• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Cosmic Pursuits

Basic astronomy and night sky information

  • Subscribe
  • Start Here
  • Articles
  • Sky This Month
  • Courses
  • About
  • Contact

leo

Galaxy Tour: The Leo Triplet

April 14, 2016 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Deep Sky

The Leo Triplet includes edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 3628 (below left), spiral galaxy M65 (top), and spiral galaxy M66 (below right). Image credit: Terry Hancock at Downunderobservatory.com
The Leo Triplet includes edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 3628 (below left), spiral galaxy M65 (top), and spiral galaxy M66 (below right). Image credit: Terry Hancock at Downunderobservatory.com

The constellation Leo is stuffed with galaxies that are visible in a backyard telescope. Three of the brightest and best known are M65, M66, and NGC 3628, also known as the “Leo Triplet”.  You can see all three galaxies in virtually any telescope and even in a good pair of binoculars. If you can see all three galaxies at once, keep in mind you’re seeing at one time the collected light of more than half a trillion stars [Read more…] about Galaxy Tour: The Leo Triplet

Share This:
Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmail

Filed Under: Deep Sky galaxies, leo, sky tour

Venus Returns as the “Morning Star”

September 11, 2015 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Solar System

Venus, Mars, and Jupiter rise in the eastern sky before sunrise as seen on September 12, 2015. (Made with SkySafari 4).
Venus, Mars, and Jupiter rise in the eastern sky before sunrise as seen on September 12, 2015. (Made with SkySafari 4).

The planet Venus has returned to the sky at a “morning star”, shining brightly in the eastern sky before sunrise in the constellation Cancer, the Crab. Venus is by far the brightest object in the sky except for the Sun and Moon. It shines at magnitude -4.5, nearly as bright as it gets, and spans about 44″ when seen in a telescope. The face of the planet is a magnificent slender crescent shape just 18% illuminated by the Sun.

Venus is joined by Jupiter, which rises a little later and shines a little fainter. The two planets made a dramatic display in the evening sky earlier in 2015 and will now dominate the morning sky for the rest of the year. Too low in the sky to reveal much detail, Jupiter is still worth a look in binoculars or a small telescope, if just to see its fat disk and its four biggest moons make their way around the big planet. The planet now appears about 31″ across, much smaller than Venus, but fully illuminated.

Between the two bright planets, you also see the ochre glow of Mars, still relatively faint at magnitude +1.8 and just 3.8″ across. It’s far too small and distant to reveal any detail in a telescope. The planet will slowly brighten over the next 8 months on the way to opposition in May 2016. Just below Mars, closer to Jupiter, you see the icy white star Regulus in the constellation Leo, shining slightly brighter at magnitude +1.4.

Share This:
Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmail

Filed Under: Solar System jupiter, leo, sunrise, venus

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe to Cosmic Pursuits

Subscribe to our e-mail newsletter for free astronomy tips and updates

Featured Astronomy Course


Search This Site

Recent Posts

  • Our Sun’s Lost Sibling
  • Galaxy Hopping with a 2-Inch Telescope
  • The Winter Milky Way
  • Winter Reflection Nebulae
  • Gaia Space Telescope Simulation of the Milky Way

Copyright © 2025 Mintaka Publishing Inc.