The 1833 Leonid meteor storm stunned America. Read the harrowing eyewitness accounts of the night the stars fell like snow and the sky caught fire.
Tag Archives: space
From Park Bench to Stardust: Spotting Comet Hale‑Bopp in 1997
Experience the magic of Comet Hale-Bopp through my personal story of a clear March night in Colorado Springs. From capturing the comet on 35 mm film to witnessing its dazzling tail without a telescope, this reflection celebrates the fleeting beauty of great comets and the lifelong wonder they inspire.
August Nights Under the Perseid Meteor Shower
Each August night, the Perseid Meteor Shower turned our Denver street into a cathedral of stars. We’d sprawl on blankets, count meteors, and gaze at galaxies through a small telescope—moments that sparked a lifelong love of stargazing and amateur astronomy. August Nights is a journey through memory, friendship, and the timeless wonder of the summer sky.
Lenses of Legacy: Great Telescopes that Opened Our Eyes to the Heavens
From Galileo’s first refractor to the mighty Hale Telescope, these ten historic telescopes reshaped how humans see the universe. Discover how Galileo’s spyglass revealed the moons of Jupiter, Herschel’s backyard telescope found Uranus, and the Hooker Telescope proved the universe is expanding. Explore the legacy of instruments that paved the way for modern astronomy and continue to inspire stargazers worldwide.
NGC 2419: The Intergalactic Wanderer in Lynx
NGC 2419, known as The Intergalactic Wanderer, captivates with its extraordinary isolation, sitting 300,000 light-years from the Milky Way yet still bound to it. This magnificent cluster, containing hundreds of thousands of stars, may even be remnants of a lost dwarf galaxy, a testament to the universe’s boundless beauty and mystery.
Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS Graces Autumn Skies
This comet, first discovered by astronomers from the Tsuchinshan Observatory in China and the ATLAS survey in Hawaii, promised to be one of the brightest comets since Neowise. And sure enough, it actually got a little brighter than Neowise.
NGC 2353: Taking a Trip to Avery’s Island, a Star Cluster in Monoceros
The faint winter constellation Monoceros features a nice collection of star clusters and deep sky objects, including the famous Christmas Tree cluster and Avery’s Island, also known as NGC 2353. The cluster features more than 100 stars.
NGC 2169: A “37” Tattooed on Orion’s Outstretched Arm
High above Orion’s Nebula and belt lies the star cluster NGC 2169, affectionately known as the “37 Cluster.” This arrangement of stars earned its nickname due to its resemblance to the number 37 when viewed through a small telescope or binoculars. It’s also known as Collinder 83, XY Cluster, and the LE Cluster
The Garden Astronomer 