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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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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NGC 7479 aka the Superman Galaxy and the Propeller Galaxy is located below (south of) the bright star Markab in Pegasus. One of my favourite galaxies, it is considered peculiar due to its asymmetrical arms. It spans about 1/15th the diameter of a full moon and is visible in larger telescopes on dark nights. This…
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The area around the small, bright crater Aristarchus (left of centre) in Oceanus Procellarum is one of the most colourful portions of the lunar surface. The large ragged ray systems at lower right surround the craters Copernicus and Kepler. (Rolf Hempel via Planetary.org) Hello, Mid-November Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of…
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The trio of craters Theophilus, Cyrillus, and Catharina flank the western edge of Mare-Nectaris. They are easy to see when the lunar terminator lands just to their west as shown here for Wednesday, November 6 (NASA) Hello, Mid-Autumn Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of November 3rd, 2024 by Chris Vaughan. Feel…
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The globular cluster NGC 6934 in Delphinus as imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope. It is also known as Caldwell 47. This image covers about 3 arc-minutes of the sky, or 1/10th of the full moon’s diameter. (Wikipedia) Hello, Autumn Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of September 22nd, 2024 by Chris…
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The Cygnus Loop, also known as the Eastern and Western Veil Nebulae, are a gigantic remnant of a supernova in the southern wing of the Swan that spans more than five full moon diameters. It is visible in binoculars under very dark skies every summer. The bright star at right named 52 Cygni that the…
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Adrien Klamerius took this image of the Heart (upper left) and Soul (lower right) nebulas in Cassiopeia, also known as IC 1805 and IC 1848, respectively. The Double Cluster as at top centre. The area of sky covers about 10 degrees, or a fist diameter. NASA APOD for Sep 24, 2016 Hello, Night Sky Lovers!…
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The beautiful Rosette Nebula in Monoceros consists of a circular patch of glowing hydrogen gas and an internal star cluster, created as the hydrogen gas collapsed. Stan Noble tool this image, which was featured as the SkyNews picture of the week for November 3, 2017, in Aneroid, Saskatchewan. The image spans about two finger widths…
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This magical image of the sword of Orion was captured and processed by my friend John Deans when he was in Bancroft, Ontario on February of 2021. All three patches of light from top to bottom are visible to unaided eyes below Orion’s three-starred belt. Binoculars and backyard telescopes will reveal the spectacular details in…
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