Basic astronomy and night sky information
Towards Coma Berenices, a tiny constellation between the handle of the Big Dipper and the haunches of the constellation Leo, the Lion, lies in a tiny expanse of sky an assembly of some of the most distant galaxies visible in a backyard telescope. These are the members of the Coma Cluster of Galaxies, a group of more than 1,000 big galaxies located so far away, their starlight left well before the first dinosaurs walked the Earth [Read more…] about The Coma Cluster of Galaxies
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An automated telescope on Haleakala in Hawaii spotted an exploding massive star in M66, a spiral galaxy in the constellation Leo. It appears to be a Type II supernova, the result of a massive star that has run out of fuel and suddenly collapsed and snapped back against the subatomic forces at play in its core. Like all supernovae, this star is blasting out nearly as much energy as all the other stars in the galaxy, albeit for just a few days [Read more…] about New Supernova in Galaxy Messier 66
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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?”
Oh, it’s real, all right. And incredibly beautiful… the color, the proportions, the apparent 3D perspective of this grand icy world. It is arguably the finest sight accessible with a small telescope. The planet reaches opposition on June 3, 2016 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.
[Read more…] about The 2016 Saturn Observing Guide
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One of the five bright planets visible to the unaided eye, Mars has perplexed and tantalized stargazers since antiquity. Its ochre hue, a consequence of iron-oxide in its surface sands, prompted classical astronomers to name the planet after the Roman god of war, and its dark and changing surface markings inspired early telescopic astronomers to speculate about the presence of life on the planet. The coming weeks offer you the best chance in the next two years to see Mars with a small telescope, so here’s a guide to help you get a good view of the Red Planet in 2016 [Read more…] about The 2016 Mars Observing Guide
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The progress of science sometimes comes down to an unlikely partnership, a combination of the right people studying the right problem at the right time. In the pantheon of unlikely partners, few can top the team of Johannes Kepler and Tycho Brahe, two men of polar-opposite personalities who finally cracked the secret of the motion of the planets. Here is their story [Read more…] about Johannes Kepler: Mathematician, Mystic… Murderer?
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