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, 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…
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 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…
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…
Unlike some of our other work and stories, such as navigating the acquisition of land for astronomical use, this story is going to be more lighthearted and a good story. It might lead to a…
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…
During the process of purchasing and building land for astronomical purposes, one has to consider that the purchased property has to meet the basic land regulations to allow for the building of the desired structures….
A nebula is an interstellar cloud of dust, hydrogen, helium and other ionized gases. The term nebula originally described any diffuse astronomical object, and did include galaxies beyond the Milky Way. This did at one point in time include the Andromeda Galaxy, which…
The age old discussion of “Is Pluto a planet” is one that is quite fascinating. We are not going to be deciding if Pluto is or is not a planet, but we will be discussing…