Astronomy Articles

The last couple of weeks have a number of articles on the five naked eye visible planets in the morning sky. A lot of them are well meaning, but don't offer much help in the way of assisting the observer in identifying the stars AND planets visible, or specifically when and where to look. I created this chart to specifically tackle that issue.

Telescopes seem like they are easy to use - just point it generally where you think the object is you want to see, and it should be visible in the eyepiece, right? I mean, that's what we do with our phones and cameras - just point it, and "Boom!" - there it is!! So why isn't a telescope so simple? There's a few things that beginners may not realize they're doing. Here's how to find things more easily with a telescope your first time out.

When I see someone struggling with a question, I will do my best to respond to it in a way that I'd like to see it answered - that is, give me something I can relate to in the response. It's the only way I'll grasp the concept fully. So here was my answer to a question posed on Reddit about how the stars don't seem to move relative to each other.

Astronomy observing comes with challenges that don't affect people the same way as if they were outdoors during the day. Dew occurs. The air is colder. There's no Sun to keep you warm. How to manage these issues, and more, that come with observing at night? Here's some tips.

If we really want to "Leave no trace" shouldn't we be using less light - or at least, a lot less of the light that affects animals when we are out in THEIR home, the Great Outdoors? If we really call ourselves conservationists, why are we putting a creature-comfort of lighting into a tent, where we should be trying to sleep at night, of which that light is known to suppress melatonin and harm our ability to sleep well?