Benjamin Banneker: An American Astronomer.

Early depiction of Banneker.

In today’s fast-paced day and age, most of us have access to nearly limitless information and knowledge. None of us can consume it all, but the flow of data is wide open for all who chose it.
 But what of those in the past that had the mental capacity and the thirst for [...]

An Ephemeris of the Martian Moons.

This is a quick posting of the best apparitions of the moon of Mars, Deimos and Phobos, as promised in the Mars opposition post. The tables run for a week after opposition, and are accurate to about 10 minutes or so. I hand crafted these in Starry Night after I found a lack of info [...]

Satellite Spotting: A Quick How-to Guide.

 

Two objects you can see tonite; the Hubble Space Telescope & (if it’s in orbit) the Space Shuttle! (Credit: Art Explosion).

Go out any reasonably clear night around dawn or dusk and look up. Chances are, after a few minutes, a moving “star” will drift silently by. What you’ve just seen is a satellite in low [...]

Flashback: Remembering the Great Comet of 1910.

The “other” comet in 1910…(Credit: Lowell Observatory).

1910 was a heady year both in astronomy and the world at large. The nationalism that would lead to World War I was still fermenting in Europe; the radio was the hot new IPod of the age, and silent movies were yet to be replaced by “talkies” over a decade [...]

The Oldest Observatory in South America.

An 18th century observatory in the heart of Quito, Ecuador! (All photos by author).

An undiscovered astronomical gem sits in the downtown heart of Quito, Ecuador. Amid the high altitude urban bustle stands the Quito Observatory, a three turreted victorian style complex in triangular La Alameda park. Built in 1875, this observatory now serves as a [...]

Remembering Carl.

(Editor’s note: Some may think that this week’s big post and book review are redundant, because they both cover the same famed scientist. Faithful followers of this site will however recall that we’ve done the same for such similar greats in the past, most recently Robert Burnham Jr. We’d like to think that the book [...]

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