Mike Simonsen
The Furor over FUORs
[/caption] In 1937, an ordinary 16th magnitude star in the constellation Orion began to brighten steadily. Thinking it was a…
Unprecedented Eruption Catches Astronomers By Surprise
[/caption] An alert was raised March 11 when Japanese amateur astronomers announced what might have been the discovery of a…
Aurora Watch! Valentine’s Day Sun-Earth Weather Alert
[/caption] Sky watchers observing from high latitude areas may be in for a treat tonight. Forecasters from the National Oceanic…
Long Anticipated Eruption of U Scorpii Has Begun
[/caption] Today, two amateur astronomers from Florida detected a rare outburst of the recurrent nova U Scorpii, which set in…
Kepler Goes Fishing and Reels in Two KOI
By now you've probably heard about the first results from the Kepler mission to find extrasolar planets. Five new exoplanet…
Surf’s Up! Astronomers Ride Stellar Waves
[/caption] This week, first results from the Kepler mission are coming out in waves from the meeting of the American…
Eta Carinae- A Naked Eye Enigma
[/caption] Eta Carinae is a beast of a star. At more than 100 solar masses and 4 million times the…