Observing
See Venus at Her Most Ravishing
Venus is HUGE right now but oh-so-skinny as it approaches inferior conjunction on August 15. Like crescents? You'll never see a…
Kick Back, Look Up, We’re In For a GREAT Perseid Meteor Shower
Every year in mid-August, Earth plows headlong into the debris left behind by Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle. Slamming into our atmosphere at 130,000…
Stealing Sedna
Turns out, our seemly placid star had a criminal youth of cosmic proportions. A recent study out from Leiden Observatory…
The Dog Days and Sothic Cycles of August
The month of August is upon us once again, bringing with it humid days and sultry nights for North American…
The Resplendent Inflexibility of the Rainbow
Children often ask simple questions that make you wonder if you really understand your subject. An young acquaintance of mine…
Blues for the Second Full Moon of July
Brace yourselves for Blue Moon madness. The month of July 2015 hosts two Full Moons: One on July 2nd and…
Astronomers Spot a Intriguing ‘5-Star’ Multiple System
An interesting multiple star discovery turned up in the ongoing hunt for exoplanetary systems. The discovery was announced by Marcus…
Moonspotting-A Guide to Observing the Moons of the Solar System
Like splitting double stars, hunting for the faint lesser known moons of the solar system offers a supreme challenge for…
This is Our Planet From a Million Miles Away
This picture of our home planet truly is EPIC – literally! The full-globe image was acquired with NASA’s Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (aka…
Catch a Fine Lunar Planetary Grouping This Weekend
Phew! Our eyes and thoughts have been cast so far out into the outer reaches of the solar system following…