From this coming Friday night to Saturday morning, Nov. 17 to 18, there's going to be a fairly nice show happening in the Butler sky.
It's the annual Leonid meteor showe...
One of the classic constellations of autumn is Pegasus, the flying horse soaring above the southeastern horizon in the evening sky. It's by far the largest celestial hors...
The best news for stargazers in November is that nights are much longer, so you can start your stargazing much earlier with the end of daylight saving time. Sure it’s coo...
This week in Starwatch, I want to share the joy of stargazing in the early morning hours.
I was a regular super early riser for many years, but not by choice. Before I ...
Now that we're well into early autumn and the bright light of the harvest moon is long gone, it's a fabulous time to make a date to get out in the dark skies of the count...
It’s solar eclipse time around here, and the best one since Aug. 21, 2017, will be Oct. 14. Unfortunately it won’t be a total eclipse this coming but a halfway decent par...
There’s much going on this month for stargazers, including a solar eclipse.
October is also a month of transition, with summer, autumn, and even winter constellations ava...
Sadly, summer officially came to an end this weekend. Saturday at 1:50 a.m. was the moment of the autumnal equinox. That’s when the sun slips below the celestial equator,...
When you gaze upon the night sky, especially in the dark skies of the countryside, you can see all kinds of people and creatures up there.
In September, you’ll find a di...
Right around 9 p.m., when evening twilight has faded over Butler, cast your eyes toward the low southern sky, and without too much difficulty, you'll see a teapot hanging...
Most of us view Earth as the prettiest planet in our solar system. Look at any photo taken of it from deep space, and it’s the lovely blue marble of our solar system.
Ma...
Summer stargazing can be so comfortable! However, for many folks with Monday through Friday jobs, the wake-up call for work restricts extended nights under the stars to t...
The Great Hercules Star Cluster is one of the true treasures of the summer and early autumn Butler sky. It’s a dense cluster of stars all crammed together in a tight sphe...
Last week in Starwatch, I told you about the great Perseid meteor shower that continues this weekend, peaking late Saturday night and early Sunday morning. Earth is plowi...
The annual Perseid meteor shower is a late summer stargazing classic in our Butler skies. The Perseids, that peak this week, and the Geminids in mid-December, are the two...
We have a rare bird, or should I say birds in the Butler night sky this month: two full moons, one Aug. 1 and Aug. 31, with the second full moon considered a Blue Moon by...
It starts happening every midsummer. Bootes, the hunting farmer, begins his close pursuit of Ursa Major, the Big Bear. These two
constellations are right next to each ot...
It's certainly not one of the most prominent constellations, but Lyra the Harp is a distinctive one with a super bright star. Vega is the third brightest nighttime star s...
When you're trying to make the stars your old friends and getting to know your way around the constellations over Butler, you need all the help you can get. Asterisms can...
July stargazing this year kicks off with the first full "supermoon" of the year on Monday.
The term supermoon has always bugged me. Its origin comes from astrology rathe...
Over the next two weeks, the moon will be very prominent in our Butler sky, starting as a first quarter (half moon) on Monday and becoming a full moon a week later on Jul...
The summer of 2023 begins this coming Wednesday morning at 9:58, at least astronomically. Astronomers call this the summer solstice, the longest day of the year.
On Wed...
The planets Venus, named after the Roman goddess of love, and Mars, named after the Roman god of war, are both making a close approach to each other in the early evening...
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.
...
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 ...
