Star Gazer

September 20th, 2012

Final frontier

By PAUL DERRICK

I have come to the decision to retire my “Stargazer” column, effective immediately.  Sorry about the short notice, but this has come about rather suddenly.

The catalyst, although not the sole reason, for this decision relates to my changed relationship with the Waco Tribune-Herald which has been my flagship paper since the column’s beginning in …

Star Gazer

August 9th, 2012

Perseid meteor shower peaks on Sunday

By PAUL DERRICK

It’s time once again for the popular Perseid meteor shower, and this year we might get two nights of increased meteor activity. The shower is predicted to peak the morning of August 12, thus there could be increased meteor activity the nights of August 11/12 and 12/13.

The best …

Star Gazer

July 26th, 2012

Sagittarius, the cosmic teapot

By PAUL DERRICK

Although this night sky region has nothing to do with current “tea party” politics, it does involve shameless deceit involving the two signature constellations of summer – Sagittarius and Scorpius.

You’re probably familiar with the story of the Trojan Horse in which the Greeks used a gift horse to entice …

Star Gazer

July 12th, 2012

Star or planet, how can you tell?

By PAUL DERRICK

Have you ever seen a bright star and wondered if that “star” might be a planet?  Planets and stars are different types of objects, yet they look alike to the naked eye.  Indeed, in the word planet derives from the Greek word “planēs” which means wanderer, thus …

Star Gazer

June 21st, 2012

Stargazing in the summer

By PAUL DERRICK

Like many avocations, stargazing can be a year-round activity as any clear night offers interesting things to see. Regardless of the season, there will always be stars and constellations, and often the Moon and one or more planets.

The night sky changes with the seasons.

Yet the seasons do …

Star Gazer

May 31st, 2012

The circumpolar region of summer

By PAUL DERRICK

As Earth rotates on its axis, the North Star is always straight up from Earth’s North Pole, hence the star’s formal name, Polaris.  And as Earth rotates, Polaris always appears in the same location while all the other stars rotate around it in a counterclockwise direction every 24 …

star gazer

May 17th, 2012

Cosmic baseball region

By PAUL DERRICK

With the baseball season now underway, it’s fitting that the Cosmic Baseball region is prominent in the early evening sky.  It doesn’t take much imagination to hear the fans cheering as the players round the bases – but perhaps your imagination needs a little help finding the bases.

Baseball …

Star Gazer

May 10th, 2012

Solar eclipse May 20, transit of Venus June 5

By PAUL DERRICK

Come May 20 we will be treated to a relatively rare solar eclipse – a partial eclipse over much of the western half of the U.S. and an even more spectacular annular eclipse for the lucky ones in a 200-mile wide band stretching from …

Star Gazer

April 12th, 2012

Solar eclipse coming our way

By PAUL DERRICK

The May 20 new Moon will produce a solar eclipse visible over the western half of the U.S. Those in a narrow band from the Texas panhandle to northern California will see a rather rare annular eclipse while the rest of us will see an impressive sunset partial …

Star Gazer

March 30th, 2012

The southern circumpolar region

By PAUL DERRICK

In the northern hemisphere we have a section of the night sky we call the Circumpolar Region consisting of those stars and constellations that never dip below the northern horizon as they circle the north celestial pole (and Polaris) each day. We should call it the North Circumpolar Region …