Sky Watch: Two decades of stargazing

It's hard to believe, but it was 20 years ago this week that I published my first "Stargazers" column.

Since that time, we've seen solar and lunar eclipses darken the land, planets group together and transit across the sun, variable stars wink on and off, meteor showers rain from the sky and some of the most spectacular comets in history drift mysteriously across the silent heavens.

And I suspect that anyone who has ever stepped outdoors to experience the events about which I write has figured out that we make discoveries best not with the brain but with the heart.

And just two weeks ago, I watched as NASA successfully landed the most complex SUV-sized rover on Mars -- a feat that will go surely down as one of the grandest of all human achievements.

But it's not just these super-spectacular events that capture our imaginations. Sometimes it's the simplest and most common. For me, just spotting the constellation Scorpius and the bright star Antares recalls fond memories of childhood, when I'd often lie on the cool grass and watch the star's ruddy hue twinkle through the summertime haze.

Yes, much has happened in the past two decades.When we were discussing the introduction of "Stargazers," my editor asked if I thought there would be enough material to sustain a weekly column -- a perfectly legitimate editorial question, I suppose. But I knew then, as I know now, that when writing about the cosmos, I'd never run out of fascinating material!

become syndicated nationally through Creators Syndicate, and readers can now follow me on Facebook (facebook.com/DennisMammana) and Twitter (@DennisMammana) -- something I couldn't even imagine back in the early days of this column.