The Big Dipper is above the North Star, with its handle pointing up. From that handle, you can ‘arc to Arcturus’ and then ‘speed on to Spica’; those stars are in the west at dusk. Leo, the Lion, is also in the west at dusk. Jupiter is to the left of Spica in […]
By Ralph Phillips, Docent at HMNS Sugar Land, introduction by Chris Wells A few years ago everyone’s heart went out to our littlest neighbor when Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet. This sentimental feeling was interesting because it revealed a burgeoning sense of extraterrestrial community among us earthlings. Instead of only identifying ourselves as […]
The Big Dipper is above the North Star, with its handle pointing up. From that handle, you can ‘arc to Arcturus’ and then ‘speed on to Spica’; those stars are in the south at dusk. Arcturus is the fourth brightest star in the night sky, but the brightest one we see from Houston […]
Lecture – The Perfectionists: How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World by Simon Winchester Revered “New York Times” bestselling author Simon Winchester will trace the development of technology from the Industrial Age to the Digital Age to explore the single component crucial to advancement–precision–in a history that is both an homage and a warning for […]
In May, you can watch as the Dog Days begin! We are in the Dog Days when the Dogs have vanished from the sky. As May begins, Orion, the Hunter is clearly visible due west right after sunset. To his left, aligned with Orion’s belt, is Sirius, the Dog Star, the brightest star we […]
April is the last month to see the full set of brilliant winter stars which now fill the western evening sky. Dazzling Orion is in the southwest at dusk. His three-starred belt is halfway between reddish Betelgeuse and bluish Rigel. Orion’s belt points rightward to Aldebaran in Taurus the Bull. To Orion’s upper […]
Brilliant winter stars shift towards the southwest during March. Dazzling Orion is almost due south at dusk. His three-starred belt is halfway between reddish Betelgeuse and bluish Rigel. Orion’s belt points up to Aldebaran in Taurus the Bull. To Orion’s upper left are the twin stars Castor and Pollux, marking the heads of Gemini, […]
The Summer Triangle is overhead. This consists of the brightest stars in Cygnus, Lyra, and Aquila. Scorpius, the Scorpion, is in the southwest, with the ‘teapot’ of Sagittarius to his left. Saturn is between these two constellations. From the Big Dipper’s handle, ‘arc to Arcturus’ in the west. The Great Square of […]
It’s Throwback Thursday and today we are going all the way back to 2009 to discuss a scientific fail. Galileo Galilei is famous for his astronomical observations and discoveries, but he could have been famous for one more thing! He was technically the first astronomer to observe Neptune while studying Jupiter’s moons in 1612 and […]
The New Moon of Monday, August 21, 2017, aligns with the Sun and the Earth well enough to cast its shadow onto the Earth. The umbral shadow, where the Moon completely blocks the Sun, passes across the center of the USA, causing a total solar eclipse on a path from central Oregon to Charleston, SC. […]
