Author – The Durango Herald

Treasures hide inside the faint Coma Berenices

Greetings, stargazers. I hope you have been having better clear-sky observing opportunities than me. Recently, my free evenings have been appallingly coincident with overcast sk...

DATE: Apr 25, 2015 | CATEGORY: What's up in Durango Skies

Aim your green laser with care

Greetings, stargazers. I should warn the reader now that I dislike daylight saving time. Now that we are past the equinox, the sun is north of the equator, warmer w...

DATE: Mar 21, 2015 | CATEGORY: What's up in Durango Skies

Why isn’t Jupiter much brighter than Venus?

Greetings, stargazers. Beside the moon, the three brightest objects in the sky are all visible right now. Venus in the west, Jupiter in the east and Sirius, the only one that is...

DATE: Feb 21, 2015 | CATEGORY: What's up in Durango Skies

Binoculars can illuminate comet Lovejoy

Greetings, stargazers. If you haven’t seen a comet yet, this is your chance. Comet C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy) is now a dim naked-eye object. If you are not looking closely, it could be...

DATE: Jan 24, 2015 | CATEGORY: What's up in Durango Skies

Familiar Orion offers much to contemplate

Greetings, stargazers. Perhaps the most recognizable constellation in the winter sky is Orion. Many people unfamiliar with the night sky can at least recognize the three stars o...

DATE: Dec 27, 2014 | CATEGORY: What's up in Durango Skies

Galilean moons of Jupiter offer regular eclipses

Greetings, stargazers. I hope you enjoyed the recent great pictures from comet Churyumov–Gerasimenko (or 67P for short) as much as I did. Launched in 2004 by the European Space ...

DATE: Nov 22, 2014 | CATEGORY: What's up in Durango Skies

LED lights save energy but add light to night sky

Greetings, stargazers. A very common question you may have asked or you might hear from a child is: “Why is the sky blue?” An excellent question that goes right along with: “Why...

DATE: Oct 25, 2014 | CATEGORY: What's up in Durango Skies

In October, take a peek at Uranus and two eclipses

Greetings, stargazers. Ancient astronomers knew of five “wanderers” in the sky. These five planets – Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn – are all very bright, and, obvious...

DATE: Sep 27, 2014 | CATEGORY: What's up in Durango Skies

With telescope, mine the riches of constellation Lyra

Greetings, stargazers. I hope you have been enjoying the dog days of summer. One reason these might be called the dog days is because Sirius, the dog star, is now roughly aligne...

DATE: Aug 23, 2014 | CATEGORY: What's up in Durango Skies

Remove the noise to let night sky pictures shine

Greetings, stargazers. Last month, I talked about astrophotography on the cheap. You can take photos with wide fields of view and either very short or very long exposures to get...

DATE: Jul 26, 2014 | CATEGORY: What's up in Durango Skies

Photographing the stars can be fun and easy

Greetings, stargazers. Astrophotography is great fun even if you don’t have the most expensive camera on the block. At star parties, I frequently see people pull out their phone...

DATE: Jun 21, 2014 | CATEGORY: What's up in Durango Skies

Near Hesperus, FLC observatory explores night sky

Greetings, stargazers. This time of year has fewer hours of darkness, but since school is out, I get more opportunities to use the Fort Lewis College Observatory. This spring, t...

DATE: May 24, 2014 | CATEGORY: What's up in Durango Skies