“The Sky This Week” appears every Tuesday. It is written by Ian Clarke, Director of the Hatter Planetarium at Gettysburg College. The planetarium offers regular educational presentations about the stars and the skies; there’s something for early elementary through adults. Public shows have concluded for the academic year, but we are still accepting field trip requests for the summer.
This week we are graced with a waxing crescent moon passing by two planets. Look west after sunset, where you’ll find the moon, Venus, and Mars, together with a few bright stars—Procyon, Pollux, and Capella. The moon will be farther from the sunset and larger in phase each night as it goes from below Venus on the 22nd to above Mars on the 23rd. After that, it will be out of frame of the accompanying image, but the phase will continue to advance until the moon reaches the first quarter on May 27.
Ian Clarke is the director of the Hatter Planetarium at Gettysburg College. In addition he has taught introductory astronomy labs and first-year writing there for over 30 years (not necessarily all at the same time). He was educated at Biglerville High School, the University of Virginia, and the University of Iowa. He lives in Gettysburg.