Archives for the 'observing' Category
Lunar Eclipse, August 28
Published on 26 Aug 2007 at 1:09 am.
11 Comments.
Filed under astronomy, moon, observing.
The annual email urban legend about Mars has been making its way around the internet again. And, of course, as I said a few weeks ago, it is still wrong. But, there is going to be something interesting going on Monday night, and that is that the Moon is about to be full. […]
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Mars is Still Not Going to Appear as Big as the Moon!!!
Published on 8 Aug 2007 at 11:49 pm.
13 Comments.
Filed under Mars, astronomy, observing.
Well, the annual urban legend about Mars being as big as the Moon is making an appearance again. I’ve already gotten several questions about it. This seems to be a never ending problem. Every year, the same email goes around as if it is news. I blogged about this a year […]
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V1280 Scorpii (Nova Scorpii 2007)
Published on 18 Feb 2007 at 6:27 am.
No Comments.
Filed under observing, stars.
I recently got word that a nova recently discovered in Scorpius had become one of the brightest in several years. It was even reportedly naked eye bright! Novae tend to change quickly (they are variable stars, after all), so I really wanted to check it out first before posting anything. Naturally, these […]
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An Occultation of Saturn
Published on 6 Dec 2006 at 8:22 am.
2 Comments.
Filed under amateur astronomy, observing.
The Moon moves around the sky, taking about a month to complete one circuit. Along the way, it passes by various other objects. When the Moon passes something, we call that a conjunction. But, occasionally, in its motion the Moon passes right in front of another body. This we call an occultation. This weekend, the […]
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Glasses or no glasses?
Published on 27 Nov 2006 at 4:42 pm.
3 Comments.
Filed under amateur astronomy, observing.
I am getting new glasses soon. I need a new prescription, and besides I got the anti-reflective coating on my old pair pretty scratched up (no coatings on the new pair!). But, this raises a question that people always ask at public star parties. Should they take off their glasses to look through the telescope?
Well, […]
Binoculars for Astronomy
Published on 10 Sep 2006 at 5:24 pm.
2 Comments.
Filed under astronomy, observing.
I give lots of public lectures, and I often hold star parties. Frequently at such events, people ask me about purchasing telescopes. They want to know what telescope they should buy as their first astronomical tool. I ask them how well they know the sky, how many telescopes they have looked through, what they like […]
