Event of the Week: A New England Occultation.

 Lunar occultations are always cool events; now you see a star or planet, now you don’t. The way they “wink in” and “wink out” with an improbable abruptness reminds us of the colossal velocity of the Moon about our planet. But beyond being just plain cool, they also still have scientific value; close double stars have [...]

14.9.9:U Scorpii:A Nova in Waiting?

(Image credit & copyright courtesy of Mark A. Garlick; used by permission.
Please do not use this image in any way whatsoever without first contacting the artist).
Recurrent novae are among the rarest of beasts. While one-off galactic nova come and go throughout the year, recurrent novae are among those very few stars that have been known [...]

Antares Occultation; a Semi-Success.

Antares versus the Gibbous Moon. (Photo by Author).
Just a quick mention that we were successful in viewing the Antares occultation by the Moon from Astroguyz’ HQ here in Hudson, Florida. Alas, no sighting of a greenish tinged Antares B (or the planet Krypton…) was recorded. However, the ingress made for a cool video…

Astro-Event of the Week; 02.06.09: An Antares Occultation.

About 10PM EDT Looking East..(Credit: Stellarium).
An occultation of a bright star is well placed for observers in the Americas this weekend. The waning gibbous Moon will occult (i.e. pass in front of) the bright star Antares, also known as Alpha Scorpii. The action begins around 10:00 PM EDT and the Moon will cover up [...]

When You Wish Upon a Star: the Truth About Star Naming.

 
The 4 meter dome in Cerro Telolo, Chile (Credit: Roger Smith).
We have a pet peeve here at Astroguyz. Every great once in a while, most astronomers get asked by a well meaning member of the public to locate a particular star. This is not a problem, even without the benefit of a “Goto” mount; right [...]