Stargazers from Creators Syndicate

Week of July 19-25, 2009 for 07/09/2009

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

It never fails.

At least once during a summertime star party, someone will look skyward shortly after dark and exclaim: "Well, looks like clouds are moving in. I think I'll be heading home."

Of course the "clouds" they're seeing are the Milky Way.

Now, as readers of this column and, hopefully, frequent stargazers yourselves, I'm sure you think I'm exagge ...

Updated: Thu Jul 09, 2009

Week of July 26-Aug. 1, 2009 for 07/16/2009

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Stare at the stars long enough and you will begin to find all kinds of patterns. That's certainly what the ancients must have done.

I always enjoy searching for letters of the alphabet and, while these aren't particularly plentiful, there is one that's easily visible on late July evenings. It appears in a region of the sky known as Cassiopeia.

Cassiopeia is the constellation known ...

Updated: Thu Jul 16, 2009

Week of Aug. 2-8, 2009 for 07/23/2009

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Stand outdoors on a clear, dark night and gaze into a starry sky. Suddenly, a brilliant flash of light splits the heavens. And now, only moments later, it's gone — vanishing somewhere overhead, never to be seen again.

Few sights are as thrilling as the fiery spectacle of a shooting star. Unfortunately, the appearance of such a display — also known as a "falling star&quo ...

Updated: Thu Jul 23, 2009

Week of Aug. 9-15, 2009 for 07/30/2009

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

This week, stargazers can tour one of the richest pieces of celestial real estate: the Milky Way.

Viewing the Milky Way with the unaided eye is a marvelous experience. Wispy clouds of stars so tightly compressed that they appear to the eye as a milky band of light are punctuated not only by bright individual stars, but tiny regions that appear as hazy clumps.

Aim binoculars toward ...

Updated: Thu Jul 30, 2009

Week of Aug. 16-22, 2009 for 08/06/2009

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Well, next week is the week: the most spectacular sight in the history of life on Earth. Mars, swelling in our sky to the size of the full moon.

If you're connected to a computer or know someone who is, you've almost certainly heard about the grand event that's to occur on Aug. 27.

People have bought up binoculars and telescopes in anticipation of sharing with parents, grandparent ...

Updated: Thu Aug 06, 2009

Week of Aug. 23-29, 2009 for 08/13/2009

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

If you've ever used a small backyard telescope to watch the antics of Jupiter's four bright moons, you're in for quite a treat next week.

Jupiter now shines low in the east after dark; it's the brightest object in the night sky except, of course, for the moon.

With a diameter 11 times that of Earth, Jupiter has no surface; it is, instead, surrounded by an atmosphere of thick cloud ...

Updated: Thu Aug 13, 2009

Week of Aug. 23-29, 2009 for 08/13/2009

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

This week, stargazers can tour one of the richest pieces of celestial real estate: the Milky Way.

Viewing the Milky Way with the unaided eye is a marvelous experience. Wispy clouds of stars — so tightly compressed that they appear to the eye as a milky band of light — are punctuated not only by bright individual stars, but tiny regions that appear as hazy clumps.

Aim b ...

Updated: Thu Aug 13, 2009

Week of Aug. 30-Sept. 5, 2009 for 08/20/2009

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

I'm always pleased to hear from readers when they have success in watching some celestial event, or finding some obscure constellation or star grouping. But I know that not everyone is so successful.

If you occasionally have trouble finding some of the objects you read about here, you might feel like you need to have your eyes checked. Well, this is a great week to do so. And the best pa ...

Updated: Thu Aug 20, 2009

Week of Sept. 6-12, 2009 for 08/27/2009

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

From the beginning of time, only five planets had been known to wander the heavens. In fact, those five — along with the sun and moon — gave the names to our seven days of the week.

But then in 1781, everything changed. The astronomical community was stunned when musical composer and amateur astronomer William Herschel announced his discovery of a new planet.

In an att ...

Updated: Thu Aug 27, 2009

Week of Sept. 20-26, 2009 for 09/10/2009

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

I don't know about you, but I'm always a bit sad to see summer end. True, where I live in the Southwestern desert, summers can become so blistering hot that even the lizards rent RVs and head to Minnesota for relief.

But autumn is on its way, bringing with it shorter days and pleasant temperatures.

This whole seasonal business comes about because our planet's axis is tipped 23.4 d ...

Updated: Thu Sep 10, 2009

Week of Sept. 27 - Oct. 3, 2009 for 09/17/2009

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

If you're looking to score points with your sweetie, next weekend would be a great time to do so.

Late in the afternoon of Saturday, Oct. 3, pack a romantic picnic and a blanket, and head toward a hilltop with a nice, clear view of both the eastern and western horizons. Oh, and don't forget to take your sweetie with you.

After enjoying a gorgeous sunset, turn around and face the o ...

Updated: Thu Sep 17, 2009

Week of Oct. 4 -- 10, 2009 for 09/24/2009

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

When the earliest stargazers watched the sky, they carefully mapped the positions of the stars, and they recognized them as fixed and immovable. Some of the lights were not so fixed, however.

Occasionally, a meteor would burst into view, only to be gone moments later. There were the comets — those mysterious and ethereal visitors that seemed to drift among the stars for weeks or mo ...

Updated: Thu Sep 24, 2009

Week of Oct. 11-17, 2009 for 10/01/2009

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

One of my favorite comedy routines is Abbott and Costello's "Who's on First?" You remember how it goes: Who's on first, What's on second, I Don't Know's on third...

Even after all these decades, I can't listen to this brilliant four-and-a-half-minute skit without doubling up from laughter. If you've never heard it, you really should check it out here: nocryinginbaseball.com/who ...

Updated: Thu Oct 01, 2009

Week of Oct. 18 -- 24, 2009 for 10/08/2009

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Not all constellations are created equally. Few things illustrate this better than a glance high in the south this week after dark.

There you'll spot the grand Summer Triangle, traced by the three bright stars Deneb, Vega and Altair; but nearby, you'll find a few smaller constellations that are often lost in the glare of the triangle's fame. These include such star groupings as Delphinus ...

Updated: Thu Oct 08, 2009

Week of Oct. 25 - 31, 2009 for 10/15/2009

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

It's known as Algol, the Demon Star, and it shines diabolically in our sky each year as Halloween approaches.

To find it, go outdoors in the evening and look low toward the northeast. The accompanying sky map should help you locate it. After it becomes dark, you will easily spot the bright star Capella twinkling wildly over the northeastern horizon. Above lies the famous "W" of ...

Updated: Thu Oct 15, 2009

Week of Nov. 1-7, 2009 for 10/22/2009

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Now that autumn is firmly set into place, I've been sorting through my closet in search of warmer clothing to get me through the winter. I don't know why it is, but I always seem to find one fewer coat hanger than there are pieces of clothing in the closet. Where these things go during the long summer months is anyone's guess.

Conveniently, Mother Nature offers a solution in the heavens. ...

Updated: Thu Oct 22, 2009

Week of Nov. 8-14, 2009 for 10/29/2009

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Anyone who has ever gazed at a dark sky for more than a few minutes has almost certainly seen a burst of light appearing out of nowhere that disappears just as quickly.

We call such a startling phenomenon romantic names like a "falling star" or a "shooting star," but a more accurate term is "meteor."

These are often tiny particles from space ("me ...

Updated: Thu Oct 29, 2009

Week of Nov. 15-21, 2009 for 11/05/2009

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

There are few sights more beautiful than the glistening stars and planets on a clear, dark rural night. But just where do all those heavenly bodies go during the daytime? And why can't we see them when the sky is bright?

As I'm sure you already know, the answer is rather simple. Everything still lies overhead but isn't visible because the daytime sky is overwhelmed by sunlight — th ...

Updated: Thu Nov 05, 2009

Week of Nov. 22-29, 2009 for 11/12/2009

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Anyone frequenting singles bars back in the '70s has surely heard the question "What's your sign?" And while most of us know the answer, not many know what it actually means. It's really quite simple.

The sun's annual path through the heavens takes it across a thin band of star groupings known as the zodiac. If we could see the sun and stars at the same time, we'd find that our ...

Updated: Thu Nov 12, 2009

Week of Nov. 29 -- Dec. 5, 2009 for 11/19/2009

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

With the holiday season racing toward us like an out-of-control train, it won't be long before we begin seeing and hearing ads to have a star named after someone special.

Now, I'm a huge proponent of the free enterprise system, but, much like P.T. Barnum, I've come to learn that no matter how goofy a product is, if it's marketed well enough, people will line up to buy it. Remember the pe ...

Updated: Thu Nov 19, 2009