This simulated image of Jupiter shows how it will appear at opposition on Thursday night, August 19, 2021, when the Great Red Spot and Io and its shadow will be transiting the planet, as shown here at 10:30 pm EDT. (From Stellarium) Hello, August Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of August…
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This amazing composite image by my friend Bill Longo of Toronto was captured in 2015. The International Space Station pass was part of his imaging plan. But the Perseids Meteor shower peak also delivering an aurora borealis (greens and purple) was pure luck! Hello, Perseids Enthusiasts! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of…
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The Ghost of the Moon planetary nebula aka NGC 6781 in Aquila, photographed by the European Southern Observatory 3.6-m Telescope at the La Silla Observatory in the Atacama Desert, Chile. The image spans 4.5 arc-minutes of sky, or 15% of the full moon. The object is an expanding sphere of gas – the outer shells…
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As shown above, on Monday, August 2, 2021 from 9:54 pm to 9:58 pm EDT, the International Space Station will make a low pass visible in the GTA, rising from the western horizon near Venus, and then disappearing into Earth’s shadow in the southern sky in Scorpius. Artificial satellites are visible because they are high…
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This gorgeous image of the Dumbbell Nebula, aka Messier 27, in Vulpecula was captured by Steve McKinney of Toronto near Thornbury, Ontario on July 29, 2017. It shows a shell of glowing gas surrounding a hot white dwarf star, the corpse of a star similar in mass to our sun. The image spans about 0.4…
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As shown above, on Thursday, July 29, 2021 from 9:49 pm to 9:55 pm EDT, the International Space Station will fly over the GTA in an extremely bright pass, rising from the northwestern horizon near Venus, flying through the bowls of both dippers and Cygnus, and then entering Earth’s shadow in the east-southeastern sky above…
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On Friday, July 23, the moon will reach its full phase. On that evening, the libration of the moon will cause the moon to appear to tilt downwards and twist to the left a bit, allowing Earthlings to see features along the moon’s northeastern limb that are normally not visible (green labels). Major lunar features…
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As shown above, on Monday, July 19, 2021 from 9:37 pm to 9:43 pm EDT, the International Space Station will fly over the GTA in a bright pass, rising over the western horizon near Venus and then setting below the northeastern horizon. Artificial satellites are visible because they are high enough to be bathed in…
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This simulated view of Saturn for this month shows how the rings are closed enough now to reveal a bit of Saturn’s southern polar region. Hello, mid-July Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of July 11th, 2021 by Chris Vaughan. Feel free to pass this along to your friends and send me…
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As shown above, on Tuesday, July 13, 2021 from 11:06 pm to 11:13 pm EDT, the International Space Station will fly high overhead of the GTA in an extremely bright pass, rising over the west-southwestern horizon, flying closely past the bright star Arcturus, and then setting below the east-northeastern horizon. Artificial satellites are visible because…
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