Crystal Coast Stargazers

06/21/2025

05/09/2025

Due to the weather forecast for clouds and rain, we have made the decision to cancel this evening's event at Fort Macon. Our next public event will be at Fort Macon on June 6 at 9:00pm.

03/07/2025

Due to the weather forecast for clouds and wind later this evening, we have decided to cancel the event. The next astronomy night at Fort Macon will be on April 4 at 7pm for the NC Scifest Statewide Star Party. Hope to see everyone next month!

01/30/2025

Tonight is the big night! The episode of "Samantha Brown's Places to Love" featuring myself and other members of the Crystal Coast Stargazers, as well as other local faces and places, airs tonight on PBSNC (19.2 Jacksonville, 25.2 Greenville) at 7PM! The trailer is now live on the show website linked below and on their YouTube channel. After tonight, the episode will replay on the PBS Explorer Channel for the next two weeks. On Sunday, the episode will also be available as a Video on Demand on the show website as well as the PBS app/website. If you don't live in the area, check your local listings. We hope everyone enjoys the show!

https://samantha-brown.com/episodes/season-8/crystal-coast-of-north-carolina/

Photo Copyright ©2025 Samantha Brown Media Inc.

01/23/2025

Some of you may recall that back in April, Samantha Brown and her crew from her PBS travel show, Samantha Brown's Places to Love, were in the area filming. The episode titled "The Crystal Coast of North Carolina" is finally scheduled to air sometime starting next week! If you're old school like me and get your TV from an aerial antenna, it will be on PBSNC channels 19.2 out of Jacksonville and 25.2 out of Greenville on Thursday, January 30 at 7PM EST. If you get your TV through cable or satellite or live in an area outside of Eastern North Carolina, you will have to check your local listings or channel guide.

12/05/2024

Due to the Atlantic Beach Christmas Parade also occurring at the same time as our stargazing event at Fort Macon tomorrow night, travel to and from the Fort will be very difficult. Given that and the low temperatures, we do not anticipate a large turnout so we have decided to cancel the event. Our next public stargazing event will be January 17 at 5:30pm at Fort Macon.

11/23/2024

For every telescope and satellite pointed out into space, NASA has one pointed right back at our planet. These satellites mainly study the atmosphere, weather patterns, land use, ocean currents and the general ecology of our planet. This particular study shows the changes of the "ghost forests" along our coast here in eastern North Carolina.

Feels like entering the portal to Hollow Places...

North Carolina's bald cypress trees are an iconic ecosystem in the southeast United States. But increasing storms, droughts, and sea level rise are contributing to a new look to the forest. A ghoulish graveyard stands where there were once large areas of healthy green trees.

Named "ghost forests" by researchers, the forests have expanded rapidly in North Carolina in recent decades. Scientists from Duke University and the University of Virginia analyzed Landsat satellite images collected between 1985 and 2019 and found that roughly 11 percent of forested land in the refuge became ghost forest over that period.

The researchers know that droughts, hurricanes, the presence of drainage canals, and sea level rise all contribute to the expansion of ghost forests, but they’re still untangling the relative importance of each factor. Sea level along this part of North Carolina is rising by about 3-4 millimeters per year, about three times faster than the global average.

10/14/2024

Today could be the day! NASA's Europa Clipper mission is set to launch at 12:06p. There is no hold window for this launch. It is a "go or no-go" situation. Any issue or delay will be a mission scrub and another attempt made tomorrow per the schedule.

Europa Clipper will make two gravity assists on its way to Jupiter and Europa. The first will be around Mars and the second will be back around Earth. It will enter Jupiter's orbit in April of 2030 and begin its fly-by mission of Europa in 2031. It will have 49-50 close encounters with Europa collecting images and science data so we can further understand the moon's composition and the nature of its subsurface oceans.

We’re going on a 1.8-billion-mile journey to an ocean world – Jupiter moon, Europa!

NASA's Europa Clipper Mission is set to launch on Monday, Oct. 14, on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket at 12:06 p.m. EDT (1606 UTC) from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Tune into the KSC page for the live stream, and use to send us your questions in the chat: https://www.facebook.com/NASAKennedy/

10/10/2024

Photos of the aurora from around the area right now! Get outside and look towards the north! The sky may have a pinkish hue to the naked eye. Set your phone camera on night mode and take a long exposure and see what you can find. The strength of the magnetic storm will constantly be changing causing the aurora to fade in and out. Between now and midnight are supposed to be the best times to view them.

10/09/2024

We had a club dark sky night this past weekend at Cape Lookout. There were only a couple of us out there, but the skies were clear and some of the best we've seen. Credit for this photo goes to club member Zygmunt Ziółkowski. Details: Nikon Z 5 +Viltrox 20mm f/2.8 @ 20mm, ISO 1600, f/2.8. 10.0 seconds - taken @ 20:25 DST on 5 October 2024

10/03/2024

Keep an eye out over the next few nights! There was an X7.01 flare a couple days ago, which will be affecting our magnetic field tonight and tomorrow night. And just today there was an absolutely massive solar flare measuring an X9.01 from that same sunspot group. It is the largest recorded flare since 2017.

A solar flare has created a geomagnetic storm that's forecast to create bright aurora tonight — so find a dark sky, and look up!

09/10/2024

Join us this Friday at 2pm (Rain or shine). Solar Observing available after Program (Weather permitting)