Messier 11 Wild Duck Cluster

Messier 11 Wild Duck Cluster

Of the 26 open clusters included in the Messier catalog, Messier 11, the Wild Duck Cluster is the most distant that can be seen with the naked eye. The best time to spot the cluster…



Windmill Oregon Cottonwood Canyon State Park Oregon Dark Sky State Parks Oregon State Parks Dark Sky

Windmill Light Pollution

When we went to Cottonwood Canyon for stargazing, we noticed that along the way, there were plenty of windmills. The use of a windmill and many windmills makes sense as they are environmentally friendly and…


Messier 10

Messier 10

Messier 10 is notable for its high population of blue stragglers, which are stars that appear to be far younger than their neighbors. These stars in globular clusters are thought to have formed and aged…


Sun Solar Minimum Solar Observing Solar Cycle

Solar Cycle: An Introduction

In September 2020, NASA announced that they could say the sun had entered solar cycle 24, and the start of solar cycle 25. This brought up some questions surrounding the solar cycle. What exactly is…


Sunspot solar maximum Solar Cycle 25

Solar Cycle 24 Review

Recently, NASA announced that they could say the sun had entered solar cycle 24, and the start of solar cycle 25. This announcement comes after the December 2019 solar minimum, which will make the start…



Space Weather Portland Astronomy

Space Weather: An Introduction

The technical definition of space weather can be said to be a branch of space physics and aeronomy concerned with the time varying conditions within the Solar System. It is worth noting that these features are distinct from but…


Venus

Venus: Potential Discovery Of Life?

Waking up on the West Coasst of the US in 2020, one might think that it is just another day with wildfires in the Pacific Northwest. But today is different, as a major announcement and…


Messier 9

Messier 9

Messier 9 is one of the nearest globular clusters to the centre of the Milky Way, lying 5,500 light years from the center of the Milky Way. Therefore, as a result, M9 will appear a…