This image shows Comet C/2017 T2 (Panstarrs) passing the Double Cluster in Cassiopeia on January 24, 26, and 28, 2020. It was taken by Rolando Ligustri and appeared as the NASA APOD for January 30, 2020. Comets will exhibit the greenish glow shown here when viewed through a good-quality backyard telescope. Hello, February Stargazers! Here…
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This heart-shaped feature on Mars was imaged by the Mars Orbiter Camera in 1999. It measures 2.3 km across at its widest, and is located on the eastern flank of the Alba Patera volcano in northern Tharsis. The sunlight is illuminating the scene from the left. The feature is a pit formed by collapse within…
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This image of the Winter Hexagon / Football was taken by Jeff Dai. Start with bright Sirius just above the hills at lower right, then head straight up to Rigel, and to the upper left to reddish Betelgeuse, and then bright yellow Capella on the left. Next head down to Castor and Pollux, and finally…
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Valentine’s Day is right around the corner! This beautiful object is called the Rosette Nebula (or NGC 2244). It’s located in the constellation of Monoceros (the Unicorn), just to the left (east) of Orion. The Rosette is a cradle of glowing Hydrogen gas that has birthed about 2500 young stars in its centre. This image…
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This spectacular astrophotograph of Orion’s Sword by Michael Watson of Toronto has been annotated to highlight the many and varied deep sky objects in this part of the sky. The colourful Messier 42 nebula is glowing by the light of young stars formed within it. The area shown here covers about 2 finger widths of…
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Alan Dyer of Calgary captured this spectacular image of a comet named Wirtanen passing the Pleiades star cluster on December 15, 2018. His gallery of incredible images can be found here and at AmazingSky.com. Hello, January Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of January 12th, 2020 by Chris Vaughan. Feel free to…
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This wide field image of Orion was captured on January 2, 2020 by Alan Dyer of Alberta, Canada. Orange-tinted Betelgeuse, which marks Orion’s shoulder (top centre), normally shines as bright as Orion’s opposite foot – the bright, blue star Rigel. In the last few weeks, Betelgeuse has diminished noticeably in apparent brightness – a possible…
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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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This image of the beautiful Superman Galaxy, more formally known as NGC7479 and Caldwell 44, was captured by Goran Nilsson using the 2-metre Liverpool Telescope on the Canary Islands. The galaxy is 105 million light-years away from the sun, in the constellation of Pegasus. It’s also considered by astronomers to be “peculiar”. Hello, December Stargazers!…
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This widefield photograph spanning about 10 degrees of of the sky near Cassiopeia was taken by Adrian Klamerius. It shows the redly-glowing Hydrogen gas clouds of the lovely Heart and Soul Nebulas, and the spectacular Double Cluster. NASA APOD for September 24, 2016. Happy Solstice, Winter Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week…
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