Fifty years ago this month in 1968 the United States of America (USA) and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) were locked in a race to reach the moon. The USA had lost three astronauts in a launch pad fire the previous year and the first manned Apollo mission, a short haul up to…
Read More Space Odyssey’s Golden AnniversaryA lot of times, when sharing views of heavenly objects through a telescope, the question comes up: “How far away is it?” If I know the answer and the target is located outside of our solar system of planets, the response is usually some number in the tens, hundreds, thousands or millions, followed by “light-years.”…
Read More Speed of LightAstronomy has many inconsequential and over-hyped terms, such as “blue moon” and “supermoon.” As interesting as they may be such things are of no consequential scientific value. Even some of the names themselves may not have a scientific origin which explains why an astronomer being asked about them may stare blankly back at you. At…
Read More Fake News AstronomyThere is a potentially impressive meteor shower coming up later. We’ll review the circumstances behind it, where and how to view it for best results. But first we’ll look at when to observe the annual Leonid shower. The Leonid meteor shower for 2017 will be peaking on the night of Friday, November 17. Probably more…
Read More Great Year for Leonid Meteor ShowerThere is more to the motion of the moon than literally meets the eye. In July we discussed some basics of the moon’s motion circling the earth. This month we’ll see how the moon actually wobbles as it travels through space. The fundamental equations and tables employed in the current orbital models for earth circling…
Read More The Wobbling Moon