Mon Apr 27, 2026 SUN IN ARIES
The earth revolves about the sun, which causes the sun to slowly drift through our sky from west to east. The sun has now entered the constellation Aries, the Ram. This means that because of the earth’s revolutionary motion, the sun is now directly between us and the stars which make up Aries. This obviously is a bad time to be looking for the constellation of the Ram, because the bright sun blocks our view of this part of space. If today’s your birthday, you may have been told that you’re a Taurus, meaning the sun was in Taurus when you were born. But the sun isn’t in Taurus, it’s in Aries, and will be for the next several weeks. Since the onset of astrology, earth’s slow wobble on its axis has caused all the zodiacal signs to be offset by one constellation; turning bulls into sheep, sheep into fish, and so on.
Tue Apr 28, 2026 ASTRONOMY CLUB MEETING/SHAPLEY-CURTISDEBATE
On April 26, 1920, a debate took place concerning our Milky Way. Some astronomers thought we were at the center of our galaxy, for they observed roughly the same amount of stars throughout the milky band, or galactic disc, in our sky. Other astronomers pointed to a grouping of star clusters in the direction of the constellation Sagittarius, and suggested that that was where the galaxy’s center lay. Spiral nebulas were also considered, with debate as to whether they were forming solar systems or were other galaxies farther out. Now tonight there will be another meeting of astronomers – amateur astronomers, that is. The Treasure Coast Astronomical Society will hold its monthly meeting at 7:30 pm in the Brown Center on the Fort Pierce campus of Indian River State College. This meeting is open to the public.
Wed Apr 29, 2026 EMPTY SPRING SKY
Most of the really bright stars we see can be found in the winter evening sky. The night skies of summer have some bright stars, too, but the autumn and the spring skies are relatively empty of bright stars. This evening there are some exceptions: the star Regulus, in the constellation Leo the Lion at the top of the sky, and the stars Arcturus and Spica in the east. But most of this evening’s bright stars are actually holdovers from winter - brilliant Sirius and bright Procyon in the Greater and Lesser Dogs, Capella in Auriga the Charioteer, Castor and Pollux as well as the planet Jupiter in Gemini, the Twins, plus Betelgeuse and Rigel and the belt stars of Orion the Hunter. You’ll also find a peculiar bright light in the constellation Taurus, also known as the planet Venus.
Thu Apr 30, 2026 THE NATURE OF ASTRONOMY
The universe holds well-kept secrets that might someday be revealed... and secrets that might forever elude us. The remarkable thing about astronomy is that we have been able to learn as much as we have, given that the astronomer can never touch the objects he studies. In the other sciences, hands-on experiments can show us how things work. Biologists can study life directly. Geologists can break apart the rocks and analyze the minerals. But in astronomy, no one can weigh a planet by putting it on a scale; we cannot determine how the sun will behave by making it run through a maze; we cannot touch the stars. All that we know about astronomy, save for some moon rocks and meteorites, and the earth itself, has been discovered by carefully observing those distant lights in the sky.
Fri May 1, 2026 FULL MOON OF MAY
The moon is full tonight. May’s full moon is the Planting Moon of springtime, also the Milk Moon, the Hare Moon or the Frogs Return Moon. Since it’s May we also call it the Merry Moon. Here in America the Creek and the Seminole Indians call this the Mulberry Moon. The Cheyenne say it is the Moon When the Horses Get Fat, but to the Sioux, it’s the Moon When the Ponies Shed. Other Native American tribes have similar names that suggest the tending of crops, and the beginning of warm weather. To the Winnebago peoples, this is the Hoeing Corn Moon; To the Salish, it is the Flower Moon, but the Osage tribes call it the Moon When the Little Flowers Die. Now is also the time when horseshoe crabs mate and lay their eggs in the sand at the water's edge, continuing the process that has brought them unchanged to the present day.
