Mon Nov 24, 2025 NAME THAT CONSTELLATION - NOVEMBER
Can you identify the 15th largest constellation? It is bordered on the north by Scutum, Aquila and Serpens Cauda, on the south by Telescopium and the Southern Crown, on the west by Scorpius and Ophiuchus, and on the east by Microscopium and Capricornus. The center of the galaxy lies in the direction of its western border, and it contains many star clusters as well as the Trifid and the Lagoon Nebulae. This constellation has no first magnitude stars, but a handful of 2nd magnitude stars trace out the crude shape of a teapot and this evening the crescent moon shines to the east of the teapot’s handle. In Greek myth it represents Chiron, a centaur who guards other constellations by keeping Scorpius at bay with his bow and arrow. Can you name this star figure, the ninth constellation of the zodiac? The answer is Sagittarius the Archer.
Tue Nov 25, 2025 WHY BUY A TELESCOPE?
You can spend lots of money buying a telescope and then be unhappy with the results. Before you buy one, ask yourself: what do you expect the telescope to do? Most small telescope views fall far short of the incredible images that we get from great observatories or space telescopes. So why buy a telescope? Well one of the principle joys of the telescope is the excitement of finding these objects in the sky, and knowing that they really are out there. A good starter telescope is a Newtonian reflector with a 6-inch mirror on a Dobsonian mount, which uses big one and a quarter inch eyepieces. Such a scope should cost between 200 – 400 dollars. Begin your research on the internet, or e-mail me at jbell@irsc.edu for advice.
Wed Nov 26, 2025 BLACK HOLES PROPOSED
On November 26, 1783, John Michell proposed the existence of black holes, suggesting that there might be super-dense stars with powerful gravitational fields that could keep light from leaving them. This idea was ahead of its time, coming as it did shortly after the American Revolution. But he was right, and in the past several decades we have found evidence for these cosmic dead ends in space. There is a black hole above us tonight. Vega, Altair and Deneb, three bright stars that form the Summer Triangle are in the west sky this evening. We think there's a black hole in the middle of the triangle – it’s called Cygnus X-1. We can't see it directly; these things are literally out-of-sight; but something’s there, because an incredible amount of x-rays pour out of this region, made by the black hole's gravity.
Thu Nov 27, 2025 FIRST TELESCOPE PURCHASE
Big box stores and department stores are great places to buy a lot of things, but when I buy a telescope, I don’t go there. Yard sales often have telescopes, but there’s a good reason why they’re in a yard sale, and it’s probably that those particular ‘scopes are hard to operate. Look out for flimsy tripod legs or cheap aluminum and plastic bolt-and-wingnut attachments from the tripod to the tube.A good starter telescope is actually a pair of binoculars, which cost under a hundred dollars. If you mount them to a camera tripod you can aim them just like a regular telescope. Then consider getting a Newtonian reflector with a 6 inch mirror on a Dobsonian mount. Begin your research on the internet, or e-mail me at jbell@irsc.edu for advice.
Fri Nov 28, 2025 WAXING MOON AND SATURN TOGETHER
This evening the moon will appear in the southern sky at sunset. It’s very slightly more than half full, and over the next week it will be waxing into that egg-shaped phased known as a new gibbous moon. If you look for it this evening, as darkness sets in you should also be able to find a fairly bright yellow-tinted star just to the left or I should say, to the east of it. That solid-looking star is actually the planet Saturn, and if you observe it with a telescope that is set at 50 power, you’ll discover that its rings are pretty much edge on, a thin bright line along Saturn’s equator. This is also a good time to observe the moon with a telescope, and you’ll find lots of craters along its terminator – that’s the line formed by the edge of the moon’s shadow.
