Author Archives: The Backyard Astronomer

As early as 1923, space telescopes were proposed to peer deeper into the universe, without the obstruction of the Earth’s tenuous atmosphere.  By the 1970s congress had funded the first of these great space telescopes, with the 2.4 meter primary mirror completed in 1981 for a Ritchey-Chreitien Cassegrain type telescope which finally launched in 1990ContinueContinue reading “The James Webb Space Telescope”

The dormant volcano Mauna Kea is the highest point in the Central Pacific and of the Hawaiian Islands. At such a height, the benefits of dry air above the clouds with little to no light pollution make it the preeminent site in the world for astronomical observing. As such, many large telescopes operate at itsContinueContinue reading “The Subaru Cluster”

When Billy Bob Thorton’s character approaches Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck and Steve Buscemi to save the world from impending doom in 1998’s blockbuster film “Armageddon” they only had 18 days to prevent an asteroid the size of Texas from annihilating life on Earth. In the years since, real NASA scientists have spent countless hours observingContinueContinue reading “NASA DART Mission – Armageddon Version 2.0”

We live on Earth, which orbits the sun every 365.256 days as part of our Solar System.  Our Solar system is one of hundreds of millions of stars and similar systems that orbits the center of our Milky Way galaxy about every 225 million years.  We are familiar with the cloudy or “milky” swath aboveContinueContinue reading “The Backyard Astronomer – Andromeda! ”

In July we talked about using the Summer Triangle asterism to locate Messier 57, the Ring Nebula.  If you were able to make it to our August Star Party at Pronghorn Park in Prescott Valley, you most likely were able to view it and the planets Saturn and Jupiter shining bright at opposition.  M57 howeverContinueContinue reading “The Backyard Astronomer – The Summer Triangle and The Dumbbell Nebula”

The “Dog Days of Summer” is an expression often used to define a seasonal period of stagnation or inactivity, usually brought on by long days and extreme heat.  In the Arizona Central Highlands – similar to that experienced by our ancient predecessors in Greece and Rome – this time correlates with the beginning of theContinueContinue reading “The Backyard Astronomer – The Dog Days of Summer and Giants at Opposition”

By Adam England, The Backyard Astronomer The beginning of Summer in the Northern Hemisphere brings warmer nights to the backyard astronomer, a stark contrast from the oft freezing viewing sessions of the Winter constellations.  July offers longer days, but also some great stargazing for the moderate sized telescope.  The constellations Aquila the Eagle, Cygnus theContinueContinue reading “Summer Constellations, Asterisms, and the Ring Nebula”

The scientific community has been intently focused on Mars for the past couple months.  Every 26 months, our planets align in a way that shortens the time from Earth to Mars down to about 9 months, and as more countries develop space programs, more robotic explorers are sent to the red planet during this window. ContinueContinue reading “Mars, Cancer, and the Beehive Cluster”

In the early morning hours of Wednesday 26 May, the Western United States will be treated to an astronomical event not seen in nearly two and a half years – a total lunar eclipse.  The 3-hour and 40-minute event will reach totality over Central Yavapai County at 4:18 AM.  The culmination of totality is oftenContinueContinue reading “The Super Blood Moon”