Prepare for the April 8, 2024 Total Solar Eclipse

by Joseph A'Hearn | Mar 8, 2024 | Astronomy, Basics, Eclipse, Featured, News, Observational Astronomy, Outreach

On April 8, 2024, the Moon will cover the Sun for a few minutes, as seen from a small strip of Earth spanning parts of Mexico, USA, and Canada. The Moon’s shadow will sweep from southwest to northeast.  Other regions of North America not in the direct shadow...

Total Lunar Eclipse on 1/31/2018

by Joseph A'Hearn | Jan 7, 2018 | Astronomy, Eclipse, Featured, News, Outreach

Interested in seeing the Earth’s shadow fall on the Moon on the 31st of this month? Here’s a simple and elegant representation by timeanddate.com showing where on Earth it will be visible from. This is a lunar eclipse. It will be total roughly 5-6am...

Cassini’s End

by Joseph A'Hearn | Sep 12, 2017 | Astronomy, Featured, News, Research

This Friday, the Cassini spacecraft, which has orbited Saturn since 2004, will end its mission by crashing into Saturn. It happens to be the Catholic memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows. It is indeed a sad day to see Cassini go. This spacecraft has transmitted 635 GB of...

Solar Eclipse, Part 6 of 6: How I’ll Spend My Two Minutes of Totality

by Joseph A'Hearn | Aug 16, 2017 | Astronomy, Eclipse, Featured, News, Observational Astronomy

This will be my first total solar eclipse. What I am planning on doing is not necessarily what I would recommend everyone to do. Nevertheless, perhaps these plans can inspire some ideas and spark conversation. I’ll be in the path of totality somewhere near the...

Solar Eclipse, Part 5: Temperature Drop

by Joseph A'Hearn | Jul 31, 2017 | Astronomy, Eclipse, News, Observational Astronomy

Bring a sweatshirt with you on August 21! During the eclipse, the temperature may change 1/2 or 3/4 as much as it regularly does at night, based on your location and climate. This will likely be 10-15 degrees, but it could be more. When the Moon blocks sunlight from...

Solar Eclipse, Part 4: To Scale and Not To Scale

by Joseph A'Hearn | Jul 25, 2017 | Astronomy, Basics, Eclipse, News, Observational Astronomy

To scale or not to scale, that is the question; Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of disproportions Or to take a ruler to that sea of troubles And, by measuring, correctly depict them. …          ...