This fantastic widefield composite image of the 2020 Quadrantids meteor shower over Flajšová, Oravská Lesná, Slovakia was captured by Czech astronomer Petr Horálek on the nights bracketing the peak of January 4.The radiant is out of frame to top left. That year, the star Betelgeuse in Orion (right of centre) was unusually dim. The glowing…
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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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Bright stars can still be appreciated when the moon is full and bright, as it will be this week. This image from Stellarium shows the central part of the constellation Perseus, the Hero. His brightest star Mirfak, aka Alpha Persei, is at centre. Surrounding Mirfak is a large grouping of bright, young, hot stars known…
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This wide field photograph of the sky shows Orion at left and Taurus to the upper right. The stars have been slightly overexposed to emphasize their colours and relative brightnesses. Normally, reddish Betelgeuse at Orion’s shoulder (left above centre) is the same brightness as blue Rigel at Orion’s opposite foot. But recent images shows Betelgeuse…
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