October Draconids meteor shower peaks around October 9
The National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, the country's national center for studying the sky, has explained a meteor shower called the October Draconids. It is also called the Giacobinids.
How the moon and stars look
Science
Grade 4
Looking up at the night sky, you notice that stars are not all alike: some are brighter, and some look reddish while others look bluish white. The moon looks different from day to day, and during one night it moves from east to south to west, just as the sun does. Using a compass and a star chart to find the Summer Triangle or Orion shows that a group of stars moves across the sky as the hours pass, but that the pattern of the stars never changes. In this way you follow how the moon and the stars change position with time.
Moon phases
Grade 4The number of days since the new moon is called the Moon’s age. The Moon looks different each day, and each shape has its own name. Move through time and watch the names change.
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Moon age: 15.3 days ・ Illuminated fraction: 100%
Positions in space
Sunlight lights up half of the Moon. As the Moon moves around Earth, our view of that bright half changes. These are the Moon’s phases. Grade 6
Sun and Moon above the horizon
Explore a 3D model of the sky around the ground. Drag to turn it, then play a day to follow the Sun and Moon.
Sun
Moon