Colorado Mountain College eNews

By Jimmy Westlake, professor of physical science, Colorado Mountain College in Steamboat

The annual Perseid meteor shower is now underway and is expected to peak on Thursday August 12.  While some meteor showers can disappoint because of slower than expected activity, the Perseid meteor shower is the “old faithful” of meteor showers because it dependably produces 50-60 meteors per hour at its peak. Read the rest of this entry »

By Jimmy Westlake, professor of physical science, Colorado Mountain College in Steamboat

When the bright moon is not in the sky, the dark summer night reveals one of its most spectacular treasures, the soft, misty glow of the Via Lactea, or, the Milky Way.   Contrary to what the ancient Romans believed, the Milky Way is not made of milk at all, but is the combined light of billions of distant suns, unresolved by the unaided eye.  Read the rest of this entry »

By Jimmy Westlake, professor of physical science, Alpine Campus

There aren’t many constellations that resemble the objects or creatures for which they are named.  Scorpius, the Scorpion, is a delightful example of one that does.  The celestial scorpion scampers across our southern sky on summer evenings, so this month is prime time for scorpion hunting. Read the rest of this entry »

Don’t be alarmed if you are sunbathing on a South Pacific isle this coming July 11 when suddenly the Sun disappears and the stars pop out at midday.  It’s just a total eclipse of the Sun.  Many of the islands in the South Pacific will experience about five minutes of the rare darkness produced as the shadow of the Moon races across the surface of the Earth at nearly 1000 miles per hour. Read the rest of this entry »

By Jimmy Westlake, professor of physical science, Alpine Campus

As the Earth and Moon perform their perpetual orbital dance, sometimes their shadows are thrown onto each other creating an event called an eclipse.  Our word eclipse is derived from the Greek word ekleipsis, which means “to abandon.”  Read the rest of this entry »

By Jimmy Westlake, professor of physical science, Alpine Campus

If you are an Ophiuchan, please raise your hand.  Hmmm… I’m not seeing any hands out there.  Perhaps you are an Ophiuchan and you don’t know it.  Please allow me to explain. Read the rest of this entry »

By Jimmy Westlake, professor of physical science, Alpine Campus

Warm June evenings are perfect for stargazing and the upcoming month offers plenty of celestial events to keep you busy looking up.  Whether you are camping out under the stars or viewing from your back porch, you won’t want to miss these events. Read the rest of this entry »

By Jimmy Westlake, professor of physical science, Alpine Campus

Winging his way across our springtime sky is a delightful little constellation named Corvus, the Crow.  The four main stars of Corvus form an unmistakable kite-shaped pattern located one-third of the way up in our southern sky around 10:00 PM in mid-May.  Its distinctive pattern makes Corvus easy to spot.

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