Author: Daniel

Some celestial events happen once a decade. Some you have to travel for. Some require you to be in exactly the right place, on exactly the right night, with clear skies you’ve been praying for all week. Miss them and you wait years for another shot. This is the roller coaster ride of astronomy! These…

Here’s something most people never think too deeply about: the sky doesn’t go from “day” to “night” with just a single twilight in between. It eases into darkness — slowly, in stages, like a dimmer switch being turned down over the course of an hour or more. In fact, we’ve recognized three different types of…

Learning the night sky doesn’t have to feel overwhelming. The key is breaking it into chunks. Learn a few foundational concepts that, once they click, start making everything else make sense. The ecliptic is one of those concepts. And once you get it, you’ll wonder how you ever tried to navigate the sky without it.…

If you’ve done some stargazing you probably know the feeling. You’re out in the backyard, it’s dark, it’s quiet, and you’ve just spotted a target overhead. So you tilt your head back. Then a little further back. Then further still, until you’re basically staring straight up at the sky with your mouth hanging open. Three…