- Southern Hemisphere Sky Events

Moon joins Mars, Saturn and Spica tonight

Planet spotting doesn’t get any easier than tonight. Just look above the Western horizon now for the crescent Moon. Below it you will notice a bright triangle of stars. The top star in the triangle is the planet Mars. And the bottom two stars? The left is the star Spica and the right is the planet Saturn.

Moon, Mars, Saturn and Spica finder chart 8 pm AEST 22 August 2012. Chart prepared using Sky Safari Pro Ipad app. Used with permission.

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2 thoughts on “Moon joins Mars, Saturn and Spica tonight

  1. Around 4am looking north-east maybe about 50deg. altitude from Labrador, Queensland, I can see a group of stars that look rather like a Christmas tree, with the top and the following stars that spread out to from the conical form. I am trying to identify that group, constellation or whatever it happens to be. Also, do you know of a website or softweare for PC, that can guide us to the night sky?

    Kind regards

    Clive Baumann

  2. Clive,

    Sounds very much like you were looking at some of the stars that make up Taurus ‘The Bull’. In answer to your software question, go to http://www.stellarium.org and download the Stellarium software. It’s free and very easy to use.

    Regards,

    Paul Floyd.

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