Night Sky

As we enter the upcoming holiday season, many folks will have likely requested stargazing kit of one sort or another as part of their gift receiving wish list.  I know this to be true because binocular and telescope sales continue to be at an all-time high while memberships in amateur astronomy clubs all around the … December 2021 Feature – HARK, YE MERRY STARGAZERS!

The people of ancient times viewed the night sky with a mixture of awe, wonderment, reverence, and, on occasion, with a certain amount of fear.  The latter emotion often arose whenever something unpredictable or out of the ordinary appeared in the sky.  The sudden appearance of a bright comet, the Sun slowly disappearing as if … November 2021 Feature – When the Moon Goes Dark

What marvelous things our eyes are.  Of all the five senses, vision is perhaps the most important, with 80% of the information we obtain regarding the world around us coming entirely through eyesight.  Our eyes collect information about the size, shape, color, and texture of objects.  They permit us to have depth perception, judge distances … September 2021 Feature – An Ode to the Eye

The Perseid Meteor Shower is one of our most productive and popular showers and it peaks this year during the evening hours of August 11th and the early morning hours of August 12th.   The waxing crescent moon may interfere during the early evening, but it should only be a minor nuisance as it sets well … August 2021 Feature – The Perseid Meteor Shower

As we enter into our second summer of the pandemic, there has been an interesting side effect to have emerged from all the misery it has brought: people have been inspired to turn to the night sky in order to find comfort, meaning, and for exploration. As more and more people have entered into the … July 2021 Feature – Cloudy With a Chance of Stars

If there is any other kind of celestial object that is capable of generating as much curiosity and wonder as a black hole, then I don’t know what it could be. Whenever I do just about any kind of astronomy outreach, with any age group, there is bound to be a question or two about … June 2021 Feature – Black Hole Summer

People have been enthralled by the beauty and mystery of a star-filled sky since, well, since there have been people. In our modern technological age, it can be difficult for us to imagine a time in our history when there were no such things as smartphones, video games, television, the internet, or even books. In … May 2021 Feature – Three Leaps of the Gazelle

    The sight of a meteor streaking across the starry vault overhead never fails to elicit ‘ooohs’ and ‘ahhhs’ from stargazers of all ages and experience levels. It truly is a magical sight to behold and the memories that can be had from such experiences sometimes last us a lifetime. Especially when shared with … April 2021 Feature – April Showers: A Look at the Lyrid Meteor Shower

Asteroid. For many that word brings to mind planet killing space rocks. We all know that it was a giant asteroid that delivered the coup de grace to the dinosaurs some 66 million years ago. A paper published in the journal Science Advances last month, kind of seals the deal with geochemists reporting the finding … March 2021 Feature – To Catch an Asteroid by the Lion’s Tail

For those of you who are familiar with the blog, you know that I typically focus on celestial objects and events that are accessible to the unaided eye or with binoculars and small telescopes, but this month I’m going to share with you an object that is perhaps best seen in mid-sized (4.5”) scopes or … February 2021 Feature – The Object Formally Known as the Eskimo Nebula