Current Sky

Monthly Sky Map

Current Sky Map

Calculated for Chicago, Illinois at 41o 50' North Latitude.
Adapted from a sky map created by  CyberSky 3.3.1.
 

The Moon

Moon Phase
Current Moon Phase

MOON PHASES

Last Quarter:  Monday, April 28
New Moon:  Monday, May 5
First Quarter:  Sunday, May 11
Full Moon:  Monday, May 19
Last Quarter:  Tuesday, May 27
New Moon:  Tuesday, June 3

To calculate the moon phase for another date, visit Virtual Reality Moon Phase Pictures.

For a table listing all moon phases (past, present and future), visit the USNO's Moon Phase Tables.

The Current Moon Phase is provided by the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C.
To visit the U.S. Naval Observatory website, click here.


Planets and Stars

PLANET WATCH

In the early evening: Orange Mars is visible high in the west. Saturn can be found two-thirds up the sky in the south. Mercury is emerging from the sun's glare and is fast approaching its best evening apparition of 2008, which will occur in the days surrounding May 13th.

Overnight: Mars and Saturn slowly wheel across the sky.

At dawn: Bright Jupiter can be found low in the south-southeast.
Planetary Statistics (calculated for May 3 - 4 for Chicago, Illinois)
Hours of Darkness 
(between evening and morning nautical twilights)
Evening twilight ends
Morning twilight begins
9:01 p.m.
4:34 a.m.
All calculations are expressed in Central Daylight Time (CDT).
Object Name
Rise Time
Highest in the south
Set Time
Sun
5:44 a.m.
12:48 p.m.
7:52 p.m.
Mercury
6:27 a.m.
1:59 p.m.
9:32 p.m.
Venus
5:25 a.m.
12:11 p.m.
6:58 p.m.
Mars
10:28 a.m.
5:59 p.m.
1:29 a.m.
Jupiter
1:01 a.m.
5:40 a.m.
10:20 a.m.
Saturn
1:31 p.m.
8:19 p.m.
3:07 a.m.
Daylight times are shown in blue. Twilight times are purple. Night times are black.


For a list of the best times to observe each planet in the years ahead, visit our own Planets 2001-2030 page.

For a user-defined sky map calculated for a specific month, day, hour, and location, visit Weather Underground.

For another user-defined sky map, visit the new offering from Sky and Telescope magazine.

For publication quality, printable sky maps for both the northern and southern hemisphere, visit Skymaps.com.

To explore the celestial events of the current month, visit Que tal in the Current Skies.

For a summary of weekly astronomy news, visit Skylights.

For additional astronomy and space-related links, visit our own Astronomy / Space Links.


Eclipses.
Solar Eclipses through 2017 (calculated for Chicago, Illinois USA)
click on hyperlinks for additional details about each eclipse (courtesy of the NASA Eclipse Page).

Date Start of Eclipse Eclipse Maximum End of Eclipse Magnitude *
May 20, 2012 7:22:02 p.m. CDT Below the horizon Below the horizon 62.1% ** 
Oct. 23, 2014 4:35:39 p.m. CDT 5:42:45 p.m. CDT Below the horizon 55.4% 
Aug. 21, 2017 11:53:43 a.m. CDT 1:19:13 p.m. CDT 2:42:08 p.m. CDT 89.0% ***

*   Magnitude is the percentage of the sun's diameter covered by the moon at the time of eclipse maximum.
**  Magnitude of this eclipse is calculated for local sunset, when eclipse is closest to maximum.
*** A total solar eclipse occurs in southern Illinois.

Caution: Solar eclipses require special filters and observing techniques to ensure eyesight protection.

Eclipse For a personal account of the February, 1998 Total Solar Eclipse as seen from near Aruba, click here.
The Animated Eclipse Graphic is used with the permission of Fred Espenak, webmaster of the NASA Eclipse Page.



Lunar Eclipses through 2017** (calculated for Chicago, Illinois USA)
click on hyperlinks for additional details about each eclipse (courtesy of the NASA Eclipse Page).

Date Start of Eclipse
Start of Totality		 Eclipse Maximum End of Totality
End of Eclipse
Dec. 21, 2010
12:32 a.m. CST 
1:40 a.m. CST
2:17 a.m. CST
2:54 a.m. CST 
4:02 a.m. CST
April 15, 2014
12:58 a.m. CDT 
2:06 a.m. CDT
2:46 a.m. CDT
3:25 a.m. CDT 
4:33 a.m. CDT
Oct. 8, 2014
4:14 a.m. CDT 
5:25 a.m. CDT
5:55 a.m. CDT
6:24 a.m. CDT 
Below the horizon
Sep. 27, 2015
8:07 p.m. CDT 
9:11 p.m. CDT
9:47 p.m. CDT
10:23 p.m. CDT 
11:27 p.m. CDT

** This Lunar Eclipse listing is for umbral eclipses only (i.e. when the moon enters the dark umbral
shadow of the earth). The much less spectacular penumbral lunar eclipses are not listed.

Note: Unlike solar eclipses, lunar eclipses can be safely observed with the unaided eye, binoculars or telescopes.

Solar and lunar eclipse times were calculated for the geographic coordinates of River Grove, Illinois using Occult Eclipses and Transits, v. 1.4.1 software (program by D. Herald), which is available from the International Occultation Timing Association (IOTA).


Lunar Occultations

As the moon moves eastward in its orbit around the earth, it occasionally passes in front of (or occults) stars and planets. Since the moon has no atmosphere, a star will disappear or reappear very nearly instantaneously on the edge, or limb, of the moon. The following predictions are for the brightest (and therefore most easily observed) events and are calculated for Chicago's geographic coordinates. Each of these events can easily be observed with a small telescope. Predicted times are approximate and may vary by several seconds depending on the observer's precise geographic location. Observers who are interested in conducting regular timings of lunar occultations should visit the website of the International Occultation Timing Association (IOTA) for more information.


2 0 0 8

Month
Day		 Name of the
occulted object
 Stellar
Magnitude
 D or
R?
H
M
S
 Time
zone
 % of
moon sunlit
October
 6
 Phi Sagitarii
 3.3
 D
 19
 48
 36
 CDT
 47% (+)
October
 17
 19 Tauri (Taygeta) 4.4
 R
 6
 28
 48
 CDT
 90% (+)
October
 17
 20 Tauri (Maia) 4.0
 R
 6
 33
 48
 CDT
 90% (+)
December
 11
 19 Tauri (Taygeta) 4.4
 D
 1
 42
 48
 CST
 97% (+)
December
 11
 20 Tauri (Maia) 4.0
 D
 2
 00
 12
 CST
 97% (+)

Lunar occultation times were taken from the Observer's Handbook, which is published annually by The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.

EXPLANATORY NOTES: Only the very brightest occultations (magnitude 5.0 or brighter) that occur on the dark limb of the moon are given, since bright limb events are difficult to observe due to lunar glare. The stellar magnitude is the brightness of the star or planet that is occulted by the moon. Brighter stars have lower magnitudes, with the very brightest stars and planets having negative values. The "D or R" column expresses whether the occultation is a disappearance (D) or reappearance (R) of the occulted object. H, M, S refers to the hour, minute and second (expressed in 24-hour format) of the predicted event, expressed in either Central Standard Time (CST) or Central Daylight Time (CDT). Please note that actual timings may vary several seconds from predicted values. The "% of moon sunlit" column gives the percentage of the moon in sunlight, with values near 0% occuring near the New Moon, values near 100% occuring near the Full Moon, and values near 50% occuring at either First Quarter or Last Quarter. A following (+) indicates that the moon's sunlit percentage is increasing (waxing phase), while a  (-) indicates that the moon's sunlit percentage is decreasing (waning phase).

Transits of Mercury and Venus

On rare occasion, the planets Mercury and Venus pass directly between the earth and the sun, an astronomical event known as a transit. Caution: As with solar eclipses, observing a transit of Mercury or Venus requires a telescope fitted with a solar filter that is specifically designed for telescopic solar observation. Other types of equipment or techniques may subject the viewer to temporary or permanent blindness.

Fred Espanek maintains a very nice website on "Transits of the Sun," which provides specific dates and circumstances of future transits of Mercury and Venus, can be found at http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/transit/transit.html.
Transits of Mercury through 2019 (calculated for Chicago, Illinois USA)

Date
Start of Transit
Transit mid-point
End of Transit
May 9, 2016
6:13 a.m. CDT
9:57 a.m. CDT
1:42 p.m. CDT
November 11, 2019
6:36 a.m. CST (sunrise)
9:20 a.m. CST
12:04 p.m. CST


Transits of Venus in the 21st Century (calculated for Chicago, Illinois USA)

Date
Start of Transit
Transit mid-point
End of Transit
June 5, 2012
5:06 p.m. CDT
After sunset
8:23 p.m. CDT (sunset)

Transit contact times were calculated for the geographic coordinates of River Grove, Illinois using Occult Eclipses and Transits, v. 1.4.1 software (program by D. Herald), which is available from the International Occultation Timing Association (IOTA). Transit event times were copied from Fred Espenak's Transits of Mercury and Transits of Venus webpages.


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Transit To see photographs of the 2004 Transit of Venus taken from the Chicago area, click here.
For many more photographs of the 2004 Venus Transit, click here.
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Mercury Transit To see photographs of the 2006 Transit of Mercury, click here.                                         
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The Current Sky is produced by Bart Benjamin.
This page last updated May 2, 2008