The Moon meets Antares: This Week in Astronomy with Dave Eicher

Antares is situated throughout the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complicated. Credit score: Dan Crowson

This week, the Moon returns to Scorpius and has a detailed encounter with Antares — the crimson supergiant typically known as “the center of the Scorpion.” On Thursday, Aug. 24, look to the South and also you’ll see the Moon solely a couple of diploma away from Antares, which is in regards to the fifteenth brightest star within the sky.

Antares is situated within the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complicated, a area that’s usually probably the most colourful areas of the sky, and was recently imaged by the James Webb Space Telescope. You received’t see faint nebulae in that area when the Moon visits it this week — however you will notice a phenomenal conjunction in the summertime sky.