By David H. Levy
For the last few nights I have been looking in one particular direction of the sky: the northeast. Over a period of four nights, I have noticed a faint glow in that direction. It wasn’t bright, certainly nothing about which to write home, but it was the aurora borealis. … Continue reading.
by David H. Levy
A Total Eclipse of the Sun, part Two.
This is a story, not a report on observations.
On April 8, a total eclipse of the Sun tracked across Mexico, the United States, and Canada. Most of the United Staes enjoyed clear weather, and most of Canada did too.… Continue reading.
David H. Levy
As I am writing this April 2024 edition of Skyward, in less than a month there will be a total eclipse of the Sun. The Moon’s great shadow will trace a path across North America, including the United States, and Eastern Canada.… Continue reading.
by David H. Levy
In the autumn of 1976, my first, “practice wife” and I visited Safed in northern Israel. In addition to being shown a 400-year-old Torah, we were introduced to the idea that Jewish mysticism, known as “Kabbalah”, got its start and flourished there.… Continue reading.
David H. Levy
This month I have a story to tell. A few nights ago two close friends from Plattsburgh, Ed Guenther and Wendy Gordon, enjoyed a very pleasant wintertime visit with me. During that time another close friend, David Rossetter, drove us to the Chiricahua Astronomy Complex in southeastern Arizona.… Continue reading.
By David H. Levy
This month let us explore one of the seminal galaxies in the nigh sky, NGC 253, Caroline Herschel’s galaxy. It shines deep in the southern portion of the sky, south of the bright star Beta Ceti and southeast of the even brighter star Fomalhaut.… Continue reading.
By David H. Levy
As a youngster growing up in Montreal, Canada in the early 1950s, I was impressed by the seeming simplicity of Montreal’s weather. It appeared to me as though there were just two kinds of weather, in wintertime a grey sky, and in summertime a blue sky.… Continue reading.
By David Levy
Pons-Brooks: A comet for the centuries.
When David Rossetter and I began our observing session at the Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association’s Chiricuaha Astronomy Complex on the evening of August 5, 2023, we did not expect that we would be treated to an evening of cosmic history.… Continue reading.
By David H. Levy
Despite what you read online, it is possible to think of meteor watching as one of the most boring things you can do with the night sky. No cosmic connection, no postulating about the origins of the Universe, no understanding of what dark matter might entail.… Continue reading.
by David H. Levy
One of the first astronomy books I ever read was John Benson Sidgwick’s Introducing Astronomy. Thew book was published in 1959, a year after his death. In it was a large section in which each constellation was introduced, along with interesting things to see in each one. … Continue reading.