Posts by 

Bruce McClure

Meet Taurus, home to star clusters, with Jupiter visiting

Taurus the Bull resides near the constellation Orion the Hunter. It contains 2 famous star clusters that are easy to spot; they are the Pleiades and the Hyades.

The mass of a star is determined from binary star systems

Binary stars - a star system consisting of two stars - are extremely useful. They give all the information needed to measure mass of a star. Here is how.

Sirius is a future southern Pole Star

Wait, what? It's true. The sky's brightest star, Sirius aka the Dog Star, will come to within 1.6 degrees of the south celestial pole in the year 66270.

Meet the Winter Circle, aka the Winter Hexagon

The brightest stars in the Northern Hemisphere's winter sky form the shape of the Winter Circle, or Hexagon, that will help you locate 6 constellations.

The Hyades star cluster: The Face of Taurus the Bull

From January to April, look for the Hyades star cluster in the evening sky. It's beautiful through binoculars. And in 2025, bright Jupiter will be nearby, too!

Longest days accompany the December solstice

The longest days accompany the winter solstice. In December, a day - a whole cycle of day and night - is about half a minute longer than the average 24 hours.

The Orion Nebula (M42) is a starry nursery

You can see the Orion Nebula as a fuzzy spot in the sky using just your eyes. It's really a vast cloud in space where new stars are forming. Learn more.

Happy Friday the 13th: It’s the 2nd of 2 in 2024

When a year with 366 days starts on a Monday, it's inevitable Friday the 13th will occur twice. In 2024, Friday the 13th comes in September and December.

Meet Pisces the Fish, 1st constellation of the zodiac

Pisces the Fish is a zodiac constellation that is high in the sky on December evenings. Look for it and its asterism, the Circlet of Pisces.

The earliest sunset comes before the winter solstice

The solstice comes on December 21, 2024, at 9:21 UTC. Does that coincide with your earliest sunset? Probably not. It depends on where you live.