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?”
Tag Archives: space
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”
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”
Unicorns and Roses
Rosette Nebula, Courtesy N.A Sharp, NOIRLab, Wikimedia Commons. A lesser-known and relatively modern constellation occupies the void between Orion, Canis Major, Hydra and Gemini, though the stars are difficult to see with the naked eye due to modern light pollution. Monoceros – mono meaning “one” and ceros meaning “horn” – the Unicorn is a simpleContinueContinue reading “Unicorns and Roses”
December 2023 – Geminids Meteor Shower
Meteor showers are generally produced when the Earth passes through the remnant tail of a comet, often long after it has visited our inner Solar System. July’s Perseids are a gift from Comet Swift Tuttle (last close approach in 1995), the Eta Aquariids in May and Orionids in October come from the path Halley’s CometContinueContinue reading “December 2023 – Geminids Meteor Shower”
The Backyard Astronomer 