The Moon, taken by the Apollo 8 crew – Courtesy NASA, Wikimedia Commons. Outside of space enthusiasts, Apollo 8 is an almost forgotten mission. On December 21, 1968, three astronauts launched aboard a Saturn V rocket from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. Just 68 hours later, Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and William Anders became the firstContinueContinue reading “February 2026 – Back to the Moon”
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September 2025 – In the Shadow of Titan
Titan shadow on Saturn, Hubble Space Telescope, Courtesy NASA. It seems that discoveries across the Universe are announced almost daily. The Hubble Space Telescope, launched into low Earth orbit in 1990, has been a workhorse in this effort, capturing and analyzing light in multiple wavelengths to probe the unknown. A growing suite of other instrumentsContinueContinue reading “September 2025 – In the Shadow of Titan”
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 