Bob Drieslein

Our universe is a big place and it keeps getting bigger. Why is that?
For one thing, we keep building new and better telescopes that help us see farther into space.

The coming year promises to be an exciting time for amateur astronomers. So what are a few of the highlights we can expect to see from the northern United States?

If you can tolerate chilly nights, the next two weeks will be a great time to view eight of our brightest stars. Almost any night in mid December three to four hours or later after sunset will work, weather permitting.
The stars to look for include: Sirius, Procyon, Pollux, Castor, Capella, Aldebaran, Rigel and Betelgeuse.

Back in October of 2023, I wrote a column about the International Space Station (ISS).
I was reminded of this a few weeks ago during an astronomy event at Fort Macon State Park in North Carolina. While waiting for the presenter, Brandon Porter, to begin his program on the night sky, he suddenly pointed to the sky and said “there goes the ISS!”

Watching the moon change its shape from night to night as it waxes or wanes is one of the more interesting things to see in our night sky, but understanding how this happens can be confusing.

The ancient Greeks tell us about a royal couple that formerly ruled the mythical kingdom of Aethiopia. Cassiopeia the queen, and her not-so-well-known husband, Cepheus, have now been immortalized into two of the modern, 88 constellations.
As one of the circumpolar constellations, Cepheus can be found circling the northern celestial pole all night.

Sometimes, bad things just kind of sneak up on us. We look around in surprise and wonder “how and when did that happen?”
Those of us born more than 60 years ago, and maybe even younger folks, can remember a time, depending on where you lived, when you could look up at the sky on a clear, dark night and see stars, lots of stars – and they were bright!

Until recently, most of us probably thought there were only eight planets, all of which orbit the Sun in our solar system. But now, scientists using advanced telescopes tell us they have discovered planets orbiting stars outside our solar system.

A debate continues among scientists about what to call, and how to classify, those recently-discovered, planet-like objects found moving around in our solar system.
Here’s the latest from NASA: Our solar system includes eight planets and five dwarf planets.