Star*Points

August 21 is the date that amateur astronomers have been looking forward to for years because it is the date of the first total solar eclipse to occur in the continental United States in more than 38 years. This month we’ll talk about what to expect. There will be two kinds of people in the…

Next month’s solar eclipse is this year’s big news in amateur astronomy. This month we continue preparations for the eclipse with a discussion of available equipment that allows safe eclipse viewing. During a solar eclipse, safe observing techniques must be used during the partial eclipse phases.  Only during the brief minutes when the sun is…

The currency in the realm of the heavenly “clockwork” are its cycles. From the small scale to the large, cycles are everywhere. The moon revolves around Earth; Earth revolves around the sun; and the sun revolves around the galaxy. There are cycles composed of combinations of other cycles. This month we’ll unravel the cycles underlying…

Last month, the new Trump administration submitted a new blueprint for NASA’s budget calling for a net overall increase. Although on a program-by-program basis there were winners and losers, the overall increase was seen to benefit NASA’s core mission competencies as far as space exploration while reducing government redundancies. Over the past several years the…