Jimmy Westlake
Recent Stories
Jimmy Westlake: Spooky star continues to be famous
Hollywood has created some scary monsters for us, but it has nothing on ancient Greece. Some of the monsters passed down to us through Greek mythology are as terrifying as anything ever conjured up by the human imagination.
Jimmy Westlake: Mars buzzes the Beehive
I received dozens of phone calls from excited folks last August after an e-mail made its way around the Internet announcing that Mars was about to make its closest pass by Earth in 50,000 years and would appear as big as the full moon in our sky.
Jimmy Westlake: A great year for Orionid Meteors
Did you get to see Halley's Comet when it sailed past Earth in 1985 and '86? If not, you'll have to wait until the year 2061 for another chance, because Halley's Comet requires 76 years to orbit the sun. But until then, you can watch the pieces of the famous comet rain down during the Orionid meteor shower.
Jimmy Westlake: Shine on, harvest moon
Get ready for a big ol' harvest moon this weekend. There's a lot of folklore out there concerning the unusual harvest moon phenomenon. Let's see if we can separate fact from fiction.
Jimmy Westlake: Autumnal equinox arrives today
The season of autumn officially arrives for the northern hemisphere at 3:22 p.m. today. How do astronomers determine the precise moment the season begins? Fall begins the instant the sun crosses the equator on its way south.
Jimmy Westlake: Cassiopeia ushers in fall
Summer is slipping away from us, and the changing constellations are a sure sign of the approach of fall.
Jimmy Westlake: The quiet sun
A year ago, I wrote in this column about the prolonged solar minimum we were in that seemed to have no end. Now, one year later, astronomers still are scratching their heads about the sun's paucity of sunspots.
Jimmy Westlake: Delphinus is high to southeast
The late summer sky is dominated by several giant constellations that eat up a lot of territory: Hercules the Strong Man, Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer, Ursa Major the Great Bear, etc. Tucked in between these sky-hogs are a few tiny constellations that are a snap to locate precisely because they are so small.
Jimmy Westlake: Planets of fire and ice
Fire and ice. These two words succinctly describe the difference between the two terrestrial planets Mercury and Mars, both of which are visible in Colorado skies this month.
Jimmy Westlake: Perseid meteors set to dazzle
The annual Perseid meteor shower is in progress and is scheduled to reach its peak tonight. The Perseid meteor shower produces 40 to 60 meteors per hour at its peak.
