Harold Meckler

Truth be told, there’s a lot to be said for being young. For all of the beauty and innate majesty that comes with age, there’s nothing like watching a teenager sprint to the finish of a three-mile race. Likewise, we can marvel at the towering redwoods in Muir Woods, but don’t we stand in greater […]

How often do you read a book for the second or third time and realize that you missed so many important parts on a previous reading? Sky watching is similar. Sometimes, we’re so focused on one object, that something nearby is neglected. Such is the case with the huge constellation Pegasus, the winged horse. It […]

Amateur astronomers enjoy the intellectual intrigue, deep science, and technology that allows them to see more than the star gazing giants of past generations could ever imagine. For me, though, it’s about escapism, about disappearing from everything for a few minutes or maybe an hour or so. A doctor once told me that it’s impossible […]

The things we’re closest to we often seem to take for granted. Or ignore. It took me more than 30 years to drive one hour from my New Jersey home to visit Ellis Island, the small spot of land where my father had taken his first steps in America. I just didn’t make thetime to […]

Starting this month and heading into the summer, Jupiter and Saturn begin to rise earlier in the evening in the southern and southeastern skies. These gas giants grab the lion’s share of the headlines of our solar system and for good reason. Look beneath the large print and one finds stories of wonder and awe. […]

Our planet is moving through space at a tremendous speed. Miraculously, we don’t feel it. Even better, 66,000 miles per hour is just right to keep us where we are in relation to the life-giving benefits of the sun. We’re in the right lane, doing the right speed. But occasionally we drive through the debris […]

One night in late Autumn, 1985 I grabbed my blanket, pillow and jacket, draped a pair of binoculars over my shoulder and headed for the bed of my pickup parked outside our home in Howell, New Jersey. The daily newspaper had given the position in the sky for Halley’s Comet and I was determined, like […]

I am so lucky to live here, especially in winter when the air feels filtered. I’m here where city lights carry only so far. Truth be told, it isn’t luck. I want to be here. Every night the sky calls me to look up and become awestruck. Sometimes it’s only for a moment. But it’s […]