Recent Astronomy Articles at Cosmic Pursuits

Seeing Saturn in 2018

June 13, 2018 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Solar System

saturn Many casual observers get hooked on amateur astronomy after a first look at Saturn through a telescope. More than a few have looked through my small refractor on a night of good seeing and asked of Saturn, “Is it real?” Yes, it is real. And it’s one of the most beautiful things you will ever see. The color of Saturn, the proportions, the apparent 3D perspective of this grand icy world make it arguably the finest sight accessible with a small telescope. The planet reaches opposition on June 27, 2018 and will remain bright and large in a telescope over the next few months. Here’s how to find it and see it in a small telescope.

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Moving Stars

May 21, 2018 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Science

Like the drift of the continents or the erosion of great mountain ranges on Earth, the motion of the stars across the sky is almost imperceptibly small over the paltry span of a human lifetime. But in this quite astonishing video made with data from the European Space Agency’s (ESA’s) Gaia spacecraft, which compresses 5 million years of star motion into a few minutes, you can see more than 2 million stars move across the sky like grains of pollen floating in a breeze. It is mesmerizing (and unexpectedly calming) [Read more…] about Moving Stars

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The Blue-Green Beauty of Planetary Nebulae

May 16, 2018 by Joe Bergeron Filed Under: Deep Sky

A long-exposure image of the Helix Nebula (NGC 7293) shows far more color than can be observed visually, even through a large telescope. Image credit: Terry Hancock.

New and would-be amateur astronomers are often mystified and disappointed by the lack of color in things they see through their telescopes. And why shouldn’t they be? Popular astronomy shows, magazines, and web sites encourage people to believe that celestial objects are rich with blistering, saturated color, much like the image above. Why doesn’t that new $400 8-inch Dobsonian show bright pink nebulae, and galaxies of blue and gold? [Read more…] about The Blue-Green Beauty of Planetary Nebulae

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Moon Viewing on the Streets of L.A.

April 13, 2018 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Astronomy Images and Video

A New View of the Moon from Alex Gorosh on Vimeo.

Here’s a short video to brighten your day. The writer and film maker Wylie Overstreet took his big 12″ Newtonian telescope into the streets of Los Angeles to show the Moon to passersby. The result? Well, see for yourself. But it’s nice to know that so many overstimulated city dwellers can still enjoy nature at its finest.

You can see a thousand pictures of the Moon, but it’s never the same experience as seeing it for yourself, especially through a good telescope. Even if you don’t know the name of a single crater or sea, the Moon’s stark beauty, the etched features and long shadows and large range of gray scale and brightness, make it one of the most appealing and accessible sights in the sky. And as more experienced stargazers know, you can get the same experience when seeing much fainter objects. With a little practice, of course.

This fine little production is a great reminder that we should look up more often. And when possible, share what you see with those around you.

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Stargazers at Work

March 28, 2018 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Astronomy Images and Video

Amateur astronomers set up their telescopes at a public astronomy night in Northern Virginia on March 18, 2018. Click to enlarge.

The winter stars set in the southwestern sky in the mid-evening hours of late winter as seen from Northern Virginia. Here you see the stars of the constellations Canis Major, Monoceros, Orion, and Taurus, among others, as well as the Pleiades star cluster. Outreach events such as these are superb opportunities for newcomers to stargazing to learn and gain inspiration. And they help experienced stargazers hone their craft and reconnect with their passion with for the night sky.

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