Stargazing: Ucluelet, British Columbia

Current Weather Updated: Thursday, March 11, 2010, 13:00 PST - Tofino Airport

°C

Overcast

Feels Like: -
Wind: NW 11km/h
Sunrise: 6:44
Sunset: 18:22

Relative Humidity: 76%
Pressure: 100.71 kPa
Visibility: 16.0 km
Ceiling: 2000 ft

Clear Sky ForecastUpdated: Thursday, March 11, 2010, 12:00 PST

Thursday Evening

°C

Cloudy with showers

P.O.P.: 40%, Wind: E 5km/h

Thursday Overnight

°C

Cloudy with showers

P.O.P.: 40%, Wind: NE 15km/h

Moon Phases

Mar. 15

New Moon

Mar. 23

First Quarter

Mar. 29

Full Moon

Apr. 6

Last Quarter

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

This Week in the Sky

Heart and Mane of a Lion

Rising in the east and heralding the coming of Spring is the majestic constellation of Leo -the Lion. The Lion\'s basic form is a small triangle connected to a giant hook. This prominent "sickle" represents the lions head, mane and chest. Shaped like a backward question mark, the "period" of this giant celestial punctuation is marked by the beacon-like blue white star Regulus.

Better known in antiquity as Cor Leonis, the Lion\'s Heart, its currently used name is actually taken from Latin word meaning the Royal star. Regulus lies at distance of approximately 84 light years away and is five times larger than our own puny Sun.

The second brightest star in the curve of the sickle is orange-coloured Algieba, meaning \'lion\'s mane\'. It is a glittering giant over 10 times larger and 80 times brighter than our own Sun. It is a beautiful example of a double star that contains a companion that glows a greenish-yellow in high powered binoculars. Lying at a stately distance of 100 light years from us it takes 600 years for these two gravitationally locked suns to circle each other.

- Andrew Fazekas