Ian Wheelband of Ashburn, Ontario captured this pre-Great Conjunction image of Jupiter and Saturn through his telescope on Friday evening, December 18, 2020. The planets will be far closer together on Monday, December 21, 2020. Happy Solstice, Winter Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of December 20th, 2020 by Chris Vaughan. Feel…
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Hello, mid-October Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of October 18th, 2020 by Chris Vaughan. Feel free to pass this along to your friends and send me your comments, questions, and suggested topics. You can also follow me on Twitter as @astrogeoguy! Unless otherwise noted, all times are expressed in Eastern Time.…
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This amazing photograph by Sergio Scauso of Cordoba, Argentina shows the moon occulting Mars on August 9, 2020. NASA APOD for August 15, 2020. Since the moon travels within the same band of sky surrounding the ecliptic that the planets do, its large angular size allows it to pass in front of the planets from…
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On Sunday evening, April 26, the young crescent moon will sit beside the bright planet Venus in the western sky after sunset, as shown here at 9 pm local time. The sight will make a lovely photo opportunity. Hello, Moon and Venus Lovers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of April 26th, 2020…
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The Open cluster Messier 35, also known as the Shoe-Buckle cluster sits near the feet of Castor in Gemini. The small open cluster NGC 2158 is to the lower right of it in this image from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The area of sky shown here measures about one finger’s width of the sky,…
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On Thursday, October 3, the moon will guide you to see nearby Jupiter in daytime. This correctly oriented view for 3 pm EDT (00:19 GMT) simulates what binoculars will show. The planet is visible without binoculars, too. Look for a tiny, brilliant point of light below the moon. Hello, Early Autumn Stargazers! Here are your…
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