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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Bill Longo of Toronto captured this amazing sequence of images on August 15, 2014. The International Space Station climbs the sky through the Big Dipper at left, while a Perseids meteor briefly streaks across the sky at right. Hello, Meteor Lovers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of August 6th, 2023 by Chris…
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This spectacular Perseids meteor was captured by RASC member Don Hladiuk of Calgary at 3:53 am MDT on August 13, 2022. Follow Don on Twitter at @Astrogeo (Yes – we’re each other’s doppelganger!) Hello, mid-August Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of August 14th, 2022 by Chris Vaughan. Feel free to pass…
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A detailed map of the lunar region around Copernicus, which is best viewed as the moon is within several days of full. (Stellarium) Hello, August Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of August 7th, 2022 by Chris Vaughan. Feel free to pass this along to your friends and send me your comments,…
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This fantastic image of the Lion Nebula, also known as Sharpless-132, was imaged and processed by Tammy Foley. She gathered 19 hours of exposure time through various filters for it. During evening in early August, the lion is prowling the northeastern sky between the W of Cassiopeia and the bright star Deneb in Cygnus, but…
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The Dumbbell Nebula, imaged by Steve McKinney, is a large planetary nebula in Vulpecula (the Fox). It’s visible (without colour) in a backyard telescope. Planetary nebulae are the corpses of stars with mass similar to our sun. This one resembles and apple core! This image covers a patch of sky about as wide as a…
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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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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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The Ghost of the Moon planetary nebula aka NGC 6781 in Aquila, photographed by the European Southern Observatory 3.6-m Telescope at the La Silla Observatory in the Atacama Desert, Chile. The image spans 4.5 arc-minutes of sky, or 15% of the full moon. The object is an expanding sphere of gas – the outer shells…
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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…
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