OWU Astronomy Club

11/30/2025

Here's something that I think is really cool! There is a very large sunspot group that the Sun's rotation is carrying into view of Earth. That's cool enough by itself, but even better, it was first spotted by the Perserverance Rover on Mars days ago, since from its vanatage point on the Red Planet the rover can see parts of the Sun that for us are on its far side. If you still have eclipse glasses, you can likely see this group for yourself with them as a black blob/dot on the face of the Sun, sort of like what Perserverance saw - it is not equipped to take high-res photos of the Sun, but it can see large sunspot groups.

The first photo is from Mars, and the second is from Earth. The second photo shows Earth's size to scale. You can read more at https://spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=30&month=11&year=2025

05/09/2022

No special equipment needed - your eyes will do just fine! If you have binoculars, use them as well for a view that is different from but not necessarily better than the naked-eye view. In the US Eastern time zone, the Moon will enter the umbra, the darkest part of Earth's shadow, at 10:28pm on Sunday night, May 15, to begin the partial eclipse phase. Total eclipse begins at 11:29pm and lasts until 12:54am. In other time zones, just shift those times by the usual difference between time zones. In the western US the Moon will rise while already partially eclipsed. See the article for more details.

The full Flower Moon ducks inside Earth's shadow in a total lunar eclipse this month. Prepare for all the highlights of the special event.

11/18/2021

Tonight there will be the longest PARTIAL lunar eclipse since 1440 and until 2669. What that means is that the Moon will ALMOST but not quite completely enter the darkest part of Earth's shadow, the umbra. A total eclipse is better than a partial eclipse, so I don't know that I will stay up for this, but maybe I'll set my alarm and go outside to see mid-eclipse at 4:03am EST - the forecast right now (noon) for Central Ohio is a cloudy start to the night followed by clear skies, so it should be visible. The Moon should be an ethereal dim pinkish-grey color sitting pretty near the Pleiades - see the link for a diagram.

A near-total lunar eclipse will be widely visible across North America on the night of November 18–19. Dress warmly and go for it!

12/20/2020

Jupiter and Saturn are now so close together that their names overlap on this view from the Stellarium sky simulator for 6pm this evening looking west/southwest. They'll be closest tomorrow (the 21st), but they'll be a beautiful pair for days before and after. I recommend giving them a look if the clouds cooperate where you are! They look great in binoculars, and they can even be seen together in the same eyepiece if you have a telescope.

10/22/2020

The Moon, Jupiter (right), and Saturn (left) are confabulous this evening. Bright red Mars is also visible well to the east of them.

10/13/2020

Mars is at opposition today. That means that the Sun, Earth, and Mars are as close to being lined up as they will get for this trip around the Sun, so that Mars and the Sun are 180 degrees apart as seen from Earth. As a result, they are on opposite sides of our sky, so here is Mars rising in the east shortly after the Sun set in the west. It will be bright and beautiful all night long, and set in the west around the time the Sun rises in the east.

10/03/2020

Mars and the Moon are an impressive pair tonight (October 2)! Mars is quite bright because it is near its closest approach to Earth on October 6, and the Moon is just past full. Here is a simulation using the free Stellarium sky simulator (stellarium.org).

08/07/2020

"The Perseid meteor shower, an annual celestial event beloved by millions of skywatchers around the world, is about to make its annual return to the night sky. It’s predicted to reach its peak late on the night of Tuesday, August 11th, and early on Wednesday, August 12th. Head out after sunset and catch as many meteors as you can before the Moon rises shortly after midnight (local time)."

See the article for more details and observing tips.

The annual Perseid meteor shower is upon us. Grab a folding chair or a blanket and head outdoors after sunset on August 11th and enjoy the celestial show.

04/04/2020

This evening Venus is in conjunction with the Pleiades star cluster, which means they are in the same direction from us, so that Venus looks like it's inside the cluster. Of course, Venus is really much closer to us - the Pleiades are about 450 light years away. Venus is so bright that it might make the Pleiades a bit hard to see with the naked eye, but it's still worth a look. They look great through binoculars! But don't wait - here in Central Ohio, they are in the western sky and will set in a few hours. The view is better when they are higher up. If you are in another time zone, go out when the sky gets dark after sunset. Here are some Stellarium (www.stellarium.org) simulations. The first one shows the view more as the eye would see it, and the second one is zoomed in. Click on them in your browser to see the whole image.

02/03/2020

Hey, it's clear out tonight in Central Ohio. Go out and take a look at Betelgeuse in the constellation Orion (which is high in the SE in the early evening and high in the SW just before midnight right now). It's even dimmer than it was a few weeks back (the last time we had clear skies).

Ordinarily it's as bright as the great blue giant Rigel, at the lower right corner of this image, but now it's as dim as Bellatrix, the star in the upper right.

12/10/2019

Venus and Saturn will appear at their closest to one another in the sky this week and their closest approach is tonight (Dec. 10) at 11:41 p.m. EST (0441 GMT on Dec. 11).