Kym @ The Evening Sky Map
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Kym @ The Evening Sky Map
@skymaps.com
1.7K followers 210 following 650 posts
Lifelong sky watcher • Publisher of The Evening Sky Map (PDF) each month since January 2000: skymaps.com/tesm/ • Interests: Astronomy outreach • Astro-imaging • Supernovae | Career scientist (retired)
Kym Thalassoudis PhD
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🌓 18 Sept: First Quarter Moon at 20:43 UT (now).

The days around First Quarter Moon are a great time to view craters and many other lunar features. Use binoculars or, better still, a telescope for some incredible views. 🔭
#stargazing #moon #space
Sky Calendar: skymaps.com/sc2609/
A telescopic close-up of the Moon showing a sharply lit hemisphere with detailed craters, dark lunar maria, and a clear shadowed terminator line along the lower edge.
September 18, 2026 at 8:43 PM
skymaps.com
🌙🌟 The patchy cloudy skies over southern Australia cleared just enough to allow a few handheld iPhone photos of the crescent Moon and Venus on the evening of 14 Sept. 2026. 🔭
#stargazing #moon #venus
A handheld photograph taken with an iPhone captures the crescent Moon with the planet Venus above and near the Moon. Venus appears like a very bright star and Earthshine is present on the Moon. Thick white clouds frame the pair and the dark blue colour of the evening sky is present in the background. Image credit: Kym Thalassoudis A handheld photograph taken with an iPhone captures the crescent Moon with the planet Venus above and near the Moon. Venus appears like a very bright star and Earthshine is present on the Moon. Thick white clouds frame the pair and the dark blue colour of the evening sky is present in the background. Image credit: Kym Thalassoudis A handheld photograph taken with an iPhone captures the crescent Moon with the planet Venus above and near the Moon. Venus appears like a very bright star and Earthshine is present on the Moon. Thick white clouds frame the pair and the dark blue colour of the evening sky is present in the background. Image credit: Kym Thalassoudis
September 14, 2026 at 8:59 PM
skymaps.com
🌙 🌟 The waxing crescent Moon will pass close to Venus over the next few hours. The beautiful conjunction is visible worldwide soon after sunset on 14 Sept 2026 with closest approach at 12h UT favouring Australia, China, SE Asia & Japan. 🔭

More Sept. sky events: skymaps.com/sc2609/
September 14, 2026 at 7:35 AM
skymaps.com
New Moon occurs at 3:26 UT (now) on 11 September 2026. Start of lunation 1283.

🌟 The next few days are a great time for some evening stargazing. Download The Evening Sky Map (PDF) (skymaps.com/tesm/) and enjoy exploring the Universe with your eyes, binoculars or a telescope! 🔭
#stargazing #space
September 11, 2026 at 3:26 AM
skymaps.com
🌟 In the next few hours the Moon will pass near Castor and Pollux -- the twins of Greek mythology and the brightest stars in the constellation Gemini. Closest approach occurs at 1h UT and 6h UT on 7 Sept, respectively. 🔭
#stargazing
Sky Myth Books: skymaps.com/myths/
Image: Plate 15 (Gemini), A Celestial Atlas, Alexander Jamieson (1822)
September 6, 2026 at 11:47 PM
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🌒 The Moon will reach perigee (closest to Earth) at 20:44 UT (now) on 6 September 2026. At this time the Moon's distance from Earth will be 368,259 km or 228,826 miles and span an angular diameter of 32.4 arc-minutes. 🔭
#stargazing #Moon

Sept'26 Sky Events: skymaps.com/sc2609/
September 6, 2026 at 8:44 PM
skymaps.com
Over the next few hours, the waning crescent Moon will pass close to Mars (1.2 mag) in the morning sky. The twin stars of Gemini are nearby. Closest approach is at 20h UT on 6 Sept'26. Mars will return to our evening skies in Jan'27, reaching opposition and max brightness (-1.2 mag) on 19 Feb'27. 🔭
September 6, 2026 at 12:26 PM
skymaps.com
The waning gibbous Moon is currently near the Pleiades star cluster (aka M45 and the Seven Sisters). 🔭
#stargazing
Sept'26 Sky Events: skymaps.com/sc2609/
September 3, 2026 at 11:09 AM
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Brilliant Venus appears close to the bright star Spica over the next few days. The pair are easily seen in the western evening sky after sunset with closest approach (1.5°) at 1h UT on Sept 2nd. Mags. −4.5 and 1.0. 🔭 #stargazing

More Sept'26 events: skymaps.com/sc2609/
September 1, 2026 at 9:41 PM
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🌖🪐 The waning gibbous Moon appears close to Saturn over the next few hours. The pair are easily seen before midnight with closest approach at 3h UT on August 31st. Saturn appears like a bright yellow "star" a few degrees from the Moon. 🔭
#stargazing
Sept'26 events: skymaps.com/sc2609/
August 31, 2026 at 1:38 AM
skymaps.com
💫 The September 2026 edition of The Evening Sky Map (PDF) is now available for download at skymaps.com/tesm/. It features easy-to-use sky maps for the northern & southern hemispheres and equatorial regions. Enjoy exploring the night sky! 🔭
#stargazing #space #nightsky
August 28, 2026 at 1:31 PM
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Beginning Soon: A Partial (Near Total) Eclipse of the Moon from 2:34 to 5:52 UT on 28 August 2026, with mid-eclipse at 4:13 UT. Visible from the Americas, Europe and Africa. 🔭
More info: eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEplot/LEplo...
August 28, 2026 at 12:24 AM
skymaps.com
At 17h UT on 27 August (now), the innermost planet Mercury reaches superior conjunction with the Sun. This event marks the start of the planet's move into the evening sky. 🔭
#stargazing
August events: skymaps.com/sc2608/
August 27, 2026 at 5:00 PM
skymaps.com
The Moon will reach apogee (farthest from Earth) at 9h UT (now) on 22 August. At this time the Moon's distance from Earth will be 404,642 km or 251,433 miles and it will span an angular size of 29.5 arc-minutes. 🔭
#stargazing #Moon
August 22, 2026 at 9:00 AM
skymaps.com
A photograph of the Moon-Venus conjunction of 16 August 2026. The image was taken with an Askar SQA55 astrograph from Adelaide, South Australia. The current D-shaped phase of Venus can just be resolved. 🔭
#stargazing

📷 Kym Thalassoudis
A photograph taken with a telescope showing the waxing crescent Moon and the planet Venus nearby. The celestial bodies appear grey-white in colour against a background black sky. The phase of Venus can just be resolved as a D-shape.
August 17, 2026 at 12:51 PM
skymaps.com
🌟🌒 In the next hour, the waxing crescent Moon will pass near Spica, the brightest star in Virgo. Closest approach is at 11h UT on 17 August. The gathering will be visible in the early evening sky. Spica is located near the ecliptic making for regular close encounters with the Moon. 🔭
An illustration from a historical star atlas highlighting the constellation Virgo depicted as a winged female figure against a background of constellations shown as line drawings. The location of bright stars are marked and some are labelled with their names. The ecliptic is also shown. Image source: Plate 18, A Celestial Atlas by Alexander Jamieson (1822).
August 17, 2026 at 10:05 AM
skymaps.com
Image of the Moon-Venus conjunction on 16 August 2026 taken from southern Australia around the time of sunset. 🔭#stargazing
Photograph of a pale blue evening sky showing the waxing crescent Moon and the planet Venus shining brightly to the right of the Moon. The Moon and Venus are at the centre of the photo which is framed by a number of banana tree leaves. Image credit: Kym Thalassoudis
August 16, 2026 at 8:57 AM
skymaps.com
🌙 🌟 The waxing crescent Moon will pass close to Venus over the next hour or so. The beautiful conjunction is visible worldwide soon after sunset on 16 August 2026 with closest approach at 8h UT favouring Australia, NZ, SE Asia & Japan. 🔭

More events: skymaps.com/sc2608/
A simulated view of the crescent Moon near Venus (magnified 10x to show its current phase -- D-shape) on 16 August 2026. Image credit: Sky Safari Pro.
August 16, 2026 at 7:10 AM
skymaps.com
🌟 On August 15, Venus reaches its maximum eastern elongation at 6h UT (now), appearing 46° away from the Sun in the western evening sky, and shining at magnitude −4.3. 🔭 #stargazing

August events: skymaps.com/sc2608/
August 15, 2026 at 6:00 AM
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On August 12th 2026, Venus will reach dichotomy, displaying a distinct D-shape at 20h UT (now). Dichotomy occurs when Venus is half-illuminated by the Sun, resembling a quarter moon.🔭
#stargazing

August Sky Calendar: skymaps.com/sc2608/
A close up photograph of the planet Venus during Dichotomy. Venus appears like a capital letter D because from Earth at this time it appears perfectly half-illuminated by the Sun. Image Credit: Kym Thalassoudis
August 12, 2026 at 8:00 PM
skymaps.com
The Perseid meteor shower peaks over the next 2 nights, producing swift, bright meteors (up to 90 per hour) some with persistent trains. Best seen from a northern hemisphere dark sky site between midnight and dawn. 🔭
#Perseids #stargazing
A section of a sky map showing the location of the Perseid meteor shower radiant in the night sky. Download a free monthly sky map (PDF) at: skymaps.com/tesm/
August 12, 2026 at 7:00 PM
skymaps.com
New Moon occurs at 17:36 UT (now) on 12 August 2026. Start of lunation 1282.

🌟 The next few days remain a great time for evening stargazing. Download The Evening Sky Map (PDF) (skymaps.com/tesm/) and enjoy exploring the Universe with your eyes, binoculars or a telescope! 🔭
#stargazing #space
The Evening Sky Map is a 2-page monthly publication that features an all-sky map of the night sky, a calendar of celestial events, and a list of celestial objects visible to the naked eye, binoculars and telescopes. Free PDF download at: skymaps.com/tesm/
August 12, 2026 at 5:36 PM
skymaps.com
Total Solar Eclipse occurs today (12 Aug'26) from 16:58 to 18:34 UT, with greatest eclipse at 17:46 UT (duration 2m 18s). Totality will be visible along a path crossing the Arctic, Greenland, Iceland & Spain. Partial eclipse visible in northern North America, UK, Europe & western parts of Africa. 🔭
August 12, 2026 at 9:47 AM
skymaps.com
🌘 The waning crescent Moon will reach perigee (closest to Earth) at 11:18 UT (now) on 10 August 2026. At this time the Moon's distance from Earth will be 363,284 km or 225,734 miles and span an angular diameter of 32.9 arc-minutes. 🔭

Aug'26 Celestial Events: skymaps.com/sc2608/
#stargazing #Moon
A simulated image of the Moon created by Sky Safari Pro. The image shows the waning crescent Moon as it appears at perigee (closest to Earth) on 10 August 2026. Aug'26 Celestial Events: skymaps.com/sc2608/
August 10, 2026 at 11:18 AM
skymaps.com
Look for the waning crescent Moon in the pre-dawn sky over the next few hours as it passes near the red-planet Mars (mag. 1.3). Closest approach is around 7h UT on 9 August 2026. The star cluster M35 is nearby. 🔭
#stargazing

More celestial events: skymaps.com/skycalendar/
August 9, 2026 at 6:29 AM