This terrific image of the Orion’s sword was taken on January 7, 2019 by Rick Foster of Markham, Ontario. Even binoculars will reveal that the central patch of light is the splendid Orion Nebula, also known as Messier 42. The grouping of bright stars at bottom right are “the Lost Jewel of Orion’s Sword”, particularly…
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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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This image of the Wild Duck Cluster, also known as Messier 11 and NGC 6705, was captured by the European southern Observatory. Note the blue and yellow stars, and the odd red one. The entire photograph covers about the size of the full moon in the sky, making M11 one of the easiest-to-see Summer Milky…
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This image of a total lunar eclipse by Michael Watson from October 8, 2014 somewhat resembles the appearance of the eclipsed moon on Friday morning, November 19, 2021. During that eclipse the moon passed near the northern (upper right) edge of Earth’s umbra. For this week’s eclipse, a bright slice of the moon will extend…
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An image of the moon by Michael Watson of Toronto, taken five hours after reaching first quarter on November 7, 2016 . More of Michael’s moon images can be enjoyed at https://www.flickr.com/photos/97587627@N06/albums/72157634160736057 Welcome to the Darker skies of November, Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of November 7th, 2021 by Chris Vaughan.…
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This colour-composite image of the Helix Nebula (NGC 7293) was created from images obtained using the Wide Field Imager camera on the 2.2-metre ESO telescope at the La Silla observatory in Chile. The colours arise from a shell of gases energized by the radiation of the tiny central star. This image spans the same diameter…
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This simulated image of Jupiter shows how it will appear at opposition on Thursday night, August 19, 2021, when the Great Red Spot and Io and its shadow will be transiting the planet, as shown here at 10:30 pm EDT. (From Stellarium) Hello, August Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of August…
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