By David Ward A special guest is coming for a visit during the holidays – Comet ISON. Will it be the most amazing celestial spectacle any of us have ever seen in our lifetimes, or a complete dud? That question is being hotly debated in astronomical circles right now and nobody has a clue. Here […]
NAKED EYE
The amazing story of Deneb
By David Ward One of these fine October evenings, look straight up over head for one of the most amazing stars in the sky, Deneb. It belongs to three different star groupings – the head of the Northern Cross, the tail of Cygnus the Swan, and one of the three points of the Summer Triangle. […]
All about Andromeda
By David Ward Rising in the east this time of year are a whole group of constellations representing one of the more elaborate myths of the ancient Greeks. Central to that story is Andromeda, the beautiful daughter of Queen Cassiopeia. To find Andromeda in the sky, first look for Pegasus, the flying horse, outlined by […]
Best ‘star show’ of summer in August
By DAVID WARD August is that perfect month for stargazing when the nights are still delightfully warm, darkness comes at a more reasonable hour and shooting stars blaze across the nighttime sky. The biggest attraction this month up above is the “Old Faithful” of meteor showers, summer’s grand shooting star show, the Perseid meteor shower. […]
Finding Scorpius
July is a great time to look for the constellation Scorpius the scorpion, one of the few constellations that actually looks like what it is supposed to. On one of our balmy summer evenings look low in the southern sky for a fairly bright orange-looking star. That is Antares, the heart of the scorpion. His […]
Finding Scorpius
July 3, 2013 BY DAVID WARD July is a great time to look for the constellation Scorpius the scorpion, one of the few constellations that actually looks like what it is supposed to. On one of our balmy summer evenings look low in the southern sky for a fairly bright orange-looking star. That is Antares, […]
Looking for Leo
March 27, 2013 BY DAVID WARD Last week the Earth passed that point in its orbit known as the vernal equinox, which we generally refer to as the first day of spring. Now, hurtling along at 67,000 miles per hour, our little planet is headed for the summer solstice. As we cruise around our sun, […]
