Bucket-list sky phenomena
Here are my top six sky apparitions that belong on everyone’s bucket list, most of which appear in your own backyard.
All posts by Bob Berman
The consummate sky-speaker
One word is so consistently mispronounced that I’ve been repeatedly corrected when I say it the right way, which is why it drives me bonkers.
Those Lagrangian Points
You go there when you want privacy. Lagrangian points are very cool. So why haven’t we ever explored them in the 44 years this column has run?
Is the universe conscious?
How can such an intangible thing as the fact of awareness, such as experiencing the smell of buttered corn, arise from the insentient atoms and molecules that fashion our bodies?
Find the black hole in the center of our galaxy this weekend
Friday-Saturday, Sept. 14-15: There’s probably a supermassive black hole in the core of every galaxy. Ours has the weight of four million Suns.
Ring around the Sun: The magnificent 22-degree halo
Summer offers a profusion of ice-crystal phenomena.
The astonishing CZA: How to find the upside-down rainbow
A rainbow requires a sunshower. It must be raining. But the CZA can appear against a blue sky.
The best meteors in years?
Saturday-Sunday, August 11-12: It’s all due to a backwards comet. All we need are mostly clear skies.
The gemstone rainbow: Look for the Magnificent Six
Want to see it for yourself? It’s easy, if you can get to a place with an unobstructed sweep of sky to the west, south and southeast, like the Walkway over the Hudson.
The Great 2018 Mars Opposition
Friday night, July 27: That’s when the Sun, the Earth and the planet Mars form a straight line in space. Mars rises just as the Sun sets and it’s exceptionally brilliant. By coincidence, Friday night is also the July Full Moon.