Jun 9, 2025 | Focal Plane
Following the successful launch and deployment of the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have explored new vistas and aspects of the Universe made possible with this remarkable instrument. Webb joins the exploration with a new eye on the Universe. It is not the...
Jun 1, 2025 | Rick's Picks
Transient Events That Can Give Us a Good Enough Reason to Get Outside and Do a Little Observing All month: Mercury returns to the sunset sky as Jupiter departs, leaving Mars as the only planet on the evening stage, while the morning sky is populated by Venus, Saturn,...
Apr 23, 2025 | Rick's Picks
Transient Events That Can Give Us a Good Enough Reason to Get Outside and Do a Little Observing All month: the planets continue their exodus from the evening sky this month. Uranus is now lost in the solar glare – it will reach conjunction on May 17 and return as a...
Apr 3, 2025 | Focal Plane
In the 19th century, Alvan Graham Clark was one of the premier lens makers for telescopes. His craftsmanship was sought after and many observatories in the late 19th and early 20th centuries were built to house his refractor telescopes. In fact, smaller Alvan Clark...
Apr 3, 2025 | Focal Plane
We are confused about how old the Universe is. Until recently, astronomers estimated that the Big Bang occurred between 12 and 14 billion years ago. Astronomers can place a lower limit to the age of the universe by studying globular clusters. Globular clusters are a...
