Archives for the 'skywatching' Category
Binocular Astronomy
Published on 23 Mar 2009 at 11:12 am.
8 Comments.
Filed under amateur astronomy, skywatching.
I am often asked what sort of telescope that I recommend for beginning amateur astronomers. What often surprises people is that I don’t normally recommend a beginner buying a telescope. Rather, I suggest that a beginner buy a good pair of binoculars. There are several reasons for this. Even seasoned amateur […]
Big and Bright Moon
Published on 10 Jan 2009 at 11:19 am.
2 Comments.
Filed under astronomy, moon, skywatching.
Tonight is Full Moon. Actually, it occurs at a little before 9:30 tonight, Central Time, in the USA. It is very early Sunday morning in Europe. Full Moons occur about every 29.5 days. So, you get one every month. Every few years, you can get two in a month (one […]
Pretty planetary grouping
Published on 1 Dec 2008 at 3:31 pm.
1 Comment.
Filed under skywatching.
Tonight there will be a rather uncommon grouping of two planets and the Moon. Look in the southwestern sky and you’ll see the crescent Moon and two bright “stars” very near it. The brighter of the two stars is actually the planet Venus. The next one is the planet Jupiter. Click on the image above […]
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A trio of planets
Published on 6 Sep 2008 at 2:22 pm.
1 Comment.
Filed under astronomy, skywatching.
This past Thursday night, I took some students out to observe a grouping of three planets. Those planets are still grouped low in the western sky in the early evenings, so you can go look at them yourself. They’ll be in a slightly different arrangement than shown in this image. I created this image using […]
Jupiter in the south
Published on 26 Aug 2008 at 5:38 pm.
1 Comment.
Filed under skywatching.
Yesterday was the first day of the semester. It was clear last night, so I took my students out for a look at the sky. On the first clear night, I like to get them to learning stars and constellations. After all, that is one of the things that they all say […]
Jupiter is back
Published on 17 Jun 2008 at 1:39 pm.
2 Comments.
Filed under astronomy, skywatching.
Of course, Jupiter didn’t leave the Solar System, become invisible, or any such thing. But, we haven’t seen it for a while in the evening skies. And, observers who have stayed up late or got up before dawn have been seeing Jupiter. It just hasn’t been visible at sunset in quite a […]
Planets in the Morning
Published on 25 Feb 2008 at 9:34 pm.
2 Comments.
Filed under skywatching.
One of the things that I like about astronomy is that there is always something new to look for. Yesterday, I wrote about Saturn being in conjunction. Today, I have a planetary grouping to talk about.
On Tuesday morning, if you get up a little before dawn and look to the southeast, you’ll be able to […]
