A New Telescope This Christmas? During the Christmas season we are often asked our opinion about the best beginner telescopes for a Christmas gift. There are a great many good quality telescopes on the market now at reasonable prices so it is not too difficult to get a reasonably capable instrument. In truth, however, there […]
How To Make a Pinhole Solar Viewer
If you are just getting up to speed on the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse in the United States it may be too late to find safe, certified Eclipse Glasses in your area. Don’t despair, there are other ways to view the event. This is one of them. A Pinhole Solar Viewer is a simple to […]
Eclipse Glasses Were Here!
Due to the extraordinary demand over the past few days, we are Sold Out of eclipse glasses. We are sorry we are not able to accommodate everyone needing glasses, but want to reiterate that you must take proper measures to protect your eyes while viewing the eclipse. If you still need glasses, try the vendors […]
International Astronomy Day – April 29, 2017
International Astronomy Day is observed twice each year by astronomers across the world. Local astronomy clubs, planetariums, observatories, and other groups sponsor public events each spring and fall to help newcomers make connections at all levels. The event is also intended to foster public awareness of astronomy and all of the sciences associated with it […]
New Cardboard Southern Hemisphere Edition
Due to popular demand, we have just published our Southern Hemisphere version of The Night Sky in our economical cardboard format. Our cardboard format planisphere includes the same large, easy to read map disc as our Large Plastic charts but with a cardboard outer mask. Although more budget-friendly, our cardboard planispheres exhibit superior durability and […]
Taurids Meteor Showers
As we enter November temperatures are beginning to drop making for a more bundled up stargazing experience. We are starting to see our familiar winter constellations come back into view and the cold dry nights actually provide some great seeing when the skies are clear. This week the Earth is passing through the debris trail […]
Orionid Meteor Shower
As we move forward into winter we are now privileged to have Orion and its many deep-sky objects back in our skies at reasonable observing times. As if to announce Orion’s return to our night skies the annual Orionids meteor shower begins in early October and will peak this year on October 22 with approximately […]
Lunar Eclipse – September 27, 2015
This Sunday (September 27, 2015) much of North America will be treated to a total lunar eclipse. The spectacle will be especially great because this will be a Supermoon eclipse. The term supermoon is popularly used to describe a full moon that occurs at or near the moon’s perigee, or closest point to earth in […]
2015 Okie-Tex Star Party
The 2015 Okie-Tex Star Party is now history. We would like to extend our sincere thanks to the organizers at the Oklahoma City Astronomy Club for all of their hard work in preparation and their efforts at the event. Everything went amazingly smoothly and the night skies were the best we have seen this year. Having […]
The Distortion Solution
The map projection used for any planisphere is a flat representation of our spherical view of the cosmos. Some distortion of distance, scale, area, etc. always results from this process. In map projections commonly used in planispheres this distortion increases geometrically as distance from the center increases. In conventional planispheres the distortion can be extreme which makes […]