Transits Planetary

Transits: An Introduction

A transit “is the passage of a relatively small body across the disk of a larger body, usually a star or a planet, occulting only a very small area.”[1] Transits are different than an eclipse which is caused…


Galaxy Cluster Apparent Magnitude

Apparent Magnitude

Apparent magnitude is a measure of the brightness of a star or other astronomical object observed from the Earth. An object’s apparent magnitude depends on its intrinsic luminosity, its distance from Earth, and any extinction of the object’s light caused by interstellar dust along the…



Summer Triangle Asterisms

Asterisms

An asterism is a popularly known pattern or group of stars that can be seen in the night sky. Although this is very similar to a constellation, asterisk do differ as they are IAU officially recognized area of the sky….


Summer Triangle Asterisms

Summer Triangle

The Summer Triangle is a popularly known pattern or group of stars that can be seen in the night sky in the northern celestial hemisphere to help astronomers find other objects in the sky. The defining vertices of this imaginary triangle can be found…


Telescope Craigslist Kids Kid Telescope Safety

What Is A Telescope?

What is a telescope? How do they work and what are they used for? These are some of the most basic questions about the topic of telescopes, but some of the most important in regards…


Galaxy Types

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,…



Winter Hexagon open source software

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…