Archives for the 'skywatching' 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 […]
Lunar Eclipse Next Week
Published on 13 Feb 2008 at 11:59 pm.
3 Comments.
Filed under eclipses, skywatching.
Next week, on Wednesday evening here in North America, there will be a total lunar eclipse. Lunar eclipses are fun to watch, and if the skies are clear, we’ll be watching the eclipse from campus. You can see the eclipse just fine with your naked eye, but it is even more fun to watch through […]
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Alien Headlights?
Published on 31 Jan 2008 at 5:10 pm.
2 Comments.
Filed under skywatching.
If you get up early Friday morning and look to the East in the dawn twilight, you’ll see two bright lights close together in the southeastern sky. It may look something like this view that I produced using Stellarium planetarium software:
Given the rash of UFO sightings lately, I am expecting that there will be […]
Unidentified Flying Sundog
Published on 18 Jan 2008 at 11:27 am.
10 Comments.
Filed under atmosphere, skywatching.
Two days ago, I wrote about an UFO sighting over Stephenville, TX, that has been getting a lot of press attention. Well, the local news paper, the Fort Worth Star Telegram, has published a photograph purportedly of the UFO. It is an excellent photograph of a parhelion! Here is the photograph, courtesy […]
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UFO over Texas?
Published on 16 Jan 2008 at 6:20 pm.
32 Comments.
Filed under skywatching.
Several days ago, several people near Stephenville, Texas, apparently saw something in the sky that they did not recognize. For those who have not heard of Stephenville (and I expect that is almost everyone not from around these parts), it is a town SW of Fort Worth. With a population of about […]
Moon and Mars
Published on 23 Dec 2007 at 3:13 pm.
6 Comments.
Filed under skywatching.
Tonight, if you go outside in the northern hemisphere, you’ll see the Moon and Mars very close together. The Moon moves its own with each hour. Over the course of a day, it moves about as far across the sky as the width of a hand held at arm’s length. So, last […]
The Moon and Mars
Published on 26 Nov 2007 at 3:32 pm.
4 Comments.
Filed under skywatching.
Tonight, if you go out and look towards the east, say at about 9pm or later, you will see the Moon. Very close to the Moon will be a reddish star. That “star” is no star! It is the planet Mars. The Moon moves around the sky, taking about 27.3 days […]
