Most successful living visual comet discoverer, Don Machholz, guides you on a weekly journey into the world of comets and astronomy.
"Look for the Seeliger effect, when the rings brighten for a few days."Don Machholz
"We had quite a few people there to see it."Don Machholz
"So these next couple of weeks may be your best chance to see them."Don Machholz
"Start with the bright stars."Don Machholz
"The Summer Milky Way is now visible and with the warmer nights it is easy to stay out past midnight."Don Machholz
"At 2:47 AM I picked up a fuzzy object, about magnitude 10."Don Machholz
"This would be a good week to image the moon each night through a small telescope."Don Machholz
"Quite often, when I'm the smartest person in the room, I'm by myself."Don Machholz
"The stars twinkle, the planets do not."Don Machholz
"We have a meteor shower coming up this week that almost no one knows about, but it is one of the most active of the year.”Don Machholz
"It is a matter of watching and waiting."Don Machholz
"These were cataloged by Charles Messier in 1781."Don Machholz
When the moon is in the umbra, it is hidden from the sundra."Don Machholz
"Eyes, skies, and telescope."Don Machholz
"This week the hotspot is the evening sky."Don Machholz
"Set the alarm and bring the camera."Don Machholz
"I have been an amateur astronomer since I was about 8 years old and took an interest in astronomy."Don Machholz
"It is one of the most interesting features on the moon."-Don Machholz
"And the colors should differ, especially when seen through binoculars or a telescope."-Don Machholz
"The crescent moon makes a nice pattern with Venus, Mars, and Saturn on Monday morning, March 28"-Don Machholz
"You won't find any of this stuff published anywhere."-Don Machholz
"Yes, they have seen the moon before, but now they can see the craters."-Don Machholz
"It is rich, very rich, with stars and star clusters."-Don Machholz
"May our galaxy wrap its arms around you. I bet no one had ever said that to you before. In fact, it is already doing that."-Don Machholz
“This was a sweet spot for such discoveries: after many visual comet hunters left the field, and before the government-funded sky surveys took over.”-Don Machholz
"In Messier's case it was known comets leading to new Messier Objects. Centuries later it was known Messier Objects leading to new comets."-Don Machholz
"This is how the Massive Marathon was invented."-Don Machholz
"I believe that moonlight is the real reason why Charles Messier missed M65 and M66."-Don Machholz
"I would rather be sweeping than sleeping".-Don Machholz
"Is it a bird, is it a plane? No kitty, that is the moon!"-Don Machholz
"This is a good week to look at the moon."Don Machholz
"In 1922 the IAU named 88 constellations; this must have been number 89."-Don Machholz
"The winter constellations are here, ready for another season of viewing."Don Machholz
"This could produce a meteor shower on Venus."Don Machholz
“When Albert Einstein was a boy, if he ever did anything stupidly, did people say to him: ‘hey, way to go, Einstein!'?”-Don Machholz
"Probably more penguins than people will see this eclipse. Those solar eclipse glasses will keep slipping off their ears."Don Machholz
"The Antarcitia solar eclipse is on December 4. If you intend to see it, you should be heading out the door about now."Don Machholz
"Well, I'm an astronomer, and to me a beautiful sunset sky has no clouds at all."Don Machholz
"The moon could fit inside the earth's shadow if it wanted to."Don Machholz
"So now is a suitable time to see the gegenschein."Don Machholz
"Comets are scattered around the sky."Don Machholz
"Charles Messier lived some two hundred years ago in France,from where he searched for comets, whenever he got the chance"Don Machholz
“Why stop with our moon? Show them Jupiter and Saturn and their moons too. A multi-moon evening.” Don Machholz
“We'll know in two weeks, when communication with Mars resumes, if Martians have visited our rovers.” Don Machholz
“If you have a group of observers with you, take bets. The winner gets to choose which will be the next object to observe.” Don Machholz
I'm a bit behind in reading my astronomy magazines. I just read that there will be a total solar eclipse on August 21, 2017. Did I miss it? Don Machholz
"Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Wow, who comes up with these names?"-Don Machholz
"Nearly 90,000 days in one year, I wonder how many holidays they have?"Don Machholz
"It is there, but can you see it?"Don Machholz
"There is no end to the things that can be seen".Don Machholz