Recent Astronomy Articles at Cosmic Pursuits

The Basics of Electronically-Assisted Astronomy

July 27, 2018 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Astronomy Equipment

The Lagoon Nebula (M8) images with a Mallincam Extreme video camera with a Meade 8” LX10, focal reducer, and light-pollution filter. Credit: Jim Thompson.

Electronically-assisted astronomy (EAA) is a relatively new and often misunderstood pastime, one that lies somewhere in the continuum between strictly visual observing and hard-core astrophotography. Simply put, EAA allows you to see what would otherwise not be possible to see using an eyepiece alone. It’s an ideal way to complement purely visual observing, and it’s perfect for stargazers who don’t have the visual acuity or patience to look through an eyepiece [Read more…] about The Basics of Electronically-Assisted Astronomy

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The Superman Star

July 19, 2018 by William Paolini Filed Under: Science

Artist’s conception of a cataclysmic variable star (credit: NASA).

When I first learned about the “Superman” star, a type of cataclysmic variable star, I was excited to chase it down with a telescope, and I was also excited about researching the popular and scientific literature of these fascinating stars. The more I investigated, the more I felt like I had stumbled upon a treasure trove of celestial gems to explore. My reading revealed so many types of cataclysmic variables that I was giddy with excitement about an endless stream of fascinating objects with equally fascinating astrophysics to ignite my imagination. And having the spectacular eruption of one of these intriguing stars possibly being an inspiration behind a popular fictional superhero made the exploration all the more enticing [Read more…] about The Superman Star

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Cosmic Shipwreck

July 15, 2018 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Astronomy Images and Video

The summer Milky Way and an abandoned sailboat in rural northern Virginia. Click to open in a new window. Image credit: Brian Ventrudo.

An abandoned sailboat in a grassy field in northern Virginia makes for a good, if unexpected, foreground for this image of the summer Milky Way. Mars is at lower left, while Saturn is below center, and just below the airplane trail. The silvery rectangle of stars above the plane trail is the Small Sagittarius Star Cloud (Messier 24). Many pink nebulae and silver-gray star clusters fleck the trail of the Milky Way. Look to the upper left of the image to see the little upside-down ‘Coat Hanger’ asterism known as Collinder 399.

Image taken on July 8, 2018 near Warrenton, VA, with a Nikon D750 and Tamron 15-30mm lens at f/2.8, a NiSi natural night filter, ISO 3200, 20 seconds.

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Find Your Address on Earth, 700 Million Years Ago

July 5, 2018 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Science

The location of the author’s home in Maryland about 250 million years ago.

Like many important theories in science, plate tectonics, the concept that the Earth’s surface is like a cracked eggshell with each piece floating on a convective mantle of molten rock, was once considered a crackpot idea. But sometimes crackpot ideas are right. Plate tectonics now underpins all of geology, much like the Big Bang Theory is the foundation of astronomy and astrophysics.

The theory of plate tectonics was deduced in the mid-20th century by a handful of scientists and cartographers who wondered why, for example, the eastern coast of South America complemented so precisely the shape of the western coast of Africa, and why fossils of long-extinct animals were found scattered on different continents separated by wide oceans, and why volcanoes and earthquakes are far more common in some locations than others, and why fossilized marine creatures are sometimes found at the tops of mountains. Before plate tectonics, these observations were a mystery. After plate tectonics, they all started to make sense. [Read more…] about Find Your Address on Earth, 700 Million Years Ago

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A Northern Observer Discovers the Southern Skies

June 20, 2018 by Joe Bergeron Filed Under: Stargazing

The Southern Cross and the Coalsack. Image credit: Joe Bergeron.

Imagine a young stargazer living at a latitude of 42 degrees north.

Polaris, the fabled North Star, shines far above the northern horizon. Around it wheel the circumpolar constellations of Ursa Major, Cassiopeia, Draco, and Cepheus, ancient landmarks of the northern sky.

In the south, the tail of Scorpius brushes low along the horizon for a few brief months of Summer. Those stars are among the most southerly he can see. But from his star maps, the young stargazer knows that farther south lie some of the greatest wonders of the entire celestial sphere, all the way down to the obscure South Celestial Pole. Yet the poor lad can never see them. The obstinate bulk of the spherical Earth hides them forever [Read more…] about A Northern Observer Discovers the Southern Skies

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