Night Sky

  SPECIAL OBSERVING ANNOUNCEMENT: Comet C/2017 E4 ( Lovejoy ) was discovered by Terry Lovejoy on March 10th, 2017 and has begun brightening better than expected. At the time of this writing it had reached a brightness of +7-7.5 and may peak at a magnitude of +6 (making it a naked eye comet under dark … Highlights of the April Sky

Ah, spring, when a young (and old) astronomer’s fancy turns to thoughts of galaxies. Our summer and winter views of the night sky are dominated by our own Milky Way Galaxy but during the spring and autumn the Earth is positioned in such a place within its orbit around the Sun that we get an … March Feature – Bode’s Galaxy and the Cigar Galaxy

  • Mar 1 – Look for the waxing crescent moon in our western sky right after sunset. Just five degrees to the south of the moon you should see the planet Mars. Venus is 15 degrees below the moon and Mars. Uranus is only 2.1 degrees below Mars but you will need a telescope … Highlights of the March Sky

  • Feb 3 – The moon is at first quarter phase with 51% of its surface illuminated. You may well wonder why it is called a first quarter phase if over half of it is lit up. We say it is at first quarter because the moon has traveled one quarter of its way … Highlights of the February Sky

    • Jan 1- The crescent moon is 4-5 degrees to the lower right of Venus. Mars is 12 degrees to the upper left of Venus while Neptune is just a ½ degree to the lower right of Mars. Jan 3 – The peak of the Quadrantid Meteor Shower           … Highlights of the January Sky

THE ORION NEBULA (MESSIER 42)     No celestial bucket list would be complete without the inclusion of this magnificent star forming region in the constellation of Orion the Hunter.  It’s one of the most viewed and imaged deep-sky objects in the night sky. I vividly remember that frosty January evening several years ago when … January Feature – The Orion Nebula

THE PLEIADES STAR CLUSTER (MESSIER 45) In November I volunteered at the Central Arkansas Astronomical Society’s final star party for the year at Woolly Hollow State Park. Despite the chilly temperatures there was a decent sized crowd of about 30 or 40 people gathered around the various telescopes. During a lull in the observing I … Deep Sky Feature for December

      • Dec 3 – Look to the southwest after sunset to see a waxing crescent moon about 6 or 7 degrees above the planet Venus, which is now shining brightly as our “Evening Star”.               • Dec 4 -The waxing crescent moon is now positioned just … Highlights of the December Sky

  THE OWL CLUSTER (NGC 457, CALDWELL 13) ABOUT THE OWL CLUSTER Amateur astronomers have their favorite little celestial gems that they like to show off to folks in their telescopes. We generally have a few for each season and one of my personal fall favorites (and one that many of my fellow amateur astronomers … Deep Sky Feature for November

You are about to embark upon a Grand Tour, a journey of both the eye and mind that will take you to our Moon, several planets within our solar system, and beyond. You will visit the birth places of stars, enjoy the visual splendor of star clusters, double stars, and even dying stars. You may … How to use the CALS telescope video