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Feb 1, 20163 min read
At Risk At Elbel Park
Thank you for receiving comments about Richard Elbel Park. I'm not advocating for any specific use of this great resource; rather, I'm...
Jan 20, 20163 min read
At The Eyepiece When A Star Disappears
Lunar occultations make me giddy. They're so simple, yet so visually engaging. Tonight I had a telescope set up at Fiddler's Hearth on...
Jan 19, 20161 min read
Occultation at Fiddler's Hearth-Jan. 19
Did you see the moon and Aldebaran tonight? Some people may have dismissed it as being cloudy outside--and even snowing--but there they...
Jan 18, 20161 min read
String of Planets at Sunrise
The planets appear strung out in a line in the morning sky in January and February. As twilight yields to sunrise, the fainter planets...
Jan 18, 20162 min read
Black Drop Effect Coffee
With the 2016 transit of Mercury occurring on May 9, it's time to revisit the black drop effect. The following is adapted from 2012...
Jan 17, 20162 min read
Shipwrecked With Just a Pea Coat
Imagine you're on a ship that is laboring in heavy seas on a November night, when you're roused from your bunk by a foreboding noise at...
Jan 14, 20161 min read
Bicentennial Star Banner
An unofficial banner for the Indiana Bicentennial Star, adapted from the Indiana state flag, shows the constellation Pegasus around the...
Jan 12, 20162 min read
Constellation Quest at ScienceAlive
Go! Families will discover wonders of the night sky hidden within winter and summer constellations at the 2016 ScienceAlive. Find...
Jan 12, 20162 min read
No-Brainer Celestial Spectacle
Moon Occults Aldebaran on January 19 Put this in the category of a beautiful sunset or a full moon rising over a lake--an elegant natural...
Jan 1, 20162 min read
Why a Leap Year?
In 2016 we add February 29 to the calendar. Leap years, which debuted in the Gregorian calendar in the 16th Century, occur every four...