Cosmic Pursuits

Basic astronomy and night sky information

Recent Astronomy Articles at Cosmic Pursuits

Winter Reflection Nebulae

by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Uncategorized

Reflection nebulae have an undeniable allure to visual observers and astrophotographers. These little blisters of blue-white light, though typically small and rather challenging to detect, offer a chance to glimpse the galaxy at work turning cold dust and gas into new star systems. So grab your telescope and let’s take a tour of some reflection nebula prominent in northern winter with my recent article published in the 1,000th issue of Sky & Telescope magazine. Click on the image to the left to download the article on PDF format (it’s about 6MB). Then enjoy the tour!

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Gaia Space Telescope Simulation of the Milky Way

by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Science

Enjoy this spectacular new artist’s animation of the Milky Way Galaxy based on data from ESA’s Gaia space telescope. Gaia has changed our impression of the Milky Way. Even seemingly simple ideas about the nature of our galaxy’s central bar and the spiral arms have been overturned. Gaia has shown us that it has more than two spiral arms and that they are less prominent than we previously thought. In addition, Gaia has shown that its central bar is more inclined with respect to the Sun. No spacecraft can travel beyond our galaxy, so we can’t take a selfie, but Gaia is giving us the best insight yet of what our home galaxy looks like. Once all of Gaia’s observations collected over the past decade are made available in two upcoming data releases, we can expect an even sharper view of the Milky Way.

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Guide to Observing Mars in 2025

by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Solar System

An image of Mars captured by Damian Peach in June 2018.

The planet Mars is one of the most interesting planets to observe with a small telescope, but also one of the most difficult. The planet only gets close enough to Earth to give up much detail just once every 780 days (about two years and two months), and when it does make an apparition, it still appears relatively small compared to Jupiter or Saturn. But observing Mars is worth the effort. It’s the only planet to reveal an appreciable amount of surface detail in a small telescope, and it also features occasional surprises such as dust storms and local fogs and cloud banks.

Seeing Mars takes a little practice, however, as well as the right tools for the job. This guide will help you understand what you can see on the surface of Mars, especially near the opposition of January 15-16, 2025. And it will help you get the best view of this remarkable world with a telescope and a few essential accessories [Read more…] about Guide to Observing Mars in 2025

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Ten Favorite Night Sky Images of 2024

by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Astronomy Images and Video

In this last article of 2024, I share with you ten of my favorite images of the night sky that I captured this year. I hoped to do more visual observing over the past 12 months, and I did manage to work through my lists of double stars and carbon stars in the winter and spring. But I also wanted to record images specific objects as well as interesting regions of the night sky as part of a lifelong goal to understand the layout of our own galaxy. Also, in my line of work, I need to keep up some technical skills and an understanding of astrophotography. So, I figured as I learn I might as well capture images of something good. Here are some interesting vistas and events from 2024, most captured from my suburban backyard in Calgary… [Read more…] about Ten Favorite Night Sky Images of 2024

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Sightseeing Along the Perseus Arm

by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Deep Sky

NGC 7635 (the Bubble Nebula) and open star cluster Messier 52 (lower left) in Cassiopeia. This image has a field of view of about 2 degrees on an edge.

As northern autumn turns to winter, the arc of the northern Milky Way reaches nearly overhead in the evening hours. Here we look into the Perseus Arm, the outermost spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy which is flecked by dozens of sparkling open stars clusters accessible to a small telescope. This region nearly rivals the dense star fields of Scutum and Sagittarius, summer constellations which lie towards the inner arms of the Milky Way. This month, let’s take a quick tour of a few highlights of the Perseus Arm in the constellation Cassiopeia. It’s a perfect part of the sky for visual observing or for taking a few astro-snapshots [Read more…] about Sightseeing Along the Perseus Arm

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