Rules are made to be broken, right?

The old saw is that "rules are made to be broken" and last night I enjoyed myself with a little piece of observing that broke every rule in the book. I report it here, simply because rules can become such...

Strange line on the Moon

March 10, 2008 - pm - T4S3 - 29 degrees Now what is that! I had been studying Mare Crisium by the light of the 3-day-old moon, having moved the 100ED to a temporary location where the trees didn't block...

Red eye on Orion!

Well, it was hardly a clear night, but the moon fought off the clouds and haze to give us a wonderful show, as we watched the eclipse from a beautiful, dark-sky setting in South Dartmouth, MA. What a show!...

Do you see what I see?

Do you see what I see? That's not a rhetorical question. I really wish someone could give me an answer, but at the same time I'm not sure there is an answer. What I have experienced feels like an extraordinary...

Half an eclipse for early risers

OK - this one is for those viewing the total eclipse of the moon August 28 locally. Times and conditions are geared to Westport, MA - or very generally, the East Coast. There can be a big gap between total...

A symbiotic southern exposure, new gigs, and some sidewalk astronomy

I've spent a little time lately exploring nearby sites that would give me the good southern exposure I lack at Driftway Observatory. Yesterday I found one that's near perfect, ended up doing a little sidewalk astronomy in the process, and...

Time the moon, or moon it - chase those illusions away!

At the June meeting of the Prime Time program Michael Twomey gave a report on the complex and puzzling phenomena of the moon illusion where the moon appears so large in the sky near the horizon, yet we know it...

It's a full moon! Should you get out there with the werewolves?

The full moon bothers a lot of amateur astronomers and I used to just plain hate it. First, I read too many horror comic books while sitting in the barbershop as a kid, so werewolves do bother me – but...

So what happened last Saturday night?

I know - some sharp person is going to tell me there was an eclipse of the Moon, Saturday,March 3, 2007 - and they would be right. I know, because I watched it. But what exactly was happening? I put...

Simple scopes, simple joys - and Nova Scorpii too

Nova Scorpii - I put it at about 6.8 this morning - but I was using familiar comparison stars that weren't that good for this purpose. All I'm sure of is that it has dropped significantly from my previous observation...

Live, from the moon. . .

. . . we bring you Gassendi! A French theologian, mathematician, and astronomer - got to love that combination - he's been dead for about 350 years, but a magnificient crater bearing his name lives on. I like the nickname...

What did you see?! A little lunar detective story

I'm a great believer in preparing well before you go out to observe – but I don’t always do it and even when I do, I leave myself open for surprises because trying to figure out exactly what it is...