Recent, is of course, relative to the timescale involved.  In the case of planetary collisions and their aftermath, that can be a very long time, like, tens of millions of years.  So while very interesting, this isn’t a train wreck (or planetary wreck) in progress, but the aftermath of one that is still settling. Physics …

“Recent” Planetary Collision around nearby StarRead More

Okay, this is not just for you, but so I won’t forget about it.  NASA has put together a guide for learning about the moon.  Looking for something to occupy your kids (ahem, that applies whether you are a teacher or a parent), then this might be interesting. I was recently at Borders Books store …

Exploring the Moon Educator GuideRead More

Somehow this didn’t hit any of the news feeds I link to, but the International Dark Sky Association is hosting a star party/star gazing session for middle school students on October 7.  The press release can be found here: http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/499/.  Time to update those feeds….

Not that you’re likely to notice.  For the most part, accessing web pages is limited by my DSL upload speed which is merely 768k.  Funny how things change.  Remember when 1/2 a T1 connection was considered fast?  Hard to believe the work "merely" can go in the same sentence.

Well, okay, I made that up.  But the first two weeks of October, say Oct 4-17 will be a great time to be up early to view Saturn, Mercury, and Venus as they dance around the early morning sky during the morning twilight.  Saturn will actually be the faintest of the bunch.  On Oct 16, …

Saturn WeekRead More

Today’s full moon is also called the harvest moon.

The moons of Jupiter periodically cast shadows on Jupiter which are visible in telescopes from Earth.  However, today one of its moons will cast a shadow onto another of the moons.  But you’ll have to be an early riser to see this one!

Tonight the moon and Jupiter will be only 2º apart and easily visible in the evening sky. 

Four hundred years ago, Galileo Galilei turned his small telescope toward the skies and so started a series of events that revolutionized our understanding of the universe.  Two of the objects observed by Galileo which most affected his understanding (and hence ours) were the Moon and Jupiter.  Both will be well placed in the evening …

IYA2009 Galilean NightsRead More

This annual event is sponsored by the Amateur Astronomers Association of New York in conjunction with the Urban Park Rangers.  Stargazing in Central Park’s Sheep Meadow will be hosted by numerous amateur astronomers (and their telescopes!).  More details are available at the announcement page at the AAANY web site: http://www.aaa.org/index.aspx?LOBID=952 If you are on Facebook, …

Urban StarfestRead More