Guy Ottewell

Astronomer, artist and poet Guy Ottewell's beloved Astronomical Calendar ended its yearly print run in 2016, its 43rd year. Visit Guy’s website UniversalWorkshop.com or his blog at UniversalWorkshop.com/Guysblog. You can also find 2018 Astronomical Calendar info and charts there at UniversalWorkshop.com/Guysblog/astronomical-calendar-2018. His stories and art are used here with permission. Thank you, Guy!

Get ready for the Venus-Saturn conjunction

Posted by Guy Ottewell in Astronomy Essentials | 2 months ago

Posted by Guy Ottewell

Venus and Jupiter had a spectacular conjunction last month. Soon, Saturn and Venus will meet in the west after sunset. Guy Ottewell offers insights and charts to prepare you for this encounter between worlds.

What’s a node?

Posted by Guy Ottewell in Astronomy Essentials | 3 months ago

Posted by Guy Ottewell

Venus passes its descending node on Friday at 2 UTC. What is it? And why does astronomer Guy Ottewell say that nodes “shape the orbits of the moving bodies and set them up for whatever else happens” … ?

Illustration of the whole Earth around midnight in Europe, with the Orionid meteor stream encountering Earth from overhead.

Early this week, watch for the Orionids

Posted by Guy Ottewell in Astronomy Essentials | 3 months ago

Posted by Guy Ottewell

Charts and insights about this week’s Orionid meteor shower from astronomer Guy Ottewell.

Venus from now to next June

Posted by Guy Ottewell in Astronomy Essentials | 3 months ago

Posted by Guy Ottewell

Northern and Southern Hemisphere views of Venus from October 2019 to June 2020, and some insights on the coming view of Venus in the evening sky.

An astronomer contemplates the equinox

Posted by Guy Ottewell in Astronomy Essentials | Human World | 4 months ago

Posted by Guy Ottewell

You can think of the equinox not as a whole day, but as a point along Earth’s orbit. Want to understand that better? Guy Ottewell offers some insights.

Uranus, Neptune, Pluto: A longer view

Posted by Guy Ottewell in Astronomy Essentials | 7 months ago

Posted by Guy Ottewell

Astronomer Guy Ottewell talks about his awesome book about some of our solar system’s most beloved outer worlds. As always, he provides the best charts anywhere!

The undark nights of summer

Posted by Guy Ottewell in Astronomy Essentials | Earth | 8 months ago

Posted by Guy Ottewell

Guy Ottewell lives in England. His illustrations of 3-dimensional space are illuminating. Long summer twilights, explained.

Sky chart showing Mars, Mercury and various stars and constellations in the west after sunset on June 1, 2019, with the addition of dozens of points representing SpaceX satellites.

How bright will the Starlink satellites be?

Posted by Guy Ottewell in Human World | Space | 8 months ago

Posted by Guy Ottewell

Will Elon Musk’s plan to launch 12,000 Starlink satellites – aimed at bringing internet access to the world – interfere with astronomy? Astronomer Guy Ottewell ponders this question.