Astronomy Magazine

23 hours ago | astronomy.com | Michael E. Bakich

One of the most important factors to amateur astronomers is seeing, which is defined as the steadiness of the atmosphere at your observing site. You can tell how good (or bad) the seeing is by viewing a reasonably bright (2nd magnitude) star near the zenith. If it’s twinkling wildly, the seeing is bad. But if the image is relatively steady, your seeing is good. And while the overall seeing might be good or even great, you may still see its effects when you look through your telescope.

1 day ago | astronomy.com | Michael E. Bakich

There have been times through the years when I’ve gone observing and have been unprepared. Whether it was an action I should have taken, an item that I forgot, or some bit of observing wisdom that would have made my session better. Hopefully, the following list will better prepare you for when you next head out under the stars. Morning cautionOn nights when you’re staying until morning, when you quit, point your telescope to the west, away from the rising Sun.

2 days ago | astronomy.com | Alison Klesman

Now rising in the east after sunset is the famous Summer Triangle, so called because it sits high overhead on summer nights. As we head for the Northern Hemisphere summer solstice later this month, the three stars that make up this asterism will rise earlier and earlier each night. Tonight around 11 P.M. local daylight time you’ll see the Summer Triangle some 30° high in the east. The lowest star, Altair, shines at magnitude 0.8 in Aquila the Eagle.

2 days ago | astronomy.com | Michael E. Bakich

It’s difficult for amateur astronomers to fully share the wonders of the night sky with a visually impaired child. Well, that task has gotten a bit easier thanks to All About Orion, the new book by Dean Regas. This large (8½” by 11″) book contains 24 pages full of information about most people’s favorite constellation. It’s published by Clovernook Press, a division of Clovernook Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Cincinnati.

3 days ago | astronomy.com | Michael E. Bakich

One of the earliest recorded eclipses is found in in the Shijing, a collection of ancient poetry whose compilation is also credited to Confucius. The eclipse in question occurred during the Zhou dynasty. Though the exact date is uncertain, some astronomers have pointed to the total eclipse of June 4, 781 B.C.E. (though this would have only been a partial eclipse in Zhou territory). Another candidate is the eclipse of Nov.