Pleiades, Courtesy NASA. Most everyone on Earth can pick out a few basic star clusters, constellations, or asterisms, despite their respective language, culture, or even level of education. Orion’s belt is probably the most common of these, with the three bright stars Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka forming a near perfect line in our Northern HemisphereContinueContinue reading “January 2025 – The Pleiades: 7 Sisters From 6 Stars?”
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December 2024 – Rockets, Satellites, and Acronyms
The media was abuzz in November with Congressional Hearings on UAPs. As governments do, this new acronym was created to better describe unknown objects as “Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena” as opposed to our classic UFOs or “Unidentified Flying Objects”. One early “UFO” that was soon identified was the CCCP’s Sputnik I, the first artificial satellite toContinueContinue reading “December 2024 – Rockets, Satellites, and Acronyms”
November 2024 – The Great Square of Pegasus
The ancients clearly had two things going for them: wonderfully dark skies and fantastic imaginations. It can often be difficult for the modern backyard astronomer to pick out constellations and imagine a Great Bear, a Hunter, or a horse with wings, just by connecting the twinkling dots in the sky. Light pollution certainly has anContinueContinue reading “November 2024 – The Great Square of Pegasus”
October 2024 – Wandering Stars, The Oort Cloud and Comets
In space, everything is in motion. From a spacecraft orbiting the Earth, to moons dancing around planets, or star systems on an epic voyage across our galaxy, nothing ever truly “stops” moving. We find patterns in these movements, such as the ecliptic, or great highway on which the Sun moves across the sky, and theContinueContinue reading “October 2024 – Wandering Stars, The Oort Cloud and Comets”
Sept/Oct 2024 – Aliens!
Earth is a cool place. It has oceans, forests, and mountains galore. These different environments serve as host to millions of different types of animal and plant life, including us, humans. Earth is the perfect size (24,901 miles around), perfect distance from the Sun (93 million miles!), and has the perfect combination of elements likeContinueContinue reading “Sept/Oct 2024 – Aliens!”
September 2024 – The History of Saturn
Ringed Planets – James Webb Space Telescope, Courtesy NASA. September gives us prime viewing of two of our Solar System’s four ringed planets. Yes, you read that correctly; our Solar System has four planets with rings. You’re certainly familiar with Saturn, which we have known for its rings for nearly 400 years. However, as ourContinueContinue reading “September 2024 – The History of Saturn”
August 2024 – The Sky Is Falling!
Recently there have been a string of stories in the news regarding objects falling from space. Both the universe and humanity have contributed to these episodes, such as a recent fireball that burned bright over New York City, or the Florida family who in April received quite the surprise when a piece of refuse fromContinueContinue reading “August 2024 – The Sky Is Falling!”
July 2024 – T Coronae Borealis – The Blaze Star
The Ancients observed many of the same “naked eye” phenomena that we also see today, and although their understanding of these astronomical events was limited, they knew something unique was occurring. Episodes such as a lunar or solar eclipse or the passing of a comet could be seen as messages from the heavens, heralding greatContinueContinue reading “July 2024 – T Coronae Borealis – The Blaze Star”
June 2024 – Planets on Parade
Around 4.5 billion years ago, our solar system was nothing more than a large cloud of gas and dust, not much different than the Orion Nebula (Messier 42) that we enjoy looking at with our backyard telescopes every winter. Composed of mostly hydrogen, the cloud coalesced over millions and billions of years until a catalystContinueContinue reading “June 2024 – Planets on Parade”
May 2024 – The Sombrero Galaxy
M104 Sombrero Galaxy, courtesy Joel Cohen, Prescott Astronomy Club. Taken from Prescott Valley, AZ with Astro-Physics Starfire 178 7-inch f/9 APO. The late 18th Century was a golden age of astronomical discoveries. After Galileo famously pointed his early invention at the heavens in 1609, Dutch glassmakers spent decades perfecting the lens technology that allowed forContinueContinue reading “May 2024 – The Sombrero Galaxy”
The Backyard Astronomer 