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  Every backyard stargazer has their favorite object to showcase in a telescope, objects that are guaranteed to elicit a few “oohs” and “ahs” from among the uninitiated. Things like the moon, Jupiter, Saturn, the Orion Nebula, and the Hercules Cluster are all going to be on their lists and I can almost guarantee you … August 2018 Feature – Albireo

    • Aug 1 – Maria Mitchell was born this day in 1818. Mitchell (1818-1889) was born in Nantucket, MA to a devout Quaker family. Fortunately, her particular community held equality in high regard and Maria’s passion for the stars was not hindered during her formative years. She became a first-class observer and discovered a … Highlights of the August Sky 2018

      • July 1 –  Before sunrise, look to the southwest where you will see Mars about 6 degrees below the waning crescent moon.                 At around 9:30 PM this evening, go outside and face west, if you have a clear view down to the horizon, you … Highlights of the July Sky 2018

    Astronomy is perhaps the oldest of the sciences. Ever since our distant ancestors were capable of looking up at the night sky and wondering what those points of light in the darkness were, we became, in essence, astronomers.   Of course, it would be millennia before we could know that stars were distant suns, … June 2018 Feature – The Summer Triangle

      • June 2 –  The moon is apogee, the most distant point in its orbit this month, 251,852 miles away, at 11:35 AM CDT. • June 3 – During the early morning hours, look for the waning gibbous moon just a few degrees to the north of the planet Mars. • June 6 … Highlights of the June Sky 2018

  • May 5 –  The Eta Aquariid meteor shower peaks during the early morning hours. Unfortunately, the waning gibbous moon will interfere. You can minimize the moon’s glare by finding a building, hills, or tree line that can block it from view. Expect to see, at most, ten meteors per hour during peak times. … Highlights of the May Sky 2018

    Mnemonic devices are useful memory tools and astronomy is certainly no stranger to them. In elementary school many of us of a certain age learned the order of the planets of our solar system with this bit of doggerel: “My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas”. The first letter of each … May 2018 Feature – Arc to Arcturus and Speed on to Spica

  • April 2 –   The first photograph of the Sun was taken on this day in 1845. The daguerreotype image from the early days of photography was taken by French physicists Hippolyte Fizeau (1819-1896) and Léon Foucault 1819-1868). The 5-inch image showed many details including a few sunspots that are estimated to have been about … Highlights of the April Sky 2018

    There is always something magical about seeing the bright flash of a meteor as it streaks across a dark, star-filled sky.   One moment you are gazing upwards, admiring the view of the “fixed” stars upon the dome of the sky, when, suddenly, from out of nowhere, a tiny bit of rubble left behind … April 2018 Feature – The Lyrids – An April Shower

  • March 1 –  Around 5:00 A.M., CST, go outside and face west to find the almost full moon. Now, face south and look for the brightest thing in this part of the sky, this would be the planet Jupiter in the constellation of Libra. Looking back towards the southeast you should see the … Highlights of the March Sky 2018