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Greetings stargazers. Happy belated Equinox Day. One of the biggest misconceptions, even among educated people, is that the reason for the seasons is that Earth moves closer to the sun in summer,...
DATE: Sept. 22, 2012 | COLUMN: What's up in Durango Skies
Greetings, stargazers. In a previous article about the magnitude scale, I mentioned the bright stars Vega and Arcturus. They still are both overhead, but now shifted significantly to the west....
DATE: Aug. 25, 2012 | COLUMN: What's up in Durango Skies
Greetings stargazers. When people tell me they want to learn the night sky, what they often mean is they want to learn to identify the constellations they can see. There are 88 constellations in...
DATE: July 21, 2012 | COLUMN: What's up in Durango Skies
Greetings, stargazers. This is the time of year when the brightest part of the Milky Way is rising in the east. Although the Milky Way indeed contains billions of stars, how many of those stars can...
DATE: June 23, 2012 | COLUMN: What's up in Durango Skies
Greetings stargazers. Last month I talked briefly about the astronomer Johannes Kepler, and his contributions to astronomy by describing the motions of the planets. This month I will talk about a...
DATE: May 26, 2012 | COLUMN: What's up in Durango Skies
Greetings, stargazers. Predicting the future is a tricky business. However, quite often that is exactly what scientists do. Understanding the way the universe works allows them to be able to...
DATE: April 21, 2012 | COLUMN: What's up in Durango Skies
Greetings stargazers. The Herald has asked me to write this monthly column that Lewis McCool did so well for so long. Since this is my first try, please be easy on the critiques.First, let me...
DATE: March 24, 2012 | COLUMN: What's up in Durango Skies
The naked-eye planets are putting on an extended show these nights with something to watch from sunset to sunrise, treats for casual observers.Venus is hard to miss high in the western sky after...
DATE: Jan. 21, 2012 | COLUMN: What's up in Durango Skies
The outgoing year brought us spectacular close-up photos of Mercury and the asteroid Vesta, discovery of dozens of extrasolar planets and more hints of water on Mars and our moon.The coming year...
DATE: Dec. 24, 2011 | COLUMN: What's up in Durango Skies
This is the time of year when I receive emails asking for suggestions about telescope purchases.Im reluctant to answer because there are many options and expectations vary.Newcomers often are...
DATE: Nov. 26, 2011 | COLUMN: What's up in Durango Skies
This has not been a very good year for meteor watching. Our moon keeps showing at the most inopportune times. Thatll be the case again in November.The Taurids result from an unusually dispersed...
DATE: Oct. 22, 2011 | COLUMN: What's up in Durango Skies
You know that falls here when you can spot the Great Square of Pegasus in the eastern sky in the early evening.Three of the constellations brightest stars, Markab, Scheat and Algenib, along with...
DATE: Sept. 24, 2011 | COLUMN: What's up in Durango Skies
