This terrific image by Gabor Balazs shows the bright planet Mars (top centre) shining between the little Pleiades CLuster (right of centre) and the V-shaped Hyades Cluster, which forms the face of Taurus, the Bull in late December, 2022. The bright reddish star Aldebaran shines at the corner of the V. The image spans about…
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When the very bright “dog star” star Sirius (aka Alpha Canis Majoris) climbs high enough to clear the treetops around 10 pm local time on Christmas, its intense light and flashes of festive colour are bound to catch your eye, and just might fill you with Holiday spirit! Happy Hanukkah and Winter Solstice, Stargazers! Here…
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During evening in early October, the Great Square of Pegasus is visible in the eastern sky. the horse’s nose star, Enif, shines about two fist diameters to the right of the square. Orange-tinted Enif has a tiny companion star visible in binoculars and backyard telescopes. The spectacular globular star cluster named Messier 15 (upper right)…
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This image of the Wild Duck Cluster, also known as Messier 11 and NGC 6705 in Scutum covers a patch of sky equal to the diameter of the full moon. The magnitude 6.3 open star cluster is visible with unaided eyes and through binoculars and telescopes, despite its 6200 light-year distance. It was taken using…
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A sampling of galaxy forms. Clockwise from upper left: Messier 87 “Virgo A” (elliptical), Messier 102 “Spindle” (lenticular), NGC 1365 (barred spiral), NGC 4656 “the Crowbar” (irregular), and Messier 81 “Bode’s Nebula” (spiral). All except NGC 1365 are visible on spring evenings from mid-northern latitudes. Hello, late-April Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the…
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This beautiful image shows the glowing pink hydrogen gas of the Rosette Nebula (NGC 2237) in Monoceros (the Unicron) and its internal star cluster NGC 2244. It was captured by Stan Noble of Swift Current, Saskatchewan in 2017/18. The Rosette, which covers about a thumb’s width of sky, can be seen in binoculars in a…
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With unaided eyes, three patches of light make up the sword of Orion, which hangs below his famous 3-starred belt. My friend John Deans of Toronto captured this image of Orion’s Sword while in Bancroft during February, 2021. Even binoculars will reveal that the central patch of light is the splendid Orion Nebula, also known…
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The faint Witch’s Head Nebula aka NGC 1909 and IC 2118, is a ghostly reflection nebula near the bright star Rigel in Orion. It’s very large – stretching nearly three finger widths from her chin to her forehead! Image by Jeff Signorelli, NASA APOD for Oct 30, 2015 Happy Halloween week, Stargazers! Here are your…
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The well-known Pleiades open star cluster (Messier 45) has long been the centre of indigenous star stories around the world, including South Pacific island groups. The Maori of New Zealand tie their new year to the appearance of the Pleiades in the pre-dawn sky during June/July. The area of sky shown here spans 2 degrees.…
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The prominent galaxies Messier 81 or Bode’s Nebula (left) and Messier 82 or the Cigar Galaxy (right) are located near the Big Dipper’s bowl in the northern sky. This image by AstroDoc Ron Brecher of Guelph, Ontario from February, 2017 spans about 1.5 degrees, or three full moon diameters. Messier 81 is large and bright…
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