Betelgeuse is classified as a Semi-Regular variable with a period of about 423 days and brightness range from visual mag 0 to mag 1.6. Like all Semi-Regulars the period and both maximum and minimum brightness levels are subject to fluctuations cycle to cycle. This cycle the star dimmed more than [Read More…]
This is an amazing feat of engineering! This telescope looks at the sun in a special way – by rotating the 150-ton platform that has all the scientific instruments on it in order to counteract the apparent rotation of the sun that we see from Earth.
This image is on July 17, 2003, and it’s the occultation of Mars by the moon! Wow, right?? It’s going to happen again on next Tuesday morning before dawn, but don’t expect Mars to appear this amazing, even through the telescope. Back in 2003, Mars was only 0.48 AU from [Read More…]
Stargaze with us on Feb 15th! Nothing is more romantic than a dark, star-studded sky, and our happy astronomers are doing all the hard work and heavy lifting! We’ll be at the Santa Margarita Lake at sunset with our big telescopes and hope you’ll join us! (Hint: our astronomers love [Read More…]
Mercury is going to be at greatest elongation on Feb. 10th – go outside and look for a low, bright spot near the horizon. Click to read more!
It’s easy to do real hands-on science to teach yourself to learn the night sky! Astronomy is an amazing way for you to learn about science and astronomy since it includes so many different areas as well: geometry (where did that planet go?), algebra (how far is that planet?), cartography [Read More…]
Japan’s Hayabusa-2 spacecraft is an asteroid-sampling return0mission spacecraft that follows on the mission a decade ago that returned samples in 2010. Hayabusa-2 was launched in 2014 and could is expected back at Earth in December 2020 with samples! Learn more about it here.
You may already know about the informal & informative astronomy get-togethers known as “Astronomy on Tap” in Santa Barbara. They are free, short astronomy-related presentations at a bar. They are at the Matrix Nightclub & Lounge and this one is the first Astronomy on Tap of 2020.
As a THANK YOU to all who attended our January meeting, (hint – it was AMAZING), Dr. Pogge decided to let us have his slides for viewing! Click here to download the PDF of his presentation.
Comet Borisov 2I was spotted in our solar system, and it was only spotted once before. It has a sun-centered orbit that is not bound to the sun. It passed through our solar system at the end of Oct in 2019 and made its closest approach on Dec 8th of [Read More…]
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