Look up into the north one of these pleasant spring evenings and see if you can spot the Big Dipper riding high in the sky. Follow the arc of the Dipper’s handle to a bright orange-colored star in the east. That is Arcturus, one of the brightest stars in the sky and a close neighbor […]
NAKED EYE
Naked Eye — Dark nights perfect for Zodiacal Light
Dust. It finds its way into our houses, coating every surface with its fine, gritty film. Clogging up our sinus cavities, it can bring on a sneeze at the most embarrassing moments. It makes our eyes water and our throats raspy. If you think there is too much dust here on earth, that is nothing […]
Naked Eye — Time travel to the origins of Orion
On a clear and dark mid-winter night, the most-striking thing up there in the sky is the constellation of Orion. It is easily the best-known star grouping in the heavens, and since it is straddling the celestial equator, there is no place on earth where it is not visible. With its bright, colorful stars, it […]
Naked Eye: Looking into the farthest reaches of space
If you have been out looking at the evening sky lately, maybe you could not help but notice the bright planets hanging up there in the southwestern twilight sky. They are millions of miles away from us, dwarfing the scale of things on our little planet. Do you want to go deep and see into […]
Naked Eye — Dark days offer bright hopes for winter stargazers
Have you noticed that the days are getting shorter? If not, look outside. It gets dark at 5 o’clock in the afternoon! The earth in its orbit around the sun is careening towards the Winter Solstice, sometimes known as the Hibernal Solstice. This year we will arrive there on Dec. 21, and the northern hemisphere […]
Naked Eye — Nothing out there? Actually, space is really something
When we look up into the night sky filled with a myriad of stars, we are not only looking at the stars but also through a lot of space, trillions of miles of it. Exactly what is that space up above us? It is a difficult question to answer. Common sense tells us it is […]
Naked Eye — October offers an autumnal sky show
October brings not only cooler temperatures, but also clear and hopefully smoke-free skies. If you find yourself outside under the planets and stars, here are a few things you might see up there. Low in the southwest, Venus gleams brightly in the twilight sky just after sunset. If you cannot spot it, maybe you cannot […]
Naked Eye — The atmospheric extremes of Venus and Jupiter
Two bright planets dominate the evening sky this fall: One in the west and one in the east, and even though they look quite similar, they could not be more different from one another. In the west just after the sky begins to darken, but before it is totally black, look for Venus shining brighter […]
Naked Eye — Beat the heat with a meteor shower in August
August is meteor shower month, with the most-watched display of the year lighting up our night skies during the balmy evenings of late summer. Last year, the show was partially obscured by bright moonlight, but this year that will not be a problem (unless the wildfire smoke remains an issue). The meteors will be flying […]
Naked eye — Consider the universe with a grain of salt
Take a look up into the east some moonless night this coming month. Maybe you will notice a swath of dim light stretching from north to south across the night sky. It will help if you get out of town away from distracting lights. Just after it gets completely dark, which is kind of late […]
