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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Summer is a great time to be outdoors at night with clear skies and the prospect of seeing a shooting star. As you know, a shooting star is the common name for the bright streak of light given off by a meteor as it streaks into Earth’s atmosphere and burns up from the heat caused […]