As shown above, on Saturday, December 31, 2022 from 6:48 to 6:53 am EST, the International Space Station will be visible flying over the GTA in a very pass, exiting Earth’s shadow above the northwestern horizon, then flying closely past Polaris and the very bright star Vega before setting below the eastern horizon. (courtesy: Heavens-above.com)…
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When the very bright “dog star” star Sirius (aka Alpha Canis Majoris) climbs high enough to clear the treetops around 10 pm local time on Christmas, its intense light and flashes of festive colour are bound to catch your eye, and just might fill you with Holiday spirit! Happy Hanukkah and Winter Solstice, Stargazers! Here…
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As shown above, on Monday, December 19, 2022 from 6:48 to 6:54 pm EST, the International Space Station will be visible flying high overhead of the GTA in an extremely pass, rising from the southwestern horizon, then flying through the stars of Leo and closely past the very bright star Vega before setting below the…
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Geminids Meteors viewed from Chile, a four-hour composite imaged by Yuri Beletsky at Las Campanas Observatory in 2013. Orion is upside-down at left and the twin stars Castor and Pollux sit near bright Jupiter at centre. NASA APOD for December 8, 2019. Hello, mid-December, Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of December…
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As shown above, on Tuesday, December 6, 2022 from 5:17 to 5:23 pm EST, the International Space Station will be visible flying past the GTA in a bright pass, rising from the south-southwestern horizon, then flying below the moon before setting below the east-northeastern horizon. (courtesy: Heavens-above.com) Artificial satellites are visible because they are high…
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This labelled map of Mars shows which features will be facing Earth-based telescopes around midnight EST on December 7-8, the night of Mars’ opposition. Mars’ northern polar cap will appear as a bright spot that the darge wedge of Syrtis Major points toward. Your telescope will probably mirror image and/or invert this view. (Starry Night…
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As shown above, on Tuesday, December 6, 2022 from 5:17 to 5:23 pm EST, the International Space Station will be visible flying high overhead of the GTA in an extremely bright pass, rising from the west-northwestern horizon, flying through the zenith past Deneb and then past Jupiter before sinking below the east-southeastern horizon. (courtesy: Heavens-above.com)…
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This terrific image of Mars was taken by Andrea Girones of Ottawa on November 23, 2022 at 11:35 pm EST. The large bright area at upper left is named Aeria. the dark region below that is Sinus Sabaeus, and the dark feature to the right is Mare Acidalum. Dark features on Mars tend to be…
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As shown above, on Saturday, December 3, 2022 from 6:03 to 6:07 pm EST, the International Space Station will be visible flying high over the GTA in an extremely bright pass, rising from the northwestern horizon, flying past Polaris and the W of Cassiopeia, and then disappearing into Earth’s shadow above the eastern horizon between…
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This image by Kent Wood was NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day for October 27, 2017. It shows the bright star Mirach aka Beta Andromedae and the distant background elliptical galaxy NGC 404 positioned just to its north-northwest (upper left of centre). The galaxy, which is nick-named Mirach’s Ghost, can be seen in 6″ or…
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