Page 9 - Richard Bartlett
- September 01, 2022
Venus is lost within the sun’s glare this September, but you may be able to glimpse Mercury very low in the west during the first few days of the month.
- August 31, 2022
While it might sound like the title of a horror movie or the latest album from your favorite alternative rock band, a Blood Moon has nothing to do with either one. It does, however, have links to astronomy, but the name is still a little misleading. So...
- August 08, 2022
Shooting stars, or meteors, to give them their scientific name, have remained a source of wonder and speculation for thousands of years. They can appear randomly and without warning on almost any given night, but there are times when there seem to be...
- August 01, 2022
Mercury returns to the evening sky, with a thin crescent Moon to its right on the 28th and then above it the following night. Saturn reaches opposition on the 14th and is visible all night.
- July 19, 2022
As almost everyone knows, there are currently eight planets in the solar system. Not so long ago, there were nine planets, but Pluto is now considered a dwarf planet. What happened? Why is Pluto no longer a planet? And what is a planet, anyway?
- July 15, 2022
There are a lot of names given to the Moon these days. Whether it’s a New Moon, Old Moon, Blood Moon, Super Moon, Blue Moon, or Black Moon, it appears as though there’s a Moon for every occasion. One of these - the Harvest Moon - has been around for hundreds...
- July 10, 2022
In most years, there are 12 full moons, one for each month with each full moon having its own name. Most of these names originated in Europe or from the Native Americans, with the names being chosen to reflect the changes in the natural world that occur...
- July 08, 2022
You’ve probably heard this term used a lot over recent years, especially by the media and on various websites online. It seems like there’s a Super Moon every other month, with the term being used to describe almost any full moon that simply appears bigger...
- July 01, 2022
Mercury is visible about 15-20 minutes before sunrise for the first week of the month, and then re-appears in the evening twilight for the last four or five days.
- June 23, 2022
Look up at the sky on any clear, dark night and you’ll find yourself staring at hundreds of stars. It’s impossible to tell, but these stars are actually slowly moving through space. Of course, you’d have to wait a long time to notice any change, but very...
- June 16, 2022
Of all the planets in the solar system, none have captivated the public’s imagination more than Mars. This small world, only about half the size of the Earth, has long been the subject of speculation regarding alien life -- with observers, writers, and...
- June 14, 2022
The Moon isn’t always the consistent companion we expect -- at times it’s clearly seen in the evening sky, while on other occasions it appears ghostly gray against the pale blue of the morning or afternoon. Careful observation reveals a pattern to its...
- June 09, 2022
If there’s one thing that draws almost every observer, with or without a telescope, it’s the Moon. It’s understandable; it’s frequently easily seen in the evening sky and, with its changing phases, it’s been an object of fascination for millennia. Nowadays...
- June 02, 2022
Jupiter is the favored target of many amateur astronomers, despite the beauty of its neighbor, Saturn. Point a telescope toward it and the reason soon becomes clear: world-sized moons that dance about the planet and a storm that’s persisted for centuries...
- June 01, 2022
The evening sky is totally devoid of planets this month. Saturn is the first to rise and is well placed for observation in the hours after midnight. Look out for a waning gibbous Moon close by on the 18th.
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