Author: Tammy Plotner

From beginning to end, the February 20/21 lunar eclipse lasts about three hours and twenty-six minutes and we’re down to less than 72 hours to prepare. While that seems like plenty of time, photographers will want to note that Saturn will be joining the eclipse show as well!

Although the separation will vary slightly with the observer’s position on Earth, for most of us the bright, yellowish visage of Saturn will be less than 3 degrees away from the Moon’s northern limb. For those of you who enjoy photographing the night sky, this will be a tremendous opportunity to both capture an astronomy event and a conjunction at the same time! This type of event – when things interestingly align in the sky is also sometimes called an “appulse”. For all we know, we could even be experiencing a syzygy!

Regardless of what word you want to put on it, it’s definitely going to be a sight worth seeing. Let’s take a look at where the action is happening!

For viewer on Eastern Standard Time the eclipse will enter the partial phase on February 20 at 08:43 pm; for Central Standard Time, 07:43 pm; for Mountain Standard Time, 06:43 pm; and Pacific Standard Time at 05:43 pm – before sunset. For viewers in Europe and Africa, the action begins at the beginning of a new day – on February 21 at 01:43 am GMT. (Sorry, to the good folks down under and in the Far East… no eclipse will be visible.) Totality will begin at 10:01 pm EAST, 09:01 pm CST, 08:01 pm, MST, 07:01 pm PST, and 03:01 am GMT and end precisely 50 minutes later. Then, you have 1 hour and 18 minutes left as the Moon slowly slides out of the Earth’s shadow once again.

For a significant portion of “Universe Today” readers, the entire eclipse will be visible and it’s time to enjoy the last we’ll see for a couple of years. For those experiencing the eclipse as the Moon sets… Don’t despair. You’ll enjoy one of the darkest eclipses you’ll ever see while viewers on the west coast of the Americas will see the eclipse in progress as the Moon rises. Don’t wait until the last minute to prepare your observing area or your cameras. For those with camcorders, you have a great opportunity to video the entire event! Don’t forget that cell phones take great images and even the most common camera can take a great shot of the eclipsed Moon when held to the eyepiece of a telescope. If you’re timing the event, have your notes ready, and most of all… Have a good time!

Wishing all of you clear skies!

A total eclipse of the Moon occurs during the night of Wednesday, February 20/21, 2008. But where will the action be? For viewers in South America and most of North American the entire event will be visible on the evening of February 20. For Western Europe, Africa, and western Asia, your opportunity to view the action will happen on the morning of February 21. During a total lunar eclipse, the Moon’s appearance can range from bright orange to blood red to dark brown and (rarely) very dark gray. What can we expect this time?

Making predictions about a total lunar eclipse’s appearance is based on understanding what makes it happen. During a lunar eclipse, the Earth passes between the Sun and the Moon, blocking the Sun’s light. We see the Earth’s shadow creep across the surface of the Moon. This shadow is made up of two cone-shaped parts, one nested inside the other. Earth’s outer shadow – the penumbra – is a zone where our world blocks some (but not all) of the Sun’s rays. The inner shadow cone – or umbra – is the region where all light is blocked. Logically it would seem like we’d see a lunar eclipse each time the Sun and Moon are at opposition… But why don’t we see one every lunar cycle?

The Moon’s orbital path around our Earth is tilted at about 5 degree angle to Earth’s orbit around the Sun. In other words, most of the time the Moon is just a little over, or a little under the plane of Earth’s orbit. Just like clockwork, our Earth is also orbiting the Sun and Earth’s shadow cones are located on exactly in the same plane. All we have to do is wait for them to intersect! How often does that occur? If we were to take a look at a 5,000 year span, we’d see there are 7,718 eclipse occurrences – both total and partial – with an average of one to two per year… or as many as 3! Watching this year’s February 20/21 eclipse is important because it will be the last totality event until December, 2010.

Now that we understand what makes it happen, let’s take a look at the reasons why a lunar eclipse can appear as so many colors. While every lunar eclipse appearance is different, the physics that govern them is the same. If our Earth didn’t have an atmosphere to bend the sunlight back towards the Moon, it would always become invisible during the umbral, or total phase of an eclipse. Suspended in our atmosphere is dust – one of the major reasons for eclipse coloration. The less dust, the lighter the colors. Heavy dust in our atmosphere causes not only spectacular sunrises and sunsets, but deep eclipses as well. As you enjoy the eclipse, think of what is really causing the incredible colors and subtle tones you’ll see… The combined effect of all the simultaneous sunrises and sunsets on Earth projected onto the Moon!

Lunar eclipses are particularly fun because they don’t require any special equipment to observe. However, if you use a pair of binoculars you can magnify the view and see the shadows race across the Moon’s surface. This eclipse will also a very good time for amateur astronomers to make great scientific observations as well! For visual observers, using the Danjon Brightness Scale for lunar eclipses, amateurs can categorize the Moon’s color and brightness during totality. It’s easy! Just remember these values:

• L = 0 Very dark eclipse, where the Moon is almost invisible, especially at mid-totality.
• L = 1 Dark Eclipse, gray or brownish in coloration and details on the surface are hard to see.
• L = 2 Deep red or rust-colored eclipse with a very dark central shadow, while the outer edge of umbra is relatively bright.
• L = 3 Brick-red colors and the umbral shadow usually has a bright or yellow rim.
• L = 4 Very bright copper-red or orange eclipse where the umbral shadow has a bluish, very bright rim.

If you have a telescope, you can do even more! By watching major craters, you can measure the exact time when each crater enters and leaves the umbral shadow and the timings can be used to estimate the enlargement of Earth’s atmosphere due to airborne dust and volcanic ash. These results can then be submitted to Dr. Richard Keen.

For now? It’s time to get ready… Because even more surprises are in store for this eclipse!

It’s a day meant for celebrating love, and what better way to mark the occasion than to take a look at asteroid Eros! While its mythical name is fitting of the holiday, exploring the famous asteroid went into history on February 14, 2000 when the NEAR spacecraft was successfully inserted into orbit around 433 Eros, becoming the first artificial satellite of an asteroid – an asteroid you can visit with just a telescope!

The Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous mission had begun its journey on February 17, 1996 as the first of NASA’s Discovery missions to rendezvous with asteroid 433 Eros. During the journey to Eros, NEAR flew within 1212 kilometers of asteroid Mathilde on June 27, 1997 and was to continue onto Eros and obtain orbit in December of 1998. But, as luck would have it, a computer malfunction stopped the rendezvous burn of NEAR’s bipropellant engine and it flew past the asteroid on December 23, 1998. Mission operators quickly reprogrammed the spacecraft to obtain scientific flyby information and set up an orbit that would carry NEAR back to Eros in February 2000.

On the first Valentine’s Day of the new millennium, NEAR went into operation again about an hour after reaching its orbital destination and sent its own Valentine card back towards Earth – the first images of an asteroid taken from an orbiting spacecraft. Features as small as a 330 meters came to life and notably a prominent, sharp-rimmed crater which may have been caused by an impact. Inside the crater walls are subtle variations in brightness that hint at some layering of the rock in which the crater formed. Narrow grooves that run parallel to the long axis of Eros cut through the southeastern part of the crater rim. A house-sized boulder is present near the floor of the crater which appears to have rolled down the bowl-shaped crater wall. A large number of boulders are also seen in other areas of the old asteroid’s heavily cratered surface.

After a year orbiting Eros, NEAR was about out of fuel. Only designed to orbit the asteroid, the spacecraft wasn’t equipped to land and the plan was to simply let it eventually crash onto the surface. Having met all of its research objectives, scientists had a developed fondness for NEAR project and decided to try to land – a procedure which would allow them to test complex maneuvers and get close-up pictures of the surface. These pictures would allow scientists to see objects as small as 10 cm in diameter. The command was given and NEAR slowed its circular orbit and executed a series of braking turns as it approached the surface. The landing site was in the saddle-shaped middle of the asteroid where temperatures vary from 100 C during the day to -150 C) at night – a day that last less than five and half hours! Although the weak gravity only provided an escape velocity of a mere 22 mph, it held the survival ticket of the automobile-sized NEAR on February 12, 2001. Then the probe made space history by successfully landing atop the space rock, more than 316 million kilometers from Earth.

Why not celebrate this Valentine’s Day Anniversary by taking a look at Eros yourself? The 33 kilometer long, 13 kilometer diameter rock is the second largest near-Earth asteroid and is easily seen in larger backyard telescopes. Holding an average magnitude 11.5, you’ll find Eros hanging out in the circlet of Pisces just after sunset. For those with GoTo telescope systems or setting circles, finding Eros is as easy as entering RA 23h 20m 11s Dec 3°2’13”! Enjoy your journey to Eros tonight… and wish NEAR a happy anniversary!

According to this morning’s recent alert by Dr. David Dunham of IOTA, observers throughout the Americas, and even westernmost Europe, have a chance to observe an occultation of an 11.3-magnitude star in Gemini by far-flung 20000 Varuna on Sunday night, February 10-11, 2008. This trans-Neptunian object (TNO) may be as large as 1,000 kilometers across.

Those in South America are especially encouraged to try to observe this event, since they have the highest probability for an occultation. The nominal path misses the Earth to the south, but the real uncertainties in the prediction are hard to assess, as Steve Preston (International Occultation Timing Association) notes. So there’s a chance for an event even in North America.

Occultations of stars this bright by such large TNOs are quite rare; so far, none beyond those by Pluto/Charon have been observed. Even if an occultation by Varuna doesn’t occur, there could be an occultation by a possible satellite of Varuna.

Closest approach is at 4:26 Universal Time on February 11th in South America, and about 4:30 UT in North America. The formal uncertainty (1 sigma) in the time is about 5 minutes, but you should be prepared for at least a 3-sigma event. I would recommend monitoring/recording the star for at least 20 minutes before and after the predicted time for your station. If an occultation occurs, there will be a 9-magnitude drop lasting about 43 seconds for a central event. The star to be occulted is TYC 1913-00670-1 at right ascension 7h 18m 50.1s, declination +25° 43′ 19″ (equinox 2000.0). It lies 2.5° SSW of 5th-magnitude Iota (?) Geminorum and 1.3° WNW of 6th-magnitude 57 Geminorum. Detailed finder charts of different scales are on the event are located here. The site also has a view of the Earth as seen from Varuna that can be used to estimate your time of closest approach, as well as the altitude of the event above your horizon. Brian Skiff (Lowell Observatory) notes that the star to be occulted may be slightly fainter than given above, magnitude 11.9 rather than 11.3.

For more about observing occultations in general, check these articles – Reporting Your Observations. For occultations of stars by asteroids, we have special report forms (.xls versions preferred, but plain-text forms are available as well) here. Once you complete one of these forms, please send it to IOTA’s e-mail address for reporting asteroid-occultation observations. Additional resources for reporting your observations are available at the website of the North American Asteroid Occultation Program. Many thanks to Dr. David Dunham of IOTA for providing the information and please spread word of this event. Good luck with your observations!

While normally our friends in the Southern Hemisphere get left out of most major meteor showers, now is the time to keep alert for the Alpha Centaurids which are active during the entire month of February. While the Alpha Centaurids are considered a minor meteor shower, they do create some interesting viewing during the summer nights south of the equator. The peak (time of most activity) should occur around the universal date of Februrary 6/7, but don’t wait until then to start your observations!

According to the American Meteor Society:

“The Alpha Centaurids (ACE) are active from a radiant located at 13:44 (206) -58. This area of the sky is located in southeastern Centaurus, four degrees northwest of the brilliant star Hadar (beta Centauri). Current rates would be near one shower member per hour. These meteors are best seen near 0500 local standard time when the radiant lies highest above the horizon. This shower is not visible north of 32 degrees north latitude and also poorly seen in the northern tropics. The southern hemisphere offers a much better view of this activity as the radiant lies much higher in the southern sky. Those located at high southern latitudes will actually encounter morning twilight before the radiant reaches culmination. At 56 km/sec. the Alpha Centaurids will usually produce meteors of swift velocity.

Sporadic rates are now slowly falling no matter your location. One would expect to see approximately twelve random meteors during the last hour before dawn from rural observing sites in the northern hemisphere and fifteen from the southern hemisphere. During the first dark hour after the end of evening twilight, perhaps two random meteors can be seen per hour, no matter your location.”

While you’re out, take advantage of the opportunity to enjoy Centaurus! As one of the most inspiring constellations of the Southern Hemisphere, it also ranks as the ninth largest constellation and contains two of the ten brightest stars in the night sky – including the closest star to our own Sun. While the stargazers in the north rarely get an opportunity to explore the “Centaur”, nearly 2000 years ago precession allowed the ancient Greeks to observe the constellation during the spring. Even though they weren’t able to explore as we can today, they were still able to see Alpha and Beta Centauri, the third and tenth brightest stars in the sky. While many lists call Betelgeuse in Orion the tenth brightest star, remember… Betelgeuse is a variable!

Be sure to observe Alpha Centauri. One of the reasons it is so bright is not luminosity… but because it’s only 4.3 light years away. Rigel Kentaurius is a triple star system and a real beauty to binoculars and telescopes! Beta Centauri – Hadar – is a star on the move and in about 4000 years it will be close enough to Alpha to appear as a double star. While they won’t be gravitationally bound, a separation of 300 light years will make them a magnificent sight! Centaurus also contains Omega Centauri (NGC 5139), the largest and richest globular cluster in the sky. Centaurus also contains 20 open clusters and several galaxies including Centaurus A (NGC 5128), one of the brightest radio objects in the sky. While you’re there, be on the lookout because the a large portion of our own galaxy is also visible in Centaurus and there are over 100 easily visible stars.

Because you’re in for a moonless night and the days around the Centaurid Meteor shower peak will be of little moon-interference, this will be one of the best for Southern Hemsiphere SkyWatchers. If you live in the north? It never hurts to try. Even from my high latitude, I still get an occasional peek at some of Centaurus’ stars. Long noted for extremely bright meteors with persistent trails and flurries of high activity, I’m sure you’ll enjoy the incredible Centauri meteor shower!

While the penguins in Antartica will be putting on their formal wear for the annular solar eclipse, a few lucky SkyWatchers in New Zealand and southeast Australia will still have a chance to see the Moon take a bite out of the solar disc roughly between 01:38:29 and 06:11:55 a.m. GMT. The best place to be is Auckland, New Zealand, where the partial eclipse begins at about 4:48 p.m. (Pacific/Auckland) local time (3:48 a.m. GMT) and ends at about 6:51 p.m. (5:51 a.m. GMT), a little more than two hours later.

The first eclipse of 2008 will travel over Antarctica and the waters surrounding the continent – not a hospitable area for visitors! While there are no permanent human residents in these areas, that won’t stop some travelers from heading towards the barren southern pole to take a look at the annular event. Unlike a total solar eclipse, the New Moon won’t completely cover the solar disc at maximum and a thin ring of the outer fringes of the Sun will still be visible – the annulus. If you were to be in the direct path, you’d enjoy the incredible view of the annular phase from 03:19:43 to 04:30:55 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

Fortunately for those of us who aren’t wearing a permanent tuxedo, the best place to observe will be in Auckland, where the Sun will be covered about 47% at around 5:52 p.m. local time. Considering they’re still enjoying more summer-like weather, it’s time to party! According to Fred Espenak:

“The most unusual characteristic of this eclipse is that it begins and ends along Earth’s sunset terminator. Most eclipse paths that travel from west to east. However, the 2008 annular eclipse path begins by running east to west and slowly turns north before curving west to east near its terminus. The annular path begins in Antarctica at 03:20 UT when the Moon’s antumbral shadow meets Earth and forms a 581 kilometre wide corridor near the base of the continent’s peninsula region. Traveling westward, the shadow quickly crosses Antarctica and turns north as it heads into the Pacific. Greatest eclipse takes place at 03:55:05 UT when the eclipse magnitude will reach 0.9650. At this instant, the annular duration is 2 minutes 12 seconds, the path width is 444 kilometres and the Sun is 16° above the featureless horizon of the open ocean. The central track continues north before gradually curving to the east where it ends at local sunset at 04:31 UT. During its 1 hour 10 minute flight across our planet, the Moon’s antumbra travels approximately 5,600 kilometres and covers 0.59% of Earth’s surface area.”

Remember when viewing a solar eclipse, to always do so safely. If you do not have a proper solar filter, use the projection method with your binoculars or telescopes. Safely cover one side of your binoculars or telescope’s finderscope and aim towards the Sun by aligning the shadow. Project the light onto a surface such as a paper plate or piece of cardboard and adjust the focus until you see a clear circle of light. If you do not have optics, simply punch a pinhole into a dark piece of cardboard and project it onto a makeshift screen. You won’t see solar details like sunspots, but you’ll easily see the progress of the shadow!

Wishing you all clear skies… And share your photos!

Do you have children or grandchildren? Perhaps a younger brother or sister? Then, there is no greater gift which you can give them than to pass on the love of the starry skies. Right now, one of the easiest constellations to recognize – Orion – is a cinch to find for both the northern and southern hemisphere. Let’s take advantage of the weekend’s early moon-free skies as we take the young folks out to look for Night Lights and practice some astronomy for kids!

To begin learning about our Universe, all you have to do is look up at the night sky. After all, that’s how astronomy began! When humans first began to notice the stars, the saw patterns they could easily remember. These patterns are called asterisms. In ancient times, there was no television or video games – so people began to make up stories about the asterisms they saw in the stars. Just like a game of “connect the dots”, asterisms represented legendary people – or even animals! One of the most famous of all is Orion the Hunter. All the old stories tell that Orion was an excellent hunter whose memory is captured in the stars. If you look above his bow you will see stars of Taurus the Bull and underneath his feet are the stars of Lepus the Rabbit. Both of these asterisms were animals he chased! But no hunter is complete without his faithful hunting dogs. The bright star following behind Orion is Sirius – a star which is part of an asterism that represents a big dog.

As time passed, astronomers began to make maps of the asterisms they recognized and the names on the maps became constellations. The night sky soon began to be filled with constellations and many even shared the same stars! To keep things in an understandable order, a group called the International Astronomical Union made a rule that only 88 asterisms could be called a constellation. This doesn’t mean the stars of a constellation are easy to see or what they are supposed to look like makes sense! Don’t worry if it is harder to see some constellations than others, because what we see here on Earth isn’t how the star patterns would look from a different place in our galaxy.

Now, let’s take an imaginary journey into space…

The asterisms we see in the stars might look close together from our point of view, but if we could fly by them or see them from from another solar system they would all appear very far apart. If we were able to journey past the stars in Orion, we would see they really aren’t even connected to each other – or even close! If you take a look at this illustration you can get an idea of how far apart the stars of Orion really are looking at them from Earth. While they make a pattern in the sky, they are very far apart in space!

If you live in the city, you will probably be able to see many of the stars that make up the constellation of Orion – but if you drive to the country you will be amazed at all the stars you can see with just your eyes. Practice finding Orion the Hunter and see how many of its stars you can see. In just a few weeks, you can take part in a very exciting science study where you will become a Star Hunter!

Although no one likes getting up early, the morning of February 1 will be worth the effort. Just before local dawn, the scene is set as brilliant planets Venus and Jupiter rise together ahead of sunrise. The planetary pair will be so close together they can easily fit in the same binocular field of view and in a low power, wide field telescope eyepiece. Even if you don’t use optical aid, the dazzling duet will capture the eye….

“Your eye is like a digital camera,” explains Dr. Stuart Hiroyasu, O.D., of Bishop, California. “There’s a lens in front to focus the light, and a photo-array behind the lens to capture the image. The photo-array in your eye is called the retina. It’s made of rods and cones, the fleshy organic equivalent of electronic pixels.” Near the center of the retina lies the fovea, a patch of tissue 1.5 millimeters wide where cones are extra-densely packed. “Whatever you see with the fovea, you see in high-definition,” he says. The fovea is critical to reading, driving, watching television. The fovea has the brain’s attention. The field of view of the fovea is only about five degrees wide. On Friday morning, Venus and Jupiter will fit together inside that narrow angle, signaling to the brain, “this is worth watching!”

But Venus and Jupiter aren’t the only pair sparkling the pre-dawn skies. If you look a bit further south, you’ll notice that the waning Moon and Antares are also making a spectacular show! While they will be separated by a little more distance, the red giant and earthshine Moon will still fit within the eye’s fovea – and a binocular field of view!

Where will all the celestial action take place? Look no further than the ecliptic plane – the imaginary path the Sun, Moon and planets take across the sky. For many observers, the ecliptic plane begins low in the southeast – but southern hemisphere viewers have a much different view! But don’t wait until Friday to have a look. If you’re up before dawn, step outside and watch as Venus and Jupiter draw closer together over the next several days and the Moon creeps to the east. On February 3, the Moon will form a line-up with the two planets and a striking triangle on the morning of February 4. Be sure to have a camera on hand and share your photos!

Wishing you clear skies….

Backyard astronomers the world over in the northern hemisphere are looking forward to the closest approach of Near-Earth Asteroid TU24 on the evening of January 29/30 – but just scanning the skies with a small telescope isn’t going to reveal the small, faint traveler. Like trying to find a single running squirrel in a huge forest, Asteroid TU24 will be on the move and success at spotting the target will only happen if you know in advance when to watch the right trees. Or in this case… the stars!

If you’d like to try your hand at observing Near-Earth Asteroid TU24, begin a little in advance by understanding exactly how bright it’s going to be. For just a period of a few hours, TU24 is expected to brighten to around magnitude 11 – considerably fainter than most star charts list. Since the event won’t be visible to the Southern Hemisphere, let’s begin our “capture” expedition by understanding what magnitude 11 and moving should look like. Your mission? Aim your telescope at Polaris!

Polaris is an excellent choice to learn from not only because there are few bright stars nearby, but because the ones around it will circle it over an extended period of time. Once you’ve located Polaris, take a look in your lower power eyepiece and compare what you see to this generation. No stars shown here are fainter than magnitude 11, so Near Earth Asteroid TU24 will appear much like these fainter stars. Because Polaris will not “move”, come back in an hour and see how the field has changed!

Now, let’s take a look at the general location where Near Earth Asteroid TU24 will pass – the center of this map . As you can see from this chart, if we could see magnitude 11 with just our eyes, Ursa Major would be lost in a forest of stars… And so would our squirrel. We know the asteroid will pass through the center of this area at a certain date and time… But we need to get just a little more specific. In order to spot the squirrel in the forest, it’s going to require some very clear directions as to what trees to watch when it passes by. A good place to begin is to visit this link to JPL/NASA’s New Horizons system to generate coordinates called an ephemerides. Because the squirrel would appear in a slightly different position relative to the tree’s branches depending on your position, you need to take extra care when using the New Horizons generator to be specific about your location and remember the information it supplies is expressed in universal time. For example, the starry background at local midnight for London, England would be totally different than the skies seen at local midnight for Palomar Observatory in southern California! We might be looking at the right tree, but to see the squirrel we need to know exactly what branches it is going to be passing by.

When the ephemerides is generated specifically for your location, there will be a long list of numbers that can be confusing if you are first learning astronomy. For those with “Go To” telescopes, it will be as easy as entering the coordinates that are supplied. For example, if we were to observe from Palomar Observatory, we’d put Right Ascension 10 00 50.64 and Declination +64 58 12.5 into the telescope’s system to observe the asteroid at midnight universal time. For those familiar with star charts, the same holds true – use the RA and Dec to pinpoint which star field you need to observe as the asteroid passes. For those who have neither, try visiting at site which will create maps for you, such as Your Sky. Using the “aim virtual telescope” feature, enter the coordinates that New Horizons provides for your location, then customize the chart to your specific needs. Now you know what tree to watch in the forest, what branch, what time the squirrel will pass and how bright he’ll be… But what will he look like?

Using our Palomar example once again, take a look at this photographic plate of the region. Thanks to parallax, Near Earth Asteroid TU24 will move quietly and purposefully across a starry field that will look just like this. It is possible at first glance to find what “star” doesn’t belong in the picture, but watching the field for a length of time will reveal movement – possibly even passing over (occulting) a field star and causing the background star to dim. Scientists will use information like this to help determine the exact size and shape of Asteroid TU24, but we’ll be happy if we just manage to spot the squirrel!

Be sure to dress warmly, and prepare yourself to take notes if at all possible. If an occultation occurs, note the time and duration. The more eyes we have on the skies, the better our chances will be of understanding visitors like Near Earth Asteroid TU24. Objects like these pass by frequently and by educating ourselves and others we make the natural (and safe) mechanics of our galaxy more understood to others! Good luck…

Greetings, Fellow SkyWatchers!

Have you missed me? All you have to do is take a look around the web for the retailer of your choice and you’ll find The Night Sky Companion. Thanks to the great folks at Springer Press (and Sir Patrick Moore), this incredible 674 page, full-color glossy book filled with astronomy pictures, astronomy history, sky watching tips and daily information is only a page away…

The Night Sky Companion takes a look at astronomy every day over the course of the year – offering an overview of general history, soft science, astronomical trivia, and observing guides and motivation. Designed to appeal to readers at all skill levels and involvement, it provides a digest for sky watchers interested in all-in-one-place information that includes history, current events, and of course interesting objects to be observed on any given day. The Moon is followed through its phases with observing instructions, annotated pictorial maps, concise photos, and the science and history of what makes lunar observing a fascinating challenge. Unaided eye observers are offered an opportunity to view many objects or events; learn about their history, science and how just “looking up” can be rewarding. Binocular and small telescope users will find a wealth of things to view using simple star hop instructions and finder charts. This book is more than just an observing guide, it’s a way of learning your way round the night sky. Large-aperture telescope users looking for a challenge are not ignored either. Some of the finest deep-sky objects are detailed, with finder maps and photographs, most of them taken by talented amateurs. Be it a meteor shower, double stars, variable stars, solar viewing, lunar features, a variety of catalog studies, history or the physics and science behind the stars – you’ll find it here, written in an easy-going style ideal for ‘dipping in’ on the relevant day, or even reading from cover to cover.

For those of you who support “Universe Today” through your amazon.com account, I heartily urge you to pick up your own copy here! Go ahead… Search inside! You’re going to love it, and look for even more books to be available soon… 😉

What’s the only thing more exciting than to have a book in the Sir Patrick Moore Series? Having Sir Patrick Moore approve of the book in person! Take a look as one of the photographer’s for The Night Sky Companion – Roger Warner – joins one of England’s land mark astronomers for an evening of observing. What a thrill!

I’ve very much missed my friends here at UT and I’m very happy to announce that in the weeks to come you’ll see my return with new material – from astronomy for kids to challenging telescope objects. It has long been a goal of mine to help others learn the way I did… Through practice, patience and persistence! Please feel welcome to give any suggestions you might have for future editions. I am always more than happy to share what I’ve learned – with you!

Light Speed,

~Tammy