Category Archives: amateur astronomy

Watching the Sky

Do you stargaze regularly? I think if you ask most of the people around you, the answer would be “no.” But I often wonder if the term “stargazing” doesn’t come carrying a lot of heavy baggage. I mean, some folks might interpret it to mean, “I go out, set up the telescope, get my star charts, calculator, computer, and then I stay up all night and discover great things.”

That’s certainly one way to think of stargazing. But here’s another: “When I step outside at night, I look up to see what I can see. If there are stars out, I try to find ones I’ve spotted before. I try to find familiar constellations.”

Here’s another: “I don’t know anything about astronomy, but I like to go out and look up at the stars.”

Equally valid and and another way folks can enjoy the sky. I came to these thoughts while working on some copy for the Griffith project. I was sitting there wondering how different people interpret astronomy and stargazing. I’ve had many chances to test it out with people I run into every day: cab drivers, checkout people, the woman who does manicures in the salon I go to, and many others. I’ve found out something: everybody likes the stars, but they don’t always think of themselves as stargazers. Which I find interesting. I figure if you go out and look, no matter WHY you look or HOW you gaze, you’re a stargazer. A skywatcher in a long tradition of skywatchers.

Christmas Week Star Party

Christmas week star chart 2004
Christmas week star chart 2004

(NOTE: This is for Christmas 2004)

Every year we send out a Christmas newsletter to family and friends, and each year since the mid-1990s, we’ve included a star chart and a little description of stargazing activities to do in our annual “Christmas Star Party.” I thought it would be fun to share it with the blog readers, too!

This year we’re exploring celestial favorites, starting with Orion in the south-southeast. Look for the Orion Nebula below the three belt stars of Orion. On Dec. 24 the Moon is in Taurus, and is full on December 26. The planet Saturn almost lines up with Castor and Pollux, the two brightest stars in Gemini. The week after Christmas, look for Comet Machholz making its way through Eridanus (to the west of Orion) toward Taurus. Actually, Machholz has been and will be visible for quite a while, but for a couple of nights the Moon will interfere with seeing it in all its glory, so wait a few days after Christmas to see if you can spot it.

A special planetary exploration note: on Christmas Day, the Cassini mission to Saturn will send its Huygens planetary probe to Titan. On January 14, Huygens will be the first craft ever to land on an outer solar system moon and send data about what it finds.

Happy stargazing everybody!