Figure 1. Henrietta Swan Leavitt. Credit: (Johnson 2005) Henrietta Swan Leavitt was born on the Fourth of July in 1868 in Lancaster Massachusetts to George Roswell Leavitt and his wife, also named Henrietta

One of the most awesome features of modern amateur telescopes is that they can connect with a computer to allow control by a wide assortment of software. Planetarium software is particularly cool because

Figure 1. Examples of binning. Credit: Templeton & Beck 2014 Binning groups pixels together which has the effect of making the group appear as a bigger single pixel as shown in figure 1 above (Templeton

Image calibration is simply the removal of the anomalies from the camera sensor and imperfections in the optical pathway. When taking astronomical pictures, this helps make the image "pretty."

We've all heard of a supernova, but what about classical novae? These close astronomical cousins are similar in many ways. They both involve a close binary system with a white dwarf and a main sequence

David et al. 2019 recently reported the detection of exoplanet V1298 Tau b. The first part of the name (i.e., V1298 Tau) represents the 1298th variable star found within the Taurus constellation boundaries.

No, planetary nebulae have nothing to do with planets. Instead, these are low and intermediate mass stars in the senior citizen phase of their lives. After they have puffed off their outer layers, the

I will describe for you this time the 6th planet of our Solar System. My favorite! Saturn has a lot to do with Jupiter, but the great ring system makes it unmistakable with any other solar system object.

Figure 1. The carbon star V Hya displaying a "bullet", a collimated jet-like emission from its center of mass. Credit: Sahai et al. 2016 V Hya is a carbon star on the asymptotic giant branch

Figure 1. CCD bucket analogy. Credit: Howell 2006 Each pixel of a CCD sensor is like a bucket, but instead of collecting rain water, these buckets collect electrons that are generated by the incoming photons.

One of my goals this year is to build a remote observatory for astronomical imaging equipment: The Elizabeth Crosby Memorial Observatory (TECMO). This blog will be dedicated to covering the activities

As our compass to the north, Polaris is one of the most famous stars in the night sky. However, in a recently accepted article to Astronomy and Astrophysics, astronomer Richard Anderson explains that Polaris

Figure 1. Photograph taken using Ca II K filter shows features in the sun's atmosphere affected by magnetic activity. Credit: Stephen Ramsden We live in an era where both massive ground and space-based

The Herschel crater on Saturn’s moon Mimas at this precise angle, in the photo below, shows just how much of an impression a body with a large amount of momentum colliding with another can make. This photo

Astronomy is one of the few fields where amateurs can have a meaningful impact. I've never heard of an amateur nuclear physicist, but amateur astronomers regularly make significant contributions with their

As a member of the AAVSO, variable star astronomy is near and dear to my heart. Astronomers at the Moletai Astronomical Observatory (MAO) in Lithuania recently submitted their results on the photometric

Welcome to the next episode of the review most interesting objects of the night sky. I am showing you those that we can see with an amateur telescope. This time we will make a small return to nebular objects.

Under the influence of gravity, stars are born from collapsing clouds of gas and dust. These dense regions form a pre-stellar (i.e., before star) core. Although much is known about this process, it is

Figure 1: Hubble Space Telescope image of nebula around Wolf-Rayet star WR 124. Credit: wikipedia Yesterday I wrote about binary systems and their components. Sometimes those components can be massive,

The universe is filled with fascinating and bizzare objects that sometimes doesn't make sense. Black holes, supernovas and pulsars all together silently lurking in the vast reaches of our realm, beyond