Brian Ventrudo

Sky Tours (North) – Orion Revisited

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' ...

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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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Deep Sky Tours – January

Filed Under: Fundamentals of Stargazing

This month we do something different. In keeping with the tours of the night sky in the “opposite hemispheres”, this month’s review of deep sky objects looks at the ten best sights in the far southern hemisphere and northern hemisphere for observers who live in the opposite hemisphere. The list of sights refers you to notes from earlier in the cour...

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Sky Tours (South) – A View of the Northern Stars

Filed Under: Fundamentals of Stargazing

This month you get a whirlwind tour of the stars of the far-northern hemisphere, stars which are forever hidden by the Earth under your feet. It’s good to know a little about the other part of the sky because there is much to see there. And with a little luck you may get to travel north of the equator to see the northern skies.

The maps for the ...

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