Basic astronomy and night sky information
The sky this month brings a splendid array of planets, all of which are attended by the Moon at one time or other. November also brings two meteor showers and the grand and starry constellations Taurus, Auriga, and Orion rising one after the other in the eastern sky. Here’s what to see in the sky this month… [Read more…] about The Sky This Month – November 2016
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One of the closest congregations of galaxies to our own, the Sculptor Group consists of a series of relatively bright and shapely galaxies clustered in the barren sky near the south galactic pole. The group is anchored by the majestic NGC 253, the Silver Coin Galaxy, one of the most beautiful galaxies for a small telescope. But a little farther south lie two more gems, NGC 55, also called the ‘String of Pearls’, and NGC 300, one of a handful of galaxies known as the ‘Southern Pinwheel’. For northern observers, this pair is low in the thick air over the southern horizon in the late months of the year. Southern-hemisphere observers, however, see these galaxies nearly overhead where it’s much easier to see their distinctive shape and features in a small telescope [Read more…] about Two Fine Galaxies in the Sculptor Group
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The galaxy IC342 ranks as one of the under-appreciated gems of the northern night sky. As you can see in the image above, this elegant nearby spiral galaxy in the far-northern constellation Camelopardalis (the Giraffe) is a photogenic target for experienced imagers. But it’s rather challenging to see visually in all but the darkest skies. It is, however, worth the effort to see this swirling assembly because it lies in an unusually beautiful field of foreground stars [Read more…] about IC342: An Obscured Spiral Galaxy, Hiding in Plain Sight
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They’ve put on a brilliant show in the past several months, but Saturn and Mars slowly fade into the sunset this month in the southwestern sky. The two planets, along with the Moon and Venus, are a beautiful sight on Oct. 3-5 in the southwest. The Orionid meteor shower also peaks this month as the Earth passes through a stream of debris from Comet Halley. And there’s a “Black Moon” this month, defined as two New Moons in a single calendar month (as defined in Universal Time). Here’s what to look for in the night sky this month… [Read more…] about The Sky This Month – October 2016
While the Milky Way along the backbone of the constellation Cygnus, the Swan, offers many fine targets for stargazers, the wings of the constellation are also well worth exploring, especially in the months of July through October when the constellation lies near the meridian. In this short tour, let’s tiptoe through the western wing of the Swan and inspect the remarkable Blinking Planetary, NGC 6826, and a few more intriguing deep-sky objects [Read more…] about The Blinking Planetary Nebula
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