Planets: Definition And Classification
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…
Spring Triangle
The Spring 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…
Star Clusters: An Introduction
Star clusters are very large groups of stars. There are two types of star clusters can be distinguished by astronomers. The first type of star cluster is the globular cluster, which are tight groups of hundreds to millions…
Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram
The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram is a scatter plot of stars showing the relationship between the stars’ absolute magnitudes, otherwise known as their luminosity, versus their stellar classifications, otherwise known as their effective temperatures. A simple definition of what the diagram represents is…
James Webb Telescope
Planned to be the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope’s primary scientific mission has four key goals: to search for light from the first stars and galaxies that formed in the Universe after the Big Bang, to study the formation…
What Is Stargazing?
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, stargazing can be defined as “the act or practice of a stargazer.”[1] Digging a bit deeper, Merriam-Webster defines a stargazer as “one who gazes at the stars, such as an astrologer or…
Earth Science: An Intro
With the 50th Earth Day celebrations, let’s take a look at the topic of earth science. Some of the most famous photographs taken by the Apollo astronauts have spurred on the environmental movement and the…
Lyrids Meteor Shower
Lyrids Quick Facts Lyrids Meteor Shower Dates: April 16 to April 26 Peak Dates: ~ April 22ndPeak Meteor Showers: 10-20 under perfect conditions*Best Viewing Times: At night after moonset, but before dawnOriginating Constellation: Lyra *=Some years…
Earthrise
Earthrise is a photograph of Earth and some of the Moon’s surface that was taken from lunar orbit by astronaut William Anders on December 24, 1968, during the Apollo 8 mission. The Apollo 8 mission did set many world records and did make the astronauts…
The Blue Marble Inspiring Humanity
Taken on December 7th, 1972 by the crew of Apollo 17, The Blue Marble is an image of Earth‘s surface. The photo shows the Earth from the Mediterranean Sea to Antarctica. Despite the large amount of clouds in…