Cosmic Pursuits

Basic astronomy and night sky information

Brian Ventrudo

Deep Sky Tours – February

Filed Under: Fundamentals of Stargazing

While our whole-sky tours have come to an end in this course, there are still a handful of intriguing deep-sky objects I wish to show you how to find. These are objects you would have found difficult to find a year ago, but if you have been following most of the tours and searching for at least some of the DSO’s described during the course, you sho...

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Sky Tours (South) – Orion Revisited

Filed Under: Fundamentals of Stargazing

In this final month of Fundamentals of Stargazing, you revisit the grand constellation Orion using the new knowledge you have gained in this course. As you enter your second year as an adept stargazer, you may find you see the heavens differently. The beauty of the stars remains, but you can now see deeper and understand the nature of much of what ...

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Sky Tours (North) – Orion Revisited

Filed Under: Fundamentals of Stargazing

In this final month of Fundamentals of Stargazing, you revisit the grand constellation Orion using the new knowledge you have gained in this course. As you enter your second year as an adept stargazer, you may find you see the heavens differently. The beauty of the stars remains, but you can now see deeper and understand the nature of much of what ...

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Solar System Observing – The Sun

Filed Under: Fundamentals of Stargazing

In our look at the solar system this month, you find out what’s to see on the visible surface of the Sun using white light and hydrogen alpha solar filters. And you get a quick look at the basics of solar and lunar eclipses.
Click here to download notes for 'Observing the Sun' (PDF, 1 MB)
Click here to download audio for 'Observing the Sun' (MP3, ...

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Science of Stargazing – Quasars

Filed Under: Fundamentals of Stargazing

As a stargazer, you will sometimes be asked how far you can see with your telescope. The answer is “billions of light-years” if you are looking at a quasar. About a dozen of these strange, energetic objects are visible in a small telescope, and while they don’t look much different than stars, they are remarkable because they lie at distances that a...

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