Beautiful Cluster of Ancient Stars Taken by Hubble Telescope

Courtesy of the NASA/ESA Hubble telescope, this is a beautiful photo of the star cluster Messier 56, originally observed by Charles Messier in 1779.  Of course, the Hubble telescope is able to provide much more defined and detailed image than Messier would have seen in his time.  This cluster is estimated to be around 13 billion years old (wow!)

Enjoy!

Source:
http://www.NASA.com

Reserve the Date! International Observe the Moon Night, September 22, 2012

The 2012 International Observe the Moon Night will be on September 22, 2012.  Planetariums, libraries, local astronomy groups are gathering on this night to showcase and spotlight some of the great things about our moon.  Check out their website below for events and locations in your area!

International Observe the Moon Night:
http://observethemoonnight.org/

Look Outside! There's a Blue Moon Tonight!

Take a few minutes tonight and check out tonight's full moon.  It's not just any old full moon, but a Blue Moon.  What's a Blue Moon, you ask?  The term Blue Moon was coined by James Pruett in his 1946 article in Sky & Telescope magazine.  In his article, he declared that the second full moon in a calendar month is called a Blue Moon. On average, a Blue Moon only happens every 33 months (or every 2-3 years). February will never have a Blue Moon; months that have 31 days have a much better chance.

The next Blue Moon will occur on July 31, 2015.

Although the moon won't actually be the color blue tonight; make sure you take a peek at this rare phenomenon!