November 10, 2004

Moon, Venus and Jupiter (Click image for a larger version.) Now this was pretty. I snapped this about 5:45 am this morning. With the light in the east (to the left) you can sense the rising sun and how close the crescent moon,...
Posted by Greg Stone at 06:09 AM
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November 02, 2004

Dancing with Venus and Jupiter Sky and Telescope - This Week's Sky at a Glance Venus and Jupiter struck me hard this morning, bringing me out of the fantasy world of elections and into the real world with a sense of awe and thanksgiving. Suddenly...
Posted by Greg Stone at 02:43 PM
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July 01, 2004

Casini made it! Science > Spacecraft Becomes First to Enter Orbit of Saturn" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/01/science/01saturn.html?hp">The New York Times > Science > Spacecraft Becomes First to Enter Orbit of Saturn From today's New York Times: PASADENA, Calif., June 30 - With precise navigation and...
Posted by Greg Stone at 05:28 AM
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June 03, 2004

Venus, Tahiti, the sun, science and safety Excited about the coming transit of Venus across the sun June 8, 2004? You should be. Many people can live their entire lives without such an opportunity! (Photo at left from Vassar college taken during 1882 transit.) But like so...
Posted by Greg Stone at 07:42 AM
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November 09, 2003

Stage 4 - the real eclipse About the eclipse last night . . . this was the first one I’ve watched in a long time. I’ve found I’m into my fourth stage of viewing lunar eclipses. Stage 1 – They were a thrill – something unusual...
Posted by Greg Stone at 07:06 AM
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August 28, 2003

Mars. hubble, and you New Scientist Check out the new Hubble image of Mars, get it firmly in your mind, then go outside and look at the planet and with your mind's eye, see the Hubble shot. Well, try something like that . ....
Posted by Greg Stone at 12:57 PM
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August 07, 2003

Hype, reality, and Mars Mars, as depicted in "Starry Nights" software about midnight on August 27, 2003, from Westport, MA. (Large photo on right is superimposed over star map which shows Mars as the bright "star" just to left of center.) Dom writes:...
Posted by Greg Stone at 12:39 PM
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July 04, 2003

Mars turns a blind eye . . . . . . or something like that. Amateur astronomers have been eagerly anticipating this summer when Mars will be closer to Earth than at any other time in our lifetime. Yet just at this critical juncture a dust storm has...
Posted by Greg Stone at 05:24 AM
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May 16, 2003

Oops - I didn't expect that! Yes, I watched the first half of the eclipse last night and yes, I was surprised to see the moon vanish from the bottom up. I thought the left side would go first - the east side - as it...
Posted by Greg Stone at 09:31 AM
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May 14, 2003

Try to see it this way You are on this huge ship, circling a brilliant light. Spinning around you is a much smaller boat. Usually you can see this boat fine, for it is lit by the same beam of light as you. But every once...
Posted by Greg Stone at 11:23 AM
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April 26, 2003

Rolling fire - near the birth place of the stars! Sky and Telescope magazine says it looks like “the roiling ocean in a Winslow Homer seascape.” It isn’t, of course. The light is coming from young, massive stars which are out of the picture to the left. This warms,...
Posted by Greg Stone at 11:28 AM
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