Borrego Sun - Since 1949

I've always enjoyed Halloween. I mean, how often can we dress up as crazy characters and wander the neighborhood without being locked up? But did you know that Halloween has an origin that's rooted in the heavens? It all goes back... — Updated 11/9/2023

It's hard to believe, but it will be 30 years on Aug. 19 since I published my first "Stargazers" column. Over those years, we've seen eclipses darken the land, planets converge in the sky or transit across the sun, meteor showers... — Updated 8/30/2022

Peter Dudley, 83, and the love of my life, departed for a new adventure on May 12, surrounded by our three sons and a granddaughter. When his heart and kidneys began to fail, while in our California home, he desperately wanted to... — Updated 6/2/2022

Large amounts of colliding space debris have resulted from increased commercial space activities. Outer space remains classified as an eminent domain or a global commons. All space activities need to be regulated for humanity and... — Updated 10/1/2021

By Dennis Mammana If you haven't been paying attention to the Perseverance spacecraft that landed on Mars on Feb. 18, you've been missing one of the great scientific achievements of our time. Check out the real-time video of its... — Updated 4/29/2021

It's been quite a while since we've seen a bright comet in our skies. Many stargazers remember the show put on by Comet Hale-Bopp 23 years ago, but most folks can't recall seeing another one since. One is now swinging past the... — Updated 8/3/2020

Summer skywatchers will soon be enjoying a couple of planetary visitors in our night sky. This week, the giant planet Jupiter returns to our early evening sky. Jupiter reaches its opposition point on July 14, when it appears... — Updated 7/22/2020

The International Space Station was engaged with experiments and welcoming new arrivals on June 9. It was steadily working on its 15+ orbits, circling faster than 17,000 miles per hour then suddenly the land line rang. It was... — Updated 7/8/2020

As dusk broke for the Dark Sky Party at the Borrego Springs Library on Aug. 15, not the Moon, but Jupiter appeared as the first celestial object, even displaying four of its 67 known moons telescopically later in the event. Followi... — Updated 8/22/2019

It was pure drama. Would a six-month space voyage to Mars costing almost half a billion dollars end in success or failure? The drama began and ended in all of eight minutes. Upon reaching Mars on Nov. 26 and ready to begin the... — Updated 12/29/2018

The Jan. 31 full moon is special for three reasons: it's the third in a series of "supermoons," when the Moon is closer to Earth in its orbit -- known as perigee -- and about 14 percent brighter than usual. It's also the second... — Updated 2/14/2018

Anyone eager to catch a glimpse of today's historic total solar eclipse but hasn't bought special viewing glasses could make their own. Since it is too dangerous to look at the sun during an eclipse with the naked eye, eclipse... — Updated 8/21/2017

With a total eclipse sweeping the country at the end of August, a conspiracy theorist claims it is a signal that Earth is coming to an end. David Meade, a Christian numerologist and author of the conspiracy book, 'Planet X - The... — Updated 8/10/2017

The worlds media have been watching closely as the drought came to a brief end and the desert came alive. NASA Earth Observatory have put together a compilation of pictures showing the wild flower bloom in the Anza-Borrego Desert... — Updated 4/20/2017

The moon is threatening to obscure this months meteor shower, however it is still worth taking some time tonight and through to 23rd to see if you can see Ursid Meteor Shower across the skies. Experts are predicting that it will... — Updated 12/28/2016

If you only see one astronomical event this year, make it the November supermoon, when the Moon will be the closest to Earth it's been since January 1948. During the event, which will happen on the eve of November 14, the Moon... — Updated 11/9/2016

Watch the International Space Station pass overhead this week. It is the third brightest object in the sky and easy to spot if you know when to look up. Visible to the naked eye, it looks like a fast-moving plane only much higher... — Updated 10/27/2016

Mystery surrounds a 'fireball' seen over San Diego Mon. Aug 15, as witnesses report sightings from Eastlake, above the City Heights area, and another person noticed them above the San Diego International Airport. NASA experts and... — Updated 9/12/2016

After last nights Delta Aquarids Meteor Shower, Borrego's dark skies will once again be the best place to stargaze come Aug 12-13. Perseid meteor shower will burst into light this August as Earth passes through the long trail left... — Updated 8/5/2016