Of all the lights in the heavens, one stands alone. Looking at the night sky, we stare at a family of stars all akin to our own, all a part of the Milky Way Galaxy. However, nestled within the stars of the constellation Andromeda is a faint patch of light from far beyond.     At roughly 2.5 million light years distant, the Andromeda Galaxy, or M31, is one of the most distant objects visible to the unaided eye. But it is also our nearest galactic neighbor, a two-armed spiral...

Thirty years three months and several days ago, the twin Solid Rocket Boosters strapped to the space shuttle Challenger ignited in unison, discharging a wake of flames and propelling up, up, up against gravity’s pull and into low-earth orbit.     I see it still, my high school freshman eyes glued to the television brought into the auditorium. Classes excused, we were all there, watching history, as was most everyone in America, with all three networks and PBS breaking into...

Editor and publisher Sandra Olivetti Martin, vacationing with husband and Bay Weekly co-founder Bill Lambrecht, both of whom celebrate birthdays within a week of the year’s mid-point, asked for a week off from her usual letter. So I write you in her stead, aquake at the responsibility of filling this coveted space.     As a reader of the paper, you perhaps know me best for the weekly astronomy column, Sky Watch, that I pen. A fixture since Day 1, the idea was based on...

While these are the shortest nights of the year, many a fond memory is set star-gazing on warm summer evenings. And in between the bursts of flame and the clouds of smoke honoring our independence this week, Friday’s new moon provides a dark backdrop highlighting the greatest show in the heavens.     One of the first lights to appear after sunset, around 8:35, is likely Arcturus almost directly overhead. The brightest star visible and fourth-brightest overall, Arcturus...