Mar 1, 2025 | Focal Plane
Exoplanets orbit distant stars many lightyears away. The name comes from extrasolarplanets, which are planets orbiting outside of oursolar system. To date, astronomers have found over5,600 exoplanets. The method resulting in the mostdiscoveries is the Transit Method....
Dec 4, 2024 | Focal Plane
December brings a mix of emotions for amateur astronomers. The nights are longer, so there is more time available for viewing. In addition to longer nights, winter also holds some bright stars and constellations. But it comes at a price. The weather at night will be...
Dec 4, 2024 | Focal Plane
The history of planetariums can be traced back to ancient civilizations. In Greece, Archimedes created mechanical devices to illustrate celestial movement. In 1229, Emperor Frederick II used a tent with holes to represent stars, and rotated the tent to mimic the...
Nov 12, 2024 | Focal Plane
For millennia, humanity has looked up at countless tiny points of light in our night sky – and wondered. What are the stars, and how did they get there? How far away are they, how big are they, why do they shine? In the last few centuries, astronomers have learned a...
