Bright stars can still be appreciated when the moon is full and bright, as it will be this week. This image from Stellarium shows the central part of the constellation Perseus, the Hero. His brightest star Mirfak, aka Alpha Persei, is at centre. Surrounding Mirfak is a large grouping of bright, young, hot stars known…
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As shown above, on Thursday, January 2 from 6:48 to 6:53 am EST, the International Space Station will fly over the GTA in a very bright pass, exiting Earth’s shadow over the northwestern horizon, flying close to Polaris and then the bright star Vega, and finally setting in the east. Artificial satellites are visible because…
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Ian Wheelband of Ashburn, Ontario captured this pre-Great Conjunction image of Jupiter and Saturn through his telescope on Friday evening, December 18, 2020. The planets will be far closer together on Monday, December 21, 2020. Happy Solstice, Winter Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of December 20th, 2020 by Chris Vaughan. Feel…
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As shown above, on Wednesday, December 23 from 6:39 to 6:45 am EST, the International Space Station will fly high overhead of the GTA in an extremely bright pass, exiting Earth’s shadow over the west-southwestern horizon, flying through the Little Dipper and Polaris, and then setting in the northeast. Artificial satellites are visible because they…
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A composite image by Yin Hao of 37 frames spanning 8.5 hours of time on Dec 12/13 of the 2017 Geminids Meteor Shower. The meteors, streaks of ionized gas in Earth’s upper atmosphere, appear to be radiating from the twin stars Castor and Pollux at upper left – while Orion at lower right looks on.…
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Artificial satellites are visible because they are high enough to be bathed in sunlight while the sun is below the horizon for earthbound observers. When the geometry is just right, brilliant beams of sunlight are reflected to Earth from flat, shiny surfaces on the spacecraft – which we see as a steady point of light…
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The glowing red hydrogen in the Heart and Soul Nebulas, and the bright stars of the Double Cluster above them, are featured in this image by Adrien Klamerius, which spans about 10 degrees (or a fist’s diameter) of the sky. NASA APOD for September 24, 2016 Hello, December Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for…
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As shown above, on Monday, December 7 from 5:45 to 5:52 pm EST, the International Space Station will fly directly overhead of the GTA in an extremely bright pass, rising from the west-northwestern horizon, flying closely past Mars, and then entering Earth’s shadow just above the east-southeastern horizon. Artificial satellites are visible because they are…
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