Night sky
 

The moon and Venus will appear close together in the night sky tonight. They will also line up with the bright Jupiter and Mars, and the faint Uranus. The moon will be a tiny sliver, with just 12 per cent of the side facing Earth illuminated.

Look west just after the sun has set. You will see two bright objects in the sky, one above the other. These are Jupiter and Venus. Jupiter will be closer to the horizon, setting shortly after sunset. Venus will be brighter and higher in the sky. Look above Venus and you will see the crescent moon.

Meanwhile in the Upper midwest, the Northern Lights were observed last night. BOTH in southern MN and Wisc. NOT sure of other northern states!! Would we see them here???

It would take a pretty hefty solar storm to produce the northern lights this far south, I would think.

It is one of the things (one of the very few things) that I miss about Minnesota. The northern lights are spectacular there, especially so on a cold, clear, moonless January night. They get so bright you can actually see their reflections and shadows on the snow. Some people claim that they can actually hear as well as see them--sort of a far-off whistling sound--but I never have.

Would love to see them, although I have read that the photographs/videos you see bring out the colors better than the "live" show. Still worth seeing.

SkyView is a great app for identifying what you can see and where to look at the night sky.

SkyView(R) Lite on the App Store

What magnitude will Uranus be tonight? I've never been able to see it .

Years ago in Massachusetts (late 50's early 60's) I observed this. There were both red and green blobs in the eastern sky much like the moving blobs in a lava lamp; beautiful!

I getting my tin foil out.

Put the tinfoil away and get out your telescope. The sky, the solar system, the universe is spectacular. "Keep looking up!"