What’s Up in the Night Sky? – April 2024
Wait! Never mind the header at the top of this column! For this month only, it should read “What’s up in the DAY Sky?”. The long awaited Total Eclipse of the Sun arrives in only a few days; mark it: 8th of April. In our area, along highway 7, we… READ MORE
What’s Up in the Night Sky? – March 2024
Lights Out next month! On April 8 there will be a 99% and a bit, almost total eclipse of the Sun occurring in the Sharbot Lake area. If you are willing to go south half way towards Kingston, you will experience a Total eclipse of the Sun for about 1… READ MORE
What’s Up in the Night Sky? – February 2024
Compared to most months, this one has nothing particularly exciting, spectacular or easily available to jangle your nerves or give you that hit of adrenaline, but then again, there’s a whole universe on display every clear night just begging to be rummaged in and rambled about with trusty binoculars or… READ MORE
Mystery of the Star of Bethlehem – an Astronomer’s View
Let’s get to work! To track down the Star of Bethlehem, an event that happened 2,000 years ago, we must have a reasonably accurate idea of when Jesus Christ was born. Theological historians place the birth of Jesus in September or October in 3 or 2 BC. They researched several… READ MORE
What’s Up in the Night Sky? – December 2023
Besides Christmas, there’s another spectacular splash of bright lights this December. The annual Geminid meteor shower will be upon us. This shower is active from December 4 to the 17th and is considered the most active and the best meteor shower of the year. It peaks on the 14th, but… READ MORE
What’s Up in the Night Sky? – November 2023
Who needs a telescope to enjoy the night sky? Sure, a scope is great for looking at distant and tiny things and is an indispensable tool for much enjoyable observing, but you can miss out on the big picture! Can you look at the Milky Way as it arcs over… READ MORE
What’s Up in the Night Sky? – October 2023
Where is the centre of the Universe? The short answer is that the universe has no centre and no boundary! Think of a 2-dimensional creature living on the surface of a balloon. Where would the centre be to that 2 dimensional being? The balloon can bend and expand in 3… READ MORE
What’s Up in the Night Sky? – September 2023
Have you seen the pictures coming from the Webb Space Telescope? They are stunning, fantastic and filled with new and unforeseen scientific information. I caught a picture of the Whirlpool Galaxy on the news this morning and heard that the information that that beauty contained was 10 times better than… READ MORE
What’s Up in the Night Sky? – August 2023
The Perseids are coming! August nights are lengthening as we head for the autumn and that means extra time for observing. That’s a bonus because the main event this month is the annual Perseid meteor shower. It’s the big one with more fireballs and bright tracks than any other shower.… READ MORE
What’s Up in the Night Sky? July 2023
Oh my, oh my! It’s summer nights with only a few hours of darkness plus bugs galore to keep you company, but that’s not to say that enjoyable night sky travelling can’t be done. With Solstice done, the dark time is getting longer as the sun sets earlier and covering… READ MORE
What’s Up in the Night Sky? June 2023
The planets are the main attraction this month. You can’t beat the brilliant sight of Venus high in the west this month. It’s prominent soon after sunset until it sets about 11:30 pm. Its brightness reaches -4.7 by month’s end. It sits in Gemini near the twin stars Castor and… READ MORE
What’s Up in the Night Sky? May 2023
No spectacular astronomical events are expected this month unless you count pointing your eyes up at the night sky and having an entire universe to investigate. Sadly, that’s becoming more difficult as light pollution decreases sky darkness each year. Add to that the explosion of satellites filling up our sky.… READ MORE
What’s Up in the Night Sky? May 2023
No spectacular astronomical events are expected this month unless you count pointing your eyes up at the night sky and having an entire universe to investigate. Sadly, that’s becoming more difficult as light pollution decreases sky darkness each year. Add to that the explosion of satellites filling up our sky.… READ MORE
What’s Up in the Night Sky? – April 2023
Welcome to the Lyrid meteor shower this month! It’s active from April 14 to the 30th. Its radiant is in the constellation Lyra and close to the bright star Vega. It peaks on the evening of the 22nd. Just in time at mid month, the constellation Lyra appears over the… READ MORE
What’s Up in the Night Sky? – March 2023
Through most of February, brilliant Venus and Jupiter have been a spectacular and stunning sight in the west just after sunset. It’s hard not to notice them in the evening sky, as their orbital paths bring them closer to each other every evening. They will be at their viewable closest… READ MORE
What’s Up in the Night Sky? – February 2023
Snow, snow snow! It sure would be nice to have lots of starry light falling from a clear sky instead. There are no meteor showers to speak of this month except for the unexpected and random streaks of sporadic background meteors. We do have the Zodiacal light making its spring… READ MORE