On early evenings in June, just after twilight, look for a moderately bright star in the low Butler southeast sky a little above the horizon. It has a decidedly ruddy hue...
The Summer Solstice, the first day of astronomical summer, is on June 21 this year. It's the longest day of the year, but unfortunately for us stargazers, it's also the ...
Everyone knows that the sun is the brightest star in the sky, but do you know what the second brightest is?
If you said Polaris, you're wrong — but don't feel bad becau...
Virgo the Virgin is the second largest constellation in the Butler night skies, but it's also one of the faintest. Its only bright star is Spica.
The rest of Virgo's star...
Believe it or not, there are still a few winter constellations, most notably Gemini the Twins and Auriga the Charioteer, hanging out in the western Butler evening sky.
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Evening stargazing has lost its chill, but to be honest, it's also lost some of its thrills.
Many bright winter constellations are already below the Butler horizon at n...
In the history of my column, I've bombarded you with many numbers about the sizes and distances of the stars and planets in our Butler night sky.
The numbers can get so ...
Without a doubt, the Big Dipper is the easiest star pattern to see in our Butler night skies, even though it's not an official constellation but rather the rear end and t...
I'm retired now, but for 40 years I was a weather forecaster, and over that time I ate crow at times so I can certainly relate to the classic story about the constellati...
April evenings are a little more comfortable for stargazers, but there are trade-offs. Later sunsets mean a later start for your stargazing.
Another trade-off is that th...
