Fundamentals of Stargazing

Solar System Observing – Venus and Mercury

The waxing crescent Moon, Venus (middle), and Mercury in the twilight evening sky.
We continue our tour of the major planets of our solar system with a look at the so-called “inferior” planets Mercury and Venus, the planets closer to the Sun than Earth. When sufficiently separated from the Sun, these planets are visible without optical aid, and the...

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Stargazing Tools – Moon, Color, Comet, and Solar Filters

Filed Under: Fundamentals of Stargazing

In a previous section, we examined so-called “light pollution” filters, extremely useful optical tools for removing unwanted light from certain types of street lamps that have long been the scourge of astronomers. This month, we look at simpler filters for observing planets and the Moon. We take a quick look at filters that can aid in observing com...

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Science of Stargazing – Galaxies

Filed Under: Fundamentals of Stargazing

A galaxy is a massive, gravitationally bound system made up of stars, remnants of stars, agglomerations of gas and dust, along with an unknown type of “dark matter” that has mass but does not emit light or interact with “ordinary” matter. The word “galaxy” comes from the Greek work galaxias which means "milky", a reference to the whitish path of t...

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Deep Sky Tours – November

Filed Under: Fundamentals of Stargazing

This month it's galaxies, mostly, with a fine selection of double stars and a few worthy star clusters. Southern observers will also explore one of the nearest galaxies to our own, the Small Magellanic Cloud, an object without equal in the northern skies.
Click here to download notes for 'Deep Sky Tours - November' (PDF, 1 MB)
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Sky Tours (South) – November

Filed Under: Fundamentals of Stargazing

The Great Square of Pegasus, which looms large over the northern horizon this month, will once again guide our tour of the southern spring constellations. We arrive at the end of the zodiac at the constellation Pisces, then keeping on going to Aries, the first constellation on this band of twelve constellations along the ecliptic. We also look at t...

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