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Columns
Cosmic Challenge: Lunar Craters Messier and Messier A
May 31 2017 01:20 PM |
PhilH
in Phil Harrington's Cosmic Challenge
Summer is in the offing here in the Northern Hemisphere and the longest day of the year is at hand. While many of us enjoy the warmer weather, the dark of night comes late in the evening and leaves all too early the following morning. So while deep-sky observing is limited, we can still enjoy viewing our Moon even if the sky is still bright. Yes, observing challenges await us on our nearest neighbor in space.
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June 2017 Skies
May 31 2017 08:01 AM |
cookman
in This Month
Highlights: Comet Journal, Martian Landers, Meteor Showers, Summer Solstice, Planet Plotting, June Moon Focus Constellations: Leo, Cancer, Gemini, Auriga, Perseus, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Cygnus, Lyra, Draco, Hercules, Bootes, Ursa Minor, Ursa Major, Camelopardalis, Lynx
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May 2017 Skies
May 04 2017 09:27 AM |
cookman
in This Month
Highlights: Comet Journal, Martian Landers, Meteor Showers, Planet Plotting, May Moon Focus Constellations: Leo, Cancer, Gemini, Auriga, Perseus, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Cygnus, Lyra, Draco, Hercules, Bootes, Ursa Minor, Ursa Major, Camelopardalis, Lynx
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Cosmic Challenge: The Antennae
May 01 2017 12:45 PM |
PhilH
in Phil Harrington's Cosmic Challenge
Seven decades ago, while scanning a Palomar Sky Survey plate of the area around brilliant Regulus in Leo the Lion, astronomers Robert Harrington (no relation) and A.G. Wilson noticed a faint blur of light just 1/2° north of the star. They may have thought at first that the glow was just an internal lens flare caused by stray starlight, but it soon became apparent that they had discovered something very real.
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April 2017 Skies
Apr 08 2017 08:02 AM |
cookman
in This Month
Highlights: Comet Journal, Martian Landers, Meteor Showers, Planet Plotting, April Moon Focus Constellations: Leo, Cancer, Gemini, Taurus, Auriga, Perseus, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Draco, Hercules, Bootes, Ursa Minor, Ursa Major, Camelopardalis, Lynx
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Cosmic Challenge: Leo I
Apr 01 2017 11:21 AM |
PhilH
in Phil Harrington's Cosmic Challenge
Seven decades ago, while scanning a Palomar Sky Survey plate of the area around brilliant Regulus in Leo the Lion, astronomers Robert Harrington (no relation) and A.G. Wilson noticed a faint blur of light just 1/2° north of the star. They may have thought at first that the glow was just an internal lens flare caused by stray starlight, but it soon became apparent that they had discovered something very real.
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March 2017 Skies
Mar 04 2017 09:39 AM |
cookman
in This Month
Highlights: Comet Journal, Martian Landers, Meteor Showers,Vernal Equinox, Planet Plotting, March Moon Focus Constellations: Leo, Cancer, Gemini, Orion, Taurus, Auriga, Perseus, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Draco, Bootes, Ursa Minor, Ursa Major, Lynx, Camelopardalis
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Cosmic Challenge: Jonckheere 900
Mar 04 2017 08:03 AM |
PhilH
in Phil Harrington's Cosmic Challenge
Few amateur astronomers are familiar with the name Robert Jonckheere. Jonckheere was a French double-star observer who conducted research at a number of observatories over his six-decade career, including the Strasbourg Observatory in France, the Royal Greenwich Observatory in England, as well as McDonald Observatory in Texas.
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February 2017 Skies
Feb 18 2017 10:52 AM |
cookman
in This Month
Highlights: Comet Journal, Martian Landers, Meteor Showers, Planet Plotting, February Moon
Focus Constellations: Leo, Cancer, Gemini, Orion, Taurus, Auriga, Perseus, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Draco, Ursa Minor, Ursa Major, Lynx, Camelopardalis
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Cosmic Challenge: A Case of Mistaken Identity
Feb 04 2017 07:53 AM |
PhilH
in Phil Harrington's Cosmic Challenge
There once was a mystery in Lynx. The story opened in 1790 when William Herschel discovered a small, nebulous glow about 2½° northwest of 27 Lyncis. He later added it as number 830 in his list of "very faint nebulae" (abbreviated H-III-830) and apparently moved on without noticing a second, fainter blur of light just to the northeast. That second object was discovered 66 years later by William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse, through his 72-inch "Leviathan" reflector. Both were later incorporated into John Dreyer's New General Catalog. NGC 2474 is described as "faint, pretty small, extended?, brighter middle, very small star?, large star north following." NGC 2475 is simply noted as "makes a double nebula with" NGC 2474.
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