Category: Skylights

Science Outreach Specialists

All About Aurorae, the Moon Passes Planets and Occults a Teapot Star Before Growing Harvest Full!

This terrific image of the summer Milky Way rising from the southern sky, was captured on the moonless weekend of August 27, 2022 by Manu Mukerji while at the Carr Astronomical Observatory operated by the RASC Toronto Centre northwest of Toronto. In the foreground is a SkyShed Pod, a favorite of serious amateur astronomers who…
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Autumn Stars Approaching, the Waxing Moon and Planets in Evening, and Northern Crown Jewels a-Shining!

On Saturday, September 3, 2022, the moon will reach its first quarter phase. (Starry Night Pro) Hello, September Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of August 28th, 2022 by Chris Vaughan. Feel free to pass this along to your friends and send me your comments, questions, and suggested topics. You can also…
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Peering at Planets from Dusk to Dawn, and Eyeing Aquila on Moonless Nights!

This image of the Wild Duck Cluster, also known as Messier 11 and NGC 6705 in Scutum covers a patch of sky equal to the diameter of the full moon. The magnitude 6.3 open star cluster is visible with unaided eyes and through binoculars and telescopes, despite its 6200 light-year distance. It was taken using…
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Vesta Passes the Helix Nebula, the Post-midnight Moon Meets Planets, Saturn Shines Brightest, Spotty Jupiter, and Moonlight Sights!

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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Bright Moon Minors a Major Meteor Shower, Saturn Stuns, and Jupiter Sports Spots!

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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Moon Doings on Mid-Summer Evenings, Planets Party from Dusk to Dawn, and Meteors, in Moderation!

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 Missing Moon Brings More Meteors and Comet Views, Mars Nears Uranus, and Summer Triangle Treats the Animals!

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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Early Aquariids Meteors, Daytime Moon Joins Jupiter, Space Telescope and Summer Milky Way Sights to See!

A comparison of images of Stephan’s Quintet of galaxies in Pegasus, taken in infrared by the James Webb Space Telescope in 2022 (left) and the visible and near-infrared wavelengths by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2009 (right). The spiral galaxy at left is NGC 7320. It is only 40 million light-years away. The rest of…
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Wednesday’s Raspberry Supermoon Won’t Belittle the Brightest Lights of July, But it Will Cramp the Comet Near Messier 10!

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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Greater Toronto Area Space Station Flyovers for the week of July 10th, 2022

As shown above, on Monday, July 11, 2022 from 11:31 to 11:37 pm EDT, the International Space Station will be visible flying high overhead of the GTA in an extremely bright pass, rising from the west-southwestern horizon near Spica, then flying past Arcturus and above the three bright stars of the Summer Triangle before finally…
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