by Jim Stratigos | Oct 11, 2020 | Astronomical events
If you haven’t noticed already, Mars is making itself noticed in the southeast after sunset. Mars reaches opposition in October when in its roughly 26 month orbit around the Sun, it appears on the opposite side of the Earth from the Sun. Mars’ orbit is...
by Jim Stratigos | Jul 14, 2020 | Balsam skies
This week is a great time to see comet NEOWISE. It’s visible before sunrise (I saw it at 5:00 AM this morning) in the northeast and just after sunset (around 10PM) in the northwest. See links here and here for detailed finder charts and rise/set times. The...
by Jim Stratigos | Jul 3, 2020 | Uncategorized
A comet visible to the naked eye is a rare occurrence. A comet approaching the Sun was recently discovered by NASA’s NEOWISE satellite. Today is its closest approach to the Sun where it is heating up and brightening rapidly. Observers in Arizona have been able...
by Jim Stratigos | Jun 18, 2020 | Nature
Mr. (or Mrs.) bear paid us a visit early Tuesday morning. There are four service berry trees around the house and they are loaded with ripe berries. I have been picking them – they taste like blueberries – or shaking the limbs to get them off so bears will...
