Astronomical Highlights for 2021

David Huestis — Sun, 17 Jan 2021 16:07:00 EST

Happy New Year everyone. I can’t believe it is 2021! Happy 50th Anniversary to my fellow 1971 graduates of North Smithfield High School. Perhaps later this year we will be able to celebrate this milestone in our lives. For now, I will focus on some o

Solar Minimum Endures

David Huestis — Tue, 5 May 2020 09:18:20 EDT

Since my last update on the Sun’s Deep Minimum persistence, sunspot activity on the solar disk continues to be low. Here is the data for the last five years:

Year Spotless Percentage Days
2019 281 77%

May's Mooned-out Meteor Shower

David Huestis — Sun, 27 Feb 2022 12:51:48 EST

I always look forward to observing a good display of shooting stars. I’ve watched countless “burning rocks” plummet through the Earth’s atmosphere in the 45 years I’ve been an amateur astronomer. The experience doesn’t get old, except perha

April Lyrids Meteor Shower

David Huestis — Sun, 27 Feb 2022 12:46:09 EST

It’s been a while since Mother Nature has afforded us a decent display of shooting stars. Clouds or bright moonlight have often conspired to prevent us from watching “burning rocks” falling from the sky. However, on the night of April 22-23, betw

Easter Observance Determination

David Huestis — Sun, 27 Feb 2022 12:42:31 EST

Many religious celebrations are determined by astronomical circumstances. Easter is no exception. But because our secular calendar is not in sync with the motion of the heavens, Easter can occur as early as March 22 or as late as April 25. The general

Supernova Deferred (for now)

David Huestis — Sun, 27 Feb 2022 12:33:39 EST

As 2019 came to a close, the news media sensationalized a story about Orion’s bright star Betelgeuse. The headlines were certainly designed to get one’s attention. Betelgeuse was about to go supernova. However, the star’s behavior was really old

October Meteor Showers

David Huestis — Fri, 11 Oct 2019 12:46:50 EDT

If recent events during the last few months are any indicator, Chicken Little may have been right. The sky is falling. The sky is falling. Back on July 24 at approximately 2:44 a.m. EDT, a soccer ball-sized meteor entered the Earth's atmosphere above L

Astronomical Highlights for 2019

David Huestis — Mon, 25 Feb 2019 17:30:46 EST

Last month’s column focused on the Quadrantid meteor shower and the total lunar eclipse. Today I will preview some of the other astronomical highlights for 2019.

Believe it or not, Mars is still visible during early evening hours. Unfortunately

Meteor Shower and a Lunar Eclipse

David Huestis — Mon, 25 Feb 2019 16:30:02 EST

Happy New Year everyone. I can’t believe another year has come and gone. While 2018 is a blur in this stargazers’ mind, I do unfortunately recall how weather conditions thwarted many of our observing sessions. After experiencing similar past depres

An Early Holiday Treat for Stargazers

David Huestis — Mon, 10 Dec 2018 12:42:24 EST

As the year advances into the month of December, sunrise times occur much later in the morning, while sunset times occur much earlier. Here in southern New England the latest sunrise is around 7:13:09 a.m. on January 2, whereas the earliest sunset is a

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