Tag: Stargazing

If you want to enjoy the night sky, all you need is curiosity, patience and good weather.  A good telescope or pair of binoculars will help you see some of the night sky’s fainter objects. However, the unaided eye is enough to learn its stars and constellations, watch the moon, experience meteor showers and see satellites whizz across the night sky.  Read on to find out what you can see in the night sky this week without any equipment, from the moon close to planets and bright stars to catching…

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These incredibly detailed images of the sun were captured by astrophotographer Mark Johnston from his backyard in Scottsdale, Arizona. As we approach solar maximum, the peak of solar activity during the sun‘s approximately 11-year solar cycle, the sun has been anything but quiet. Spawning huge sunspots, unleashing powerful solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and triggering impressive widespread aurora displays, the sun has certainly been keeping us on our toes.  It’s no wonder astrophotographers like Johnston are turning their attention to our home star, because you never quite know…

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The new moon of July 2024 occurs today as Earth reaches its farthest point from the sun, known as aphelion. The new moon arrives on July 5 at 6:57 p.m. Eastern Time (2257 UTC), according to the U.S. Naval Observatory, and two days later the young moon will make a close pass to Mercury in the evening sky.  Earth reached aphelion today, meaning our was farther away from the sun than at any other period in its yearly orbit. Earth’s orbit around the sun is slightly elliptical, or oval-shaped, meaning…

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I would suppose that just about any good book on astronomy would contain a photograph of what might best be described as the “smoke ring” of the sky. Others might call it a doughnut or a cosmic bagel, but the popular name for this object is simply the Ring Nebula, located in the constellation of Lyra, the Lyre. Although generally considered a summer constellation, Lyra, it is still very well placed for viewing, now more than two weeks into the autumn season. Head outside this week at around 10 p.m.…

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The first full day of summer 2024 ended with the ultimate cherry on top, or, in this case, a strawberry. The Strawberry Moon of 2024, the full moon for the month of June, rose across the world just after sunset last night, delighting stargazers across the world. The Strawberry full moon gets its name from the Algonquin tribe of the northwestern United States, according to Space.com’s list of full moon designations, but has also been recognized by other names, such as the Rose moon, in Europe. This year, the Strawberry Moon…

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The midnight sun is a natural summertime phenomenon in which the sun never sets below the horizon, not even at midnight. While this may sound like an otherworldly scenario, for those living in the polar regions, it’s just another summer’s day, albeit one that never ends.  Here, we explore the midnight sun — also known as the “polar day,” “white night” and “nightless night” — in more detail. Learn what causes the strange phenomenon, as well as where and when you can see the midnight sun for yourself.  Related: Goodbye…

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In an unofficial sense, I would like to dub today (April 10) as “View a Planet Day.”  In the early morning hours will be two planets that will appear very close to each other and then later that same day, in the early evening sky we’ll have a chance to see Jupiter hovering near to a slender waxing crescent moon, making for a rather eye-catching sight. And there will be other celestial objects out there to see and find as well among the brightest planets in the night sky. Here…

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