General

Geminids Meteor Shower Meteor Showers

Geminids Meteor Shower

Geminids Quick Facts Geminds Meteor Shower Dates: December 4-17Peak Dates: Mid-DecemberPeak Meteor Showers: 120 under perfect conditionsBest Viewing Times: All night during peak starting at 9-10pmOriginating Constellation: Gemini Summary Although not as well known nor…


December Solstice

December Solstice

Occurring on either December 21 or December 22, the December Solstice is the winder solstice for the Northern Hemisphere, which signals the first day of winter. In the Southern Hemisphere, the solstice signals the first…


Supermoon Full Moon Lunar Surface Maria

Lunar Surface Detail Observations

The moon is the closest celestial object to Earth and one of the largest objects in the sky. It is hard to believe that it has been 50 years since man landed on its surface….


What Is The Aurora Borealis?

A result of disturbances in the magnetosphere caused by solar wind, the Aurora Borealis is a natural light display in the Earth’s sky, predominantly seen in the high-latitude regions around the Arctic and Antarctic. These…


Showing some of the Moon Phases

Moon Phases

Here we are going to talk about the moon phases. The lunar phase or phase of the Moon is the shape of the directly sunlit portion of the Moon as viewed by an observer from Earth. What the observer from Earth would…


Leonids Meteors Impact Meteor

Leonids Meteor Shower

Leonids Quick Facts Leonids Meteor Shower Dates: November 6-30Peak Dates: Mid NovemberPeak Meteor Showers: 15 under perfect conditions*Best Viewing Times: At night after midnightOriginating Constellation: Leo Summary The Leonids Meteor Shower are a prolific meteor shower associated with the comet…


Transit Of Mercury

The 2019 Transit of Mercury

A Transit of Mercury across the Sun takes place when the planet Mercury passes directly, transits, between the Sun and a superior planet, becoming visible against the solar disk. During a transit, Mercury appears as…


Satellites

Satellites, Planes, and Meteors, oh my!

This article is going to describe the difference between Planes, and Satellites, and meteors in the sky. It can be tough for newer astronomers to make the determination. Astronomers can use the object Magnitude to describe how…


Supermoon Full Moon Lunar Surface Maria

What Is A Supermoon

Coined in 1979 by astrologer Richard Nolle in Dell Horoscope magazine, the term supermoon was arbitrarily defined as: “… a new or full moon which occurs with the Moon at or near (within 90% of) its closest approach…


Crazy Cold War Space Ideas Space Based Weapons

Although space weapons conjures up a lot of crazy ideas and science fiction, the subject has actually garnered much attention. Several ideas that have been proposed are just that, pure science fiction, whereas others are…