Stargazing: Grand Falls, New Brunswick

Current Weather Updated: Sunday, November 8, 2009, 16:00 AST - St Leonard Airport

°C

Clear

Feels Like: -
Wind: W 13km/h
Wind gusts: 30km/h
Sunrise: 7:23
Sunset: 17:05

Relative Humidity: 35%
Pressure: 101.61 kPa
Visibility: 24.0 km
Ceiling: unlimited

Clear Sky ForecastUpdated: Sunday, November 8, 2009, 15:19 AST

Sunday Evening

°C

Clear

P.O.P.: 0%, Wind: W 15km/h

Sunday Overnight

°C

Clear

P.O.P.: 10%, Wind: W 10km/h

Moon Phases

Nov. 9

Last Quarter

Nov. 16

New Moon

Nov. 24

First Quarter

Dec. 2

Full Moon

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

This Week in the Sky

Stellar Gems of the Charioteer

Pentagon-shaped Auriga constellation in the northeast sky is an easy target for stargazers thanks to the brilliance of Capella. Lying along the mid-section of the charioteer is an impressive trio of star clusters. Visible to the unaided eye as fuzzy patches in the countryside, within city limits binoculars will begin to reveal their true jewel-like beauty.

The most compact and faintest is M36, which lies right in the belly of Auriga. It contains about 60 stars huddled together at a remote distance of 4,100 light years away. Right next door in the direction of Auriga’s lead star Capella, M38 is the most widely scattered cluster of 100 stars at 4,200 light years away.

Finally, the brightest of the three galactic splendors, M37 is found just below the pentagon-shaped constellation. Containing over 150 stars, it is dominated by a distinctly orange tinted star at its center and is at an awesome distance of 4,400 light years.

- Andrew Fazekas