Tag: Stargazing

Interesting Astronomy & Astrophysics news from the week of 10/18/2020

Next week’s night sky: This week, Mars will be extraordinarily easy to stop. From October 28-30, about an hour after sunset, simply locate the moon. The reddish dot above it will be Mars! Halloween is a full moon! This is the perfect time to look at the moon for a great socially distanced holiday. Are non-spherical planets possible? Some of the planetary systems researchers have found experience extreme conditions. These large, gassy planets orbiting very close to their stars are called hot Jupiters. One of these hot […]

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Interesting Astronomy & Astrophysics news from the week of 9/20/2020

Next week’s night sky: On Tuesday, September 9, Saturn will appear to stand still. Usually, planets appear to move across the night sky and change places in reference to other stars. However, on this day, Saturn will move with the stars. This will make the planet a lot easier to find! Just look for the bright planet in the southern sky, then remember the pattern the stars make around it. Anytime during the night, you will be able to find that pattern and find Saturn!October 1 is […]

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My photos of the comet NEOWISE

Last night was a very very clear night, and so I was able to get some good photos of comet Neowise! Here they are: I was able to get these images by looking right under the big dipper. Neowise is getting dimmer, so I may be hard to see. It is a good idea to get your eyes used to the dark before trying to find it. Look for a streak in the sky that seems out of place. That will be the comet!

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Comet Neowise is visible this week!

Comet Neowise is now visible both just after sunset and in the morning! This is a rare “naked eye comet” meaning that one can see the comet without any telescopes or binoculars. Although it will be harder to spot this comet in the evening, it is worth a shot! Just after sunset, look to the northwest. The lower the horizon, the easier it will be! Once you are looking northwest, look for a streak in the sky. See the chart below to find out exactly where Neowise […]

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Stargazing on July 4th

The fourth of July is a great time to go out with the family to go stargazing! This weekend, there will be some cool things to look at. Looking at the moon Consider looking at the moon, as it will be very large and luminous. The dark maria, or seas, will be on full display! These are actually formed by ancient lava flows, which smoothed the surface as they cooled. The most famous of these “seas”, the sea of tranquility, is where the first men on the […]

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