This image of Saturn through the 20″ diameter telescope at the Weikersheim Observatory in southern Germany just after it emerged from behind the moon was the NASA APOD for April 7, 2013. It was composited together from two different exposures by Jens Hackmann. Hi, Summer Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of…
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As shown above, on Friday, July 26, 2024 from 9:38 to 9:44 pm EDT, the International Space Station will be visible flying high overhead of the GTA in an extremely bright pass, rising over the west-northwestern horizon and then entering Earth’s shadow low in the southeast near the bright star Altair. (courtesy: Heavens-above.com) Artificial satellites…
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This image taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter shows the fascinating Aristarchus Plateau. The crater Aristarchus at lower right is very prominent, and can be seen even with unaided eyes as a very bright patch. To its left is the similar-sized, but darker crater Herodotus. Vallis Schröteri, the largest sinuous rille on the moon, starts…
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As shown above, on Sunday, July 14, 2024 from 9:38 to 9:44 pm EDT, the International Space Station will be visible flying high over the GTA in a bright pass, rising over the western horizon and then flying past Polaris and Cassiopeia before setting in the northeast. (courtesy: Heavens-above.com) Artificial satellites are visible because they…
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This image from the Wide Field Imager attached to the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory shows the spectacular globular star cluster Messier 4. This great ball of ancient stars is one of the closest of such stellar systems to the Earth and appears in the constellation of Scorpius (The Scorpion) close to…
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As shown above, on Friday, July 12, 2024 from 9:35 to 9:41 pm EDT, the International Space Station will be visible flying high overhead of the GTA in an extremely bright pass, rising above the west-southwestern horizon near the moon and then past the bright stars Arcturus and Deneb before setting in the east-northeast. (courtesy:…
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This image of Messier 13, the Great Globular Star Cluster in Hercules was imaged by my friend Claudio Oriani in Richmond Hill, Ontario on May 30, 2023 using an 8″ SCT telescope. The cluster, also known as NGC 6205, is 24,000 light-years away from our sun. The cluster appears as a faint fuzzy patch in…
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As shown above, on Saturday, July 6, 2024 from 4:49 to 4:55 am EDT, the International Space Station will be visible flying past the GTA in a very bright pass, rising above the northwestern horizon and then passing between the Dippers and then between Jupiter and Mars before setting in the east. (courtesy: Heavens-above.com) Artificial…
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This view of the southern evening sky at 11 pm local time for the latitude of Toronto shows how the Milky Way rises from the southern horizon and arcs across the eastern sky at this time of the year. The coloured symbols and labels are a selection of the brighter deep sky objects sprinkled available…
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As shown above, on Monday, June 24, 2024 from 4:47 to 4:53 am EDT, the International Space Station will be visible flying high overhead of the GTA in an extremely bright pass, exiting Earth’s shadow above the southwestern horizon and then passing the bright star Altair before setting in the east-northeast near Jupiter. (courtesy: Heavens-above.com)…
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