This Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter image shows Sinus Iridum, the Bay of Rainbows, on the northwestern edge of large Mare Imbrium, the Sea of Clouds. The “Golden Handle” is the curved Jura Mountains, the remains of an impact crater that has been flooded by basalt magma flows. The feature, which is easy to see without a…
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When Callisto’s round, black shadow crosses Jupiter on Friday night, September 17 between 6:15 pm and 11 pm EDT, it will be on, or near, the Great Red Spot – as shown in this simulated view for 8 pm EDT. The shadow will gradually slide to the left of the spot as Jupiter’s rotation outpaces…
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This photograph of the moon by Michael Watson of Toronto was taken 9 hours after its full phase. It will closely match the appearance of the moon after it rises on Sunday night, August 22 in the Americas. A thin strip along the moon’s right-hand limb will already be darkening, and the craters there will…
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The Ghost of the Moon planetary nebula aka NGC 6781 in Aquila, photographed by the European Southern Observatory 3.6-m Telescope at the La Silla Observatory in the Atacama Desert, Chile. The image spans 4.5 arc-minutes of sky, or 15% of the full moon. The object is an expanding sphere of gas – the outer shells…
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On Friday, July 23, the moon will reach its full phase. On that evening, the libration of the moon will cause the moon to appear to tilt downwards and twist to the left a bit, allowing Earthlings to see features along the moon’s northeastern limb that are normally not visible (green labels). Major lunar features…
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This mosaic of images taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is centred on Mare Imbrium, the huge and ancient impact basin that covers much of the moon’s northern Earth-facing hemisphere. The mountains around its right (lunar west) edge are highlighted around the first quarter phase. Sinus Iridium and the curved Montes Jura are prominent about…
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A fine example of an annular solar eclipse during totality (annularity)! Much of Eastern North America will see a typical partial eclipse (with a bite out of the sun) already in progress at sunrise on Thursday, June 10. It will end at 6:39 am EDT. Use proper solar filters to view any of this eclipse…
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This full disk image of the sun on April 23, 2021 was taken by Dave Hoskins. This view shows the sun through a special solar telescope that uses the Hydrogen-alpha wavelength in the red part of the visible spectrum. A large group of small sunspots sits just to the lower left of centre, surrounded by…
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This annotated image of the Lyrids Meteor Shower was captured by Petr Horalek when the Lyrids streaked over Seč Lake in the Czech Republic in April, 2020. The meteors appear to radiate from a point in the sky in Hercules near the very bright blue star Vega of Lyra (the Harp). Don’t watch the radiant…
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The Ring Nebula, also known as Messier 57, in Lyra is visible in backyard telescopes as a small, grey ring. This image was taken by Ron Brecher of Guelph, Ontario on July 25, 2012. Ron’s gallery of astro-images can be accessed at www.astrodoc.ca Hello, August Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of…
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