This Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter image shows Sinus Iridum, the Bay of Rainbows, on the northwestern edge of large Mare Imbrium, the Sea of Clouds. The “Golden Handle” is the curved Jura Mountains, the remains of an impact crater that has been flooded by basalt magma flows. The feature, which is easy to see without a…
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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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The Witchhead Nebula in Orion is very large, but dim. It’s best seen in long exposure astrophotos – like this image taken by Jeff Signorelli in the NASA APOD for October 30, 2015. The name is a misnomer. The blue colour is produced when light from the bright star at centre left reflects off nearby…
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The Double Cluster in northwestern Perseus makes a fantastic target for binoculars at this time of year. This wide field image was taken by Volker Wendel and was NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day on December 7, 2007. Hello, October Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of October 20th, 2019 by Chris…
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This image of the full moon was captured by Michael Watson of Toronto hours after it was full in September, 2017. Notice how the craters along the right-hand edge show some shadowing while the rest of the moon is “flat”. Michael’s gallery of wonderful astro-images are here. Hello, October Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights…
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