Category Archives: Upstate Ny Stargazing

“November Stargazing in Upstate NY” Article Posted To newyorkupstate.com And syracuse.com

Greetings, fellow astrophiles!

The latest article in the series, “November Stargazing in Upstate NY: Catch the sometimes roaring Leonids,” has just been posted to newyorkupstate.com and syracuse.com.

This month, we introduce the open clusters using the Hyades and Pleiades, then focus on Cygnus the Swan and finding the small, distant open clusters M29 and M39. Orion, Taurus, and the Pleiades are up all the earlier this month, bringing the best of winter to us just early enough to take in some great telescope views.

This month also includes event announcements for several NY astronomy clubs with posted November observing sessions. I’m hoping to have permissions from several other clubs to post their announcements as well to fill out the within-one-hour’s-drive map of NY public sessions (sadly perfect timing, given that winter often means observing hibernation).

Direct Link: newyorkupstate.com/outdoors/2016/10/…_the_sometimes_roaring_leonids.html

Direct Link: syracuse.com/outdoors/index.ssf/2016/10/…_the_sometimes_roaring_leonids.html

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Caption: A 30 second exposure of the International Space Station above Lake Ontario and just past the Big Dipper (left). Photo by Don Chamberlin, member of ASRAS-Rochester Astronomy Club.

“Upstate NY Stargazing In October” Article Posted To newyorkupstate.com And syracuse.com

Greetings, fellow astrophiles!

The latest article in the series, “Upstate NY stargazing in October: Prominent constellations of summer and winter visible on Autumn nights,” has just been posted to newyorkupstate.com and syracuse.com. This month, we look for globular clusters in Hercules, and follow the recent progress of Mars, Saturn, and Venus – all while getting early sights of the very best of winter – Orion, Taurus, and the Pleiades.

Direct Link: newyorkupstate.com/outdoors/2016/10/…nights_offer_some_of_the_best.html

Direct Link: http://www.syracuse.com/outdoors/index.ssf/…nights_offer_some_of_the_best.html

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Caption: This photo, taken by a stationary camera at Mount Megantic National Park in Quebec, captured a fireball that shot over Montreal Wednesday night. The “bolide,” a rock entering Earth’s atmosphere, was seen across the Northeast. The Summer Triangle is shown as a red overlay. (ASTROLab du parc national du Mont-Megantic)

This article also marks the third official mention of our upcoming MOST/TACNY/CNYO hosting of International Observe The Moon Night on Saturday, October 8th. Additional details to follow, but expect the observing to happen somewhere around The MOST itself.

We’ll update the website and social media as we get a better idea on what the weather is supposed to do Saturday night (else we stay inside The MOST the entire time).

“Stargazing In Upstate NY In September” Article Posted To newyorkupstate.com And syracuse.com

Greetings, fellow astrophiles!

The latest article in the series, “Stargazing in Upstate NY in September: Look for more subtle objects on autumn nights,” has just been posted to newyorkupstate.com and syracuse.com. Among other topics, this article continues our exploration of the Summer Triangle, using Vega (for the easy find) and Lyra to guide new observers to a few binocular highlights in the late-Summer sky.

Direct Link: newyorkupstate.com/outdoors/…for_more_subtle_objects_on_autumn_nig.html

This article also marks the first official mention (to the best of my knowledge) of our upcoming MOST/TACNY/CNYO hosting of International Observe The Moon Night on Saturday, October 8th. Additional details to follow, but expect the observing to happen somewhere around The MOST itself.

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Extra-special thanks to Nick Lamendola from the Astronomy Section of the Rochester Academy of Science (image above, taken from the grounds of Farash Center – click for a larger view) for the use of his Perseid composite as the article opener.

“Stargazing In Upstate NY In August: See The Milky Way, Perseid Meteor Shower” Article Up At newyorkupstate.com And syracuse.com

Greetings, fellow astrophiles!

The August stargazing article for newyorkupstate.com and syracuse.com was posted in early August to great reception (currently at +4400 shares!). While this post to CNYO is a little on the late side, there are still a few days to catch some of the celestial eye candy mentioned in the post, including a great Milky Way image courtesy of friend and fellow Kopernik Astronomical Society member Patrick Manley.

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Caption: The Milky Way center is visible this month in Upstate New York. Photo by Patrick Manley of Kopernik Astronomical Society in Vestal.

Click for a larger view.

Link at newyorkupstate.com provided below:

newyorkupstate.com/outdoors/2016/08/
stargazing_in_upstate_ny_in_august_see_the_milky_way_perseid_meteor_shower.html

Or (if you want to show your CNY bias when you click)

syracuse.com/outdoors/2016/08/
stargazing_in_upstate_ny_in_august_see_the_milky_way_perseid_meteor_shower.html

If the content is relevant and readable, feel free to let feedback@newyorkupstate.com and/or feedback@syracuse.com know! I’m also happily accepting content recommendations, questions, and critiques of the content as they stand – the Contact Page is always open.

“Night Sky-Gazing In Upstate NY: What To Look For In July” Article Up At newyorkupstate.com And syracuse.com

Greetings, fellow astrophiles!

I’m pleased to report that Central – and now Upstate – NY astronomy is about to get a little more coverage in the local media. The people at newyorkupstate.com (you’ll notice a strong similarity in template, as well as content, to syracuse.com and related) were interested in highlighting observing opportunities ‘round here, and I’m pleased to report that our first effort is up for your viewing and reviewing pleasure at:

newyorkupstate.com/weather/2016/07/
night_sky-gazing_in_upstate_ny_what_to_look_for_in_july.html

Or (if you want to show your CNY bias when you click)

www.syracuse.com/weather/2016/07/
night_sky-gazing_in_upstate_ny_what_to_look_for_in_july.html

The first post is our practice run at handing off images, formatting, and eccentric space humor – and we’re still tweaking a bit for future articles. You may see a few formatting issues and a sentence or two that seem to end rather abruptly from the editing + web-ifying process (in the interest of completeness, those missing chunks of text are below). We’ll see how the next article (and the reception of this article) goes.

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* Image caption (relevant for both):

The view looking Southwest at 10:00 p.m. on July 15th (except for the changing Moon position, this mid-month view is accurate for all of July). Image made with Stellarium. Click for a larger view.

* “Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn are three of the five “superior planets” in our solar system, which means they are on the outside of Earth’s orbit with respect to the.”

Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn are three of the five “Superior Planets” in our Solar System – which simply means they are on the outside of Earth’s orbit with respect to the Sun (Venus and Mercury then referred to as “Inferior Planets” – and, to temper our planet’s ego, we’re an Inferior Planet to all the Superior Planets). Uranus and Neptune, the remaining two Superior Planets, can be tough catches that require some decently dark skies (and, especially for Neptune, magnification).

If the content is relevant and readable, feel free to let feedback@newyorkupstate.com and/or feedback@syracuse.com know! I’m also happily accepting content recommendations, questions, and critiques of the content as they stand – the Contact Page is always open.

The goal of the article is to provide useful information for any observer, but to make sure that the brand new observer has as good a chance of seeing what’s up there as the experienced ones. If you send the article off to an astro-noob and they come back with more questions than observing notes, knowing that before the next one would be most helpful.