Skylights: November 2026
Mercury and Venus shine brightly in the morning sky, Mars meets Jupiter near the heart of the lion, Uranus is at its […]
Mercury and Venus shine brightly in the morning sky, Mars meets Jupiter near the heart of the lion, Uranus is at its […]
It may sound strange, but a question has come up concerning what seems to be the largest recovered martian meteorite: Who owns […]
I am happy to report that we had another successful AstroAssembly event this past month. I am reminded that this event is the […]
Lincoln, RITuesday, October 27Weather: Clear 40°Participants: Francine Jackson, John Kocur, Bob Janus, Jim HendricksonAttendees: 52Observed: Waning gibbous Moon, Saturn, Mizar & Alcor, […]
Providence, RISunday, October 25Weather: Clear, 55°Participants: Francine Jackson, Jim Hendrickson, Bob Swift, Christine Stevens, Terry Turner, Denise Turco, Amer Hodzic, Fred SammartinoAttendees: […]
Saturday, October 24Weather: Clear, 35°Participants: Bob Horton, Mike Kerr, Michael Corvese, John Kocur, Jim HendricksonAttendees: 20Observed: Waxing gibbous Moon, Saturn, Double Double, […]
Friday, October 23Weather: Clear, 35°Participants: Francine Jackson, Jim Hendrickson, John KocurAttendees: 20Observed: Waning gibbous Moon, Saturn, Vega & Double Double, Polaris, Vega, […]
Saturday, October 17Weather: Clear 35°Participants: Bob Janus, Jim Hendrickson, Jay Baccala, Francine Jackson, John KocurAttendees: 4Observed: First quarter Moon, Saturn, Albireo, Saturn […]
Rafael Martínez-Galarza from Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian will discuss AI for Astronomy: Exotic Black Holes, Galaxy Evolution, and the Role of the Humans.
Saturday, October 10, 2026Weather: Cloudy to start, then mostly clearParticipants: Matthew White, Bob Janus, Linda BergemannObserved: Saturn, Albireo, Vega, M57, M15, NGC […]
Saturday, October 10Weather: Mostly clear, 65°Participants: Michael Corvese, Jay & Lisa Baccala, John Kocur, Francine Jackson, Jim HendricksonAttendees: ~35Observed: Saturn, Vega & […]
by Anna Von Mertens, Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2024, ISBN 978-0-262-04938-2, Hardbound, $35.00, US It isn’t often that a book on astronomy […]
Oh, no! Can it be true? Is Mercury really shrinking like a grape shriveling into a raisin? It had been previously believed […]
October is a great month for astronomy. Cooling temperatures, lower humidity, and earlier sunsets can lead to some fantastic observations of the […]
In October, Saturn reaches opposition, and Jupiter hides behind the Moon; Other highlights to be seen this month are Mars crossing the Beehive, an asteroid that can be seen with binoculars, pieces of Halley’s Comet coming out of Orion, and the Moon passing in front of the Pleiades.
LINCOLN, RI, August 29, 2026 — Francine Jackson has been selected for inclusion in Marquis Who’s Who. As in all Marquis Who’s […]
The festivities will begin on Friday night, October 2 for those in the area;
registration for AstroAssembly is not necessary to attend.
Saturday, September 19Weather: Mostly cloudy, calm, 58°Participants: Jay Baccala, Mark Munkacsy, John Kocur, Jim Hendrickson, CatherineAttendees: 6Observed: Moon, Alberio, M13, M15, M57Photos: […]
Friday, September 18Weather: Mostly clear, calm, 62°Participants: Francine Jackson, Jim HendricksonAttendees: 25Observed: Moon, ISS, Mizar & Alcor, Albireo, CoathangerPhotos: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjD5xWsReport by: Jim […]
We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day than August 9 for Rick Lynch to drive Bob Horton, Jim Hendrickson and […]
Saturday, August 29, 2026Weather: Clear, calm, 62°Participants: Bob Janus, Dan Fountain, Rich Doherty, Katie Chippendale, John Kocur, Francine Jackson, Jim HendricksonObserved: Waning […]
Friday, August 28, 2026Weather: Partly cloudy, calm, 65°Participants: Francine Jackson, Jim HendricksonAttendees: 10Photos: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjD3x1tReport by Francine Jackson It was a fairly cloudy […]
September’s sky brings the autumnal equinox, the harvest Moon paired with Saturn, and bright planets visible throughout the night. Also see Jupiter’s moons eclipse each other, the year’s earliest-rising last quarter Moon, and Neptune at its best.
We had about 30 guests last night, and it was busy right up until closing. I showed Arcturus and Albeiro in the […]
On August 18th, the Norman Bird Sanctuary held a members-only viewing of the Perseid meteor shower scheduled to peak between August 12th […]
Nightfaring: In Search of the Disappearing Darkness by Megan Eaves-Egenes, New York: Grand Central Publishing, 2026, ISBN 9780306835339, Hardbound, $30.00, US The […]
The dog days of summer are behind us as we move into September. Although there are officially three weeks of summer left, […]
Saturday, September 5, 2026: One Law for the Apple and the Moon by Savvas Koushiappa
The Moon joins the Sun on the afternoon of August 12th, 2026, as Lunation 1282 starts with a solar eclipse. The line of […]
We all know light pollution has a detrimental effect on amateur astronomy. In recent years, mounting scientific evidence has proven that light […]
Incandescent by Anna Levin, The Quays, Salford: Saraband, 2019, ISBN 978-1-91223-531-5, softbound, $17.95, US This book came as a result of the […]
The skies of August present a 14% partial solar eclipse, a 96% partial lunar eclipse, and a favorable peak of the annual […]
Join us for Skyscrapers’ August Monthly Meeting at Seagrave Memorial ObservatorySaturday, August 1, 2026 Featuring Dr. Vijay Varma, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth Social […]
A respite from the wildfire smoke blanketing the region throughout the week and a predicted overnight overcast provided a brief window of […]
By now, most of you probably have heard of the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) decision to allow the company Reflect Orbital, Inc., […]
A close pairing of Mars and Uranus gives us a red and blue Independence Day treat, Venus passes Regulus in the evening, Mercury moves to the morning, Pluto at opposition, and a pair of Mooned-out meteor showers all highlight the night sky in July.
2026 marks the semiquincentennial (literally “half of five centuries”) of the Declaration of Independence, the founding document of the United States of […]
Saturday, July 11, 2026 Featuring Member Presentations Social hour at 6:00 pm, Presentation at 7:00 pm Lots of activities for a summer […]
In addition to the usual Public Night this Saturday visitors could also learn about HAM radio operation. The Blackstone Valley Amateur Club […]
In July, we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of this great nation. This momentous event occurred during, and because of, […]
One of the joys of being an astronomy lover is that there’s always something new being discovered; there’s not much time around […]
by Lisa Kaltenegger, New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2024, ISBN 978-1-250-28363-4, Hardbound, $30.00, US At first, this book begins with a series […]
On June 17, 2026, a lunar occultation of Venus occurred which was visible from most locations in North America. Unfortunately, the occultation […]
Weather: Clear, calm, 65°Participants: Michael Corvese, Matt White, Jim Meltzer, John Kocur, Jim HendricksonAttendees: 5Observed: 6-day crescent Moon, M13, Alberio, M81 & […]
Weather: Clear, calm, 70°Participants: Bob Horton, Jim Hendrickson, Katie Chippendale, John Kocur, Mike Kerr, Laura Landen, Francine JacksonAttendees: 15Observed: Double Double, M5, […]
Spring has finally sprung in New England, bringing with it opportunities to observe the night sky. Freezing, dreary nights are gone (for […]
The skies of June bring us the shortest nights, a trio of evening planets, a daytime lunar occultation of Venus, and the […]
By Mark McCaughrean, Koln: Emons Verlag, 2025, ISBN 978-3-7408-0601-9, Softbound, $23.95, US Recently, I read Why Space Will Freak You Out: The […]
May is Moon Month with three significant events occurring, namely two Micromoons and a Lunar X & V. There were two full […]
We’re sure everyone was glued to their screens watching the Artemis II crew’s 10-day trek to the Moon, the first in many […]
