Sky and Rockets

From EarthSky:  We just watched a comet die. Comet MAPS (C/2026 A1) plunged through the sun’s atmosphere only 160,000 km (99,000 mi) above t...

Between March 6th and March 9th, C/2026 A1 quickly brightened by almost 1.5 magnitudes, from 12 to 10.5. At the same time, its coma (the com...

Today, March 23, 2026, marks the official beginning of the construction of NightSky Observatory at the Mangieri residence. OK, earlier this...

On its way to a close encounter with the Sun, with perihelion expected on April 4–5, 2026, comet MAPS is steadily brightening. By mid-March,...

  Soldiers Delight Star Party - March 21, 2026 Don't miss the next SD Star Party: " Unlocking the Cosmic Secrets: The James Webb Sp...

Although my previous post using M42, the Orion Nebula, was to demonstrate image stacking in astrophotography, the image based on the 80x8sec...

Stacking multiple astrophotography images—often called image stacking or integration—is one of the most important techniques in modern astro...

Although the weather doesn't look like it will cooperate for the Maryland region, you never really know what might be in store, and this...

Minkowski 1‑8 is a tiny planetary nebula located about 13,000 light‑years away in the constellation Monoceros. Spanning only about 20 arc‑s...

  Soldiers Delight Star Party - February 21, 2026 Don't miss the next SD Star Party: " Astronomical Phenomena: Eclipses, meteor sho...

A recent study has identified a previously undetected iron bar within the well-known Ring Nebula, an astronomical object extensively examine...