Stargazers from Creators Syndicate

Week of February 19-25, 2012: Summer Sky Sneak Peek for 02/16/2012

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

If you're like me, you long for summertime — and not only for its warm weather and abundant growth, but also for its nighttime sky, which is among the richest of the year. So it's usually around mid-February that I begin wandering outdoors before dawn to sneak a peek at what awaits us in the evening sky just a few months down the road.

There's no great mystery about why the early m ...

Updated: Thu Feb 16, 2012

Week of February 12-18, 2012: As the World Turns … for 02/09/2012

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Most people know that Earth's rotation causes the sun to rise in the east and set in the west. Of course, the same is true for the moon, planets and stars.

To understand what's happening, try this experiment. Stand in the middle of a room and, keeping your feet on the same spot, turn slowly from right to left. While the Earth's axis of rotation cuts through our planet from the South Pole ...

Updated: Thu Feb 09, 2012

Week of February 5-11, 2012: The ‘Linking' Star for 02/02/2012

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Constellations are like states.

Just as the continental U.S. is divided into 48 such states — some large and some small — the heavens are also divided into 88 constellations. And just as every city in the U.S. (except for the District of Columbia) is part of a unique state, every star is also part of a unique constellation.

Well, almost.

In the February evening ...

Updated: Thu Feb 02, 2012

Week of January 29-February 4, 2012: The Great Celestial Hunter for 01/26/2012

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

One of my favorite constellations in all the heavens has made its grand return to our evening sky, much as Robert Frost described in the opening lines of his famous poem "Star-Splitter":

You know Orion always comes up sideways.
Throwing a leg up over our fence of the mountains ...

I remember, as a young child, standing in the snow and gazing into the fr ...

Updated: Thu Jan 26, 2012

Week of January 22-28, 2012: The Moon and Venus at Dusk for 01/19/2012

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Last week, I wrote about a rather faint group of stars known as Camelopardalis, the giraffe. I don't know how many of my readers took my challenge to get out and find this constellation, but I thought it wise to come back this week with something a bit easier to spot.

And believe me, there's nothing simpler to find than the moon and Venus. When these two celestial neighbors pair up in th ...

Updated: Thu Jan 19, 2012

Week of January 15-21, 2012: The Celestial Giraffe for 01/12/2012

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Every week, I try to write about a feature of the night sky that's fairly easy for stargazers to spot. Sure, it might take a little effort, but there's nothing wrong with that. So this week, I thought I'd start off the new year by presenting you with a bit of a challenge.

Just after dark this week, there's a group of stars in the northern sky that I'll bet you've never seen; in fact, I'l ...

Updated: Thu Jan 12, 2012

Week of January 8-14, 2012: Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star for 01/05/2012

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

It began as a five-verse poem called "The Star" that appeared in the 1806 publication "Rhymes for the Nursery." More than three decades later, this poem by Ann and Jane Taylor was set to music — a 1761 French folk tune that, coincidentally, seemed to fit perfectly:

Twinkle, twinkle, little star
How I wonder what you are
Up above the world so hig ...

Updated: Thu Jan 05, 2012

Week of January 1-7, 2012: A New Year of Cosmic Wonder for 12/29/2011

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

I really enjoy the beginning of a new year. It's always brimming with hope and optimism — and lists of resolutions we swear we're going to follow through on but which usually survive only a few days at most.

There is one resolution, however, that can carry us through the entire year: keeping watch on the heavens to enjoy all the cosmic wonders they have to offer. And believe me, 20 ...

Updated: Thu Dec 29, 2011

Week of December 25-31, 2011: The First Meteor Shower of 2012 for 12/22/2011

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

If you missed the Geminids meteor shower of mid-December — and most of us did because of bright moonlight — you've got another chance. Not with the Geminids, of course; they won't return until next December, but with the Quadrantid shower, which peaks on the night and morning of January 3/4, 2012.

Never heard of it? I'm not surprised; few beginning stargazers have. By anyone' ...

Updated: Thu Dec 22, 2011

Week of December 18-24, 2011: The Winter Hexagon for 12/15/2011

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Perhaps the most frustrating part of stargazing is trying to find the celestial figures described by the ancients: Taurus, the bull; Cassiopeia, the queen; Auriga, the charioteer.

The reason we have such trouble is because there's a secret that every astronomer knows but rarely reveals: There are no images in the sky.

Shocking, but true.

In fact, the constellations look no ...

Updated: Thu Dec 15, 2011

Week of December 11-17, 2011: Naming the Stars for 12/08/2011

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

With the holiday season barreling toward us like an out-of-control sleigh, you've probably been hearing and seeing ads to have a star named after someone special.

Now, I have nothing against the free enterprise system. But like P.T. Barnum, I have come to learn that no matter how ridiculous a product, if it's marketed well enough people will line up to buy it. Remember the pet rock?
...

Updated: Thu Dec 08, 2011

Week of December 4-10, 2011: What's Your Sign? for 12/01/2011

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Anyone frequenting singles bars back in the 1970s or '80s has surely heard the question: What's your sign? And while most of us can recite the answer quickly, the fact is that few such questioners or respondents actually know what it means.

It's really quite simple.

The sun's annual path through the heavens takes it across a thin band of star groupings that form what we call the z ...

Updated: Thu Dec 01, 2011

Week of November 27-December 3, 2011: Shadow on the Moon for 11/24/2011

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Late on the afternoon of Dec. 9, watch as the sun sets behind the southwestern horizon; then face the opposite direction and you'll soon spot the moon rising above the northeastern horizon.

On that night, the moon's phase is full, and regular readers of this column already know that the full moon does everything at the opposite time our sun does. When the sun sets, the full moon rises; a ...

Updated: Thu Nov 24, 2011

Week of November 20-26, 2011: The Winter Stars Are Coming … for 11/17/2011

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Whenever I spot the constellation Taurus, the bull, rising in the east shortly after dark, I know that winter can't be far behind.

Stargazers with a vivid imagination might be able to trace the stars of Taurus into the outline of a bull's head and long horns, with the bright star Aldebaran marking its fiery red eye.

Aldebaran, along with bright stars Antares, Regulus and Fomalhaut ...

Updated: Thu Nov 17, 2011

Week of November 13-19, 2011: The Sky Is Falling! for 11/10/2011

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Anyone who has ever gazed into the night sky for more than just a few minutes has almost certainly seen a burst of light appearing out of nowhere and disappearing just as quickly.

We call such startling phenomena romantic names such as "falling stars" or "shooting stars," but a more accurate term is "meteors."

These are often tiny particles from space ...

Updated: Thu Nov 10, 2011

Week of November 6-12, 2011: By Jove -- It's Jupiter! for 11/03/2011

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0700

It was little over four centuries ago that the great Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei first aimed his telescope skyward. It's amazing how many people believe that it was he who invented the telescope, but this was most likely an invention from Holland; in fact, the Dutch were using the device as a military tool decades before Galileo built his own.

Galileo, however, was the first to us ...

Updated: Thu Nov 03, 2011

Week of October 30-November 5, 2011: What Time Is It? for 10/27/2011

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Nothing's ever easy. Take time, for example.

What time is it right now?

Most people find that a quick glance at their watch takes care of that question. For those of us in science, however, the answer often depends on several factors.

As someone who writes about upcoming astronomical events for national and international audiences, I'm constantly faced with this problem: Wh ...

Updated: Thu Oct 27, 2011

Week of October 23-29, 2011: Celestial Halloween for 10/20/2011

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

"Trick or treat!"

It's a phrase I'm sure we'll all hear quite a bit this coming week, screamed by a variety of ghosts, goblins and ghouls pounding on our doors. You'll likely see costumes of monsters, superheroes, politicians and singers, but this year, keep track of how many astronomers show up at your house.

My guess is that you won't see any. Not one Galileo. Not one ...

Updated: Thu Oct 20, 2011

Week of October 16-22, 2011: Journey from Andromeda for 10/13/2011

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, a beam of light began its journey through the cosmos.

At the remarkable speed of 186,282 miles per second, this beam could orbit our planet nearly 450 times in just one minute. But it wasn't orbiting our world ... it was coming from another galaxy.

Its journey began some 2.4 million years ago — long before the ice ages carved the la ...

Updated: Thu Oct 13, 2011

Week of October 9-15, 2011: Finding the Stellar Coat Hanger for 10/06/2011

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

It sure has been a long, hot summer here in the Desert Southwest, as I know it has throughout much of the country. And now that cooler autumn temperatures have finally arrived, many of us have begun sorting through our closets to put away summer clothing for the upcoming season.

I don't know about you, but I always seem to find one fewer coat hanger than there are pieces of clothing in t ...

Updated: Thu Oct 06, 2011