What to Know and How to Watch I’m now more aware of upcoming celestial events, thanks to more frequent use of my stargazing app (see my previous post on Star Walk 2). One of the most exciting is the upcoming total lunar eclipse on the night of March 13-14, 2025. Since the best viewing time… Continue reading Thursday’s Lunar Eclipse!
Category: Astronomy
Star Walk 2 Review:
Your Personal Planetarium for the Parade of Planets Stargazing enthusiasts are in for a treat with the rare Parade of Planets happening in late February 2025, when Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune will appear together in the night sky. This once-in-a-decade event is the perfect opportunity to connect with the cosmos. But… Continue reading Star Walk 2 Review:
The Parade of Planets:
A Guide to this Upcoming Celestial Event Looking out my window one recent night, I noticed the crescent moon with three other bright points of light trailing in an arc. I had often seen Venus and, less often, Mars and Jupiter. I hadn’t noted that arc before, though I must have seen it. What was… Continue reading The Parade of Planets:
A Northern Light Show in Northern California:
The Aurora Borealis Illuminates the Sky In a rare celestial display, the Aurora Borealis painted the night skies over Northern California with glowing, spectral colors this past Friday and Saturday, May 10th and 11th. Stargazers and casual observers alike seldom see the Northern Lights so far south. What are the Northern Lights? The Northern Lights… Continue reading A Northern Light Show in Northern California:
A Totality of Clouds
Last July, my friend Bette suggested we all come back in April for the coming total solar eclipse. “Upstate New York is right in the path of Totality.” As we sat on her sunny porch basking in the warmth of old friendships, I couldn’t think of a better place to view this spectacle. Wyoming Totality,… Continue reading A Totality of Clouds
Watching the Moon
I often watch the moon and the sky at night from a second-floor west-facing window. The different phases of the moon as it cycles through the crescent quarters night by night grow more familiar. On a cloudy San Francisco evening, I may not see any moon. Or only for moments during breaks in the clouds… Continue reading Watching the Moon
Goodbye Moon?
“Some say the world will end in fire…” —Robert Frost As we prepare for a spectacular eclipse on April 8, 2024, we can reflect on a cosmic question. Are we losing our moon? Although the moon seems constant in its orbit about 384,000 km from earth, it is moving slowly away. Each year the moon… Continue reading Goodbye Moon?
Total Eclipse:
Moon Shadow Play Imagine standing under a midday sky, your surroundings dimming into an eerie twilight as stars blink into view. Through safe viewing glasses, you see the black disk of the moon as it glides across the bright sun. As the sky darkens, the temperature drops, birds and insects make evening sounds, and some… Continue reading Total Eclipse:
Magnetars:
Extreme Cosmic Physics Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light! — Dylan Thomas What happens to massive stars as they near the end of their lives? Some go supernova, generating one of the most powerful explosions in the universe. The fiery fury of a supernova releases… Continue reading Magnetars:
Unraveling Cosmic Mysteries: The Fascinating Discovery of FRB 20220610A
The Mysterious Pulse from Deep Space Imagine capturing a fleeting whisper from the depths of the universe, so powerful that it releases as much energy in a millisecond as our sun does over 30 years. This is not science fiction. Recently, astronomers traced the origins of a Fast Radio Burst (FRB), known as FRB 20220610A,… Continue reading Unraveling Cosmic Mysteries: The Fascinating Discovery of FRB 20220610A