The Cygnus Loop, also known as the Eastern and Western Veil Nebulae, are a gigantic remnant of a supernova in the southern wing of the Swan that spans more than five full moon diameters. It is visible in binoculars under very dark skies every summer. The bright star at right named 52 Cygni that the…
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As shown above, on Wednesday, September 4, 2024 from 5:34 to 5:41 am EDT, the International Space Station will be visible flying high overhead of the GTA in an extremely bright pass, exiting Earth’s shadow just above the northwestern horizon and then flying through the Gemini and past Mars and Jupiter before setting in the…
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This gorgeous image of the Omega Nebula aka the Swan Nebula and Messier 17 in Sagittarius was captured at the Texas Star Party by Trevor Jones. I have rotated it by 90 degrees to better show the swan shape at centre. The image width is double the size of the full moon. The emission nebula…
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As shown above, on Tuesday, August 27, 2024 from 5:28 to 5:33 am EDT, the International Space Station will be visible flying past the GTA in a bright pass, exiting Earth’s shadow just above the west-northwestern horizon and then flying through the Summer Triangle and the Big Dipper before setting in the northeast. (courtesy: Heavens-above.com)…
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My friend Andrea Girones of Ottawa captured and processed this spectacular view of the sun’s complete disk while attending the annual Starfest gathering on August 7, 2024. It beautifully captures the sun’s convection cell pattern, the dark elongated filaments and the prominences they become when viewed in profile around the sun’s limb (especially at right),…
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As shown above, on Friday, August 23, 2024 from 5:28 to 5:33 am EDT, the International Space Station will be visible flying high overhead of the GTA in an extremely bright pass, exiting Earth’s shadow just above the west-southwestern horizon and then flying through Cassiopeia before setting in the northeast. (courtesy: Heavens-above.com) Artificial satellites are…
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Hello, mid-August Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of August 11th, 2024 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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This composite image of Perseid Meteors streaking across the Milky Way was captured by Ali Hosseini Nezhad from Shiraz, Iran in 2023. The three bright stars of the Summer Triangle asterism frame the galaxy. NASA APOD for August 24, 2023 Hello, August Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of August 4th, 2024…
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The Astrospheric app forest fire smoke distribution map across North America for Sunday night, July 28, 2024. Purple and red indicate the most severe smoke loading in the sky overhead. Many weather forecasts will predict clear, cloudless skies – but observers and imagers will find the fainter celestial objects significantly dimmed. I highly recommend the…
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This image of Saturn through the 20″ diameter telescope at the Weikersheim Observatory in southern Germany just after it emerged from behind the moon was the NASA APOD for April 7, 2013. It was composited together from two different exposures by Jens Hackmann. Hi, Summer Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of…
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