Brian Ventrudo

The Lunar 100

(Note - There are no downloadable notes or audio for this lesson. There are links and information below to get you started finding the 'Lunar 100').
A map showing the position of each object in the Lunar 100 (image credit: Sky and Telescope)
This month, you look at the “Lunar 100”, a list of 100 interesting objects to see on the visible surface of ...

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Stargazing Tools – Finders, Barlows, Sky Charts, the Caldwell List

Filed Under: Fundamentals of Stargazing

A red-dot finder mounted on a small refractor telescope.
This month, you find out about some extremely useful stargazing tools, namely finder scopes and Barlow lenses. These tools, finders especially, belong in the toolkit of every stargazer. You also learn about useful online weather tools that forecast the state of the skies for astronomy. And yo...

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Science of Stargazing – Star Clusters

Filed Under: Fundamentals of Stargazing

Each star cluster is as distinct as a European city, each as beautiful in really dark sky as a spray of diamond dust on black velvet. Open star clusters-- sometimes called galactic star clusters-- are congregations of a few hundred young stars that have emerged from the cocoon of an emission nebula and still hang together through mutual gravitation...

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Deep Sky Tours – October

Filed Under: Fundamentals of Stargazing

We look away from the Milky Way this month into the regions of the constellations Pegasus, Aquarius, and Scupltor to see a range of deep-sky sights including galaxies, planetary nebulae, and star clusters.
Click here to download notes for 'Deep Sky Tours - October' (PDF, 1 MB)
Click here to download audio for 'Deep Sky Tours - October' (MP3, 10.3 ...

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Sky Tours (South) – October

Filed Under: Fundamentals of Stargazing

The only bright star near the zenith in October is Fomalhaut, the chief star of the constellation Piscis Austrinus. The exotic southern birds—Phoenix, Grus, Tucana—are visible, as well as Pavo, which you met last month. Capricornus lingers, and its zodiacal neighbor Aquarius approaches the zenith. North of Aquarius, you find the prominent northern ...

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