Night Sky

Few celestial objects can match the sheer beauty and grandeur that is the planet Saturn. So surreal is its appearance in a telescope that it is well known for eliciting exclamations from first time observers such as, “That can’t be real!” or, “Oh my god, it looks like a painting!”. I know of nothing else … July 2019 Feature – Saturn and its Majestic Rings

      • JUNE 1 –  Just before dawn, look for a thin crescent moon just to the right of bright Venus low in the eastern sky.                 • JUNE 4 – Right at dusk, look low in the western sky for a thin, waxing crescent moon … Highlights of the June Sky 2019

On June 10th, Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system and the 5th world from the Sun, will be at opposition. Opposition simply means that, on this evening, the planet lies opposite the Sun in our sky. If you were in a spaceship looking “down” upon the solar system you would see an alignment … June 2019 Feature – Jupiter and the Great Red Spot

Unless you’ve been living in a cave (and, if you really do live in a cave, hey, no judgement here), you are no doubt aware of the amazing announcement last month (April 10th, 2019) that a team of astronomers had managed to capture the image of a one way door into eternity: the event horizon … May 2019 Feature – Messier 87, An Elliptical Galaxy in Virgo

“M35 is an excellent object for any small telescope; while particularly effective with a 6 or 8-inch glass with low power, something of its beauty can be appreciated in even a 2-inch instrument.   Curving rows of bright stars give an impression of rows of glittering lamps on a chain; fainter stars form a sparkling background … March 2019 Feature – Messier 35, An Open Star Cluster in Gemini

Oftentimes you will hear that “the Sun is an average star”. But that really isn’t meant to be taken in the strict mathematical sense of “average”.   For example, the most abundant stars within our galaxy are what’s known as “red dwarfs”. These are stars that are far less massive than the Sun. They range from … April 2019 Feature – Cor Caroli, The Heart of Charles

        • MARCH 1 – Look for a waning crescent moon next to the planet Saturn in the dawn sky.                 In 1982, Soviet spacecraft Venera 13 returns the first color photographs of the surface of Venus.             • MARCH … Highlights of the March Sky 2019

Imagine yourself in a spaceship, far “above” the solar system. Looking “down” from your ship’s viewport, you would see the Sun and its eight planets orbiting around it, all, more or less, within the same level plane.   From the surface of the Earth, we too can see this orbital plane of the planets around the … February 2019 Feature – When Worlds Align: Two Planetary Conjunctions

    • FEB 2 – Get outside just before dawn and look to the SE to see a thin waning crescent moon about 2 degrees below the planet Saturn.             • FEB 4 –  Moon is at new phase. Clyde Tombaugh, the man who discovered Pluto, was born this … Highlights of the February Sky 2019

    One of 2019’s best night sky event occurs during its first month, a total lunar eclipse that will be seen across all of the Americas. It’s been almost four years since we last saw a total lunar eclipse in its entirety here in Arkansas, and on the night of January 20th, we will … January 2019 Feature – Night of the Red Moon