Recent Astronomy Articles at Cosmic Pursuits

Was the Christmas Star Real?

November 27, 2020 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: History and Famous Astronomers

Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, over a snow-covered spruce tree in December 2019. Image credit: Brian Ventrudo.

O star of wonder, star of night,
Star with royal beauty bright,
Westward leading, still proceeding,
Guide us to thy perfect light.

The Christmas Star – it may be the most famous “star” in history. But was it real? Mentioned just once in the gospel of Matthew, the “Star of Bethlehem”, or the “Christmas Star”, may have guided three wise men from the East in search of a newborn king. A few words written on a scroll two thousand years ago isn’t much to go on, but astronomers have a few ideas that may explain the apparition of a star near the time of the birth of Jesus [Read more…] about Was the Christmas Star Real?

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Nebula Hopping in the Constellation Cygnus

November 23, 2020 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Deep Sky

The North America Nebula (on its side) and above it the Pelican Nebula in the constellation Cygnus.

Like many constellations along the arc of the Milky Way, the constellation Cygnus harbors an embarrassment of celestial riches. There’s everything here: emission nebula, supernova remnants, open star clusters, star clouds, and dark nebulae that reach like intertwined fingers over the bright and unresolved star clouds in this part of the sky. In dark sky, with a pair of binoculars or wide-field telescope, a contemplative stargazer can spend many happy hours hopping from object to object, wondering why more people turn their eyes skyward more often.

Which is what I was doing on a cool northern autumn night as I toured the celestial Swan, looking for a handful of pretty emission nebulae that radiate a deep red light and stand out along the rich star field in this part of the sky. These nebulae make ideal targets for urban stargazers like me because their contrast is readily enhanced with a good light pollution filter which passes their emission while reducing the effect of urban light pollution. The nebula doesn’t appear brighter, but it does have better contrast against fish-grey urban and suburban skies [Read more…] about Nebula Hopping in the Constellation Cygnus

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The Veil Nebula

October 28, 2020 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Deep Sky

“It’s better to burn out than to fade away”, as Neil Young once said, and when it comes to burning out nothing beats a big star that blows up as a supernova. These catastrophic events occur as big stars run out of fuel in their core and become unable to hold themselves up against the relentless pull of their own gravity. Their outer layers collapse, crush the star’s dense core into a neutron star or black hole, then snap back in a violent explosion that eject as much energy in a few minutes as our sun does in its entire lifetime.

Since only the largest stars expire like this, and since the explosion itself plays out quickly over a few days or weeks, a supernova is a relatively rare event: the last known supernova in the Milky Way happened more than 400 years ago. But such explosions often leave a long-lasting imprint in the form of a visible nebula caused by the rapidly expanding shock wave of the exploding star colliding with and setting aglow the rarefied gas of the interstellar medium. Dozens of these so-called supernova remnants fleck the night sky. Most require a big telescope and sensitive camera to detect, but one of the brightest and easiest to see lies off the eastern ‘wing’ of the constellation Cygnus, the Swan. This is the famous Veil Nebula, a sprawling complex of glowing gas and one of the most intricate and intrinsically beautiful objects in our galaxy [Read more…] about The Veil Nebula

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How to See Mars in 2020

September 25, 2020 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Solar System

An image of Mars captured by Damian Peach in June 2018.

The planet Mars is one of the most interesting planets to observe with a small telescope, but also one of the most difficult. The planet only gets close enough to Earth to give up much detail just once every 780 days (about two years and two months), and when it does make an apparition, it still appears relatively small compared to Jupiter or Saturn. But observing Mars is worth the effort. It’s the only planet to reveal an appreciable amount of surface detail in a small telescope, and it also features occasional surprises such as dust storms and local fogs and cloud banks.

Seeing Mars takes a little practice, however, as well as the right tools for the job. This guide will help you understand what you can see on the surface of Mars, especially during the time before and after the opposition of October 13, 2020, when Mars makes its closest approach to Earth and best apparition until 2035. And it will help you get the best view of this remarkable world with a telescope and a few essential accessories [Read more…] about How to See Mars in 2020

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The ‘North America’ Nebula

August 18, 2020 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Deep Sky

Just off the tip of the Northern Cross (or the tail of Cygnus, the Swan) lies the photogenic NGC 7000, an immense star-forming complex embedded in rarefied hydrogen gas set aglow by massive blue-white stars. This emission nebula has an evocative shape that resembles the continent of North America which lends its informal name. Unlike more compact and concentrated nebula like the Swan or Orion Nebulae, the North America Nebula is a challenging object to spot visually. But it’s always a treat to see its faint ethereal glow emerging from the starry background of the northern Milky Way. [Read more…] about The ‘North America’ Nebula

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