Only two weeks away now! Rather than write a lengthy post, I’m just going to address the main questions I’ve been getting over the past few months. The sun is going to be 90% obscured at my home. Is it…
Category: Sky Phenomena
Supermoon!!
A short post about something that is all over the news now. No, not the election. I’m talking about the latest “supermoon”. This is a term I don’t believe I had ever heard before about five years ago. I don’t…
Tagged with: Supermoon
Mars Opposition 2016
That increasingly bright and obviously red object rising in the southeast late at night (around 10:30 pm EDT from Lynchburg) is Mars. It will rise ever earlier as it moves into position exactly opposite the sun in our sky on…
Tagged with: Mars opposition 2016
What’s Up?
Two short-lived sky phenomena are on tap in the near future, one taking place only tens of miles above us, the other millions of miles away. Geminid meteor shower: Each December we are treated to one of the better meteor…
Planet Lineup
These beautifully clear fall mornings we’ve been experiencing have offered a rare opportunity to see four of the five naked-eye planets all lined up for our viewing pleasure. This morning at 6:45 am EDT, this was the view on Lynchburg’s…
Space Station Pass in Lynchburg Area
It looks as though Lynchburg area sky watchers will actually have clear skies for a celestial event! The International Space Station will be visible tonight in an especially bright and high-in-the-sky pass. It will appear low in the southwest at…
Tagged with: International Space Station
Venus, Jupiter…and Earth
Those of us of a certain age will remember these song lyrics: When the moon is in the seventh house And Jupiter aligns with Mars… Jupiter is about to align not with Mars, but with Venus, the ancient goddess of…
Astronomy and Me
This post is not informational so much as it is a personal reflection on what astronomy has meant in my life. Our regularly scheduled programming will resume in the next post. One of my very earliest memories comes from shortly…
A Cosmic Dance
The two brightest planets in the sky right now—and the two brightest planets, period—are Venus and Jupiter. Shortly after sunset at the end of April, Venus is the very bright object in the west, and Jupiter is only a little…
Bright Objects
In case you were wondering, the two very bright objects visible in the sky shortly after sunset are Venus (in the west) and Jupiter (in the southeast). After the sun and the moon, these are the two brightest natural celestial…
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