These images of the full moon by Michael Watson of Toronto perfectly illustrate the size difference between a perigee “supermoon” and an apogee “punymoon”. The image on the right will very closely conform to the appearance of the full moon on Halloween night – when the moon will actually be about 10 hours past full…
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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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Mars will reach maximum brightness at opposition on Tuesday night, October 13. During the nights around opposition, the planet will show surface details in amateur telescopes. Hello, Mars Fans! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of October 11th, 2020 by Chris Vaughan. Feel free to pass this along to your friends and send…
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This amazing image of Mars was taken on October 2, 2020 at 11:13 EDT by my friend Claudio Oriani of Richmond Hill, Ontario through his Celestron C8 SCT and a ZWO AS1224MC camera. The southern polar cap and the dark Syrtis Major regions are obvious. Hello, October Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the…
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This spectacular photograph of the pre-dawn zodiacal light was captured on September 25, 2020 at 5:37 am by Malcolm Park of Prince Edward County, Ontario. The bright point at centre is the planet Venus. The knot of stars above Venus is Messier 44, also known as the Beehive Cluster, in Cancer. Malcolm’s gallery of beautiful…
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This image of the young crescent moon by Dylan O’Donnell shows Earthshine – sunlight reflected off of Earth that slightly illuminates the dark portion of the moon’s Earth-facing hemisphere. Watch for it early this week. NASA APOD for March 20, 2015. Hello, Autumn Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of September 20th,…
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The autumn Zodiacal Light (at centre left) tilts upwards to the right in this image of it captured by Stu McNair of Richmond Hill, Ontario in October, 2018. Hello, End-of-Summer Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of September 13th, 2020 by Chris Vaughan. Feel free to pass this along to your friends…
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This image by Michael Watson of Toronto shows the beautiful and large Elephant Trunk Nebula, and the massive, red star Mu Cephei, aka Herschel’s Garnet Star, on its northern edge. The area of sky shown here covers about six by 12 times the diameter of the full moon, with north (towards Polaris) on the left.…
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This simulated view of Sinus Iridum, the Bay of Rainbows, and the Golden Handle that envelops its western perimeter, was made using Starry Night software. Every month, a few days before full moon, the handle effect is visible with sharp, unaided eyes, and very easily through binoculars and backyard telescopes. The latter might also reveal…
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As shown above, on Sunday, August 30 from 5:39 to 5:44 am EDT, the International Space Station will fly overhead of the GTA in a very bright pass, exiting Earth’s shadow over the western horizon, and then skimming the end of the Big Dipper’s bowl before setting below the northeastern horizon. Artificial satellites are visible…
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