The Galaxy Types Explained
Before we get started talking about the types of galaxies, we should define the term and look at what exactly makes up a galaxy. A galaxy is a gravitationally bound system of stars, stellar remnants,…
General
Acquiring Land For Astronomy: Light Pollution And Finances
This is our third article of three on the topic of acquiring land for astronomical use. Today we will be discussing how the topics of light pollution and finances play into the considerations and prospects…
Winter Hexagon
The Winter Hexagon is an asterism appearing to be in the form of a hexagon with vertices at Rigel, Aldebaran, Capella, Pollux, Procyon, and Sirius. It is mostly upon the Northern Hemisphere’s celestial sphere. On most locations on Earth, this asterism is prominently in the sky from approximately December…
One Way COVID19 Could Change Amateur Astronomy
Please note: There are very few positives about the COVID19 virus and pandemic, as numerous people died and incomes were lost and lives forever changed. But today, we are going to look at how could…
Satellite Navigation Systems
Satellite navigation systems, sometimes abbreviated as satnav, are systems that utilize satellites to provide autonomous geo-spatial positioning. To do this, these systems allow small electronic receivers to determine their location to high precision using time signals transmitted along a line of sight by radio from satellites….
Deep Sky Objects: An Introduction
Deep-sky objects, often shortened to DSOs, are any astronomical object that is not an individual star or Solar System object. The classification is used mostly by amateur astronomers to denote visually observed faint naked eye and telescopic objects such as star clusters, nebulae and galaxies. This distinction is…
Messier Objects: An Introduction
The Messier Objects are a set of 110 astronomical objects catalogued by the French astronomer Charles Messier in his Catalogue des Nébuleuses et des Amas d’Étoiles. Interestingly, Charles Messier was actually fascinated with finding comets, which meant that to avoid confusing…
Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower
Eta Aquarids Quick Facts Meteor Shower Dates: April 19 – May 28 Peak Dates: ~ May 6thPeak Meteor Showers: ~55 under perfect conditions*Best Viewing Times: At night after moonset, but before dawnOriginating Constellation: Aquarius Summary The…
What Are NGC Objects?
Simplified to NGC as an acronym, which represents New General Catalogue is a catalogue of deep-sky objects compiled by John Louis Emil Dreyer in 1888 that contains 7,840 objects. These objects are known to include many deep space objects, including galaxies, star clusters, emission nebulae and absorption…
Comet Classification Types Explained
Classifying comets can be done in several different methods, including orbital period, orbital body, and orbital shape. The reason for such variation is that how comets orbit, where they orbit, and the orbiting body makes…