This amazing photograph by Sergio Scauso of Cordoba, Argentina shows the moon occulting Mars on August 9, 2020. NASA APOD for August 15, 2020. Since the moon travels within the same band of sky surrounding the ecliptic that the planets do, its large angular size allows it to pass in front of the planets from…
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The Ring Nebula, also known as Messier 57, in Lyra is visible in backyard telescopes as a small, grey ring. This image was taken by Ron Brecher of Guelph, Ontario on July 25, 2012. Ron’s gallery of astro-images can be accessed at www.astrodoc.ca Hello, August Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of…
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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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This image of Mars, captured using a camera affixed to his 8″ SCT telescope, was taken by my friend Claudio Oriani at his home in Richmond Hill on July 28, 2020. It features some Mars’ most prominent features, such as Hellas (bright area to the left), Syrtis Major (dark area) and the southern polar cap…
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This simulated image of Saturn for Sunday, July 26 at 10:30 pm EDT shows several of the larger moons labelled and the distinctive Cassini Division that splits the rings. Hello, Late-July Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of July 26th, 2020 by Chris Vaughan. Feel free to pass this along to your…
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This stunning image of Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) was captured in cottage country, near Haliburton, Ontario, by Kersti Meema of Toronto using her Canon T7i camera. She took the image at 11:15 EDT on July 13, 2020. Serendipitously, she also captured an auroral display! The fainter, blue ion tail of the comet can be discerned…
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Ian Wheelband captured this close-up view of comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) at 4:17 am on July 11, 2020 from his home in Nova Scotia. Note the brighter tail composed of dropped particles, and the slightly offset ion tail to its left. The stacked, combined 4- and 10-second exposure photograph was taken using his Nikon D7100…
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This simulated view of Jupiter shows the transit of Jupiter’s moon Io and its shadow across Jupiter, accompanied by the Great Red Spot, on Tuesday, July 7 at 2:40 am EDT. A good backyard telescope will let you view the 2.5-hour event, although a telescope might flip and/or mirror this view. Hello, July Stargazers! Here…
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A close-up view of Sinus Iridum and the Golden Handle to its west. The large feature is located in the northwestern (upper left) quadrant of the moon’s disk. The handle effect is visible with sharp, unaided eyes, and through binoculars and backyard telescopes. Note the N-S aligned dorsae, or wrinkle ridges. Image from Wikipedia. Happy…
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The Moon as it will appear at 11 pm Eastern Daylight Time on Thursday, June 25, 2020. The prominent, dark, round crater Theophilus located mid-moon, near the terminator line, will change in appearance each night this week as its rim, and then its floor, fills with sunlight. These hourly images are available from NASA’s Moon…
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