Island Free Press
  • Subscribe
Buy & Sell
  • Local News
    • Outer Banks News
    • Seashore News
    • Community News
      • News & Business Briefs
      • Events
      • Obituaries
      • Crime Reports
      • Church Listings
      • Classifieds
  • Island Living
    • Island Features
    • Fishing Report
    • Real Estate and Business
    • Watersports
    • Outer Banks Wedding Information
  • Editor’s Blog
  • Business Listings
    • Where To Eat
    • Where To Shop
    • Where To Stay
    • Things To Do
    • Local Services

Sections
  • Home
  • Posts by Gerry Lebing (Page 2)

Night Sky: Galaxies Near the Big Dipper and Other Highlights for April

March 30, 2020 | Island Features | By: Gerry Lebing

Last month, I focused on some of the galaxies that are visible in the eastern skies. There are also quite a few spectacular galaxies in the northern skies. Here are three that appear in the area of the Big Dipper. M51, the Whirlpool galaxy, is a beautiful spiral galaxy. It has a visual magnitude of […]

Island Features |  Full Article

Night Sky: March’s Treasure of Galaxies and Other Highlights for March

March 2, 2020 | Island Features | By: Gerry Lebing

March begins with the constellation Leo rising in the east just before the sun sets in the west. Leo is one of my favorite constellations, not because I am big on imaginary images in the night skies, but because it is located in a section of the sky that is full of galaxies. Looking at […]

Island Features |  Full Article

Night Sky: The “Other” Orion Nebulae and other highlights for February

January 31, 2020 | Island Features | By: Gerry Lebing

The constellation Orion is famous for for M42, the Orion Nebula, but there are a lot of lesser-known nebulae in this constellation. M42 is located at the second star of Orion’s sword, but if you look at the first star of the belt you will find the Horsehead Nebula (IC 434) and the Flame Nebula, […]

Island Features |  Full Article

Night Sky: The Quadrantids meteor shower, the Crab Nebula, and other Highlights for January

December 31, 2019 | Island Features | By: Gerry Lebing

The original Messier 1, the Crab Nebula, has a visual magnitude of +8.4. But it was a whole lot brighter when Chinese astronomers discovered it on July 4, 1054. They recorded it as a “guest star” and they were able to view it during the day for nearly three weeks. With a visual magnitude of […]

Island Features |  Full Article

Night Sky: Meteor Showers, Fantastic Views of Nebulae, and More Highlights for December

December 2, 2019 | Island Features | By: Gerry Lebing

This is M45, the Pleiades. The Pleiades is a bright (magnitude +1.5) star cluster that is easy to spot with the naked eye. It will be just above the ENE horizon as the skies get dark on December 1. The Pleiades has been recorded by many cultures, including the Australian Aborigines, the Japanese, Mayans, and […]

Island Features |  Full Article

Night Sky: Deep Space Objects, Major Meteor Showers, and Other Highlights for November

October 31, 2019 | Island Features | By: Gerry Lebing

November begins with some Easy Deep Space Objects. There are quite a few bright Deep Space Objects (DSO) in the night skies of November. You can begin by looking for M31, the Andromeda Galaxy, as soon as the skies get dark. Start by looking towards the northeast. Find the large “W” formed by the main […]

Island Features |  Full Article

Night Sky: Mercury, Venus and Other October Highlights

September 30, 2019 | Island Features | By: Gerry Lebing

This is NGC 7293, the Helix Nebula.   The Helix Nebula was not discovered until 1824. I suspect this was largely due to its southerly location, which makes it a rather difficult object to see. It never gets very high in North Carolina’s night sky, and many of the early astronomers, like Charles Messier, lived […]

Island Features |  Full Article

Night Sky: Jupiter, Saturn and Other Highlights for September

August 30, 2019 | Island Features | By: Gerry Lebing

This is Messier 8, the Lagoon Nebula. M 8 is about 4.3 thousand light-years away from us. It’s composed of a cluster of stars that are accented by an emissions nebula (red) and a dark nebula, (the black areas dividing the emission nebula.) The dark nebula give this formation its name since it reminded early […]

Island Features |  Full Article

Night Sky: Perseids Meteor Shower Peaks in August, and Other Highlights

July 31, 2019 | Island Features | By: Gerry Lebing
Messier 20, the Trifid Nebula

The Perseids meteor shower will become active during the second half of July. Although it peaks on August 13, the best viewing will probably be early in the month, because there’s a full moon on August 15. That means it will be very bright on the peak of the Perseids and you won’t be able […]

Island Features |  Full Article

Night Sky: July is a Going to be Great for Watching Jupiter and Saturn

June 28, 2019 | Island Features | By: Gerry Lebing

Jupiter is the biggest planet in our solar system. Its diameter is about 87,000 miles–that’s about 11 times larger than Earth’s! Jupiter is the fifth planet from the sun and also about 5 times further from the sun than the Earth. The composition of Jupiter is about 90% hydrogen, 9% helium and it has small […]

Island Features |  Full Article

‹1234›»

Outer Banks Most Trusted News Source

Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands’ Most Trusted News Source

Subscribe

Buy & Sell

Sections

  • Outer Banks News
  • Island Features
  • Outer Banks Real Estate
  • Fishing Report
  • Driving on the Beach
  • Community News Brief
  • Obituaries
  • Outer Banks Weddings
  • Island Events
  • Shooting The Breeze
  • Local Business Listings

About

  • About
  • Sign Up For Weekly Newsletter
  • Contact The Island Free Press

252-888-NEWS

Subscribe

Sections

  • Outer Banks News
  • Island Features
  • Outer Banks Real Estate
  • Fishing Report
  • Driving on the Beach
  • Community News Brief
  • Obituaries
  • Outer Banks Weddings
  • Island Events
  • Shooting The Breeze
  • Local Business Listings

About

  • About
  • Sign Up For Weekly Newsletter
  • Contact The Island Free Press

Support IFP

Buy & Sell

252-888-NEWS

Support IFP

(c) 2021 Island Free Press | Hyperlocal News Platform by MSP Media

Island Free Press
  • Subscribe
x
Top
  • Login
  • Local News
  • Seashore News
  • New Business Listings!+
    • Things To Do
    • Where To Eat
    • Where To Shop
    • Where To Stay
    • Local Services
  • Editor’s Blog
  • Community News & Commentary
  • Island Features
  • Watersports
  • Fishing
  • Real Estate and Business
  • Outer Banks Wedding Information
  • Classifieds
  • Events
  • Obituaries
  • News & Business Briefs
  • Crime Reports
  • Church Listings
  • Subscribe Today!

Shopping Cart