Moon Over Mars The biggest event for February is one most of us won’t see. The Moon slides in front of Mars on the morning of the 11th. Usually the Moon is a great pointer toward fainter objects. This occultation of Mars by the Moon occurs after Sunrise on the 11th. Will we be able … Continue reading Heads UP! February 2020
Month: January 2020
Tonight’s the Night
Not the Neil Young song. For the northeastern United States, tonight is one of the few clear nights recently or upcoming. The weekend has a coastal storm everyone is watching. So, tonight's the night to get out there while there is a clear night. We'll have the crescent Moon, brilliant Venus, and way down to … Continue reading Tonight’s the Night
Last chance to see
Mercury and Saturn in the SOHO C3 viewer before they go their separate ways.
Count the stars?
I was taking some snapshots of the sky to talk about with my grandson. Then I saw my friend Scott counting five, no six! objects to look at. I had captured four of them. Canon XS on a tripod. Try for yourself! With or without a camera. Moon. 250mm zoom lens, 1/640 second exposure at … Continue reading Count the stars?
Heads UP! for January 2020
Meteor Shower or a Shower in the Rain? Early Saturday morning January 4th is the bone-chilling Quadrantids meteor shower. These pieces of asteroid 2003 EH can produce a meteor a minute at their peak. The bad news is the peak doesn’t last very long. The good news is a short peak means less time in … Continue reading Heads UP! for January 2020
What’s going on behind the Sun?
Thanks to the SOHO ( Solar & Heliospheric Observatory) we can see stars and planets which would be overwhelmed by sunshine here on Earth. * December 29 through January 2 from SOHO Camera C3. * White circle is the size of the Sun as seen from SOHO.Jupiter 'moving' to the right and Mercury moving to … Continue reading What’s going on behind the Sun?
Plan NOW for a Spectacular Conjunction in December 2020
Jupiter and Saturn are going to spend 2020 flirting with each other, finally coming together, as seen from Earth, in late December 2020. On December 21st, they will be so close together they may seem to be one object to the unaided eye. Binoculars or a telescope will show them as separate objects, very close … Continue reading Plan NOW for a Spectacular Conjunction in December 2020
Heads UP! 