The Winter season brings some of the brightest stars in view. And with those stars, some bright deep sky objects. The season brings a chance to observe M42, M44, and M45, as well as the Winter Milky Way through Cassiopeia. However, the same old objects every year may get a little boring. Is there anything else to see beyond the Double Cluster? There is – if you know where to look.
January’s fundamentals meeting featured a tour of objects that are off the beaten path and may refresh your observing list for the season. To find out what awaits your observing as NAA member Rick Gering shares his knowledge of observing.
September ’25 – Rick’s Picks
Transient Events That Can Give Us a Good Enough Reason To Get Outside and Do a Little Observing All month: the early evening sky is still bereft of planets this month, other than unimpressive mag +1.6 Mars, now just 4” across, and it too will disappear into the sunset...
August ’25 – Rick’s Picks
Transient Events That Can Give Us a Good Enough Reason to Get Outside and Do a Little Observing All month: Mars continues to have the evening sky to itself this month, but it doesn’t make much use of it, setting just after 10 pm (less than 2 hours after the Sun) as...
Neutrino Astronomy In Greenland and Antartica
Not all telescopes use light to observe the universe. Some, like ice cubes, the RadioNeutrino Observatory in Greenland (RNO-G) and the Payload for Ultrahigh Energy Observations (PUEO) look for neutrinos from distant, extragalactic sources by detecting their...
Astronomy Fundamentals: What Possessed You to Build Your Own Telescope
Amateur astronomy used to be associated with making your own telescope. Stellafane in Vermont still pays homage to the art of telescope making and is approaching its 90th year. However, with the availability of mass produced mirrors, lenses, and complete telescopes,...