Download a free trial copy of
Starry Night Backyard and explore the night sky yourself.
SPACE.com offers convenient online ordering 24 hours a day, every day.
“Starry Night is an excellent
aid for exploring the heavens...a superb, well documented program that
will transform you into an expert in no time.”
--ZDNet, 5 star rating
"There are few experiences as invigorating as being out in the countryside standing under a canopy of star on a still night. Starry Night conveys that feeling better than any other desktop planetarium"
--New York Times
StarGazer
Each week most PBS stations air Star
Gazer with Jack Horkheimer, the world's first and only weekly TV series
on naked-eye astronomy. The images on this page illustrate the show for
the week of Monday,
July 10, 2000.
It's Zubenelgenubi and Zubeneschamali Time Once Again!
A look at Scorpius, Zubeneschamali and Zubenelgenubi about 1 1/2 hours after sunset. The Scorpion's brightest star, Antares, is far brighter than Zubeneschamali today. 2000 years ago the two stars were equal in brightness.
A good set of binoculars or a small telescope will split Zubenelgenubi into two stars. The brighter of the two stars in this image is itself composed of two stars, but they are too close together to separate into distinct objects, even with a very powerful telescope.
ubenelgenubi lies very close to the path of the moon and sun, and is sometimes covered by one of them. This is called an occultation.
Click here to see a QuickTime movie of a lunar occultation of Zubenelgenubi.
