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Week of Nov. 15-21, 2009
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,…Read more.
Week of Nov. 8-14, 2009
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 …Read more.
Week of Nov. 1-7, 2009
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 …Read more.
Week of Oct. 25 - 31, 2009
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 …Read more.
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Week of June 21-27, 2009I don't know why, but it seems that every time I'm out under the stars and introduce people to the constellation Draco, the Dragon, I hear chuckles — as if they think I'm making it up. Now I admit I've done this from time to time — invented constellations and names to help people see their outlines more easily. But this one, I swear, is real. In fact, you should have little trouble finding it if your sky is fairly dark. Draco is actually a large and ancient constellation that appears nightly in the northern sky. It wraps itself around the North Celestial Pole and remains perpetually above the horizon for much of the United States. To find Draco, first locate the seven stars of the Big Dipper. You can see then high in the north-northwestern sky this week after dark. Connect these stars with an imaginary line and you'll trace a "bowl" and a bent "handle." British sky watchers know this grouping as a plough; Germans know it as a wagon. If you follow the two stars at the end of the Big Dipper's bowl — the "pointer stars" — from its base to its top, you'll point directly toward Polaris, the North Star. It's between these two famous dippers that we can find the dragon. Look for its long string of stars beginning directly between the Big Dipper's "pointer" stars and Polaris. Then follow it upward until it snakes back down toward Polaris, where it makes another sharp turn and heads upward once again. At the upper end of the long, dragonlike body lie four stars that form the head of Draco, but modern amateur astronomers know this shape as the "lozenge." Near the opposite end of the dragon — two stars up from its tail — lies a medium-bright star named Thuban. Not coincidentally, this name comes from an Arabic word meaning "dragon." Because of the 25,800-year wobble of our Earth's axis, this star — and not Polaris — was the North Star some five millennia ago when the Egyptians were building the pyramids. And before you start chuckling again, I'm not making that up either! To find out more about Dennis Mammana and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2009 CREATORS SYNDICATE INC. 
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