Archive
02/06/2019 – Ephemeris – Saturn is back, and a look at some other bright planets
Ephemeris for Wednesday, February 6th. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 2 minutes, setting at 5:58, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:54. The Moon, 2 days past new, will set at 7:47 this evening.
Let’s look at the planets for this week. Our only evening planet Mars will be in the southwestern sky this evening and will set at 11:50 p.m. It’s too far away to see much detail in a small telescope. In the morning sky we have Jupiter which will rise tomorrow at 4:17 a.m. It is second to Venus in brightness, and now is west of Venus. In small telescopes up to four of Jupiter’s moons are visible. Venus will rise at 5:17 a.m. tomorrow. In small telescopes it is a featureless slightly gibbous moon shape. Its phase will now grow more toward full as its size shrinks as it continues its long journey around and behind the Sun. Saturn is making an appearance in morning twilight rising at 6:12 a.m. tomorrow in the east-southeast.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Mars and the evening constellations tonight at 8 p.m. February 6, 2019. Note the faint planet Uranus near Mars. They will appear only a degree apart next Wednesday night for a telescopic treat. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.
Jupiter, Venus, and the rising Saturn at 7 a.m. tomorrow morning February 7, 2019. Created using Stellarium.
Venus and Jupiter with the same magnification at 6 a.m. tomorrow morning February 7, 2019. Io is just peeking out on the lower left edge, though not quite showing up in this chart. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
Planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise of a single night starting with sunset on the right on February 6, 2019. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 7th. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program.
02/05/2019 – Ephemeris – The Great Orion Nebula
Ephemeris for Tuesday, February 5th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 59 minutes, setting at 5:56, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:56. The Moon, 1 day past new, will set at 6:47 this evening.
The closest star nursery to us is the Great Orion Nebula, 1,344 light years away give or take 20 light years. A light year is about 6 trillion miles, if you want to pace it out. It’s located in the constellation Orion’s sword that hangs below his belt. In as little as a pair of binoculars it shines by emission and reflection of the light of a clutch of four stars at its heart, that astronomers have called the Trapezium. These extremely hot baby stars are not destined to live long. Unlike the Sun’s 10 billion year life time these stars lifespan will be measured in millions of years. Yet do not mourn for them, Even now stars are forming in their dusty cocoons in the nebula. The Trapezium stars death will provide the material for new stars.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
The lower part of Orion with the Great Orion Nebula. Created using Stellarium.
The Great Orion Nebula (M42) long exposure photograph by Scott Anttila. Includes all the sword stars.
The Trapezium stars in the inner part of the Great Orion Nebula. Image by Scott Anttila
02/04/2019 – Ephemeris – Gemini the twins, or are they?
Ephemeris for Monday, February 4th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 56 minutes, setting at 5:55, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:57. The Moon is new today, and won’t be visible.
Lets look at another of the winter constellations, and member of the Zodiac. The constellation Gemini, the Twins is visible high in the southeast, above and left of Orion the hunter at 9 p.m. The namesake stars of the two lads, will be at the left end of Gemini, nearly vertically aligned. Castor is on top, while Pollux is below. From them come two lines of stars extending toward Orion that outline the two. In Greek mythology the lads were half brothers, Castor was fathered by a mere mortal, while Pollux was fathered by Zeus in the famous Leda and the swan affair and immortal, but were born together as twins. When Castor was killed during the quest for the Golden Fleece, Pollux pleaded with Zeus to let him die also, so Zeus placed them together in the sky so they could be together forever.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
An animated look at two versions of the Gemini outlines. First the way I learned them as an outline of the lads. Second the way H. A. Rey from his popular 1952 book The Stars – A New Way to See Them, where the stars are connected to make stick figures. The Stellarium default for Gemini is that of H. A. Rey. My lines are due to a modification of the constellation lines table for the program. Created using Stellarium.
02/01/2019 – Ephemeris – The annual Telescope Clinic tonight
Ephemeris for Friday, February 1st. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 49 minutes, setting at 5:51, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:00. The Moon, 3 days before new, will rise at 6:40 tomorrow morning.
Did you or someone in your family get a telescope for Christmas, or have one in a closet or attic because you don’t know how to put it together or how to operate it? Or maybe you are trying to figure out which one to buy. Well, tonight’s your night. The Grand Traverse Astronomical Society will host a telescope clinic at Northwestern Michigan College’s Rogers Observatory on Birmley Road, south of Traverse City starting at 8 p.m. Telescope experts from the society will help you set up your telescope and give you observing tips. So bring ’em if you’ve got ’em. If it’s clear, at 9 p.m., there will be a star party to try out your telescope, or try them out on the lights of Traverse City. Can’t make it? We can help you after any meeting.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
01/31/2019 – Ephemeris – Previewing February’s skies
Ephemeris for Thursday, January 31st. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 46 minutes, setting at 5:49, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:02. The Moon, half way from last quarter to new, will rise at 5:50 tomorrow morning.
February is the shortest month, even so the daylight hours throughout the month will be getting longer. Daylight hours will increase from 9 hours and 49 minutes tomorrow the first to 11 hours and 6 minutes on the 28th. The sunrise time will decrease from 8:02 tomorrow to 7:22 at month’s end. The sunset times will increase from 5:51 tomorrow to 6:28 on the 28th. Along with that the altitude of the sun at noon will increase from 28 degrees tomorrow to nearly 38 degrees at month’s end. Local noon, by the way for Interlochen and Traverse City is about 12:55 p.m. Mercury has just entered the evening sky and will be visible in twilight after sunset later this month.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addenda
February Evening Star Chart
Star Chart for February 2019 (9 p.m. EST February 15, 2019). Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.
The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 9 p.m. EST in the evening and 6 a.m. for the morning chart. These are the chart times. Note that Traverse City is located approximately 45 minutes behind our time meridian. (An hour 45 minutes behind our daylight saving time meridian during EDT). To duplicate the star positions on a planisphere you may have to set it to 1 hour 45 minutes earlier than the current time.
Note the chart times of 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. are for the 15th. For each week before the 15th add ½ hour (28 minutes if you’re picky). For each week after the 15th subtract ½ hour. The planet positions are updated each Wednesday on this blog. For planet positions on dates other than the 15th, check the Wednesday planet posts on this blog.
February Morning Star Chart
Star Chart for February mornings 2019 (6 a.m. EST February 15, 2019). Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.
For a list of constellation names to go with the abbreviations click here.
- Pointer stars at the front of the bowl of the Big Dipper point to Polaris the North Star.
- Follow the arc of the handle of the Big Dipper to the star Arcturus, and
- Extend like a spike to Spica,
- The Summer Triangle is in red.
Twilight Limits, Nautical and Astronomical
| Traverse City | Morning twilight | Evening twilight | Dark night | Moon | |||
| Date | Astro. | Nautical | Nautical | Astro. | Start | End | Illum. |
| 2019-02-01 | 6h22m | 6h56m | 18h55m | 19h30m | 19h30m | 5h51m | 0.09 |
| 2019-02-02 | 6h21m | 6h55m | 18h57m | 19h31m | 19h31m | 6h21m | 0.04 |
| 2019-02-03 | 6h20m | 6h54m | 18h58m | 19h32m | 19h32m | 6h20m | 0.01 |
| 2019-02-04 | 6h19m | 6h53m | 18h59m | 19h33m | 19h33m | 6h19m | 0 |
| 2019-02-05 | 6h18m | 6h52m | 19h01m | 19h35m | 19h35m | 6h18m | 0.01 |
| 2019-02-06 | 6h17m | 6h51m | 19h02m | 19h36m | 19h48m | 6h17m | 0.03 |
| 2019-02-07 | 6h16m | 6h50m | 19h03m | 19h37m | 20h48m | 6h16m | 0.08 |
| 2019-02-08 | 6h15m | 6h49m | 19h04m | 19h38m | 21h49m | 6h15m | 0.14 |
| 2019-02-09 | 6h14m | 6h47m | 19h06m | 19h40m | 22h50m | 6h14m | 0.21 |
| 2019-02-10 | 6h12m | 6h46m | 19h07m | 19h41m | 23h53m | 6h12m | 0.3 |
| 2019-02-11 | 6h11m | 6h45m | 19h08m | 19h42m | – | 6h11m | 0.4 |
| 2019-02-12 | 6h10m | 6h44m | 19h10m | 19h43m | 0h57m | 6h10m | 0.51 |
| 2019-02-13 | 6h08m | 6h42m | 19h11m | 19h45m | 2h03m | 6h08m | 0.62 |
| 2019-02-14 | 6h07m | 6h41m | 19h12m | 19h46m | 3h11m | 6h07m | 0.73 |
| 2019-02-15 | 6h06m | 6h40m | 19h13m | 19h47m | 4h18m | 6h06m | 0.83 |
| 2019-02-16 | 6h04m | 6h38m | 19h15m | 19h48m | 5h22m | 6h04m | 0.91 |
| 2019-02-17 | 6h03m | 6h37m | 19h16m | 19h50m | – | – | 0.97 |
| 2019-02-18 | 6h02m | 6h35m | 19h17m | 19h51m | – | – | 0.97 |
| 2019-02-19 | 6h00m | 6h34m | 19h19m | 19h52m | – | – | 1 |
| 2019-02-20 | 5h59m | 6h32m | 19h20m | 19h54m | – | – | 0.99 |
| 2019-02-21 | 5h57m | 6h31m | 19h21m | 19h55m | 19h55m | 21h05m | 0.96 |
| 2019-02-22 | 5h55m | 6h29m | 19h22m | 19h56m | 19h56m | 22h19m | 0.9 |
| 2019-02-23 | 5h54m | 6h28m | 19h24m | 19h57m | 19h57m | 23h31m | 0.81 |
| 2019-02-24 | 5h52m | 6h26m | 19h25m | 19h59m | 19h59m | – | 0.71 |
| 2019-02-25 | 5h51m | 6h24m | 19h26m | 20h00m | 20h00m | 0h41m | 0.61 |
| 2019-02-26 | 5h49m | 6h23m | 19h28m | 20h01m | 20h01m | 1h47m | 0.5 |
| 2019-02-27 | 5h47m | 6h21m | 19h29m | 20h03m | 20h03m | 2h49m | 0.4 |
| 2019-02-28 | 5h46m | 6h20m | 19h30m | 20h04m | 20h04m | 3h46m | 0.3 |
Twilight calendar was generated using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
See my blog post: Twilight Zone for the definitions of the different periods of twilight here: https://bobmoler.wordpress.com/2019/09/27/
NASA Calendar of Planetary Events
| Date | Local Time | Event | ||
| Feb | 1 | Fr | Venus: 45.1° W | |
| 1 | Fr | 7:48 PM | Moon South Dec.: 21.5° S | |
| 2 | Sa | 2:18 AM | Moon-Saturn: 0.7° S | |
| 3 | Su | 1:35 AM | Moon Descending Node | |
| 4 | Mo | 4:04 PM | New Moon | |
| 5 | Tu | 4:26 AM | Moon Apogee: 406600 km | |
| 12 | Tu | 5:26 PM | First Quarter | |
| 13 | We | 10:29 PM | Moon-Aldebaran: 1.7° S | |
| 16 | Sa | 4:56 AM | Moon North Dec.: 21.6° N | |
| 17 | Su | 4:42 AM | Moon Ascending Node | |
| 17 | Su | 10:05 PM | Moon-Beehive: 0.6° N | |
| 18 | Mo | 9:16 AM | Venus-Saturn: 1.1° N | |
| 19 | Tu | 4:06 AM | Moon Perigee: 356800 km | |
| 19 | Tu | 8:08 AM | Moon-Regulus: 2.4° S | |
| 19 | Tu | 10:53 AM | Full Moon | |
| 26 | Tu | 6:28 AM | Last Quarter | |
| 26 | Tu | 7:59 PM | Mercury Greatest Elongation: 18.1° E | |
| 27 | We | 9:17 AM | Moon-Jupiter: 2.5° S | |
| Mar | 1 | Fr | Venus 40.8° W |
All event times are given for UTC-5:00: Eastern Standard or Daylight Time
Sky Events Calendar by Fred Espenak and Sumit Dutta (NASA’s GSFC),
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SKYCAL/SKYCAL.html
If you go to the above site you can print out a list like the above for the entire year or calendar pages for your time zone.
Sun and Moon Rising and Setting Events
Ephemeris of Sky Events for Interlochen/TC |
||||||||||
| February, 2019 – Local time zone: EST | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Sun | Twilight* | Moon | Illum | ||||||
| Rise | Set | Hours | End | Start | Phase | R/S** | Time | Fractn | ||
| Fri | 1 | 08:02a | 05:51p | 09:49 | 06:57p | 06:56a | Rise | 06:40a | 7% | |
| Sat | 2 | 08:00a | 05:52p | 09:51 | 06:58p | 06:55a | Rise | 07:24a | 3% | |
| Sun | 3 | 07:59a | 05:54p | 09:54 | 06:59p | 06:53a | Rise | 08:01a | 1% | |
| Mon | 4 | 07:58a | 05:55p | 09:56 | 07:01p | 06:52a | New | Set | 05:48p | 0% |
| Tue | 5 | 07:57a | 05:56p | 09:59 | 07:02p | 06:51a | Set | 06:47p | 1% | |
| Wed | 6 | 07:56a | 05:58p | 10:02 | 07:03p | 06:50a | Set | 07:47p | 4% | |
| Thu | 7 | 07:54a | 05:59p | 10:04 | 07:04p | 06:49a | Set | 08:48p | 9% | |
| Fri | 8 | 07:53a | 06:01p | 10:07 | 07:06p | 06:48a | Set | 09:48p | 15% | |
| Sat | 9 | 07:52a | 06:02p | 10:10 | 07:07p | 06:47a | Set | 10:50p | 22% | |
| Sun | 10 | 07:50a | 06:03p | 10:13 | 07:08p | 06:45a | Set | 11:52p | 31% | |
| Mon | 11 | 07:49a | 06:05p | 10:16 | 07:10p | 06:44a | Set | 12:57a | 40% | |
| Tue | 12 | 07:47a | 06:06p | 10:18 | 07:11p | 06:43a | F Qtr | Set | 02:03a | 51% |
| Wed | 13 | 07:46a | 06:08p | 10:21 | 07:12p | 06:41a | Set | 03:10a | 61% | |
| Thu | 14 | 07:44a | 06:09p | 10:24 | 07:14p | 06:40a | Set | 04:18a | 72% | |
| Fri | 15 | 07:43a | 06:11p | 10:27 | 07:15p | 06:39a | Set | 05:21a | 81% | |
| Sat | 16 | 07:41a | 06:12p | 10:30 | 07:16p | 06:37a | Set | 06:19a | 90% | |
| Sun | 17 | 07:40a | 06:13p | 10:33 | 07:17p | 06:36a | Set | 07:09a | 96% | |
| Mon | 18 | 07:38a | 06:15p | 10:36 | 07:19p | 06:34a | Set | 07:52a | 99% | |
| Tue | 19 | 07:37a | 06:16p | 10:39 | 07:20p | 06:33a | Full | Rise | 06:28p | 100% |
| Wed | 20 | 07:35a | 06:18p | 10:42 | 07:21p | 06:32a | Rise | 07:47p | 97% | |
| Thu | 21 | 07:34a | 06:19p | 10:45 | 07:23p | 06:30a | Rise | 09:05p | 92% | |
| Fri | 22 | 07:32a | 06:20p | 10:48 | 07:24p | 06:28a | Rise | 10:19p | 84% | |
| Sat | 23 | 07:30a | 06:22p | 10:51 | 07:25p | 06:27a | Rise | 11:31p | 75% | |
| Sun | 24 | 07:29a | 06:23p | 10:54 | 07:26p | 06:25a | Rise | 12:40a | 65% | |
| Mon | 25 | 07:27a | 06:24p | 10:57 | 07:28p | 06:24a | Rise | 01:46a | 55% | |
| Tue | 26 | 07:25a | 06:26p | 11:00 | 07:29p | 06:22a | L Qtr | Rise | 02:49a | 45% |
| Wed | 27 | 07:24a | 06:27p | 11:03 | 07:30p | 06:20a | Rise | 03:46a | 35% | |
| Thu | 28 | 07:22a | 06:28p | 11:06 | 07:32p | 06:19a | Rise | 04:38a | 26% | |
| * Nautical Twilight | ||||||||||
| ** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunset and sunrise | ||||||||||
Created using my LookingUp for DOS output as HTML.
01/30/2019 – Ephemeris – Looking for the bright planets for this week
Ephemeris for Wednesday, January 30th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 44 minutes, setting at 5:48, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:03. The Moon, 3 days past last quarter, will rise at 4:55 tomorrow morning.
Let’s look at the planets for this week. Our only evening planet Mars will be in the southwestern sky this evening and will set at 11:53 p.m. It’s too far away to see much detail in a small telescope. In the morning sky we have Jupiter which will rise tomorrow at 4:39 a.m. It is second to Venus in brightness, and now is west of Venus. In small telescopes up to four of Jupiter’s moons are visible. The waning crescent Moon will be between the two planets tomorrow morning. Venus will rise at 5:08 a.m. tomorrow. In small telescopes it is a featureless slightly gibbous moon shape. Its phase will now grow more toward full as its size shrinks as it continues its long journey around and behind the Sun.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Mars and the evening constellations tonight at 8 p.m. January 30, 2019. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.
Venus, the Moon and Jupiter in the morning at 6 a.m. tomorrow morning January 31, 2019. Saturn will rise at 6:37 tomorrow morning into twilight. It will make our morning planet view next week. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.
The waning crescent Moon as it should appear tomorrow morning, January 31, 2019, with earthshine in binoculars. Created using Stellarium.
Venus and Jupiter with the same magnification at 6 a.m. tomorrow morning January 31, 2019. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
Planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise of a single night starting with sunset on the right on January 30, 2019. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 31st. Mercury does not show on these charts because it is south of the Sun, having passed superior conjunction on the 29th. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program.
01/29/2019 – Ephemeris – The rabbit that got away
Ephemeris for Tuesday, January 29th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 41 minutes, setting at 5:46, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:04. The Moon, 2 days past last quarter, will rise at 3:55 tomorrow morning.
Orion, the central winter constellation is seen in the south at 9 p.m. He is a hunter, but he’s preoccupied with the charge of Taurus the bull from the upper right. At Orion’s feet, and unnoticed by him is the small constellation of Lepus the hare. It’s very hard to see a rabbit in its eight dim stars: however, I do see a rabbit’s head ears and shoulders. A misshapen box is the head and face of this critter facing to the left. His ears extend upwards from the upper right star of the box, and the bend forward a bit. Two stars to the right of the box and a bit farther apart hint at the front part of the body. In Lepus telescopes can find M79, a distant globular star cluster, one of the few of these compact star clusters visible in the winter sky.
Addendum
An animation showing the stars, constellations and artwork of Lepus, Orion and Taurus. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.
My view of Lepus the hare. Star field from Cartes du Ciel. Desert Cottontail drawing from Arizona-Senora Desert Museum website. Superimposed with GIMP.
01/28/2019 – Ephemeris – The celestial unicorn
Ephemeris for Monday, January 28th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 39 minutes, setting at 5:45, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:05. The Moon, 1 day past last quarter, will rise at 2:52 tomorrow morning.
Within a triangle bounded by stars Betelgeuse in Orion, Sirius in Canis Major and Procyon in Canis Minor, called the Winter Triangle appears a nearly starless patch of sky to the naked eye. In here is the constellation Monoceros, the unicorn. Unfortunately for observers without optical aid Monoceros, though large, is devoid of any but the faintest stars. Maybe that’s why no one sees unicorns anymore. It has many faint stars because the Milky Way runs through it. To the telescope it is a feast of faint nebulae or clouds of gas and dust, the birth place of stars, including the red rose of the Rosette Nebula, and the strange and tiny Hubble’s Variable Nebula. It also contains beautiful telescopic triple star system, Beta (β) Monocerotis.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Monoceros finder chart animation. Created using Stellarium and GIMP.
Rosette Nebula in the infrared from the Spitzer Space Telescope. Credit: NASA/JPL/Caltech
Hubble’s Variable Nebula photographed appropriately enough by the Hubble Space Telescope. Credit: NASA/ESA and The Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI).
Looking at some faint objects in Monoceros. NGC 2239 is the star cluster in the center of the Rosette Nebula. The nebula itself is extremely faint. It shows in photographs, but I’ve never seen it visually. The green circle shows Beta Monocerotis, the triple star. All these stars are extremely blue-white hot. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).
Telescopic Beta Monocerotis. William Hershel, discoverer of Uranus, said that it was “One of the most beautiful sights in the heavens.” Credit: F. Ringwald, Fresno State.
01/25/2019 – Ephemeris – Let’s find Orion’s hunting dogs
Ephemeris for Friday, January 25th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 32 minutes, setting at 5:41, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:08. The Moon, 2 days before last quarter, will rise at 11:27 this evening.
The great winter constellation or star group Orion the Hunter, is located in the south-southeastern sky at 9 p.m. His elongated rectangle of a torso is tilting toward the vertical. In the center of the rectangle are three stars in a line that make his belt. As a hunter, especially one of old, he has two hunting dogs. The larger, Canis Major can be found by following the three belt stars of Orion down and to the left. There lies the brilliant star called Sirius, also known as the Dog Star. It’s in the heart of a stick figure dog low in the southeast facing Orion that appears to be begging. Canis Minor is just two stars found by extending Orion’s shoulder stars eastward where we find bright Procyon, the little dog star.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Orion and his hunting dogs with pointers as seen at 9 p.m. in late January . Created using Stellarium.
01/24/2019 – Ephemeris – Taurus the bull
Ephemeris for Thursday, January 24th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 29 minutes, setting at 5:40, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:09. The Moon, half way from full to last quarter, will rise at 10:14 this evening.
Midway up the sky in the southeast at 8 p.m. is the constellation of the giant hunter Orion. Above him, to the right is Taurus the bull. His face is a letter V shape of stars lying on its side, the star cluster Hyades, with the bright orange-red star Aldebaran at one tip of the V as its angry blood-shot eye, but actually about half way between us and the cluster. Orion is depicted in the sky facing, with club in one hand and a shield in the other, the charging Taurus. The Pleiades star cluster is in his shoulder. Taurus in Greek mythology was the form the god Zeus when he carried off the maiden Europa. Europa’s still with him as the intriguing satellite orbiting Zeus’ Roman equivalent the planet Jupiter.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Taurus and Europa at 8 p.m. January 24, 2019. Created using Stellarium.
The Rape of Europa by Titian. According to the story Zeus as a bull abducted Europa and swam to Crete, where she became the first queen of that island, and bore him three sons. Other paintings of this subject are by Rembrandt and de Troy. This painting belongs to the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum in Boston, MA. Click on the image to enlarge.
Jupiter’s satellite Europa, slightly smaller than the Earth’s moon, has a fresh ice surface with very little cratering. The ice floats on a deep water ocean supposedly containing more water than all the Earth’s oceans. Click on the image to enlarge. This is a place NASA will send a spacecraft to look for the chemistry of life. Credit NASA/JPL, Ted Stryk.
