Special to CosmicTribune.com, April 16, 2025 Geostrategy-Direct By Richard Fisher In December 2017, President Donald Trump revived the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) manned mission to the Moon after it had been cancelled by President Barack Obama in 2010. Then, in his Jan. 20, 2025 inauguration speech, Trump lifted NASA’s goals higher by declaring, […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, April 14, 2025 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. SUNDAY, APRIL 13 ■ Vega, the bright “Summer Star,” rises in the northeast these evenings. How early or late depends on your latitude and also on your longitude within your time zone. Exactly where should you watch for Vega to come up? Spot the Big Dipper […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, April 8, 2025 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. SUNDAY, APRIL 6 ■ The Big Dipper stands high in the northeast these evenings, tipping over to the left dumping water. Its handle plus the two stars of its bowl closest to the handle form a broad, rough arc. To the right of the arc, not […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, March 31, 2025 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. SATURDAY, MARCH 29 ■ A partial eclipse of the Sun happens for northeastern North America, Greenland, Iceland, and most of Europe. For most the northeastern U.S. and the Canadian Maritimes, the eclipse will already be under way at sunrise. SUNDAY, MARCH 30 ■ Mars is passing 4° south of […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, March 24, 2025 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. MONDAY, MARCH 24 ■ Many binocular observers check in on the 5th-magnitude open cluster M41 just 4° due south of Sirius. But how many then look the other way from Sirius for the open cluster M50? It’s 10° north-northeast from Sirius, dimmer, smaller and more subtle than […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, March 10, 2025 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. MONDAY, MARCH 10 ■ Mars, Pollux, and Castor in Gemini pass nearly overhead soon after nightfall this week, if you live in the world’s mid-northern latitudes. Mars is still the brightest. Pollux and Castor go smack overhead if you’re near latitude 30° north. Those “twin” heads of […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, January 15, 2025 Geostrategy-Direct By Richard Fisher A deadly space competition between China and the United States was demonstrated by Jan.12 article in the unofficial Chinese state media South China Morning Post (SCMP) on how Chinese engineers are developing the means to target U.S. satellite mega-constellations. The SCMP article was likely coercive […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, January 13, 2025 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. SUNDAY, JANUARY 12 ■ Mars is nearest to Earth tonight, appearing 14.6 arcseconds wide and magnitude –1.4. That’s as bright as Sirius, which sparkles whitely about four fists to Mars’s lower right in early evening, and directly below Mars when they’re highest around midnight or 1 a.m. […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, December 16, 2024 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. SUNDAY, DECEMBER 15 ■ The Summer Triangle is finally sinking low in the west, and Altair is the first of its stars to go (for mid-northern skywatchers). Start by spotting bright Vega, magnitude zero, the brightest star in the northwest right after dark. The brightest one […]
Special to CosmicTribune.com, December 11, 2024 Geostrategy-Direct By Richard Fisher Once again, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has delayed the Artemis-III return-to-the-Moon-mission, this time to mid-2027, again ceding momentum to China, which could begin occupying the Moon as early as 2029. This latest delay was announced by NASA Administrator Bill Nelson during a […]
