Eclipses

In Our Skies, September 2023: Annular Solar Eclipse

In Our Skies, September 2023: Annular Solar Eclipse

View the August 2023 Nature Friend Magazine You’ve probably noticed that the Moon appears larger when it lies just above the horizon. This is just an optical illusion. However, the Moon actually...

2023 Annular Solar Eclipse Viewing

2023 Annular Solar Eclipse Viewing

View the August 2023 Nature Friend Study Guide When?Saturday, October 14, 2023. Annularity reaches Oregon’s Pacific coast at about 9:13 a.m. PDT, and moves southeast, exiting into the Gulf of Mexico...

In Our Skies, March 2023: Hybrid Solar Eclipse

In Our Skies, March 2023: Hybrid Solar Eclipse

View the March 2023 Nature Friend Magazine One of the closest planetary conjunctions of the year will occur on the first evening of March. On this evening, the two brightest planets, Jupiter and...

In Our Skies, November 2023: Meteor Showers

In Our Skies, November 2023: Meteor Showers

View the November 2022 Nature Friend Magazine The second total lunar eclipse of 2022 will take place on the night of November 7–8. The eclipse will be most visible from eastern Asia, Oceania, and...

In Our Skies, September 2023: Planet Oppositions

In Our Skies, September 2023: Planet Oppositions

About once a year, Earth passes between the Sun and Neptune. This event is called an opposition because Neptune is on the opposite side of Earth from the Sun, rising around sunset and setting around...

In Our Skies, May 2022: Lunar Eclipse

Meteor activity is divided quite unevenly between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, with the Northern Hemisphere getting a better view of nearly every meteor shower of the year. The Eta Aquarid...

In Our Skies, March 2022: Planetary Conjunctions

In Our Skies, March 2022: Planetary Conjunctions

Where I live in Virginia, March brings the signs of a new season. The days are slowly warming, and the evenings, which were quiet all winter, are now enlivened by the calls of spring peepers and...

In Our Skies, November 2021: Comet Leonard

The last major meteor showers of 2021 will all be affected by moonlight. The Orionid meteor shower in October peaked on the night of Full Moon, and the Leonid meteor shower this month will fare...

The 2017 Solar Eclipse

The 2017 Solar Eclipse

One ordinary day, I noticed a Nature Friend magazine from March 2017 lying on the couch. I picked it up and started flipping through it. I soon noticed the article by Kevin Shank, “Story Starter for...