John Hickey

Oct 16, 2023 | wnep.com | John Hickey

PENNSYLVANIA, USA — The Orionid meteor shower peaks Saturday night.  Unfortunately, the forecast calls for cloudy skies and rain which will prevent us from seeing it. Saturday is also International Observe the Moon Day. While we won't be able to see the moon on Saturday either, we'll have a great view of it this week when we have clearer skies. The moon will be near Antares, a super red giant star, in the Southwest sky Wednesday night.

Oct 9, 2023 | wnep.com | John Hickey

PENNSYLVANIA, USA — A solar eclipse will be visible across the United States this weekend.   It will only be a partial solar eclipse in our area. Even in the direct path, this will be an Annular or "Ring of Fire" eclipse. This means the outer edge of the sun will be visible around the outside of the moon.   It begins around 12 p.m. on Saturday, with the greatest eclipse happening shortly before 1:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon. It completely wraps up around 2:30.

Oct 2, 2023 | wnep.com | John Hickey

PENNSYLVANIA, USA — Much like a flashlight shines a light to lead the way at night, the moon will show us where some interesting stuff to see is in our night sky.  For the next couple of mornings, it will be near Aldebaran and Betelgeuse. Aldebaran is the eye in the constellation Taurus the Bull.  Leading into the weekend, the moon will pass near Castor and Pollox, the two brightest stars in the constellation Gemini. On Sunday night, we'll be at the peak of the Draconid meteor shower.

Sep 26, 2023 | fox43.com | John Hickey

A NASA spacecraft returned a sample of an asteroid to Earth over the weekend. “Bennu is set to probably come very close to Earth within the next 150 years,” said Dr. Heather Graham, NASA research physical scientist. Dr. Graham is part of the team of NASA scientists that sent an unmanned spacecraft to asteroid Bennu, which is over 200 million miles away.  Bennu is considered a near-earth asteroid.  It passes by once every six years.

Sep 26, 2023 | wnep.com | John Hickey

A NASA spacecraft returned a sample of an asteroid to Earth over the weekend. “Bennu is set to probably come very close to Earth within the next 150 years,” said Dr. Heather Graham, NASA research physical scientist. Dr. Graham is part of the team of NASA scientists that sent an unmanned spacecraft to asteroid Bennu, which is over 200 million miles away.  Bennu is considered a near-earth asteroid.  It passes by once every six years.