The quickest decimal to DMS convertion in Excel

Coordinates DMS to decimal and decimal to DMS one cell only Excel

Suppose you work on geographical or astronomical projects requiring transformation between the decimal and degree-minute-second pattern. You probably want to have everything converted as quickly as possible. On the web, some tutorials explain that the most common solution is using the Data -> Text to Columns with the main ribbon. Another way presented in the … Read more

Major lunar standstill and moonrise/moonset azimuth fluctuations

Polichna Udeuschle Moonset

The text explains the rare phenomenon, in which the azimuths of moonrise and moonset are more extreme. This situation allows us to see distant landscape features with the lunar disk beyond. Learn more about the lunar standstill and its frequency across the centuries. The changes in moonrise/moonset azimuths can give you a clue of how … Read more

Solar eclipse below the horizon – the observation guideline

Solar eclipse below the horizon observation pattern

The 2024 total solar eclipse is coming. Anyone interested will be in North America. We cannot forget about the people, who live or will temporarily stay in Western Europe on the day when the event occurs. Therefore I decided to prepare the text, which presents the guideline for this specific kind of observation. The guideline … Read more

12P/Pons Brooks comet during 2024 total solar eclipse

12 Pons Brooks 2024 total solar eclipse

This text shows some guidelines for the brief moment of the total solar eclipse 2024 occurrence at twilight, which presumably will allow for a fantastic view of the 12P/Pons-Brooks comet being close to its perihelion point.           1. 12P/PONS – BROOKS COMET – GENERAL INFORMATION 12P/Pons-Brooks is a periodic, Halley-type comet, … Read more

Is the selenelion lunar eclipse really rare event?

Earth umbra pattern

In this text, I would like somewhat to continue the thread from the previous one, which has described briefly my observation of the “just” partial lunar eclipse on Monday morning of May 16th. As I mentioned there, there is a thing, which requires an explanation. The question has been asked in the title and my … Read more

Just partial lunar eclipse of May 16th 2022

Partial lunar eclipse 2022 Zimna Woda

I had a good occasion to watch just a partial lunar eclipse from southeastern Poland  – my homeland, this time. The event, although very short, will be remembered probably forever. Before I will get to this point, I must start from the beginning and describe the overall total lunar eclipse of May 16th, 2022 circumstances … Read more

Lunar occultations of the brightest stars in the 2021-2040 period

Lunar occultations of stars Meeus 1997

The last piece of the topic about the most interesting celestial events in the period of 2021 – 2040 covers lunar occultations of stars. I haven’t described it before, because in my point of view, they are not as spectacular as they could be. In fact, this is only my point of view, therefore this … Read more

The 49 brightest stars in the night sky – when and where can we see them?

25 brightest stars in the sky NASA

Since this amazing image (at the top) has been published, the articles about the 25 brightest stars in the night sky grew like weeds. Despite a multitude of similar texts presenting a brief description of the brightest stars, which can be seen in the night sky there is no complete information. I do not mean … Read more

Shall we trust Stellarium Web or Stellarium App?

Mercury and Saturn occultation 2037

Stellarium is a free open-source planetarium, which can be used in different ways. The primary software is dedicated to your computer, but you can still work with Stellarium by using it both via a web application (Stellarium-web.org) as well as an Android application (Stellarium Mobile). Within this second one, there are also another two ways … Read more

Top 100 the most beautiful places from where you could observe annular or total solar eclipses in the 2021-2040 period

Eclipses and tourist places Top 100 2021-2040

This article is probably a compression of the ebook, which I would like to release in the nearest future about the 500 spots, from where you could observe both annular and total solar eclipses worldwide in the 2021-2040 period. I have inspiration from the Sky and Telescope magazine, which has prepared recently a similar list … Read more

10 the most spectacular celestial events to watch in 2021-2040

Top 10 celestial events up to 2040

This text is somewhat the continuation of the previous one, tailored for the most unique celestial events or group of celestial events, which will occur in the 2021-2030 decade. This time you will read about 10 of the best occurrences in the sky within the next 20 years. Some of the astronomical events described in … Read more

The most unique astronomical events you shouldn’t miss in the 2021-2030 decade

Moon Venus Mars and Milky Way 2029

Recently we have entered the new decade 2021-2030. This is a good time to take a look at what major astronomical events will occur throughout this time. I don’t mean typical celestial events, as known from a vast majority of astronomical calendars issued usually on a yearly basis. I would like to take a deep … Read more

Several important reasons why you should see the 2026 solar eclipse

Total solar eclipse 2026 and aurora

It’s still quite a lot of time to the 2026 total solar eclipse event, which has been already considered by me in terms of the possibility of seeing its impact on the atmosphere when the phenomenon happens below the horizon.  However, the character of this path of totality requires attention far earlier than normal, as … Read more

The Astropixels.com ephemeris data extractor

Astropixels.com ephemeris data extractor

I would like to introduce the new tool, whose goal is to extract the ephemeris data from the Astropixels.com service.  Before I start to describe the major features of my program I would express a big thanks to Fred Espenak the author of this platform. Fred Espenak is already a retired American astrophysicist, whom we … Read more

Total solar eclipse 2020 – remote chasing the umbra and a brief explanation how do the webcams work

Total solar eclipse below the horizon Namibia 2020

The total solar eclipse on December 14, 2020, was the last one in the 2nd decade and obviously the first “Twenty Years Solar Eclipse Path Tables”  of the XXI century. Most people call this eclipse the COVID eclipse, due to omnipresent travel restrictions, which kept a lot of eclipse chasers in their homes. They could … Read more

The visibility of Venus before the 2020 inferior conjunction

Inferior Venus conjunstion 2020

The inferior conjunction of Venus with the Sun happens almost every year.  Almost, because in about the 8-year cycle of our neighbor planet she passes the Sun-Earth line 5 times (the synodic cycle counts 854 days exactly), making a peculiar pentagram, comprised of 5 petals.  Every petal corresponds to the individual character of the inferior … Read more