Sands and Stars

Welcome to Petey-ological Spring! It's the morning of the change to Daylight Saving Time, so I figure many of you are grumpy over losing one tiny hour of sleep. If only you'd gone to bed, say, 60 minutes earlier. Wait . . . what a concept! I imagine my dose of frivolity might open your eyes a bit more as you growl, grin then chuckle. So what is Petey-ological Spring? Let me get to that shortly. Well, we all know (though sometime loathe to admit, oddly) that the seasons are caused by the tilt of the Earth. If that tilt did not occur, the weather would not follow its expected change. Seasons, therefore, are astronomical. And the weather takes time to catch up to the astronomical event; the arrival of spring this year is with the vernal equinox at 10:46 a.m. EDT March 20. Here's more detailed information , if you like; be aware this article uses Central Daylight Time.  Petey-ological Spring is my invention and it comes on the heels of weathermen and weatherwoman chortling abo...

Sometimes it's difficult to contain my giddy geekishness and nerdism.  It's been a long time since I used a slide rule, protractor or a pocket protector, but there are feelings of glee that still erupt over the smallest or most unusual things. Near Quito, Ecuador: You may be standing on the equator. For example: A local television meteorologist shared on his Facebook page that he recently had visited Ecuador where he stood with one foot on either side of the equator. So what, right? Big deal! And what is the equator anyway? This boyish mind, always open to a new adventure, is preparing to go explore this line that creates the girdle of the world. Yet my thoughts first rushed with jubilance to a time when I stood on the Prime Meridian in London . I've stood in three states at one time along the Mason-Dixon Line. Well, not the equator, but it's the Prime Meridian in London, England. Photo taken by my illustrious wife, Amy Johns! But this equator thing? Way cool! Except...

Perhaps it was sometime in the early 1960s when the centerfold of a magazine grabbed my eyes and sparked my imagination. Yes, there were plenty of heavenly bodies, and I wasn't quite 10, so I wasn't able to comprehend the stunning beauty I was seeing. Yet it was that monthly map of the night sky, right smack in the middle of Sky & Telescope magazine, that showed the stars, constellations, and the positions of the planets and Moon, that helped to ignite an undying passion. The stunning view of the crescent Moon, brilliant Venus and the star Regulus above a tower as seen from Glenshaw, Pa., Sept. 19, 2025. Photo by Phil Bridenbach. Certainly, that love still abounds today in my heart and mind. As the years and decades passed, I observed so many astronomical visions -- the rings of Saturn, two total eclipses of the Sun, comets, galaxies and nebulae, conjunctions and more -- but what I saw in the light of the growing dawn this morning, Sept. 19, 2025, was astounding. Breathtaki...

Author's note: This is the first of what I call "resurrected pieces from my recreational writing," composed before I started my Sands to Stars blog.  First is a tribute to the night, with links to appropriate music, written Aug. 4, 2022: What's it like to spend a clear summer night at the observatory? Why, it's simply astronomical, of course. Photo by Phil Breidenbach.   The gathering is a star party that brings the cosmos to Earth to a wide-eyed general public, but ends with the bleary eyes of intrepid, joyful amateur astronomers who endure until daybreak on a rural hilltop. It is easy to be overcome by emotion, because the inspirational sky views are spectacular, from those offered by the larger telescopes inside the building to their smaller, mobile cousins on the lawn. The instruments beckon all curious eyes. So with the help of some my favorite musical artists who have shared their wonderful audio inspirations online, here is a sonic voyage from sundown to j...

Don't I know you ... ? In my many decades of observing the cosmos – more than 65 years – I never have seen a smiley face in the night sky. Not once. And I'm sure I won't on the morning of April 25, 2025. Bet you've seen him before: the fake smiley face that's been making the rounds.  In the age in which misinformation is commonplace, many social media sites are sharing this image, purported to show what appears to be a smiley face that will appear that morning in the sky. It's an artificial illustration of the crescent Moon with the planets Venus and Saturn directly above – but all too close and mostly too bright. But before I progress across too many light-years,  a message to my dear friends who have shared the original post and image: This blog is not a slap at you. I'd never do that. My emphasis is where astronomical news is concerned, be sure to follow a trusted source. Otherwise, people are disappointed when they look, and because of that, they may not...

Coming home from the stars and landing firmly on the Earth: In the woods on a lofty ridgetop, near the peak where Appalachian waters are made to choose whether to tumble east or west, a geographic point etched in history lies at the base of a 20th century stone. Image from Facebook that shows the location of the Tripoint. Text accompanying the photo on social media is wildly incorrect. Maybe you've seen it pictured recently in an image posted to Facebook and other social media platforms. The photo itself is accurate; the location described in accompanying texts is not. In truth, this is the point where Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia meet. It is the intersection of the historic Mason-Dixon Line (Pennsylvania's southern border for the most part) and the Deakins Line (the West Virginia-Maryland border after 1912). This stone sits outside of Markleysburg, Pa., in Fayette County. It is not , as some have written, uh . . . in "Northeastern Central Pennsylvania." ...