Stargazing: St. Paul, Alberta

Current Weather Updated: Saturday, December 19, 2009, 19:00 MST - Cold Lake Airport

°F

A few clouds

Feels Like: 10
Wind: W 7m/h
Sunrise: 8:41
Sunset: 16:08

Relative Humidity: 67%
Pressure: 1,018.80 mb
Visibility: 14.9 miles
Ceiling: unlimited

Clear Sky ForecastUpdated: Saturday, December 19, 2009, 15:00 MST

Saturday Evening

°F

Clear

P.O.P.: 0%, Wind: W 12mph

Saturday Overnight

°F

Clear

P.O.P.: 0%, Wind: W 9mph

Moon Phases

Dec. 24

First Quarter

Dec. 31

Full Moon

Jan. 7

Last Quarter

Jan. 15

New Moon

Click here to calculate the sunrise, sunset, moonrise, moonset times and the seasonal calendar.

This Week in the Sky

The Celestial Sisters

Skywatchers gazing up at the constellation Taurus will notice a small hazy patch of light perched above the V-shaped cluster of stars that mark the head of the Bull. Shining nearly overhead in the southern sky are the Pleiades, the best known star cluster in the heavens and certainly the most striking to the naked eye.

Nicknamed since ancient times the Seven Sisters, this jewel box marks the bovine’s shoulder. It is easily visible to the naked eye as a tight group of 5 to 7 stars, but binoculars will reveal over a 100 cluster members. Lying at a stately distance of 440 light years, the cluster is actually composed of 300 baby stars less than 100 million years old, making them less than 2% of our Sun’s age.

The Pleiades are so young that the stars are still surrounded by gas and dust left over from the formation of the cluster. Slowly the Pleiades sisters are wandering away from each other, eventually causing the cluster to disappear in about 250 million years form now.

- Andrew Fazekas