On a clear day it looks like you can see forever, but on a clear night you can see even farther. Last month I guided you towards the Milky Way galaxy, which is probably the biggest and the most distant object you have ever seen. This month let’s take it up a notch and look […]
NAKED EYE
Naked Eye – Look for meteoric events in the August skies
August is meteor month, and it should be a good show this year. The moon is out of the way and will not interfere with its bright light that washes out all the dimmer stars and meteors. The shower will peak on the night of Aug. 12 and early morning before dawn on Aug. 13. […]
Naked Eye – Scoping out the scorpion this summer
Summer is a great time to spot a hidden gem tucked away in the Sun’s glare, or out of sight behind a horizon not quite low enough. The farther north you are the more difficult it is to spot, so you might have to try more than once to find it. You will need a […]
Naked Eye – Watch for Jupiter and Venus to rendezvous this summer
The King of the Gods and the beautiful Goddess of Love will welcome in summer for us with a date in the evening twilight sky in June. It is a great time to watch our solar system at work as the two planets, Jupiter and Venus, swing by each other. At the end of May […]
Naked Eye – Venus is the star of your summer evenings
The days are getting longer, which means the nights are shorter and there is less time for stargazing, so catch it while you can. What is happening up there now? Venus! Venus! Venus! Look for the goddess of love and beauty in the west just after sunset. She is dazzling, just like a show girl […]
Naked Eye – Arcturus is on its own arc through the universe
As our tiny earth makes its yearly 584,040,000-mile long journey around sun, we get a different view of the universe. If you go out and look at the stars, you will notice that things are changing up there. All the bright stars of Orion are scrolling to the west, and new ones are coming up […]
Naked Eye – Orient to Orion in the wintry skies
The main thing happening in the night sky this month is Orion. As soon as it gets dark, he is standing proud and upright in the south. The brightest stars of the entire year are found here and nearby. Blue-white Rigel, reddish Betelgeuse, Bellatrix, Aldebaran, and many others light up the sky. Do not miss […]
Naked Eye – Starshot remains a long shot in space travel
For thousands of years, mankind has looked up at the stars wondering what they are and could we somehow get there. In this day and age, we have figured out what they are but how to get to them is another matter altogether. A trip to the nearest star besides our sun would take our […]
Naked Eye – Andromeda galaxy will consume the Milky Way whole
They say that on a clear day you can see forever, but on a clear night you can see even farther. Do you want to try for the farthest object visible to the naked eye? You will need a very clear, dark night with no moon getting in your way. Get out of town away […]
Naked Eye – The universe, by the (really big) numbers
Have you ever stood out under a star-studded sky and wondered how many stars are out there and do they go on forever? Other people have asked the same questions, some of them smarter than you or me. But first some basics. We live on a planet. We call it Earth, and at 7,926 miles […]
