Focal Plane
- Focal Plane (26)
- One Good Target (31)
- Rick's Picks (32)
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Astronomy Fundamentals: Sparkling Winter Star Clusters
December brings a mix of emotions for amateur astronomers. The nights are longer, so there is more time available for viewing. In addition to…
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Celebrate the Centennial of Planetariums with a Visit to the New Shanghai Astronomy Museum
The history of planetariums can be traced back to ancient civilizations. In Greece, Archimedes created mechanical devices to illustrate celestial movement. In 1229, Emperor…
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Focal Plane November ’24 – Searching for Gravitational Waves from Supermassive Black Hole Mergers
The October 3, 2024 NASA Universe of Learning featured discussion on gravity. One of the topics covered was searching for gravitational waves from…
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Astronomy Fundamentals – Choosing a Telescope – Things to Consider
For many new comers to the hobby, the biggest question asked is what kind of telescope should I buy? Whether it is parents nurturing…
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November ’24 Focal Plane – Discovering the Stars
For millennia, humanity has looked up at countless tiny points of light in our night sky – and wondered. What are the stars, and…
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August 2024 Focal Plane Wormholes, Spacewarps, and Tunnels to Otherwheres
At one time, some of Einstein’s theories of space-time and general relativity have exotic subjects within the solutions of the equations, such as wormholes.…
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Astronomy Fundamentals: Finding Good Targets in Twilight
Many times, we are at the telescope waiting for the sky to get darker. The Sun had set about a half hour to go,…
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Astronomy Fundamentals: The Astronomer & the Seven Dwarfs
Dwarf stars are the most plentiful in our sky. But as their name suggests, they are smaller in mass and thus less intrinsically bright.…
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Astronomy Fundamentals: Family Fun Night
Every year, the Naperville Astronomical Association hosts Family Night during one of our fundamentals in the summer. This year’s Family Night will be held…
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The Space Elevator: From Science Fiction to Engineering
Space Elevators appear in many science fiction novels, but they may not be as much fiction as faster than light warp or hyperdrive. Space…
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Solving Big Problems with Tiny Experiments – Quantum Sensors for Astrophysics Applications
Scientists are using several methods to determine the nature of dark matter, indirect searches, laboratory experiments, and direct searches. Indirect and direct detection search…
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History of Eclipse Calculations with Some Math
The earliest record of an eclipse in human history may have been from around 3,340 B.C.E. The consistent record of eclipses over the years…