My friend Alan Dyer of Alberta captured this spectacular image of a lone Geminids meteor streaking across an aurorae-filled sky on December 13, 2023. From Collingwood, Ontario I saw two terrific Geminids in one hour on December 14. Follow Alan’s @amazingskyguy account on X.com and visit his ww.amazingsky.com page for more. Hello, Start-of-Winter Stargazers! Here…
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This terrific composite image of the Geminids meteor shower in 2017 was taken by Alan Dyer of Alberta. The winter Milky Way descends through the centre and the bright patch at right is Orion’s belt and sword. More of Alan’s images can be viewed at his website https://amazingsky.photoshelter.com/index Hello, Mid-December Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy…
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This is a portrait of the two groups of half-sisters related in mythology as daughters of Atlas: the Hyades, at left, and the blue Pleiades, at right, two nearby open star clusters in Taurus, imaged by Alan Dyer from Quailway Cottage in southwest Arizona, December 15, 2017. The bright, orange star at far left is…
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A rotating model of Saturn’s moon Iapetus. Its variation in surface brightness causes it to change in apparent brightness as it travels around Saturn over 80 days. On November 29, 2023, Iapetus will appear brighter as its reaches it western elongation. (Wikipedia) Hello, Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of November 26th,…
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This image taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter shows the fascinating Aristarchus Plateau. The crater Aristarchus at lower right is very prominent, and can be seen even with unaided eyes as a very bright patch. To its left is the similar-sized, but darker crater Herodotus. Vallis Schröteri, the largest sinuous rille on the moon, starts…
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My friend Lisa Ann Fanning of New Jersey captured the spectacular morning conjunction of the crescent moon and Venus from the Cape May Lighthouse on November 10, 2023. Hello, November Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of November 12th, 2023 by Chris Vaughan. Feel free to pass this along to your friends…
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Mirach’s Ghost aka NGC404 is the elliptical / lenticular galaxy sitting to the upper left of the bright star Mirach in Andromeda. Other smaller galaxies are scattered around the region. This terrific image by Kent Wood of Utah was the NASA APOD for Oct 27, 2017. Kent’s original image with details of his equipment is…
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NGC 457, better known as the Owl Cluster, ET Cluster, and Dragonfly Cluster, was imaged by “Astrodoc” Ron Brecher of Guelph, Ontario. The bright stars are the eyes. The body and feet extend down to the right. Squint to see the upswept, curving chains of stars for the wings.This image covers a finger’s width of…
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This image of the Lunar Straight Wall or Rupes Recta in Mare Nubium was captured by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. While the feature can be seen through binoculars, a backyard telescope will reveal more detail. (Adapted from NASA LRO) Hello, October Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of October 22nd, 2023 by…
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Andrea Girones of Ottawa captured this amazing image of Saturday’s annular solar eclipse from Albuquerque, New Mexico. She used a Lunt 40mm solar telescope, an ASI 174MM camera on a Skywatcher Star Adventurer tracker. Hello, Autumn Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of October 15th, 2023 by Chris Vaughan. Feel free to…
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