This spectacular, and very well planned, image of Jupiter shining over a neighbour’s tree was captured several years ago by my talented friend Kerry-Ann Lecky Hepburn. She recently shared it on her FaceBook page as a Christmas wish for peace, love, happiness and understanding over this holiday season and heading into the new year. In…
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As shown above, on Monday, December 30, 2024 from 6:31 to 6:35 am EST, the International Space Station will be visible flying high overhead of the GTA in an extremely bright pass, exiting Earth’s shadow in the lower part of the northwestern horizon between Capella and Mars and then flying through the Big Dipper before…
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Merry Christmas to those who celebrate! This wonderful object, known as the Christmas Tree Cluster or NGC 2264, is located in the constellation of Monoceros (the Unicorn), which occupies the winter sky between Orion and Gemini. The red glows are hydrogen gas being energized by the clump of hot, young stars recently born in the…
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As shown above, on Sunday, December 29, 2024 from 7:13 to 7:19 am EST, the International Space Station will be visible flying high overhead of the GTA in an extremely bright pass, exiting Earth’s shadow just above the west-northwestern horizon near Mars and then flying past the bright star Arcturus before setting in the southeast…
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This image of the beautiful open star cluster around the bright star Mirfak in Perseus was taken by Martin Gembec of the Czech Republic in 2007. Mirfak dominates the centre, with the stars of the cluster, also known as Melotte 20, the Alpha Persei Moving Group, and the Little Cloud of Pirates, sprinkled mainly to…
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As shown above, on Monday, December 16, 2024 from 6:33 to 6:40 am EST, the International Space Station will be visible flying high overhead of the GTA in an extremely bright pass, exiting Earth’s shadow just above the southwestern horizon and then flying past the Big Dipper’s handle and the bright star Vega before setting…
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In this long exposure composite during the Geminids Meteor Shower by Yin HaoC, the bright “twin” stars of Castor and Pollux are framed by the meteors, which appear to radiate from that point in space. (NASA APOD for December 15, 2017) Hello, Early-December Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of December 8th,…
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As shown above, on Saturday, December 14, 2024 from 6:35 to 6:41 am EST, the International Space Station will be visible flying over the GTA in a bright pass, rising from the south-southwestern horizon and then flying below the bright star Arcturus before setting in the east-northeast. (courtesy: Heavens-above.com) Artificial satellites are visible because they…
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This image of the Fossil Footprint Nebula NGC 1491 in Perseus was captured by Adam Block at Mount Lemmon Observatory in Arizona. This image is nearly one degree wide, or about one finger’s width. (Wikipedia) Happy December, Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of December 1st, 2024 by Chris Vaughan. Feel free…
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