Stargazing season is upon us, when the spectacular Milky Way is visible immediately after dark, soaring from horizon to horizon. Of course, one can watch the stars on any clear night and feel the immensity of space around us, but during the summer months, the Milky Way will make it worth the extra waiting for […]
meteors
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Perseid Meteors 2020: A comet’s tale
Currently speeding out from the sun after its last visit to the solar system’s inner reaches in 1992, Comet Swift-Tuttle leaves a trail of debris in its path. Comets are made of frozen gasses, dust and rock; as the sun’s energy warms and sublimates the frozen gasses, some of its solids are blown off into […]
Posted inNews
North Coast Night Lights: Looking for a Monocerotid Unicorn
The other week I was finally made aware of the existence of an elusive annual celestial phenomenon nicknamed the Unicorn meteor shower, or Alpha Monocerotids. So dubbed in part no doubt for its mercurial habits, the name is also eponymous for the constellation Monoceros, the Unicorn, from which the meteors appear to radiate. The constellation […]