This image of the young crescent moon by Dylan O’Donnell shows Earthshine – sunlight reflected off of Earth that slightly illuminates the dark portion of the moon’s Earth-facing hemisphere. Watch for it early this week. NASA APOD for March 20, 2015. Hello, Autumn Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of September 20th,…
Read more
This image by Michael Watson of Toronto shows the beautiful and large Elephant Trunk Nebula, and the massive, red star Mu Cephei, aka Herschel’s Garnet Star, on its northern edge. The area of sky shown here covers about six by 12 times the diameter of the full moon, with north (towards Polaris) on the left.…
Read more
This simulated view of Sinus Iridum, the Bay of Rainbows, and the Golden Handle that envelops its western perimeter, was made using Starry Night software. Every month, a few days before full moon, the handle effect is visible with sharp, unaided eyes, and very easily through binoculars and backyard telescopes. The latter might also reveal…
Read more
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…
Read more
This simulated view of Jupiter shows the double shadow transit, with the Great Red Spot, that will occur on Friday night, August 14. This view is for 1 am EDT on Saturday morning. Ganymede’s shadow is cast by the large moon to the lower right of Jupiter. The event will be observable anywhere in the…
Read more
This image of Mars, captured using a camera affixed to his 8″ SCT telescope, was taken by my friend Claudio Oriani at his home in Richmond Hill on July 28, 2020. It features some Mars’ most prominent features, such as Hellas (bright area to the left), Syrtis Major (dark area) and the southern polar cap…
Read more
This simulated image of Saturn for Sunday, July 26 at 10:30 pm EDT shows several of the larger moons labelled and the distinctive Cassini Division that splits the rings. Hello, Late-July Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of July 26th, 2020 by Chris Vaughan. Feel free to pass this along to your…
Read more
This stunning image of Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) was captured in cottage country, near Haliburton, Ontario, by Kersti Meema of Toronto using her Canon T7i camera. She took the image at 11:15 EDT on July 13, 2020. Serendipitously, she also captured an auroral display! The fainter, blue ion tail of the comet can be discerned…
Read more
This simulated view of Jupiter shows the transit of Jupiter’s moon Io and its shadow across Jupiter, accompanied by the Great Red Spot, on Tuesday, July 7 at 2:40 am EDT. A good backyard telescope will let you view the 2.5-hour event, although a telescope might flip and/or mirror this view. Hello, July Stargazers! Here…
Read more
A close-up view of Sinus Iridum and the Golden Handle to its west. The large feature is located in the northwestern (upper left) quadrant of the moon’s disk. The handle effect is visible with sharp, unaided eyes, and through binoculars and backyard telescopes. Note the N-S aligned dorsae, or wrinkle ridges. Image from Wikipedia. Happy…
Read more