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The False Dawn

The False Dawn

by Morris Yoder | Mar 1, 2023 | 2023, 03 March, Articles & Stories, Astronomy, The Heavens Declare God's Glory

View the March 2023 Nature Friend Magazine False dawn. Photo CC-SA 4-0. We consider air to be invisible, but, in reality, it is filled with molecules of air and vapor that fog our vision. When we were in Alaska, we were able to see Mt. Denali from the Kashwitna River...
Canis Major

Canis Major

by Shaphan Shank | Mar 1, 2023 | 2023, 03 March, Articles & Stories, Astronomy, Constellations, Double Stars, Exploring Our Skies, Nebulas, Star Clusters, Study Guide

View the March 2023 Nature Friend Study Guide Canis Major, the Great Dog, lies in the southern sky just southeast of Orion. Like Orion, many of the stars that make up Canis Major are bright. The constellation’s brightest star, Sirius, is the brightest star in our...
In Our Skies, March 2023: Hybrid Solar Eclipse

In Our Skies, March 2023: Hybrid Solar Eclipse

by Shaphan Shank | Feb 27, 2023 | 2023, 03 March, Articles & Stories, Astronomy, Conjunctions, Eclipses, In Our Skies, Meteors, 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 Venus, will approach to about 0.5° from each other. The brilliant pair...
Taurus

Taurus

by Shaphan Shank | Feb 1, 2023 | 2023, 02 February, Articles & Stories, Astronomy, Constellations, Exploring Our Skies, Nebulas, Star Clusters, Study Guide

View the February 2023 Nature Friend Study Guide The Pleiades. Photo © Shaphan Shank. Taurus, the Bull, is a distinctive constellation that lies just northwest of Orion, high in the evening sky in late winter. A V-shaped group of stars forms the bull’s head, and two...
Backyard Stargazing

Backyard Stargazing

by Marcus Peachey | Jan 1, 2023 | 2023, 01 January, Articles & Stories, Astronomy, Constellations, Galaxies, Nebulas, Planets, Star Clusters, Telescopes & Accessories

View the January Nature Friend Magazine Andromeda Galaxy. Photo © Shaphan Shank. “Good night, Dad and Mom,” I said as I strode to the door, clad in a winter coat, hat, and boots.“Good night,” they replied—Mom with a sigh, glad she wasn’t so consumed with a desire to...
The Rosette Nebula

The Rosette Nebula

by Morris Yoder | Jan 1, 2023 | 2023, 01 January, Articles & Stories, Astronomy, Nebulas, Star Clusters, The Heavens Declare God's Glory

View the January Nature Friend Magazine Rosette Nebula. Photo © Morris Yoder. For most observers in the United States at this time of the year, the Rosette Nebula rises in the east at sunset and crosses high in the southern sky, then sets in the west at sunrise. It’s...
Cetus

Cetus

by Shaphan Shank | Dec 1, 2022 | 2022, 12 December, Articles & Stories, Astronomy, Constellations, Double Stars, Exploring Our Skies, Galaxies, Nebulas, Study Guide

View the December Nature Friend Study Guide NGC 253. Photo © CC by 3.0. The southern sky is nearly devoid of bright stars on evenings in late autumn and early winter. Cetus, the Whale, is a relatively large constellation that lies in the middle of this star-poor...
457 Falling Stars

457 Falling Stars

by Anna Boggs, Rural Retreat, VA | Nov 1, 2022 | 2022, 11 November, Articles & Stories, Astronomy, Meteors

View the November 2022 Nature Friend Magazine Geminid meteor shower. Photo © Dreamstime.com. The December night was clear and bitterly cold. The freezing winter air burned my lungs as I stepped outside shortly after 10:00 p.m. Expectantly, I turned my face to the sky...
A Webb of Discovery

A Webb of Discovery

by Morris Yoder | Nov 1, 2022 | 2022, 11 November, Articles & Stories, Astronomy, Galaxies, Nebulas, Telescopes & Accessories, The Heavens Declare God's Glory

View the November 2022 Nature Friend Magazine Outer space features. Photo © James Webb Space Telescope and the NIRCam instrument. Engineers have built telescopes that can see far across the universe. Each time a bigger and better telescope was built, astronomers were...
End of the Trail, November 2022: Space Photos

End of the Trail, November 2022: Space Photos

by Kevin Shank | Nov 1, 2022 | 2022, 11 November, Astronomy, End of the Trail, Galaxies, Nebulas, Planets

View the November 2022 Nature Friend Magazine
Covers, November 2022

Covers, November 2022

by Kevin Shank | Nov 1, 2022 | 2022, 11 November, Astronomy, Covers, Nebulas

View the November 2022 Nature Friend Magazine Tarantula Nebula. Photo by James Webb Space Telescope and the NIRCam instrument.
Let’s Take a Hike: Cartwheel Galaxy

Let’s Take a Hike: Cartwheel Galaxy

by Kevin Shank | Nov 1, 2022 | 2022, 11 November, Astronomy, Galaxies, Let's Take a Hike

View the November 2022 Nature Friend Magazine Cartwheel Galaxy. Photo by James Webb Space Telescope and the NIRCam instrument.
Stargazing Adventure

Stargazing Adventure

by Fonda S. Eby | Oct 1, 2022 | 2022, 10 October Bonus Readers' Issue, Articles & Stories, Astronomy, Constellations, Galaxies, Nebulas, Star Clusters

Beehive Cluster, M44. Photo © CC-SA-4.0. It was a cold, clear 32° F (0° C) Sunday night as my dad and I left our cozy house, bundled in warm winter clothes. Shivering, we walked out to our stargazing spot behind the shop where we would be away from lights. Immediately...
Aquarius

Aquarius

by Shaphan Shank | Oct 1, 2022 | 2022, 10 October Bonus Readers' Issue, Articles & Stories, Astronomy, Constellations, Exploring Our Skies, Nebulas, Star Clusters, Study Guide

Helix Nebula, NGC 7293. Photo © Dreamstime.com. Aquarius is a sprawling constellation that stretches across nearly 40° of the southern sky on autumn evenings. This constellation lies south of the Great Square of Pegasus and north of the bright star Fomalhaut (the only...
Mailbox, September 2022: Astronomy Question

Mailbox, September 2022: Astronomy Question

by Kevin Shank | Sep 1, 2022 | 2022, 09 September, Astronomy, Galaxies, Mailbox, Nebulas

Black Hole Photography

Black Hole Photography

by Morris Yoder | Sep 1, 2022 | 2022, 09 September, Articles & Stories, Astronomy, Black Holes, The Heavens Declare God's Glory

M87 is a huge galaxy over 50 million light years away with approximately one trillion stars, but these facts are not the most interesting part about the galaxy. A photo taken through the 10” telescope in our observatory shows a jet surging out of the core of the...
In Our Skies

In Our Skies

by Shaphan Shank | Sep 1, 2022 | 2022, 09 September, Articles & Stories, Astronomy, Eclipses, In Our Skies, Meteors, Moon, Planets, Sun

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 sunrise. Earth is closer to Neptune at opposition than at other times...
Lyra

Lyra

by Shaphan Shank | Aug 1, 2022 | 2022, 08 August, Articles & Stories, Astronomy, Constellations, Double Stars, Exploring Our Skies, Nebulas, Study Guide

Ring Nebula. Photo © NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage (STScl/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration. Lyra, the Harp, is a small constellation that lies almost straight overhead on August evenings in the mid-northern latitudes. Lyra is outlined by just five stars. Four of...
Cool Night, Cozy Blankets, Hot Cocoa, &…

Cool Night, Cozy Blankets, Hot Cocoa, &…

by Kelsey, 8, and Blake, 6, Stoutjesdyk | May 1, 2022 | 2022, 05 May Story Contest, Articles & Stories, Astronomy, Contest, Galaxies, Meteors, Story Contest

Once upon a cool August evening, our family happened to be camping in a dark, open area near Jasper, Alberta, Canada, where we had an amazing view of the sky.One evening, something caught our dad’s eye. He looked up to see a shooting star streak through the sky....
The Horsehead Nebula

The Horsehead Nebula

by Morris Yoder | May 1, 2022 | 2022, 05 May Story Contest, Articles & Stories, Astronomy, Nebulas, The Heavens Declare God's Glory

Horsehead Nebula. Photo © Morris Yoder. If you’ve ever found the constellation Orion, there’s a good chance you looked right through this complex cloud of dust and gas without realizing it. The brightest star that you see in this photo is named Alnitak, and it’s the...

In Our Skies, May 2022: Lunar Eclipse

by Shaphan Shank | May 1, 2022 | 2022, 05 May Story Contest, Astronomy, Eclipses, In Our Skies, Meteors

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 shower is the lone exception. This shower favors the south side of...
Canes Venatici

Canes Venatici

by Shaphan Shank | May 1, 2022 | 2022, 05 May Story Contest, Articles & Stories, Astronomy, Constellations, Double Stars, Exploring Our Skies, Galaxies, Star Clusters, Study Guide

Canes Venatici is a small constellation, consisting of only two stars. However, it is quite easy to find due to its location just south of the Big Dipper. Like many of the surrounding constellations, Canes Venatici holds quite a few galaxies.M51, the Whirlpool Galaxy,...
Nature Night

Nature Night

by Joseph Mazelin, 12 | Mar 1, 2022 | 2022, 03 March, Articles & Stories, Astronomy, Contest, Meteors

Weasel. Photo © Dreamstime.com. “Don’t stay out longer than eight o’clock,” Mom reminded us as we headed out the door.This was the night of the Geminid meteor shower, and my brother and I were going out to watch it. Once outside, we found Dad gazing up...
Meteor Beauty

Meteor Beauty

by John Lapp,11 | Mar 1, 2022 | 2022, 03 March, Articles & Stories, Astronomy, Contest, Meteors

“Did you hear of the Geminid meteor shower tonight?” I asked my family at the supper table.“Yes,” came the answer.“Well, I want to go watch it tomorrow morning. Does anybody want to go with me?”A little silence, then…“I don’t know. I’d like to catch up on...
A Fiery Ball

A Fiery Ball

by Freeman J. Martin, 9 | Feb 8, 2022 | Articles & Stories, Astronomy, Constellations, Contest, Meteors, Nature Nugget

In August, Dad decided to take the family to Cherry Springs Park in Pennsylvania, which has the darkest night sky east of the Mississippi River. We ventured out with food, binoculars, tents, our telescope, and a borrowed one.When we got to our destination, we were...
A Fiery Ball

Flying Stars

by Swena Newswanger, 15 | Feb 8, 2022 | 2022, 02 February, Articles & Stories, Astronomy, Contest, Meteors

Here in upstate New York, autumn was long and beautiful. This is December already, and some days are warm enough that even the bees decide to fly. But the other night something else was flying which aroused my interest and required me to lose some sleep.After making...
Telescope Tips

Telescope Tips

by Kevin Shank | Mar 30, 2021 | 2020, 11, November, Astronomy, Telescopes & Accessories

In Our Skies, March 2021, Lyrid Meteor Shower

by Shaphan Shank | Mar 30, 2021 | 2021, 03, March, Astronomy, Conjunctions, In Our Skies, Meteors

As long as the sky is clear, there’s rarely a bad time to be out under the stars. A telescope or even a binocular can reveal scores of galaxies, nebulas, and star clusters, if you know just where to look*. This year is as good as any other year for observing these...

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