Cosmic Pursuits

Basic astronomy and night sky information

Stargazing

General articles and links about astronomy and the night sky.

A Trek Through Triangulum

by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Stargazing

The small constellation Triangulum wedged between Andromeda and Aries.

Take any three stars and they’ll form some kind of triangle. But there is only one constellation Triangulum. It’s a small but ancient star group surrounded by the larger constellations Andromeda to the north and west, Pisces to the southwest, Aries to the south, and Perseus to the northeast. While modest, Triangulum hosts many fine sights for stargazers on a northern autumn (or southern spring) evening. Look for it about 10º due south of the star Almaak (γ Andromedae) and just northeast of Aries [Read more…] about A Trek Through Triangulum

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The Wonderful Star

by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Stargazing

The red giant star Mira A, a highly evolved variable red giant star, and Mira B a small but dense white dwarf. Image at left was created with data from NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory. The image at right is an artist’s conception of this interacting star system. Credit: X-ray image courtesy NASA/CXC/SAO/M. Karovska et al.; Illustration: CXC/M.Weiss.

As a reader of Cosmic Pursuits, you no doubt believe that all stars are wonderful. But one star, it turns out, is more wonderful than most. The star Mira, or Omicron Ceti, in the constellation Cetus, has been known since ancient times, but its nature began to emerge in the 16th century when a German pastor and amateur astronomer discovered the star’s brightness changed periodically, by a huge amount, every eleven months. And it was but the first discovered of many such stars. [Read more…] about The Wonderful Star

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A Northern Observer Discovers the Southern Skies

by Joe Bergeron Filed Under: Stargazing

The Southern Cross and the Coalsack. Image credit: Joe Bergeron.

Imagine a young stargazer living at a latitude of 42 degrees north.

Polaris, the fabled North Star, shines far above the northern horizon. Around it wheel the circumpolar constellations of Ursa Major, Cassiopeia, Draco, and Cepheus, ancient landmarks of the northern sky.

In the south, the tail of Scorpius brushes low along the horizon for a few brief months of Summer. Those stars are among the most southerly he can see. But from his star maps, the young stargazer knows that farther south lie some of the greatest wonders of the entire celestial sphere, all the way down to the obscure South Celestial Pole. Yet the poor lad can never see them. The obstinate bulk of the spherical Earth hides them forever [Read more…] about A Northern Observer Discovers the Southern Skies

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The 2018 ‘Year in Space’ Calendars Now Available

by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Stargazing

In 1991, stargazer Steve Cariddi walked into a Boston bookstore and noticed most desk calendars were about cats, or puppies, or sailboats. There was not a single astronomy calendar in sight. So he decided to create his own, and in late 1993 he published his first “astronomy and space” desk calendar. He’s been publishing these calendars every year since. And now he’s released the large-format ‘Year in Space’ wall calendar for 2018 [Read more…] about The 2018 ‘Year in Space’ Calendars Now Available

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