Cumberland Times-News

Bob Doyle - Astronomy

Bob Doyle - Astronomy
  • Binoculars can help you check out moon

    Tomorrow afternoon, our moon’s orbiting motion will carry it from the morning to the evening side of the sun. The moon will be travelling towards the northerly zodiac groups, improving its evening visibility.

    March 9, 2013

  • BOB DOYLE Comet to appear low in mid-March skies

    Twenty months ago, a powerful automated telescope in Hawaii discovered a faint comet as far as the giant planets are from the sun.

    March 2, 2013 1 Photo

  • Russia hit once more by a giant fireball

    On Feb. 15 about 9:20 a.m., there was a brilliant fireball seen prominently over the city of Chelyabinsk, a city near the Ural Mountains in Russia. (The Ural mountains separate Europe from Asia.) Chelyabinsk is 930 miles to the East of Moscow.

    February 23, 2013

  • BOB DOYLE Almanacs are useful, especially Banneker’s

    If one could time travel back two centuries, you would be sure to find two books in most rural households — the Bible and an Almanac. Back then farmers used an almanac to tell them the moon’s phases (lighted shapes).

    February 16, 2013 1 Photo

  • Here are some ways to deal with cheating

    I recently watched a web presentation on plagiarism that was an eye opener. Plagiarism is when someone claims someone else’s work as their own.

    February 9, 2013

  • New celestial atlas is an excellent reference

    Last year, several new sky atlases were published, all aimed at beginning sky gazers.

    January 26, 2013

  • BOB DOYLE We are spinning at 795 miles per hour

    Most of us know that the Earth’s rotation or spinning causes our progression of day and night. If asked how long it takes the Earth rotate, most would quickly say 24 hours, the length of our day/night cycle.

    January 19, 2013 1 Photo

  • Ecolocal Calendar offers another view

    There was a bewildering assortment of calendars for sale as the New Year approached.

    January 12, 2013

  • BOB DOYLE Book reveals some interesting sky facts

    A while back, I purchased an unusual paperback book called “Night Sky” by Nicholas Nigro.
    This book is part of a series of Knack Make It Easy books that cover many types of cooking, house and home topics, music, child and pet rearing and lastly weddings!

    January 5, 2013 1 Photo

  • Here’s a preview of 2013’s best sky sights

    Here are the top sky sights for the coming year that you can see with the unaided eye (don’t need binoculars or telescope).

    December 29, 2012