What's Up in the Night Sky - January 2011
By Fred Barrett Calling all observers! Send me your sightings. We can share what we have seen through this column. We live in a beautiful dark sky area. Don’t let what you have seen go unreported. This month I am going to give a few pointers on observing. You don’t… READ MORE
What’s Up in the Night Sky – December 2011
By Fred Barrett The Sun is especially magnificent right now. It is close to its maximum sunspot level. This happens every 11 years and the maximum is predicted for 2012. We have a good number of sunspots right now and if this is before the maximum, the coming year should… READ MORE
What’s Up in the Night Sky – November 2011
By Fred Barrett The Sun is especially magnificent right now. It is close to its maximum sunspot level. This happens every 11 years and the maximum is predicted for 2012. We have a good number of sunspots right now and if this is before the maximum, the coming year should… READ MORE
What’s Up in the Night Sky – November 2011
By Fred Barrett Let’s talk aurora borealis this month! I’m sure some of you have seen recent displays of these spectacular rippling curtains of light in the sky. We are in the midst of what is called a Solar maximum. During a Solar maximum the Sun has a much greater… READ MORE
What’s Up in the Night Sky – October 2011
By Fred Barrett This month pull out your binoculars and search the area shared by Cepheus and Cassiopeia. Throughout October they can be found by looking straight up at the zenith of the sky. Now shift your gaze 20 degrees (a fist width) to the northeast. Cepheus looks like a… READ MORE
What’s Up in the Night Sky – September
I couldn’t have planned things better! I was searching through my sky charts for a good object for you to look for this month and I wanted it to be in the area where I challenged you last month. I thought it would be doubling your pleasure to practice in… READ MORE
What’s Up in the Night Sky – August 2011
By Fred Barrett Last column I said that we were going to visit the huge constellation Ophiuchus this month. I changed my mind and decided to challenge you with finding two of the smallest constellations. They are the constellations Delphinus, the Dolphin and Sagitta, the Arrow. Small but exquisite, these… READ MORE
What’s Up in the Night Sky – May 2011
By Fred Barrett Let’s have a look at Corona Borealis this month. It’s a small constellation and can be found between the constellation Bootes to its right and Hercules to the left. I hope some of you, using the techniques I mentioned last month, had a chance to practise finding… READ MORE
What’s Up in the Night Sky – April 2011
By Fred Barrett I’ve been giving you a good dose of hard science lately. I thought that maybe I should give that a rest for a while and change direction by offering up a few tips and techniques on basic observing. Some of you have written or talked to me… READ MORE
What’s Up in the Night Sky – March
By Fred Barrett This month let’s have a look at where White Dwarf stars come from. We learned last month that stars under 8 times the mass of our Sun do not blow up as Supernovae. Stars with less than 8 solar masses fuse hydrogen to helium in the star’s… READ MORE
What’s Up in the Night Sky – February 2011
By Fred Barrett Supernovas, planetary nebulas, white dwarfs, neutron stars, black holes. What are they all anyway? It was all over the news recently that 10-year-old Kathryn Gray of Fredericton, New Brunswick, became the youngest person ever to discover an exploding star called a supernova. She spotted it on… READ MORE
What’s up in the sky – Christmas 2010
By Fred Barrett Photo left: Fred Barrett, courtesy Fred Barrett Normally in the last column of the year I would write about what to expect in January of next year. But January is quite a few days away, so I thought instead to give you a few reminders of the… READ MORE
What’s up in the sky – November 26/10
By Fred Barrett November’s column marks the start of my second year as your friendly, local astronomy scribbler. I hope that I have tempted more than a few of you to go out and look up at the beauty of our dark country skies. It’s something that city dwellers rarely… READ MORE
What's Up in the Sky - October 2010
By Fred Barrett Nights are cooling off now and darkness is falling much earlier. Speaking of fall, I have written before that it is the best time of the whole year for astronomy. You don’t have to wait up late for a dark sky and there are few or no… READ MORE
What’s up in the sky – September 2010
By Fred Barrett The nights are getting longer and the sun is setting earlier. Thank goodness we don’t have to stay up quite so late to tour the heavens and there are fewer squadrons of bugs orbiting about our heads. With its crisp clear and steady air, fall is my… READ MORE
What’s up in the sky – August 2010
By Fred Barrett The Summer Triangle - note that straight up is North East. This month we’re off to rummage around the asterism known as the Summer Triangle. It’s made up of three bright stars Vega, Deneb and Altair in three constellations, Lyra, Cygnus and Aquila. Prominent high above at… READ MORE