McCook Daily Gazette: Columns: Vernon Whetstone

Doing a double-take on double stars (05/15/13)
More about double stars. Astronomers have estimated that between one-half to 80 percent of the stars in the Milky Way are double stars. It was once thought that most of the stars in the galaxy were like our sun, a single star. But when larger and more powerful telescopes began to come into play, more and more of the stars were discovered to be doubles...

Seeing double (05/08/13)
Well, it's a slow news week astronomically speaking, so let's go the mailbag--or rather the in-box that is. Interesting question from a reader, "What are double stars?" Ok, the simple answer is a double star is a pair of stars that appear close to each other in the sky as seen from Earth. A double star can also be called a binary...

Wishing on a star (05/01/13)
"Star light, star bright; first star I see tonight; wish I may, wish I might; grant the wish I wish tonight." You ever say that little verse when you were growing up, when you saw the first star of the evening in the sky? I must confess, I did upon occasion. However, the first star you see in tonight's sky won't be a star at all. It will be the planet Jupiter and I don't know about the power of planets for granting wishes...

Saturn in opposition to the sun (04/24/13)
OK space fans, a couple of things this week. First, our favorite planet, Saturn, will be at opposition on Sunday, April 28. Opposition means "opposite" the sun in the sky. That is just a big word that means the ringed-planet is on the opposite side of Earth from the sun. If you will think of is as Earth being in the middle with the sun on one side and Saturn on the other...

A good night to spot some old friends (04/18/13)
The last few days of this week will be a good opportunity to use our old friend, the moon, to help us find some astronomical objects. Let's start with tonight, Thursday, April 18. Tonight the moon is high in the southwest just below the constellation Cancer, the Crab...

Changing seasons bring changing skies (04/11/13)
As the seasons change, so do the constellations in the sky. The "Old Guard" of winter -- Orion, Taurus, Canis Major, and Auriga, are giving way to the constellations of spring. Above the eastern horizon in the early evening Leo, Virgo, Bootes, and Cancer are making their annual appearance...

Sighting Comet PanSTARRS, finally (04/04/13)
I was finally able to get some glass on Comet PanSTARRS. After several days of clouds there was finally a clear evening with great viewing and I bagged it. However, I have not been able to view it since. A conspiracy of lack of time and clouds worked together to prevent any opportunity for another view...

Where is the South Star? (03/28/13)
OK space fans, let's go to the mailbag for this week's question. "What is the brightest star in the sky?" Okay, good one. I have heard some who have said that Polaris, the North Star, is the brightest star in the sky; too bad they are wrong. In fact, there are about 50 stars in the sky that are brighter than Polaris...

Springtime views of the moon, Mercury (03/21/13)
"Spring has sprung, the grass is riz, I wonder where the flowers is?" Or so goes the old saying. And spring has sprung, or at least it did yesterday, Wednesday, March 20, at 5:02 a.m. MDT. For those in other time zones, adjust the time accordingly. Technically, spring--or the vernal equinox--is when the sun crosses the celestial equator moving north along the horizon...

Catch PanSTARRS if you can (03/14/13)
Have you seen comet PanSTARRS? As of this writing I haven't. You still have some time to catch a glimpse in the western sky about a half-hour to 45-minutes after local sunset. Which, now that Daylight Savings Time has kicked in, will be at about 7:05 pm MDT...

Astronomy 101, Part II: Comets (03/07/13)
Comets are basically just big balls of frozen water, dirt, and gasses. They come whizzing into the inner solar system from out beyond the orbit of Pluto, make a trip around the sun and head back out to where they came from -- generally. In ancient times they were thought to be bringers of bad news. You know, kings dying, catastrophe and other sorts of bad news...

Astronomy 101, Part II (02/28/13)
For this session of Astronomy 101 Part II, we are going to discuss the difference between comets, meteors, and asteroids. First, comets. Comets, contrary to popular belief, do not go whizzing across the sky at great speed. Now, understand, comets are traveling at great speed, but with the distances involved in space, the human eye will not perceive it as moving fast. Only when we see the comet change locations against the background stars each evening will we see that it is indeed moving...

Asteroids make for big news events (02/21/13)
Did you see asteroid 2012 DA14 last week? I think I did. It was quite a news event. Combining the very close pass of DA14 with the explosion of a possible asteroid over Siberia injuring more than 1,000 people the day before made for some real headlines...

More easy, not-so-easy to find objects (02/14/13)
The last two objects on our easy-to-find, quick-view list are the star Capella in the constellation Auriga, the Charioteer, and one of our very best old friends, the Big Dipper. Capella is also known as the "Goat Star" due to its association with three small nearby stars in a small triangle (Almaaz, and Hoedus I and II) which are called "The Kids."...

More easy-to-find objects (02/07/13)
The next two objects on our easy-to-find list are the "Belt of Orion," and the brightest star in the night sky, Sirius. By now we should all be familiar with the hourglass shape of our old friend Orion with the three stars across the middle for a belt and the three objects that look like stars hanging down from it like a sword...

A quick look skyward on a cold winter night (01/31/13)
When I started writing this column eight and a half years ago, my intention was to simplify the concept of astronomy and give the readers an opportunity to get to know just what is out there. As such, I am always on the look-out for any information that would help accomplish that task...

More lessons on celestial mechanics (01/24/13)
Healthcare is back on the front burner in Lincoln this session of the Legislature, with lawmakers set to consider expanding Medicaid coverage to as many as 159,000 Nebraskans by fiscal 2016. The move would bring the state into line with the federal health care law, even though the U.S. Supreme Court has struck down the provision that would allow Washington to withhold funding from states that chose not to expand Medicaid programs...

Sighting Taurus, the Bull (01/17/13)
Aside from Orion, the Hunter, the second most-recognizable constellation in the winter sky is Taurus, the Bull. It can be easily found these winter evenings by going outside about an hour to an hour and a half after local sunset and looking southeast. The sky doesn't have to be totally dark, but the darker, the better...

The sun and moon, riding high and low (01/10/13)
We have had winter now for almost a month and the physical traits of the season are well in view. The cold weather, the snow (if you have some), and the runny noses which seem to abound. The winter sky is also well in view. The giant constellation Orion, the Hunter, often referred to as the "King of Winter," is in full view in the early evening sky in the east by 7 p.m. local time...

Fun with asterisms (01/03/13)
I trust you all had the merriest of Christmases and the safest and sanest of New Years. Now, on to business. There are 88 officially recognized constellations in the northern and southern skies. There are also many unofficial asterisms, or star patterns, that while not ordained by the International Astronomical Union, they are recognized by astronomers and star gazers around the world...

Christmas reminders in the sky (12/27/12)
Here is hoping that each of you had a wonderful and enjoyable Christmas, now, down to business. OK, ok, enough with the correction notes. Contrary to popular belief, I do know the difference between a solstice and an equinox; it is just that I get them confused once in a while, OK, almost always (here insert very large grin)...

Are two big comets on their way? (12/20/12)
The outdoor temperature seem to be catching up with the season. We can definitely say that winter is on its way; as if two inches of snow wasn't a good enough hint. But, as we have discussed before, the seasons are an astronomical event, not a meteorological one...

'The Bringer of Jollity' (12/13/12)
When English composer, Gustav Holst wrote his orchestral suite, "The Planets," he gave a different musical identity to each planet. Mars he called "The Bringer of War," Venus he called, "The Bringer of Peace," but Jupiter he called, "The Bringer of Jollity."...

How to tell when winter arrives (12/06/12)
The calendar says that winter is here. Friday, Dec. 21, at 4:12 p.m. MST, the Sun will cross the celestial equator heading south ushering in the winter season for the northern hemisphere. Well, the calendar may say it, but the recent daily temperatures sure don't say that winter is here...

Give the binoculars a workout (11/21/12)
Thursday we will sit down with our family and friends to a table that is overflowing with all those things our doctor has told us we shouldn't be eating and engage in that annual feast called Thanksgiving. Ostensibly it is to celebrate and remember the Pilgrims and their journey to find religious freedom and to honor the Native Americans who helped then through that first year...

Something to look for every night (11/15/12)
Okay troops, I have a fun-filled week of observing for you this week. Something to look for almost each night. First up is something you can't look for, a total solar eclipse, unless you are out in the South Pacific, or northern Australia. The new moon will totally cover the face of the sun causing it to be blotted out, eclipsed...

Smoky meteor trails in the sky (11/08/12)
Now that the way we count the time of day has returned to normal, we are suddenly noticing that it is dark a lot sooner. By the middle of next week, the sun will be dropping below the western horizon at about 4:30 p.m. MST. Now, while that may not be good for the average person, it is great for us astronomers. That means about another hour of dark that we can use for outside observation...

Moon late Halloween arrival (11/01/12)
While there were no "celestial spooks" in the sky last night, there were many of the earthly variety wandering from house to house seeking treats. I hope you were generous, even though you may have wanted the leftovers in the bowl for yourself. Another thing that wasn't in the sky, at least for the early goblin crowd, was the moon. The just-past-full moon didn't rise over the eastern horizon until around 8 p.m. local time...

Continuing the tour and the 'Faint and Fuzzies' (10/25/12)
Hope you had a nice Autumn Astronomy Day last Saturday. The sky was perfect in Nebraska, and Colorado too. Good opportunity to view the first quarter moon. As we continue our tour of the Perseus/Pegasus/Andromeda group I want to focus this week on one of those famous "Faint Fuzzies" I always talk about...

The romantic couple in the eastern sky (10/18/12)
There are many romantic couples in history. Romeo and Juliet, Pyramus and Thisbe, Tristan and Isolde, Wayne and Wanda (OK, you have to be a Muppets fan to know that one). One such romantic couple can be seen in the eastern evening sky about an hour and a half after local sunset...

Keeping track of the seasons with the stars (10/11/12)
One nice thing about the stars, they are always there and they keep coming back around again each year. The ancients used them to determine plowing and planting time, harvest time, and when to expect seasonal changes long before the changes actually occurred...

Ready for the Great Worldwide Star Count (10/04/12)
The Great World-wide Star Count starts in just a few days. I hope you have your star charts ready. If not, point your favorite web browser to the following: www.windows2universe.org/citizens_scienc.... Now that October is here, time once again to take a dip into the celestial ocean to play with the critters there...

'Shine on Harvest Moon' (09/27/12)
Now that we are past the autumnal equinox, the next thing we have to look forward to is the full moon. Traditionally, the full moon nearest the equinox is called the Harvest Moon. Back in the days before mechanized farming and the bazillion candlepower lights on harvesters, farmers depended on moonlight to give them more time to bring in their crop...

Busy Saturday ahead (09/20/12)
This is the week. The autumnal equinox, and International Observe the Moon Night, all on the same day. How exciting is that. Saturday, Sept. 22, will be a busy day astronomically speaking. First the autumnal equinox, the day when the sun crosses the celestial equator from north to south and our lazy, summer days turn into hazy fall afternoons, or so a song I heard once said...

'International Observe the Moon Night' Sept. 22 (09/13/12)
Okay troops, I have three exciting things for you this week. First up is Saturday, Sept. 22. That is the date for the "International Observe the Moon Night." You won't need any special equipment to do this, just go outside and look. Of course, a pair of binoculars or even a small telescope would be nice. The moon will be at first quarter (half of its face lit by sunlight)...

Diminishing daylight (09/06/12)
Hopefully by now you have noticed that the sun is ever so slowly moving further south, and the noontime shadows are getting longer. Daylight hours are getting shorter and, much to the delight of my fellow astronomers, the dark hours are getting longer...

The moon won't be blue (08/30/12)
It is a dirty job, but someone has to do it. I just hate to be the one who has to explode the balloon of everyone's expectations. With the upcoming full moon on Aug. 31, the internet has been a-twitter with the news of late that this will be a "Blue Moon" with the hinted intonation that it will indeed be blue...

A quick peek at the mail (08/23/12)
How about a dip into the ol' mailbag this week. I guess you can call the e-mail in-box a mailbag. This week there are two communications I would like to share. The first comes from someone who was out camping last week and was wondering about the three bright objects that formed a triangle in the southwestern sky about an hour after sunset...

The Perseids will have to wait another year (08/16/12)
Last year it was the moon, this year it was clouds and thunderstorms. Now I will have to wait another year before viewing the Perseid meteor shower. From the pictures I have been seeing on astronomical web sites, however, not everyone missed the Perseids. At least I am glad someone had a good view...

A celestial double-header (08/09/12)
Well, I waited to post this column until early Monday morning to see if the Mars Science Laboratory, AKA Curiosity, either made a safe landing on Mars using their "Rube Goldberg" landing system, or gave our sister planet a new crater. And they did, land safely that is. All of the equipment, systems, and procedures on a very complicated, very difficult mission worked and the rover landed safely Sunday evening...

A favorite part of the sky (07/26/12)
We come now to one of my favorite places in the sky, the area of Sagittarius, the Archer. When I was younger, I could make out the three stars on the right side that mark his bow, and a star farther out as the point of the arrow aimed at the heart of the scorpion...

Catch a glimpse of earthshine (07/19/12)
I hope many of you had the opportunity to observe the conjunction of the moon, Venus, Jupiter, and the star Aldebaran last Sunday morning before sunrise. I have said many times, I am not a morning astronomer, unless there is something worth getting up for, and this was definitely worth getting up for...

Something for everyone this week (07/12/12)
It seems that all the excitement is in the morning sky this week. Normally I am not a "morning astronomer." Unless there is something really worth getting up for, this week there is ample reason for getting up early. First, on the morning of Saturday, July 14, a slender crescent moon will be hanging out with the Pleiades star cluster. Look not quite halfway up the sky just above the eastern horizon about an hour before local sunrise...

Viewing the 1776 sky in the Wayback Machine (07/05/12)
First of all, Happy 236th Birthday to the Good Old U.S. of A. On the hot, steamy, almost overbearing summer afternoon of July 3, 1776, the men who sat in the chamber of the Continental Congress agreed on a document that would declare that the colonies (which would be called the "United States" were free of control from England...

It was a quiet week in the sky (06/28/12)
To paraphrase Garrison Keillor from The Prairie Home Companion, "There is not much news from the sky this week." Oh, there are some events that are worth going outside to look for, but after the recent partial lunar eclipse and the transit of Venus across the sun, there is nothing that exciting in the offing...

Welcome to summer (06/21/12)
Happy summer!! Or at least at 5:09 p.m. MDT yesterday. That is when the sun reached the Tropic of Cancer, the latitude line 23 and one-half degrees north of the equator. That is as far north as the sun will appear to move along the horizon. After today, it will start to move southward, the days will get shorter, and the nights will get longer...

Summer officially begins June 20 (06/14/12)
Spring has sprung, fall has fell, summer is here -- and boy is it hot. Well, not exactly poetic, but the version that rhymes is not suitable for family newspapers. Actually summer will be here next week on June 20, at 5:09 p.m. MDT to be exact, when the sun reaches its most northern point from our view. The event is called the summer solstice...

Off on a celestial snipe hunt (06/07/12)
It is difficult wanting to write about astronomical events, but having to write this column before the events occur. Take for example last Monday's early- morning partial lunar eclipse. True, it was only a partial eclipse, and from my location only a very small portion of the eclipse was seen before the moon sat in the west...

A partial lunar eclipse, and a rare Venus transit (05/31/12)
And the hits just keep on coming. We observed -- albeit on the computer -- the annular eclipse of the sun on May 20, and now there are two more spectacular celestial events in the offing for our viewing pleasure. Although, one of them will be better viewed using on-line remote telescopes...

Annular eclipse gets astronomers' hearts pumping (05/10/12)
Nothing gets an astronomer salivating in anticipation faster than the words "solar eclipse." Well, there are going to be a lot of slobbering astronomers for the next week or so as May 20 approaches. That is the date for an annular solar eclipse of the sun...

Animal stars and the big full moon (05/03/12)
Every so often I get a question in my e-mail from a reader. I received one recently asking, "How many animal constellations are there." Well, knowing that there are 88 recognized constellations in the northern and southern hemispheres, I would have to go looking for information as to how many were animals...

Making the most of the dark (04/26/12)
In case you haven't noticed, daylight is lasting much longer in the evening, and it is getting light earlier in the day. We have passed the equinox and the sun is traveling further north on the horizon toward the point of the summer solstice where it will appear to stop moving for a while and then start south again...

The great procession in the sky (04/19/12)
Well, all the characters that made the last few weeks astronomically exciting have left, or are in the process of leaving the evening sky. Jupiter has one more close meeting with a very slender crescent moon on the evening of Sunday, April 22, after which by the first week of May it will be gone from the evening sky...

Close encounters of the next kind (04/12/12)
To paraphrase an old folk song, the skies they be a-changin'. Ancient astronomers espoused the idea that the heavens were fixed and unchanging, except for a few "stars" that seemed to move against the background of the stars in predictable cycles. In this day and age by using large and powerful telescopes, astronomers have discovered that stars indeed do, and are, moving, some at incredible speeds toward us and some away...

Astronomical events almost over (04/05/12)
All the celestial excitement is about over for a while. What with all the planetary and lunar conjunctions it has been quite busy. There are a few scattered celestial events left for April, but it will be mostly quite until the partial solar eclipse (yes, we will see it from Southwest Nebraska) on May 20, and an even bigger event on the fifth of June when an extremely rare event will occur. Venus will cross -- transit -- the face of the sun...

What's in a name? (03/29/12)
Planet ... the very name gives indication of what it does. Ancient astronomers recognized that there were "stars" that did not remain fixed in one position. They roamed, or wandered, and could be seen in different places at different times of the year...

Hunting for some elusive objects (03/22/12)
OK, space fans, in the words of my good friend Monty Python, now for something completely different. We have been watching the dance of the planets for the last few weeks, which is a grand sight indeed. This dance will go on for several more months with some exciting events in the future...

How the planets get together (03/15/12)
Let's go for a dip in the old mail bag again shall we. Well, not really the mail bag, someone on my Facebook page asked what has been causing all these planetary and planet/moon conjunctions that I have been talking about. Good question. There is an imaginary line that runs around Earth called the equator. It divides the northern and southern hemispheres...

Planets are pairing up (03/08/12)
If you have been watching the evening sky, as I hope you have, Venus and Jupiter are moving closer to each other by the day. During the next week they will have their closest approach of the year. They won't be this close again until March of 2023, so go out an look at it now...

Planetary conjunctions continuing (03/01/12)
The month of March will be a very busy one for astronomical observation. What began last week with a series of conjunctions between the moon and several planets now continues with more close conjunctions, this time between planets. On Tuesday, March 6, an almost-full moon and Mars will finish out this series of conjunctions. The moon will be back in planet-meeting mode at the end of March, passing Venus and Jupiter again...

They'll only look like they're close together (02/16/12)
Not much happening astronomically speaking this week. Venus and Jupiter are still the brightest things in the southwestern sky after sunset, and the moon is setting near sunrise. Next week tiny Mercury will be joining the evening crowd with a short appearance and brief conjunction with our old friend Uranus...

The grand astronomical planetary parade (02/09/12)
Woo Hoo!! A whole week of a grand planetary parade. Four of the five visible planets will be making an appearance in the evening sky this week. The fifth one, tiny Mercury, will be joining the crowd toward the end of the month. Tonight, Thursday, Feb. 9, the brightest of the visible planets, Venus, will be showing us the location of one of the dimmest, gas-giant, Uranus...

Six more weeks of winter, regardless (02/02/12)
Today, Feb. 2, is Groundhog Day. The day set aside to see if the prognosticating rodent in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, can determine how many more weeks of winter there will be. Feb. 2, is one of the cross-quarter days, a day that is roughly half way between a solstice and an equinox. In this case it is halfway between the winter solstice and the vernal equinox, or the beginning of spring...

Why astronomers are happiest in winter (01/26/12)
It has been a little over a month since the winter solstice, the beginning of winter, when the sun reached its most southern point of the year and started moving back north. Since that time the days have been growing longer and the nights shorter, have you noticed?...

It just seems like the longest season (01/19/12)
Had a nice letter from a reader in McCook this past week. The writer expressed thanks for listing the time and date that Venus and Neptune would be visible together. The writer advised that not only were they able to find Neptune and Venus with binoculars, but that they dusted off their old telescope -- which they had not used for some time -- and gave it a go...

Pairs of planets and an approaching eclipse (01/12/12)
OK space fans, let's go to the mailbag ... or really the e-mail list. I received a request last week inquiring about the two bright stars just above the eastern horizon before sunrise. Seems the questioner was out walking the dog and observed the two objects and wanted to know which stars they were...

The more the sky stays the same, the more it changes (01/05/12)
There is always something about a new year. Almost like we have been given a clean sheet of paper so we can begin writing anew the things and events of our lives. One thing we can say for the sky though, it is always there and it always looks the same...

Put that new telescope to work (12/29/11)
OK, you got that bright, shiny, new telescope for Christmas. You have had it out of the box and on the tripod in the living room, and you have wondered where all those little round eyepieces go and what do they do. Another question you have is ... what is there to look at?...

Darkness creeps in on little cat feet (12/22/11)
Darkness comes like Carl Sandburg's fog, "on little cat feet." With the sun slowly creeping south each day, the length of the darkness increases until suddenly we notice that at 4:30 in the afternoon the sun is gone from the sky and it is getting dark...

A beautiful view of the lunar eclipse (12/15/11)
Hope everyone had a chance to observe the total lunar eclipse last Wednesday. From where I was it was beautiful. Clear skies and clear western horizon made for some great viewing. It was the last total lunar eclipse visible from the United States until April, 2014...

Good news, bad news on eclipse (12/08/11)
The big astronomical news this week is the total lunar eclipse which will occur on Saturday, Dec. 10. A total lunar eclipse occurs when Earth's shadow crosses the face of the moon. Such events only happen when the moon is full. That is the good news, now for the bad news, we won't be able to see much of it from here in Southwest Nebraska...

A lot of little things going on (12/01/11)
Well troops, astronomically speaking, there is not much going on this week. Of course, there is always something going on, but we, as humans, think in terms of something big or else it is not interesting. Tonight (Thursday) will be a good opportunity to locate one of the dim outer gas giant planets, Neptune. The moon will be a help...

Astronomers and wimps (11/23/11)
Astronomers and wimps The weather is such now that it is becoming difficult to be outside for any lengthy viewing sessions. With temperatures dropping into the mid to low 20s by early evening it is just not very comfortable to be outside for the couple of hours we could spend in the summer...

Tracking the evening visitors (11/17/11)
Quick! If you haven't ever seen the planed Mercury, now is your time to get outside for a quick look. Quick, that is, if you go out any evening between now and Saturday. Mercury is the innermost planet and can only be seen for short periods of time when it appears near sunrise and sunset...

Now that Daylight Saving Time is over (11/10/11)
Well, I am glad that is out of the way. What, you ask? Daylight Saving Time of course. It really isn't saving daylight you know, there is still just as much as there was before, it is just shifted around. When the clock is shifted forward (the "spring ahead" thing), sunrise and sunset become an hour later hence supposedly giving more light in the evening hours...

Slow times in the evening skies (11/03/11)
Just as we all have busy days and slow days, this is a slow time astronomically speaking. The only bright objects in the evening sky this week are the planet Jupiter and a just-passed first-quarter moon, both of which can be seen in the early evening sky about an hour after sunset...

The view from the mile-high city (10/27/11)
It goes without saying, things are different in the big city. Most of you know that I have moved from Benkelman to Arvada, Colorado, to start a new job. The hours for the job require that I work at night so I have the occasional opportunity to look up...

Earlier sunsets mean stargazing sooner (10/13/11)
These wonderfully warmish, clear, October evenings have provided some excellent opportunities for some autumnal stargazing, and the earlier sunsets have given us earlier hours in the evening to do it. With the sun setting between 6 and 6:30 p.m. we don't have to wait so long into the evening for good, dark skies...

Saturday is International Look at the Moon Day (10/06/11)
What say we get a little "loony" this week? I should probably say "luny" as we need to talk about the moon. Saturday, Oct. 8, is International Look at the Moon Day so we should all get outside and do just that. On Saturday the moon will be just three days before full which means it will be rising just before sunset and will be visible in the early evening just above the eastern horizon...

The final two characters in the celestial story (09/29/11)
We come now to the last two characters in our celestial story, Cassiopeia the Queen and Cepheus, the King. Both are found in the early evening autumnal sky in the north about an hour after sunset. Cassiopeia is the very familiar "W" shape and is easily recognized, Cepheus on the other hand will take some looking...

Astronomical rivalries and their outcomes (09/22/11)
Nothing like a good story where the young, handsome, hero rescues the pretty girl who is in danger. Such is the story of Perseus and Andromeda, at least in ancient mythology. We are looking at the Pegasus/Perseus group of constellations currently rising in the east in the early evening. Last week we looked at Pegasus, the Flying Horse and now we will look at his rider, Perseus -- the young, handsome hero -- and Andromeda -- the fair damsel in distress...

Flying into autumn with Pegasus (09/15/11)
For me nothing says autumn better than the constellation Pegasus, the Flying Horse. This time of the year it rises in the east just after sunset to begin its majestic parade across the sky. Pegasus is one of the larger constellations and can be easily found, if you know where to look, and that is where I come in...

Switching on the fall season (09/08/11)
Wow, it is almost like someone, somewhere, threw a switch and the daytime temps are cooler and the nighttime temps have dropped drastically, down into the 50s already. I know we still have some warm weather ahead of us, but, it is becoming more and more obvious that a seasonal change is coming...

Checking out the smallest constellations (09/01/11)
We have been looking at the large constellations and some of the other "big boys" of the astronomical world, how about if we shift to a few of the smallest. These three won't be too difficult to find, they are all very near to each other. Let's start with the "where." All three of these small constellations are quite near Aquila, the Eagle. Altair, the brightest star in Aquila is one of the stars of the Summer Triangle and we have all had practice finding it...

Loaf Mass and the Dog Days of Summer (08/18/11)
Well, I was so excited about the Nebraska Star Party that I missed Lammas Day. What is that you ask? Well, why don't I tell you. In the old calendar, and I am talking about the middle ages here. Lammas Day, or "Loaf Mass Day" was generally the first day of August. ...

Nothing like a good Star Party (08/11/11)
Who doesn't enjoy a good party? I know I do, and I have just returned from one of the best, the annual Nebraska Star Party held in north-central Nebraska. Merritt Reservoir, near Valentine, Nebraska, has the darkest skies in the state and is the perfect venue for star gazing. Lots of room for camping and room to spread out hundreds of telescopes for astronomical observing...

Check out the Milky Way (08/04/11)
One of the best astronomical sights to observe at this time of year is so large it is difficult to miss. All you have to do is go outside, find a nice, dark-sky place far away from city lights and look up. It is the Milky Way, the wide star-path that is the plain of our galaxy. The reason the stars are so concentrated is we are looking at the galaxy like we would a cookie if we held it up and turned it flat looking at the edge...

Hit 'delete' key on Mars hoax (07/27/11)
It's coming!! I know it is coming, I have this sense of foreboding right down to my very socks. It is coming, because it has come before. It has come and worked its dastardly work and then gone away, but it is coming back to do it all over again. It comes back at this time of the year. It is like a continuing, haunting presence that is lurking just out of sight, waiting for the right moment to show up again...

Once more with the Summer Triangle (07/21/11)
Let's go look one more time at our friends in the Summer Triangle for another discussion. You can find the three stars of the triangle about half-way up the eastern sky about an hour after sunset any clear night this week. All three stars appear to be about the same brightness except for the top one, Vega. It appears to be a little brighter than the other two. It's brighter because it is closer, right?...

A disappointing view (07/14/11)
I delayed starting this until I knew space shuttle Atlantis had launched this morning (Friday). It did, and it was almost on-time. Only three minutes late. This was the last launch of the last flying shuttle. After the STS-135 mission the space shuttle program will end...

Viewing the Summer Triangle, Saturn (07/07/11)
Our old friends, the stars of the Summer Triangle, are above the eastern horizon by 9 p.m. and a planet, Saturn, is available for our viewing pleasure. Saturn is located in the constellation Virgo, the Maiden located along the southern horizon. There are two bight objects in Virgo, one is Saturn and to its left is Spica, the brightest star in the constellation...

First conjunctions, then some swan songs (06/23/11)
Boy, do we have the goodies for you this week. Several multi-object conjunctions, all for your viewing pleasure. The first are morning events. As you all know, I am not a morning astronomer. However, there are occasions where I make an exception, this is one of them...

We won't be able to see the next one, either (06/16/11)
If we lived in Australia or New Zealand we would have been able to enjoy a total lunar eclipse last night. We won't be able to see the Dec. 10 total lunar eclipse, either. The astronomy class had a great evening for viewing last week. After a couple of months of cloudy skies we finally had a clear evening, although there was some doubt. But, about a half-hour before the class started the skies cleared...

Living in interesting times (06/09/11)
There is an old curse that says, "May you live in interesting times." I don't know if we are cursed or not, but there are some interesting things to look for this week. Let's start in the north. Our old friends the Big and Little Dippers can be found there. However, right now they are in an interesting configuration...

Farewell Orion, hello Scorpius (06/02/11)
Lots to look at this week, let's get to it. I think we can safely say that winter has passed and spring is here. It is more than just a calendar date, it is an astronomical event also. Our old friend Orion, the king of the winter sky, has all but disappeared over the western horizon by sunset these warming spring evenings...

More chances to see the ISS, shuttle go by (05/26/11)
I guess this is the place for the good news and the bad news. The good news is shuttle mission STS-134 launched on Monday, May 16, on schedule and the orbiter docked with the ISS two days later. The bad news is there will be incredibly few opportunities for viewing the docked pair in the coming days...

So many questions ... (05/19/11)
Did the shuttle launch? Were you watching? Did it go on schedule? Were there any delays? My, so many questions. As of the date this column was written, fueling of the external tank had been approved. The external fuel tank is the giant orangey thing that the orbiter sits on top of. It is the largest piece of the shuttle assembly...

Shuttle derby still in 'hold' mode (05/12/11)
In the "Launch the Shuttle Derby" we are still at the "any minute now and holding." At last word from NASA, the launch will not be before May 16. Since this is being written well before that date, I won't know if they did or didn't. There won't be much good viewing this week as the moon will be full on May 17. That will erase almost everything in the sky worth looking at...

Where did all the constellations come from? (04/21/11)
OK folks, here is one from the mailbag, "Where did all the constellations come from?" Well, very good question. The constellations, the patterns and shapes of objects in the night sky have a long history. Many ancient cultures have records of star names and constellations...

Vernon Whetstone
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