Archives for the 'astronomy' Category
Saturn at Opposition
Published on 24 Feb 2008 at 4:40 pm.
1 Comment.
Filed under astronomy, skywatching.
About a week and a half ago, I wrote about Neptune being in conjunction with the Sun. That was when Neptune was on the opposite side of the Sun from Earth. Today, I am writing about another planetary alignment. Saturn is in opposition. That means that Saturn is on the opposite […]
AU
Published on 19 Feb 2008 at 9:49 pm.
4 Comments.
Filed under astronomy.
In astronomy, you often seen numbers written as XXX AU. The AU means Astronomical Unit (not gold, which is Au in chemistry!). I wrote about astronomical units in an earlier post, in which I mentioned the AU, but I thought that I’d write a bit more detailed post about just AUs today.
For […]
Neptune in Conjunction
Published on 10 Feb 2008 at 6:28 pm.
2 Comments.
Filed under astronomy, planets.
According to my Observer’s Handbook, Neptune will be in conjunction with the Sun in less than two hours. So, I thought that I’d take a moment to explain what we mean by the terms conjunction and opposition when we are talking about planets. For this discussion, I’ll focus on superior planets, which are […]
Transient Astronomy
Published on 10 Jan 2008 at 10:23 am.
No Comments.
Filed under astronomy, conference blogging.
When I first got started in astronomy, there was an old piece of paper thumbtacked to the wall next to the phone at the observatory at the university where I was getting my master’s degree. To my knowledge, no one ever called that number. It was the phone number for the IAU’s Central […]
Where is today’s Cosmos?
Published on 20 Dec 2007 at 9:22 am.
10 Comments.
Filed under astronomy.
I knew for a long time that I really wanted to be a scientist. Eventually, my interest began leaning towards physics. Also, I had always had an interest in astronomy, but what really fueled that interest was a television show that ran on PBS during my first semester in college. That was […]
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December 15, 2007, Star Party
Published on 8 Dec 2007 at 1:40 pm.
2 Comments.
Filed under astronomy, observing.
I will be doing a star party on December 15 at Dinosaur Valley State Park, in Glen Rose, Texas. For those who don’t know, Glen Rose is a small city southwest of Fort Worth. You can find directions to the park at their web site. The star party will be held at […]
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Integrated Magnitude and Comet Holmes
Published on 4 Nov 2007 at 12:26 pm.
3 Comments.
Filed under astronomy, comets.
Raw observational data for magnitude estimates for Comet Holmes suggest that the comet is holding at a magnitude of about 2.5 or so. Some estimates are a bit brighter, and some are a bit dimmer. But, people are asking me why it is getting harder to see the comet if it is staying […]
