Astronomy Blog

Let’s go to the park, run in the grass, and feel summer between our toes. Across the land, the call went out to one and all. Summer is coming! Summer is coming! Cometh oneth by hazy lazy long days, or twoth by the cool waters swelling around your ankles, calves, and knees. Summer arrives in the Rocky Mountain Region on June 21, at 2:27am. A cheer will rise and be heard throughout the northern hemisphere, summer is here! Indeed, the summer solstice is important, essential, and

Can you hear the birds? They’re there. A song, a chirp, a whistle. Squirrels squirrelly chasing across branches and limbs. Can you hear a buzz outside? Green is in the air, and growth greets each new day. Why would this not be the same for the night sky? Why would the cosmos be any different? It’s not. But before turning the page to another celestial season, I must first bid a fond farewell to those special seven sisters. That wispy Pleiades {Messier 45} open star cluster dom

George Harrison wrote prophetically, “little darling, it’s been a long cold lonely winter.” For some, spring announces and marks the end of loneliness and the arrival of cherry blossoms, tulips and crocus extended green thumbs, all heralding a season of renewal and rebirth. Winter is over. Yet, for us folks living in the high country, spring is still a hope, a season far off in the distance. It’s a feeling, or a sense that spring is “out there” one just doesn’t know when it

The night sky in March is different. It’s a feeling type and visual type of difference. A celestial difference. March is a month of transition for the night sky dome overhead. Enter the springtime sky. Most significant of this season is the vernal equinox, the transition from winter to summer, passing through spring. Our Sun glides its ecliptic path noticeably higher in the daytime sky. Days grow longer, and the nights feel not so cold. (Dare I say this living in the moun

I’ll admit it, stargazing is difficult in winter. Especially in February. Even the hardiest hesitate. Yet, a crystal clear, cloudless night, dark as motor oil, still beckons you. Resolve rises inside of you to “do it” and then you bundle up. Just a quick step outside and a fast glancing about for a few moments, you say to yourself to build the final push of motivation. So you do, and you do it. Outside looking up and turning south you are immediately rewarded by an impressiv

Winter is here. Notwithstanding the fact that since the passing of the winter solstice in late December, and the indiscriminate increasing length of daylight, by approximately one minute per day, the northern hemisphere days remain short with nights that stay deep and long. The chilly irony of winter is that while the months of January, February, and March are mind-numbingly cold at night, spectacular gems, gorgeous celestial events, and unique colorful objects beckon you to

The radiant point is the green target in the image above. Find Jupiter first, then look straight up to see the bright stars of Pollux and Castor. These stars represent the heads of the Gemini twins. The shower's radiant point is right above Castor. The annual Geminids meteor shower is a major meteor shower and is active from the 4th through 20th. For 2025, the shower peaks from December 13th into the early hours of the 14th and the last major meteor shower of the year. The

Take a look at these delightful images of the Aurora Borealis, aka, the North Lights, taken by you and your stargazing peers this past November 11th and 12th. Pretty incredible pics! Well done. Aaron W,. Paonia, CO Chris P.,, Vail, CO David W., Fairplay, CO Diane E., Allenhurst Beach, NJ Emma H., Frisco, CO Geoffrey I., Aurora, CO Hollis W., Silverthorne, CO Jana A., Frisco, CO Jana B., Steamboat Springs, CO Jennifer D., Silverthorne, CO Karen D., Berthoud, CO Kate T., Casca

Winter is here. In all fullness the shortest day and the longest night arrives on December 21st. Those living in the northern hemisphere at the dawn of humanity saw the autumnal Sun continue to fall in the sky in fear it would not return. The end was near. Yet, the winter solstice took place and the Sun did indeed return. They lit fires and torches. They danced and celebrated. With this in mind, go outside any clear cold night this December. Look up. As you do, feel the

They’re Here, and More Are Coming! A Geomagnetic Storm and Northern Lights. Currently, NOAA's (National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration) Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) is monitoring a third coronal mass ejections (CMEs) within 24-hours coming our way from the Sun. There were two CMEs yesterday which product the tremendous Aurora Borealis last night, well into the wee hours. What is a Coronal Mass Ejection? It is an explosion of plasma and magnetic fields from the