Patrick Rowan

Jan 8, 2025 | masslive.com | Patrick Rowan

In 2024, nature treated New Englanders to a total solar eclipse within driving distance followed by several great displays of the aurora borealis, or northern lights. In space exploration, the year began with the demise of the Ingenuity Mars helicopter and ended with the Parker Solar Probe’s record breaking swing by the sun. Around the world, scientists enthusiastically dug into new data from space probes to deepen our understanding of this world, the sun, and the rest of our solar system.

Dec 4, 2024 | masslive.com | Patrick Rowan

The constellations and stars we associate with winter are appearing earlier in our eastern evening skies as nature’s celestial clock tells us that our coldest, darkest season is upon us (the winter solstice is Dec. 21 at 4:21 a.m.). This year, Jupiter and Mars add some dazzle to those sparkling winter stars. The month’s highlight is our best view of Jupiter in a decade, with Venus, Saturn and Mars rounding out the nights.

Nov 6, 2024 | masslive.com | Patrick Rowan

Have you ever walked out at night and wondered what all those twinkling points of light in the sky are? Silly question, right? We all know — just like in all the science fiction movies and shows we’ve seen — that those are stars ... very, very far away suns. Under clear moonless skies from dark locations away from city lights, several thousand can be seen. Some are bright and others are almost too faint to see. Depending on when you look, a wispy, cloud-like band of light may also be visible.

Oct 2, 2024 | masslive.com | Patrick Rowan

The Springfield STARS Club dedicated last week’s Tuesday evening meeting to celebrating its 90-year history. Kindly alerted ahead of time, I was privileged to be able to attend this gathering of dozens who have been involved with the club or connected with it in important ways.

Sep 4, 2024 | masslive.com | Patrick Rowan

Lovers of the night and cooler temps rejoice: September is here with the most rapid loss of daylight for any time of year. In Springfield, we lose a total of one hour and 20 minutes — more than 2 minutes and 45 seconds each day. Shorter days do not particularly thrill this skywatcher, but the clearer air that opens our nighttime window into the great beyond makes up for that. If you too mourn the shortening of days and end to summer at 8:44 a.m. on Sunday, Sept.