald Observatory, University of Texas at Austin