2023-06-03 08:28
The AstroMaster line of telescopes is very popular among beginner stargazers due to their good quality and reasonable pricing. But many people want more power than the entry-level 70mm or 90… Read More
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Space and Astronomy easily explained for everyone.
2023-06-01 05:39
One of the first decisions you have to make when you are on the market for a new telescope is what type of device is a better fit for your needs. Two of the most common types you will hear a… Read More
2023-05-30 03:50
I’m sure you have seen Betelgeuse in the sky. It is that bright red star that forms the shoulder of the constellation of Orion. Betelgeuse is one of the most recognizable stars in the… Read More
2023-05-28 01:14
Meteors and meteorites are a small, but important part of the Solar system. Within them, they have some of the secrets about the origin of the Solar system. Scientists can learn a lot by stu… Read More
2023-05-26 19:04
We have all seen cartoons or sci-fi shows where the heroes travel through space and inevitably run into a planet shaped like a cube. However, all the eight planets that we know in the Solar… Read More
2023-05-26 05:13
Let’s face it. Sometimes as a beginner, you purchase a brand-new telescope hoping to see the giant red dot in Jupiter or Saturn’s rings in all their glory. Then, you take it out… Read More
2023-05-25 23:27
If you could just look at Venus and Jupiter from afar at the same time, you might think they’d have a lot in common. They look kind of similar to each other as the clouds in their atmo… Read More
2023-05-25 02:59
The Triangulum Galaxy is one of the first targets that beginner stargazers try to look at. It is the farthest object that can be observed in the sky without the help of binoculars or a teles… Read More
2023-05-24 05:11
The Whirpool Galaxy is one of the better-known galaxies. It can be seen with a basic home telescope or even binoculars and it was the first celestial object to be classified as a spiral gala… Read More
2023-05-23 18:19
Finding a telescope that is reliable, affordable, and light can be a challenge. There are too many options in this entry-level category with lots of different prices and specifications, but… Read More
2023-05-22 05:16
Every night we can see the Moon in the sky over our planet. Since ancient times, people like you and me have wondered Why is it there? What is it made out of? How far is it? By studying it… Read More
2023-05-20 03:23
Jupiter is the biggest planet in the Solar system and is located more than 872 million kilometers (542 million miles) away from Earth. What could these two planets possibly have in common? W… Read More
2023-05-18 14:06
Comets are some of the most spectacular objects to look at in the Solar system. They are basically giant snowballs traveling through space leaving a trail of shiny dust. Watching them with a… Read More
2023-05-17 14:58
When I started to really get into stargazing and getting mediocre results, I wanted to try every accessory out there. Surely the next one would fix my photos or deliver better views, right?… Read More
2023-05-16 18:08
Asteroids are very interesting astronomical objects. There are billions of them just in the Solar system and each of them has a different shape, composition, and orbit. Understanding them ha… Read More
2023-05-15 23:12
Comparing Mercury and Jupiter is a very interesting exercise because, at first glance, they are complete opposites. Mercury is the smallest planet in the Solar system, while Jupiter is the b… Read More
2023-05-14 19:08
Uranus is one of the eight planets in the Solar system. It is second-to-last in order of distance from the Sun. Only Neptune is farther away. This planet is so far away that it is very hard… Read More
2023-05-12 14:08
The Moon is the closest celestial body to Earth we have. As such, scientists have managed to learn a lot about it since ancient times. We understand very well how it works, what it is made o… Read More
2023-05-11 13:16
At the time of writing, about 6,000 planets have been confirmed outside the Solar system. But that’s just the beginning. It is believed that there are billions of planets out there in… Read More
2023-05-10 01:48
Looking up at the night sky is one of life’s simplest pleasures, and owning a telescope can take this experience to a whole new level. Did you know that approximately 15% of American h… Read More
2023-05-06 23:15
It is very likely that Mars looked similar to Earth millions of years ago. What is now a red, cold, inhabitable planet might have been blue and warmer. Mars is the planet scientists are the… Read More
2023-05-04 14:20
We are all standing on a planet that is floating in space right now. We call it Earth and it is the home to all humans. This is why planets are important to study and understand. Because may… Read More
2023-05-02 08:54
When the first manned multi-day missions to space were being planned, a challenge presented itself. How were astronauts supposed to stay clean in space? The ships and stations astronauts tra… Read More
2023-04-30 03:31
Saturn is one of the coolest planets in the Solar system. And I’m not just saying that because of how amazing it looks with all its rings and pretty colors. It is literally cool with a… Read More
2023-03-02 18:51
Stargazing is an all-ages hobby. It is the kind of activity that you can do alone, or share with friends and family. Starting out with astronomy and stargazing as an adult is nothing to be a… Read More
2023-02-25 00:16
At the time of writing this, more than 600 people have gone to space. The first person to do it was the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, in 1961. Most of the people that have achieved the drea… Read More
2023-02-24 07:19
In this post, we’ll learn more about Dr. Mae Jemison, an astronaut and historical figure in the field of space exploration due to her accomplishments. It was hard trying to pick only 1… Read More
2023-02-22 23:47
Mars rovers have been helping scientists explore the red planet since the 1990s. Even though we can learn a lot about a planet using telescopes and orbiters, there is no substitute for actua… Read More
2023-02-22 00:17
Astronomy has captured the imaginations of people for centuries. The cosmos has been the inspiration of all kinds of people, from engineers and scientists to writers and entrepreneurs. We al… Read More
2023-02-17 08:22
Venus is one of our two neighbors in the Solar system and it is one of the most interesting planets that we know about. This is why space agencies from all around the world have sent more th… Read More
2023-02-15 23:36
With our current technology, a trip to Venus would take more than 3 months to make. Even though it is one of our neighboring planets, it is 215 million kilometers (133.5 million miles) away… Read More
2023-02-14 03:29
Wouldn’t it be cool to walk on top of Saturn’s rings? see the whole planet and the rest of the Solar system in all its glory? We all agree it would be a great idea, but is it eve… Read More
2023-02-07 08:31
$500 dollars is a lot of money. But investing them in a telescope can definitely be worth it. At this price range, you can get a very powerful device that goes well beyond the “entry-l… Read More
2023-02-04 10:32
A Mars Rover is a robotic vehicle that was designed to travel through the surface of Mars in order to study the planet from the ground. Rovers (also known as landers) have many advantages ov… Read More
2023-02-03 05:41
Naming conventions in the scientific world can be weird. And sometimes you end up with two different types of objects that have nothing to do with each other but that have very similar names… Read More
2023-02-02 01:33
Neptune is almost 35 times farther away from Earth than Mars. It is the farthest planet in the Solar system, and as a result, it is very difficult to study. This means that Neptune is one of… Read More
2023-01-28 00:52
It is not necessary to spend a fortune to enjoy the wonders of the night sky. There are many budget telescopes available to beginners and hobbyists. As a matter of fact, there are more optio… Read More
2023-01-24 06:44
We look at them every night. We see them move across the sky and then disappear for a few months while others take their place. Then, they come back every year around the same date and the p… Read More
2023-01-21 05:58
The Solar system is a great place for kids to start learning about the universe. But reading about it can be overwhelming. There is so much information about the Solar system for kids but a… Read More
2023-01-20 02:30
All of the eight planets in the Solar System formed approximately 4.6 billion years ago. They all have more or less the same age. And even though they don’t look the same, they were ma… Read More
2023-01-19 06:20
Pluto is one of the most controversial objects in the Solar system. It is the only body that has been “demoted” from being a planet which was very confusing to the people that gr… Read More
2023-01-17 06:27
Here’s the short version of this review. The StarSense telescopes are my first recommendation for a beginner looking to get into stargazing. The StarSense app removes many of the diffi… Read More
2023-01-15 07:39
We have known about the existence of planets outside the Solar system for decades, but they are so far away that we had only been able to discover a few of them. This changed in 2009 when NA… Read More
2023-01-14 19:56
There are currently 7 flags planted on the surface of the Moon. Six of them are American and they were left by each of the Apollo missions that successfully landed on the Moon (Apollo 11, 12… Read More
2023-01-14 07:33
How would you classify asteroids? Classifying them by size doesn’t make much sense because asteroids are already a category of space rock defined by size. They are too small to be dwar… Read More
2023-01-13 08:06
Classifying stellar objects can be tricky. There are billions and billions of stars out there in the universe and every single one of them has different characteristics and environments. And… Read More
2023-01-11 07:51
Let’s face it. The eyepieces that are bundled with most telescopes are rarely good. Including basic eyepieces is one of the easiest ways manufacturers have to cut costs or keep the pri… Read More
2023-01-10 07:51
The Apollo 11 mission was a historic moment like no other. More than 53 million American households and over 650 million sat expectantly on July 20, 1969 at 3:17 PM ET to watch the Lunar mod… Read More
2023-01-09 05:35
Our Sun is the only star that we know of that has a planet with the ability to support life. Humans have looked at it since the beginning of civilization and have written about it, studied i… Read More
2023-01-08 06:15
It might be hard to notice just by looking at them, but Mercury and Mars share many things in common despite being more than 172 million kilometers apart from each other (107 million miles)… Read More
2023-01-07 02:07
Imagine you are in the 1960s analyzing the data of a brand-new radio telescope. One of the first things you detect is a repeating signal that “pulses” exactly every 1.33 seconds… Read More
2023-01-06 05:02
Telescopes seem fairly easy to use, right? you simply point it at the sky, look through the eyepiece, maybe adjust the focuser a little bit, and sit back and enjoy the stars. And truth be to… Read More
2023-01-04 02:59
If you were to stand at night right at the north pole of the planet, first of all, you would be very, very cold as you would be on top of a thick chunk of ice in the middle of the Arctic Oce… Read More
2023-01-03 00:41
Uranus is the seventh planet in the Solar system. It is surrounded by mystery because along with Mercury, it is one of the planets we know less about. We have never even sent a probe to stud… Read More
2023-01-01 17:00
In episode 21, season 11 of The Big Bang Theory called The Comet Polarization, Penny discovers a new comet. I’m not going to spoil the episode, but during the intro, the characters are… Read More
2022-12-16 06:22
Asteroids are a very unique type of object in the Solar system. Starting from their definition. An asteroid is a type of minor planet that orbits around a star. But calling them a minor plan… Read More
2022-12-01 12:22
The interest in space exploration has seen an important resurgence in recent years thanks to the efforts made by NASA and private space agencies like SpaceX to get us dreaming again about co… Read More
2022-11-23 08:32
Stargazing is getting more and more popular every day. As people stayed home more and more over the past few years, they started to discover this wonderful hobby they could participate in fr… Read More
2022-11-15 01:42
Mars and Venus are our two neighboring planets in the Solar system. Thanks to this, they are the planets that we’ve been in the best position to study and compare. But their location i… Read More
2022-11-10 02:40
In 2006, the International Astronomical Union assembled to discuss the discovery of Eris, an object slightly smaller than Pluto, and its possible inclusion as the tenth planet of the Solar s… Read More
2022-11-02 23:09
We have talked about the ways mankind will have to work around basic functions such as breathing on Mars when we finally decide to try and colonize our red neighbor. But that’s not the… Read More
2022-10-26 22:39
You see two telescopes. Both are refractors. Both have the same aperture and similar specs. Both are from the same brand. But one of them costs five times more than the other and it even inc… Read More
2022-10-20 18:36
Reflector telescopes (also referred to as Newtonian or reflecting telescopes) are a great choice for beginners looking to get into stargazing. They offer the most power for the less amount o… Read More
2022-10-13 16:35
In this article, we’ll take a look at the characteristics that make Mercury such a unique planet in the Solar system. But first, here are some quick facts about it. As you might alread… Read More
2022-10-08 14:03
Many mysteries remain about the origin of our Solar System, but we have a good idea of how and when it was formed along with the asteroids and planets in it. The Solar system formed 4.568 bi… Read More
2022-10-07 19:47
Earth has many characteristics that make it unique among all the other planets in the Solar system. For starters, ours is the only planet that can support life (as far as we know). But what… Read More
2022-09-08 00:26
The number of people getting into stargazing in recent years has increased dramatically. The resurgence in space exploration programs from both private and public sectors has made many of us… Read More
2022-09-06 01:44
Stars are one of the key objects in the universe. They emit the light that allows us to perceive all the other things in space, they are the central components of solar systems, and some of… Read More
2022-08-26 01:51
If you look at the sky on a night when multiple planets are visible, you will notice they all travel more or less along the same path. This imaginary line is called the ecliptic and it is th… Read More
2022-08-25 02:31
It can be hard to visualize how things so big like stars, planets, and even whole galaxies can move through space. We don’t perceive this movement from our point of view here on Earth… Read More
2022-08-23 16:16
Approximately 30 different meteor showers are visible from Earth every year. Meteor showers are very interesting events for casual observers of the sky because they are spectacular and can b… Read More
2022-08-18 03:49
The Moon and Pluto are two bodies that even though they belong in different categories – one is a dwarf planet and one is a satellite – are often compared because they share some… Read More
2022-08-09 02:34
Celestron has two entry-level series for amateur astronomers, the AstroMaster and the PowerSeeker telescopes. As a beginner, it can be hard to differentiate between them as they look quite s… Read More
2022-08-08 04:45
The technology that NASA works on with the purpose of space exploration tends to end up having many uses down here on Earth, improving the lives of millions of people around the globe. We ha… Read More
2022-08-04 19:51
One of the most peculiar galaxies in the night sky that can be observed with just a backyard telescope is the Sombrero Galaxy. Its most unique feature is the thick dust rings around its edge… Read More
2022-07-31 07:08
Triton is one of the most intriguing objects in the Solar system. Since its discovery in 1864, it was obvious that there was something very interesting about it. It was (and still is) the on… Read More
2022-07-30 07:21
So, you just got a brand new 8, 10, or 12-inch Dobsonian and you are amazed at all the power it has for such an affordable price. But then you realize it comes with just a couple of standard… Read More
2022-07-27 06:09
Reflecting telescopes (or reflectors) are one of the most popular types of stargazing devices on the market. But reflectors are also divided into many subtypes, each with its own set of pros… Read More
2022-07-25 05:23
Mercury and Venus are the two closest planets to the Sun in our Solar system. They formed approximately at the same time and out of the protoplanetary disc. They are both terrestrial planets… Read More
2022-07-24 04:49
Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun. Astronomers believe it was formed around the same time as the Earth and they were both made more or less out of similar materials at the beginning… Read More
2022-07-23 01:14
Moons, stars, and other celestial objects are notorious for having beautiful names inspired by mythology, nature, or history. Looking at a list of moon names can be a great source of inspira… Read More
2022-07-22 06:11
There are two categories of targets to observe with a telescope. Planets and deep space objects (galaxies, nebulae, etc). You will be able to look at both with any decent telescope. However… Read More
2022-07-19 06:25
Saturn is not the only planet with rings around it. In fact, all the gas giants in the Solar system have formed rings. They are just much thinner and less dense than Saturn’s and there… Read More
2022-07-18 01:01
Did you know that a two-pound meteorite can be worth over $500 dollars? It might be hard to believe, but there are people that hunt and sell meteorites for a living or as a side-gig. Other p… Read More
2022-07-17 02:02
Constellations are more than just pretty formations of stars in the sky. But do they really have uses in science or are they simply part of the popular culture these days? Throughout history… Read More
2022-07-16 00:47
One of the most common questions beginner stargazers have when it comes to telescope accessories is if it is better to get a collection of eyepieces of different magnification or if using Ba… Read More
2022-07-15 01:06
One of the best and classiest ways to display your interest in space, astronomy, or stargazing is collecting coffee table books. It shows your personality while keeping the room clean. They… Read More
2022-07-14 02:09
There are billions and billions of objects out there in the universe. So many that it can be hard to classify them and distinguish them from each other. It can also be hard to remember the d… Read More
2022-07-13 17:23
Quasars are some of the most impressive, intriguing, and scary objects in the universe. They are the brightest objects that we know about. And paradoxically, they happen right around black h… Read More
2022-07-13 00:36
If like me, you hope to visit Mars in the future, one of the things that will take some time getting used to -besides gravity and the fact that you will be standing on a different fricking p… Read More
2022-07-12 21:43
The Carina Nebula – also known as NGC 3372 – is a large region of interstellar clouds where stars form. It is located in the Carina-Saggitarius arm of the Milky Way galaxy and ge… Read More
2022-07-12 16:03
The Stephan’s quintet – also known as Hickson Compact Group 92 – is a group of five galaxies that are very close to each other. It is located in the direction of the Pegasu… Read More
2022-07-10 01:51
The Orion constellation and Orion nebula are two of the most popular celestial objects people enjoy looking at. Especially during the winter months when they are most visible. Because of thi… Read More
2022-07-08 20:04
The race to launch the first manned mission to Mars is on. SpaceX, NASA, and the Chinese National Space Administration have plans to try to send the first humans to the red planet in the nex… Read More
2022-07-06 22:48
Refractors are the most popular type of telescope for beginners. They are easy to use, require zero maintenance, and are very good at displaying high contrast, bright images. While they do h… Read More
2022-07-06 22:48
Refractors are the most popular type of telescope for beginners. They are easy to use, require zero maintenance, and are very good at displaying high contrast, bright images. While they do h… Read More
2022-07-03 17:47
The reflecting telescope was invented over 2 centuries ago. The design is still used to this day and is one of the most popular amongst amateur and professional astronomers. In fact, most of… Read More
2022-07-03 05:29
The refracting telescope was invented over four centuries ago. While the design has been perfected over the years, the general concepts have remained the same. More sophisticated types of te… Read More
2022-07-02 10:18
A meteor is a piece of rock, dust and/or metal that has entered Earth’s atmosphere after orbiting the Sun. Most of them burn up and evaporate due to the heat, but every once in a while… Read More
2022-07-01 07:48
Stargazing is an engaging, fun, and outdoorsy experience that also has a learning component. This makes it an excellent hobby for teenagers that are interested in science or technology. A te… Read More
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