Messier 101 also known as the Pinwheel Galaxy and NGC 5457 is a large, face-on spiral galaxy in Ursa Major near the Big Dipper’s handle tip star, Alkaid. This Sloan digital Sky Survey image spans about 25 arc-minutes top to bottom – or about the diameter of the full moon. In June the galaxy is…
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As shown above, on Sunday, May 30, 2021 from 9:43 to 9:49 pm EDT, the International Space Station will fly high overhead of the GTA in an extremely bright pass, rising from the northwestern horizon near Venus and then flying past the Big Dipper before disappearing into Earth’s shadow over the east-southeastern horizon. Artificial satellites…
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Michael Watson of Toronto captured this trio of images of the April 15, 2014 lunar eclipse. He carefully positioned the moon to show its east to west motion and the circular shape of Earth’s shadow. For the total lunar eclipse of Wednesday, May 26, 2021 the moon will instead cross through the upper half of…
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As shown above, on Sunday, May 30, 2021 from 9:43 to 9:49 pm EDT, the International Space Station will fly high overhead of the GTA in an extremely bright pass, rising from the northwestern horizon near Venus and then flying past the Big Dipper before disappearing into Earth’s shadow over the east-southeastern horizon. Artificial satellites…
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This fantastic image of the First quarter moon was taken during mid-twilight on April 22, 2018 by Michael Watson of Toronto. The Lunar X, an hour or so past its peak, is visible below centre just to the right of the terminator. Michael’s galleries of images are hosted at https://www.flickr.com/photos/97587627@N06/albums Hello, Late Spring Stargazers! Here…
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As shown above, on Tuesday, May 18, 2021 from 9:30 to 9:36 pm EDT, the International Space Station will fly high overhead of the GTA in an extremely bright pass, rising from the west-southwestern horizon near the bright star Procyon and then flying past the bright star Vega just before disappearing below the northeastern horizon.…
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The prominent galaxies Messier 81 or Bode’s Nebula (left) and Messier 82 or the Cigar Galaxy (right) are located near the Big Dipper’s bowl in the northern sky. This image by AstroDoc Ron Brecher of Guelph, Ontario from February, 2017 spans about 1.5 degrees, or three full moon diameters. Messier 81 is large and bright…
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As shown above, on Saturday, May 15, 2021 from 10:15 to 10:21 pm EDT, the International Space Station will fly high overhead of the GTA in an extremely bright pass, rising from the southwestern horizon and then flying past the bright star Vega just before disappearing below the east-northeastern horizon. Artificial satellites are visible because…
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This image of the globular star cluster Messier 3 in Canes Venatici was captured by Adam Block at the Mount Lemmon sky Center, University of Arizona. The area of sky shown spans a little more than the full moon’s diameter. Hello, May Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of May 2nd, 2021…
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An artist’s conception of the first module of China’s new space station, TianHe, which will be visible when it flies overhead after dusk and before dawn. 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…
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