by Kevin Shank | Nov 1, 2022 | 2022, 11 November, Astronomy, End of the Trail, Galaxies, Nebulas, Planets
View the November 2022 Nature Friend Magazine
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...
by Shaphan Shank | Mar 3, 2022 | Articles & Stories, Astronomy, Conjunctions, Eclipses, Planets
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 woodcocks. The stars also indicate, more reliably than the weather, that...
by Kevin Shank | Aug 26, 2021 | 2021, 09 September, Articles & Stories, Astronomy, In Our Skies, Meteors, Planets
Just after sunset the night of September 14, the planet Mercury will be visible in the western sky just above the horizon. While it is only 26.8° from the Sun and, therefore, close to the horizon, it is at its farthest point from the Sun during the Eastern...
