M13. Photo © Reinhold Wittich/Dreamstime.com. Hercules, the Strongman, is a large constellation that lies straight east of Bootes, the constellation we focused on last month. If you imagine a line...
2023, 07 July
Let’s Take a Hike, July 2023: Eastern Bluebird
Eastern Bluebird. Photo © Anna Boggs.
Favorite Focus, July 2023
Northern lights as seen in Kansas. Photo © Thaddeaus Magley. Fireflies. Photo © Steven Russell Smith. It looks to me like Steven Russel Smith’s creative juices were working overtime again. Let this...
Covers, July 2023
African elephants. Photo © Aelice/iStock.com. Eastern Screech-Owl feeding young. Photo © Marlin D. Shank.
Creating a Milky Way Panorama
There are few things more beautiful than a breathtaking landscape or nightscape—especially one that includes the Lord’s incredible Milky Way! A panorama enhances everything we love about landscapes,...
Camp & Cabin Cookin’, July 2023
Making Better Compost
With more attention to detail and a few extra tools, compost can be made fertilizer-grade where a little bit goes a long way. What we’re talking about here is not the SAM (stacked, aged manure)that...
Study Guide Puzzles, July 2023
End of the Trail, July 2023: Northern Lights
Photo © Todd Salat. When I first saw this splendid photo on Spaceweather.com, I knew I wanted to use it to illustrate an article touching on various phenomena some of you, our readers, have seen and...
Animal Quiz
Caption This Frog
Tree frog. Photo © Dirk Ercken/Dreamstime.com. We invite you to submit your caption for this photograph of a tree frog in the Bolivian rain forest. The photograph will be used on the back of the...
Tumbling Gibbons
Rocket Signs
The January 2022 article for this column showed ways to tell the difference between meteors, airplanes, and satellites in the night sky. This month we are explaining some of the phenomena associated...
In Our Skies, July 2023: Perseid Meteor Shower
The Perseid meteor shower is the most popular meteor shower of the year. This is partly because it always peaks during the warm nights of summer, and partly because it is the second-strongest shower...
My Walk
Spruce Grouse. Photo © Jessica Tschetter. It’s early May. Summer is now installed, and so is the itch to find and photograph summer wildlife—in me anyway. The sunny afternoon seemed an ideal time to...