Skywatching
Happy (or is it Merry?) Aphelion This Friday
This 4th of July weekend brings us one more reason to celebrate. On July 5th at approximately 11:00 AM EDT/15:00…
How Amateur Astronomers Can Help LADEE
You can help NASA’s upcoming lunar mission. NASA’s Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) is slated to lift off from…
Searching for Pluto: A Guide to the 2013 Opposition Season
So you’ve seen all of the classic naked eye planets. Maybe you’ve even seen fleet-footed Mercury as it reached greatest…
Will Comet ISON Dazzle our Skies? An Expert Weighs In
Comets are the big “question marks” of observational astronomy. Some, such as Comet Hyakutake and the Great Daylight Comet of…
Catch the Moon pairing with Mercury & Venus Tonight
If you've never seen Mercury, this week is a great time to try. Over the past few weeks, observers worldwide…
Getting Ready for “ISS All-Nighters” in June
Never seen the International Space Station before? Now is a good time to try, as we enter into a very…
How to Spot Near-Earth Asteroid 1998 QE2 This Week
A large asteroid visits our fair corner of the solar system this week, and with a little planning you may…
The Birth of a Saros – This Weekend’s Hidden Eclipse
As the first eclipse season of 2013 comes to an end this weekend, an extremely subtle lunar eclipse occurs on the night…
Seeing the Red of ‘La Superba,’ a Magnificent Springtime Carbon Star
The Universe can be a very gray place. But this week, we’ll look at a fine example of a class…
A Wacky Distorted View of the Recent Solar Eclipse
Just when we’d thought that we’ve seen every possible type of eclipse image, we’re happily surprised by the Universe. If…