Mercury – Page 3

Maximum Mercury in Evening, Morning Moon Passes Planets as Venus Kisses King Jupiter, and a Galaxy Facts Blast!

April 24, 2022

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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Lyrids Lights, Galaxies Glow Brighter as the Bright Moon Exits Evening, Mercury Moves Up, Pre-dawn Planets on Parade!

April 17, 2022

The glorious face-on spiral galaxy Messier 101, also known as the Pinwheel Galaxy, is located near the bright star Alkaid, at the tip of the Big Dipper’s handle. Visible even in binoculars, it is nearly overhead on April evenings. (Deep Sky Survey image from Stellarium) Hello, mid-April Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the…
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The Terminator Tips Over, a Lonely Lunar X, and the Gibbous Moon Greets Ceres in the Winter Football!

January 9, 2022

A portion of a frame from NASA’s Lunar Visualization Tool, showing the northwestern quadrant of the moon at 9 pm on January 14, 2022, annotated. The Dial-A-Moon page is at https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4955 Hello, January Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of January 9th, 2022 by Chris Vaughan. Feel free to pass this along…
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Six Evening Planets for Solstice Season, Meagre Meteors, the Early Waning Moon Stomps Stars, and Appreciating the Pleiades!

December 19, 2021

This image of the Pleiades star cluster from Stellarium shows the “sisters” shrouded by blue nebulosity – their stars’ light scattering from foreground dust. Their parent stars Atlas and Pleione are huddled at top left. The image spans about 2 finger widths of the sky, or 2 degrees. Happy Solstice, Winter Stargazers! Here are your…
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Morning Mercury, Evening Venus Leaves Antares, Orionids Meteors at Max, and Jupiter Sports Spots!

October 17, 2021

This spectacular long exposure composite combines twenty photographs of the Orionids Meteor Shower taken on October 21, 2006 near Bursa, Turkey by Tunc Tezel. It was NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day for October 23, 2206. Orion, with his distinctive belt, shines at top centre. The shower’s radiant is at top left. Happy, mid-October, Stargazers!…
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The Blue Black Cherries Moon Looks Brown, Bright Planets’ Satellites Sparkle, and the Dragon’s Bright Lights!

August 22, 2021

This photograph of the moon by Michael Watson of Toronto was taken 9 hours after its full phase. It will closely match the appearance of the moon after it rises on Sunday night, August 22 in the Americas. A thin strip along the moon’s right-hand limb will already be darkening, and the craters there will…
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The Perseids Peak Mid-week, the Moon Passes Planets in Evening, and Gas Giants Gleam Overnight!

August 8, 2021

This amazing composite image by my friend Bill Longo of Toronto was captured in 2015. The International Space Station pass was part of his imaging plan. But the Perseids Meteor shower peak also delivering an aurora borealis (greens and purple) was pure luck! Hello, Perseids Enthusiasts! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of…
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A Look at Ophiuchus, Aphelion for Earthlings, Mighty Planets Post-midnight, Young Moon meets Mercury, and then Venus-Mars!

July 4, 2021

This terrific image by Amir H. Abolfath was featured in NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) for October 14, 2020. The bright star inside the orange zone at lower left is Antares in Scorpius. The big and bright globular cluster Messier 4 sits to its lower right. The pink region is glowing hydrogen gas…
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Bright Planets Bracket Night, Luna Limits the Lyrids, but There’s Much Moon to Appreciate!

April 18, 2021

This annotated image of the Lyrids Meteor Shower was captured by Petr Horalek when the Lyrids streaked over Seč Lake in the Czech Republic in April, 2020. The meteors appear to radiate from a point in the sky in Hercules near the very bright blue star Vega of Lyra (the Harp). Don’t watch the radiant…
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A Peek at Polaris, the Waxing Moon and Dim Mars Duo in Evening, and the Equinox Arrives with a Lunar X!

March 14, 2021

This image of the waxing crescent moon was taken by Michael Watson of Toronto on March 2, 2014. It nicely shows the Earthshine phenomenon, and the way the position of the lit crescent on the young moon at this time of year resembles the Cheshire Cat’s smile. Michael’s gallery of images are hosted on his…
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Tag: Mercury