Archive for the ‘Observing’ Category
Friday, June 12th, 2015
The night sky is peppered with all kinds of star patterns that have fascinated human kind for untold centuries. These patterns were thought to be gods and creatures of all kinds, kindly (mostly) looking over our affairs here on Earth. For the grander groups of stars, we save the name ...
Posted in Constellations | No Comments »
Saturday, December 13th, 2014
It's now well after the Autumn Equinox and the finish of daylight savings time. Shorter days are now the rule, sunsets coming earlier paving the way for evening viewing and just in time for the return of Jupiter in the mid evening skies. So the shift grants even ...
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Friday, September 5th, 2014
Recently, there were a number of news items on the web about the International Observe the Moon Night, the InOMN. This organization us a combined effort from the NASA Night Sky Network, Astronomical Society of the Pacific and other groups to promote the observation of our closest cosmic neighbor, The ...
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Friday, January 24th, 2014
There are times when you are witness to something truly remarkable in the night sky. I am always thrilled to get a good view of something new, just because I can, but sometimes the meaning goes way beyond the visual impact. For example, I had a good look at comet ...
Posted in Memorable views | No Comments »
Friday, December 20th, 2013
It is amazing how cold you can get just standing around when sky watching. And usually by the time you realize it, you are going to have a hard time getting warm again. Here are some tips related to cold weather viewing. I suggest that you test all the ideas ...
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Wednesday, December 4th, 2013
The last few weeks have seen Jupiter climb higher in the sky out of the East North East in the constellation of Gemini. So, even with colder weather moving in, it's still very easy to get a good look at the Great Planet before your hot chocolate gets cold! And ...
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Tuesday, October 22nd, 2013
Yes, sort of. In other words, a penumbral lunar eclipse. This means the moon passed through the Earth's shadow, hence the eclipse part. However, Earth's shadow comes in two concentric circles - the inner, darker umbral and the outer, fainter penumbral. Follow the link above for lots of eclipse stuff.
Anyhow, ...
Posted in Events, Observing | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 5th, 2013
The first stone from the Sun, Mercury, is coming into view in the evening sky. On June 10th and 11th Mercury will be joined by the 2 (and 3) day old moon with Venus brightly at it's flank slightly to the North. By June 12, the planet will be 24 ...
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Wednesday, February 13th, 2013
The sky has been painted for centuries with creatures and symbols alike and we can enjoy this history through the mythology of the heavens. Constellations reveal patterns in the sky that have been interpreted by many societies and peoples near and far. The stories of the ancient Greeks are perhaps ...
Posted in Constellations, History | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 30th, 2013
This time of year is always a little bit of a challenge when it comes to listing good targets for public observation sessions. The last of the globular clusters have moved off, the galaxy scene is sparse and if the moon isn't up all you can hope for is a ...
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