Saturn is the 6th furthest planet from the sun. It’s about 10 times further from the sun then we are. It takes over 29 years to orbit the sun. Saturn has 62 known moons. Saturn is composed of mostly hydrogen and helium and is about 9 times the size of Earth. What to Look for […]
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There will be a total eclipse of the sun on August 21. It will be visible in a 70 mile-wide band that stretches from Oregon to South Carolina. Here on Hatteras Island, we will have a partial eclipse. The moon will cover 89% of the sun. The moon will start to block the sun […]
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June turned out to be a very poor month for astrophotography. High winds and low visibility made things very challenging. My primary targets for the month were Jupiter and Saturn, but you can’t always get what you want! M57 was discovered in 1779 by Antoine Darquier de Pellepoix. Charles Messier discovered it a few days […]
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May was a difficult month to stargaze, with several high-wind thunderstorms and lots of rainy nights. I was able, however, to get a few shots on still, clear evenings. This is Messier 88, a spiral galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices. Coma Berenices means the hair of Berenice. Berenice was an Egyptian queen who had […]
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The evening skies of May begin with Arcturus just above the eastern horizon! With a visual magnitude of 0, Arcturus is the brightest star is the northern hemisphere and the 4th brightest star in the night skies! South of Arcturus, you will see two bright “objects.” Jupiter is the brighter of the two (magnitude -2.4) […]
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By GERRY LEBING
By GERRY LEBING The Sun will set at 5:57 PM on March 1, and the moon, Mars, Venus and Uranus will all be just above the western horizon at sunset. With a magnitude of -4.6, Venus is very easy to spot. The moon is the only other object in the night sky that is brighter […]
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By GERRY LEBING Mars and Venus will be visible in the SW at sunset for all of February. Uranus starts the month slightly higher in the skies but you will probably need a good pair of binoculars to see it. Throughout most of the month, it will appear to get closer and closer to Mars. […]
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By GERRY LEBING As January starts, the constellation Orion will be visible near the eastern horizon as the skies get dark. This is a good opportunity to look for M42, the Orion Nebula, with your naked eye. At magnitude +4, it’s pretty easy to see on a clear winter’s night. The nebula will appear as […]
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By GERRY LEBING The evening of Tuesday, Dec. 13, will feature the last supermoon 2016. It will not be quite as spectacular as November’s full moon, but it will still be pretty bright. December’s full moon will have a visual magnitude of -12.5! That’s bright enough to throw shadows. Unfortunately, the supermoon will also make […]
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