Month: February 2022

Science Outreach Specialists

Pretty Planets Kiss and Dance at Dawn, and Some Dark Sky Delights Til the Librated Cat Comes Back!

The Sword of Orion imaged by John Deans in Bancroft, Ontario on February 2021. This image covers about a thumb’s width of sky, top-to-bottom. The trapezium cluster lies in the heart of the nebula (above centre). Hello, March Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of February 27th, 2022 by Chris Vaughan. Feel…
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Greater Toronto Area Space Station Flyovers for the week of February 27th, 2022

As shown above, on Saturday, March 5, 2022 from 5:46 am to 5:52 am EST, the International Space Station will fly over the GTA in a bright pass, exiting Earth’s shadow above the northwestern horizon, and then flying past Polaris before setting below the eastern horizon. Artificial satellites are visible because they are high enough…
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Waning Luna Passes Pretty Planets in Morning, Vesta Visits Mars, and Walking the Dog!

This north-up image of the Little Beehive Cluster, Messier 41 in Canis Major, shows the hot blue and cooler golden stars. It covers a thumb’s width of sky, measuring top to bottom. The green circle represents the field of view in a telescope at low magnification, 1.5 degrees. Hello, Winter Astronomers! Here are your Astronomy…
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Greater Toronto Area Space Station Flyovers for the week of February 20th, 2022

According to www.transit-finder.com, Monday morning’s ISS pass will transit the moon for 1.34 seconds, visible to observers within a strip that starts west of Hwy 6, continues across southern Milton, Mississauga, northern Toronto, and ends south of Lindsey. Artificial satellites are visible because they are high enough to be bathed in sunlight while the sun…
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See Solar System Sparkles, Valentine’s Night Delights, and Full Snow Moon Features While the Love Goddess Gleams at Dawn!

This beautiful image shows the glowing pink hydrogen gas of the Rosette Nebula (NGC 2237) in Monoceros (the Unicron) and its internal star cluster NGC 2244. It was captured by Stan Noble of Swift Current, Saskatchewan in 2017/18. The Rosette, which covers about a thumb’s width of sky, can be seen in binoculars in a…
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Greater Toronto Area Space Station Flyovers for the week of February 13th, 2022

As shown above, on Sunday, February 20, 2022 from 6:28 am to 6:34 am EST, the International Space Station will fly high overhead of the GTA in an extremely bright pass, exiting Earth’s shadow above the west-southwestern horizon, and then flying past the bright stars Arcturus and Deneb before setting below the east-northeastern horizon. Artificial…
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Cold Temp Telescope Tips, Pre-dawn Planets, Lunar Libration Shows Seas, and the Waxing Moon Passes the Football!

This image from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter shows the entire Mare Imbrium region. On Thursday and Friday this week, the terminator will bisect the huge region, casting in stark relief the ringed mountain ranges to the east: Montes Alpes, Montes Caucasus, and Montes Apenninus. On Saturday night, the terminator will highlight the curved Montes Jura…
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