The prominent galaxies Messier 81 or Bode’s Nebula (left) and Messier 82 or the Cigar Galaxy (right) are located near the Big Dipper’s bowl in the northern sky. This image by AstroDoc Ron Brecher of Guelph, Ontario from February, 2017 spans about 1.5 degrees, or three full moon diameters. Messier 81 is large and bright…
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As shown above, on Thursday, May 2, 2024 from 5:37 to 5:42 am EDT, the International Space Station will be visible flying past the GTA in a bright pass, rising over the northwestern horizon and then crossing the northern sky below both dippers before setting in the east-northeast near Mercury. (courtesy: Heavens-above.com) Artificial satellites are…
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On April 10, 2024, my friend Alan Dyer captured this terrific image of the young moon (two days after the solar eclipse) shining above Uranus and Jupiter with moons. Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks is below them. The comet’s tail is aimed upwards away from the sun, which had recently set below the horizon. Follow Alan on FaceBook…
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As shown above, on Monday, April 22, 2024 from 5:43 to 5:49 am EDT, the International Space Station will be visible flying high overhead of the GTA in an extremely bright pass, exiting Earth’s shadow low in the southwestern sky and then cruising through the bright Summer Triangle stars Vega, Deneb, and Altair before setting…
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My friend Denise Chilton took this terrific image of the completely eclipsed sun from southeastern Quebec on April 8, 2024. The shape of the white corona will be replicated in all the totality photos from that day. Her image also captured the large pink prominence that extended beyond the southern pole of the moon. Hello,…
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Kerry-Ann Lecky Hepburn captured this amazing shot of the August, 2017 partial solar eclipse. Hello, Spring Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of April 7th, 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…
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This simulated view of the April 8, 2024 solar eclipse from the vantage point of the sun shows the spherical moon’s round shadow cast upon the Earth at 18:16 Greenwich Mean Time (or 2:16 pm EDT). The motion of the moon will cause the shadow to complete its passage in several hours. We never see…
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My friend Kerry recently captured this gorgeous view of morning clouds, the Milky Way and the Zodiacal Light extending upwards past bright Venus. Her stitched together panorama from the Bolivia High Dessert employed a 15mm fish-eye lens on her Canon R6 camera. For more treats like these, follow Kerry on Instagram and FaceBook https://www.facebook.com/kerryann.hepburn. Hello,…
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As shown above, on Friday, March 29, 2024 from 8:18 to 8:24 pm EDT, the International Space Station will be visible flying high overhead of the GTA in an extremely bright pass, rising from the northwestern horizon and flying through Cassiopeia and then past the Big Dipper before entering Earth’s shadow just above the east-southeastern…
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This Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter image shows the major features of Mare Imbrium “he Sea of Rains”, including its eastern ring of mountain ranges,dark crater Plato, the “islands” in the north, Archimedes, and the subtle wrinkles. Other lunar maria are out of frame below the large crater Copernicus (botton centre). NASA Hello, Spring Stargazers! Here are…
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