Observing
Naming Pluto: Christening Features on Brave New Worlds
‘Here be Dragons…’ read the inscriptions of old maps used by early seafaring explorers. Such maps were crude, and often…
Catching Earth at Aphelion
Do you feel a little… distant today? The day after the 4th of July weekend brings with it the promise…
See Pluto for Yourself Ahead of New Horizons’ Historic Encounter
Are you ready for July? The big ticket space event of the year is coming right up, as NASA’s New…
Venus and Jupiter Meet At Last
The year's finest conjunction is upon us. Chances are you've been watching Venus and Jupiter at dusk for some time.…
Iridium NEXT Set to Begin Deployment This Year
The skies, they are uh changin’… I remember reading in Astronomy magazine waaaay back in the late 1990s (in those…
Comet C/2013 US10 Catalina: A Preview for Act I
Live in (or planning on visiting) the southern hemisphere soon? A first time visitor to the inner solar system is…
UK Amateur Recreates the Great Red Spot’s Glory Days
Maybe it's too soon for a pity party, but the profound changes in the size and prominence of Jupiter's Great…
NGC 2419: Wayward Globular or the Milky Way’s Own?
Turns out, we may not know our extragalactic neighbors as well as we thought. One of the promises held forth…
Catch Jupiter Homing in on Venus Through June
Are you ready to hear an upswing in queries from friends/family and/or strangers on Twitter asking “what are those two…
Solved: The Riddle of the Nova of 1670
It is a 17th century astronomical enigma that has persisted right up until modern times. On June 20, 1670, a new…