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NEWS ABOUT: night sky

Explore Galaxy With New Google App

Star Droid helps cellphone astronomers with GPS, maps, tags

(Newser) - Budding astronomers will soon have a new cell-phone tool that spots the stars they’re looking for, the Telegraph reports. Google’s Star Droid helps stargazers navigate the night sky using GPS technology that cross-references the user’s position with existing space maps, and adds identifying tags to the heavenly... More »

Big Moon Rising This Weekend

Star-gazers who missed December's perigee get a second chance to look up Saturday

(Newser) - Star-gazers are hoping for clear skies this evening, when the full moon will make its biggest and brightest appearance of 2009. As it rises at sunset, the moon will appear 14% larger and 30% brighter than the year's subsequent moons, Space.com reports. The show—the result of the moon... More »

Moon Will Appear Extra Bright Tonight

Tonight's sky will seem 30 percent brighter than usual, NASA says

(Newser) - If tonight’s full moon looks bigger and brighter than normal, that’s because it is, Space.com reports. The satellite reaches its perigree today, making its position the closest of the year to Earth—though still some 222,000 miles away. The moon's irregular orbit causes the distance to... More »

Town Bans Lights to Save Milky Way

(Newser) - Stargazing is more than an idle pleasure on Mount Desert Island, Maine. It's also a tourist attraction protected by law. Voters on the island recently banned new outdoor lights that aim upwards and contribute to obstructing the island's rare view of the naked Milky Way. The goal is to draw... More »

Jupiter, Venus, Moon Converge in Rare Reunion

Spectacular planetary 'huddle' to start tonight

(Newser) - Americans looking at the night sky this weekend will be able to see the three brightest celestial bodies come together for a Thanksgiving reunion, the AP reports. Jupiter and Venus will move closer and appear to be just a finger's width apart by Sunday. By Monday, the crescent moon will... More »

Light Pollution Veils Starry Skies

Obscured night sky could be a health hazard

(Newser) - Dark skies are being engulfed by light all over the world, creating some unexpected consequences, the Wall Street Journal reports. Over two-thirds of the world's people— including nearly all Americans—can no longer see "what is possibly the most extraordinary natural wonder," said one astronomer. The amount of... More »

Scientists Explain Northern Lights

Finding could help scientists predict storms that take out satellites

(Newser) - Scientists say they have solved the mystery of what causes the dazzling northern lights to seemingly dance across the sky, Wired reports. The light show, also known as aurora borealis, is triggered by explosions of magnetic energy about 80,000 miles away. The findings—drawn from five NASA satellites working... More »

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