This image of the morning planet Venus showing its current crescent phase was captured through RGB and UV filters on a Celestron C11 telescope on September 22, 2023 by my friend Andrea Girones of Ottawa. Follow her as andrea_girones on Instagram and as @AndreaGirones on X/Twitter to see more of her fantastic images. Hello, end-of-September…
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The red ring on this simulated picture shows the size of an average full moon. The full moon on August 30 will be a lunar perigee syzygy, or supermoon – the largest for 2023. (Starry Night Pro 8) Hello, Late-Summer Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of August 27th, 2023 by Chris…
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This Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter image shows the major features of Mare Imbrium, the Sea of Rains. Oceanus Procellarum mare material appears along the far left side of the image. Welcome to August, Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of July 30th, 2023 by Chris Vaughan. Feel free to pass this along to…
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This image of the crescent Venus from August 12, 2015 was taken by holding a smartphone camera over the eyepiece of a telescope. (Chris Vaughan) Welcome to the July Sky, Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of July 2nd, 2023 by Chris Vaughan. Feel free to pass this along to your friends…
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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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User Eberhard Stickel requested this north-up image of Comet C/2017 K2 (PANSTARRS) through the luminance filter of the robotic Burke-Gaffney Observatory at St. Mary’s University in Halifax, NS. The dust tail extending upwards reveals the comet’s trajectory downwards. The sun is toward upper right. The double star below the comet is Struve 2122 in central…
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A triangle of dark ash deposits left by long-extinct volcanoes are easily visible in the crater Alphonsus using any size of telescope when the moon is fully illuminated. Hello, Moon in June Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of June 12th, 2022 by Chris Vaughan. Feel free to pass this along to…
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Michael Watson of Toronto captured this trio of images of the April 15, 2014 lunar eclipse. He carefully positioned the moon to show its east to west motion and the circular shape of Earth’s shadow. For the total lunar eclipse of Wednesday, May 26, 2021 the moon will instead cross through the upper half of…
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This image of the LeoTrio of Galaxies was captured by Marcus Bauer. It was a NASA APOD for April 18, 2019. Top to bottom, the image spans one degree of the sky. The Hamburger Galaxy (NGC 3628) is at centre left. Messier 65 is at top centre and Messier 66 is at centre right. The…
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This beautiful photo of the Aurora Borealis was captured by my friend Yvonne Wong in Alaska recently. The aurorae are more frequent around the two equinox periods each year because the N-S component of the Earth’s magnetic field is reduced and less able to fend off the solar wind. Hello, Spring Stargazers! Here are your…
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