Observing Reports
By Michael Amato
The March 2026 issue of Sky & Telescope magazine has an article about an association of stars located to the right of Orion’s belt stars that is not really known to many amateur astronomers. On Thursday night, January 15, I decided to explore this area, known as the OB 1a association, with my 5.1″ Short Tube Newtonian Reflector Richfield Scope. The group of stars impressed me as I explored around the area. It turned out to be well worthwhile. The better-known OB areas are OB 1b which is the band of stars around the three belt stars which we have all seen and enjoyed. OB 1c is the group of stars in the area above and below The Orion Nebula which is also well known to us. Finally, OB 1d association is both the Orion and Flame Nebulas. I ended up looking at all of the OB associations in one sitting.
During the morning of February 24, I read on Spaceweather that the Sun’s face has no sunspots for the first time in more than a year. The Sun’s image on Spaceweather was blank. With this in mind, I took out my 62-mm Sun Spotter Solar Telescope to see for myself. Sure enough, the Sun’s face was a complete blank. I did scan the edge of the Sun’s disc to see if I could see any spots rotating onto the Sun’s disc. I didn’t see even one. As the Sun continues to head into solar minimum, we’ll see more blank face images of the Sun.
I just finished reading a new astronomy book titled Starry Wonders, authored by Janine Bonham and illustrated by Erin Miller. The main feature of this book is her discussion of the 25 brightest stars in our night sky. She discusses the meaning of their color and where they are in the life cycles. She also discussed how each star will end its life. Her speculation on how and when Betelgeuse and Rigel end their lives is very interesting. She also talks about some interesting stars like Myra and Algol. The last part of this book discusses some open clusters that we have seen. The book is 239 pages long and I finished it in two days. This book is a good read.
On Saturday night, March 14, I decided to turn my 5.1″ Short Tube Newtonian Richfield Scope based on an article I read about Procyon. When I looked at Procyon, I noticed how very yellow it looked. According to the article, the reason Procyon is so yellow looking is because it is about to leave the main sequence and become a red giant star. It is just beginning to use helium as its hydrogen is used up. This is the first time I really looked at Procyon and Canis Minor in all the years I viewed the sky. I think looking at Procyon as it begins to move to a red giant star is very interesting. Too bad we won’t be around to see it complete its transition to a red giant.
Astronomy Links
From Ray Kaville
James Webb Telescope Just Revealed the True Scale Of The Universe!
Monty Python Universe song
Are smart scopes taking over astrophotography?
The historic Voyager missions:
https://www.npr.org/2025/05/20/nx-s1-5403501/voyager-thruster-nasa-interstellar
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/voyager/spacecraft
Features
If you have not looked at the newsletter before, check out some of the regular features. There are four useful links in the menu at the top of this page:
Calendar This is a monthly calendar that includes all the scheduled events of ASNH, other regional events of interest, plus the dates and times of noteworthy events in the night sky.
SkyMap This page has a chart of the sky as it appears over the New Haven area at the present date and time. It is constantly updated, so you can go to this page on any clear night to see what is overhead.
Directions This page gives directions to all the locations where regular activities of ASNH take place, including the monthly meeting, public observing sessions, and the annual Connecticut Star Party.
Other regular features can be found within these pages:
Upcoming Public Events Many ASNH events are free and open to the public. These include the monthly meetings and public observing sessions at Young’s Pond Park in Branford and Silver Sands State Park in Milford. This section gives the dates, times, and descriptions of these events.
Night Sky Highlights This section lists some objects to observe in the sky during the next few months, whether you are using just your eyes, a pair of binoculars, or a telescope.
Gallery This section features photographs of celestial targets taken by ASNH members and others.