What’s Up in the Night Sky? – April 2019 by Fred Barrett
Cover your head this month. We have a major meteor shower hitting our skies. The Lyrid shower peaks this month on the night of the 22nd/23rd. As many as 20 meteors per hour are possible. Sadly, this shower peak occurs 3 days past full moon (waning gibbous) and fainter meteors… READ MORE
What’s Up in the Night Sky? – February 2019
I always try to give you a head’s up (get it?) whenever the Zodiacal light can be viewed in its entire splendor in the night sky. This month, we’re in luck! Its cone-shaped radiance will be best viewable from mid-February through early March after sunset. Let me describe to you… READ MORE
What’s Up in the Night Sky? – December 2018 by Fred Barrett
This should be a great month for comet lovers. Comet 46P Wirtanen will be a naked eye sight in the sky. It’s small, just barely 1 Km in diameter, but its orbit will pass very close to Earth making it appear like a much bigger object. It’s already in the… READ MORE
What’s Up in the Night Sky? – November 2018
This should be a very interesting month! We have a comet or two, a sky filling meteor storm and the Moon gives Mars a haircut on the 15th. I’ll start first with the Leonid meteor shower. The Leonid shower roars to its peak on the 17th but the shower is… READ MORE
What’s Up in the Night Sky?
The appearance of the constellation Pegasus in the east, marks the transition from summer to autumn. In Greek mythology, Pegasus was a winged horse possessed with magical powers. Pegasus, at 1100 square degrees, is the 7th largest constellation. When I say you will have no problems finding it, believe me,… READ MORE
What’s Up in the Night Sky? – August 2018
In August, the late summer nights are longer, giving us more time for observing. Mars, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn are a beautiful spectacle by naked eye, binoculars or telescope, but the main event this month happens on the night of August 12/13. The Moon-free sky promises one of the best… READ MORE
What’s Up in the Night Sky? – July 2018
You can’t beat July and August for the beauty and quantity of constellations that can be observed in the night sky. The nicest ones and the easiest to find are imbedded in the Milky Way. It is a white band of stars and dark dust clouds that arches high overhead… READ MORE
What’s Up in the Night Sky? May 2018 by Fred Barrett
Venus, Jupiter and Mars are real treats to observe this Month! Saturn is coming on strong as well. Jupiter reaches opposition on May 8th. That means that Earth will be in a direct line between Jupiter and the Sun and Jupiter will be at its closest to our planet –… READ MORE
What’s Up in the Night Sky? March 2018
It’s going to be an exciting month for planets and we have 2 full moons again, just like January. They occur on March 1st and 31st. Since the months of the year don’t quite match the lunar cycles, 2 full moons in one month can be the result, and the… READ MORE
What’s Up in the Night Sky? - February 2018
I must apologize for not providing a column for the last 2 months. Some family matters needed to be addressed. But, I’m back. If this column arrives at your mailbox before January 31st, be aware that a second Full Moon for January will occur on that date. It’s called a… READ MORE
August 2017
The big news this month is that a partial eclipse of the Sun will occur in our area on August 21 starting about 1 pm. Our American friends can view the Total Eclipse along a path that curves across the middle of the United States. If you are ambitious enough… READ MORE
What’s Up in the Night Sky - July 2017
This month you will notice that there is a picture of a star field included with the column. It encompasses the summer triangle in its entirety. The circled star at the far left is Deneb at the tail of the Swan constellation Cygnus. The star circled at middle top is… READ MORE
What’s Up in the Night Sky - June 2017
I had a fellow email me last month asking if a modest size drawing or picture of the night sky for the month of the column could be included to help find the constellations and objects I point out in the column. I’ll see what I can do. The column… READ MORE
What’s Up in the Night Sky – May 2017
Where oh where are Spirit and Opportunity? These 2 Mars rovers landed successfully on Mars in 2004. In 2009, poor Spirit rover succumbed when one of its 6 wheels went lame. It could travel and move at a much-reduced rate by going backwards but soon it got stuck, and in… READ MORE
What’s Up in the Night Sky - March 2017
Did you know that the Earth is not a perfect sphere? There’s a special area of study in mathematics that involves measurements of Earth. It is called ‘geodesty’. It got its start in the 17th century when improvements in the field of astronomy made astronomical measurements more accurate. A need… READ MORE
What’s Up in the Night Sky? - February 2017
What’s up there indeed? In this column, I’m going to talk about, um… nothing. Did that catch your attention? There are vast spaces between the stars and galaxies that appear to be completely empty, seemingly filled with nothing! Even our Solar system looks to be mostly empty space out past… READ MORE
