The sky, October 1-8: The Moon-Jupiter duo

The sky, October 1-8: The Moon-Jupiter duo

Special to CosmicTribune.com, October 3, 2023 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. SUNDAY, OCTOBER 1 ■ The waning gibbous Moon rises in the east-northeast around the end of twilight. Ten or fifteen minutes later, Jupiter rises just 2° or 3° to the Moon’s lower right. Later in the evening the two shine high, as shown below. These are currently […]

The Sky: September 11-17; Comet Nishimura visible with binoculars

The Sky: September 11-17; Comet Nishimura visible with binoculars

Special to CosmicTribune.com, September 11, 2023 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 11 ■ You can see in the stars that the season is changing: We’ve reached the time of year when, just as the stars come out, Cassiopeia has climbed as high in the northeast as the Big Dipper has sunk in the northwest. Cas stands […]

The sky: September 3-10; Jupiter and well known galaxy, star clusters come into view

The sky: September 3-10; Jupiter and well known galaxy, star clusters come into view

Special to CosmicTribune.com, September 4, 2023 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 3 ■ Jupiter’s four bright Galilean moons are roughly the size of our own Moon, but at 1,800 times the distance, they appear in a telescope as hardly more than pinpoints. Jupiter’s Great Red Spot should transit the planet’s central meridian tonight around 1 a.m. […]

The sky: July 16-23

The sky: July 16-23

Special to CosmicTribune.com, July 17, 2023 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. SUNDAY, JULY 16 ■ The tail of Scorpius is low due south after dark, to the lower right of the Sagittarius Teapot. Look for the two stars especially close together in Scorpius’s tail. These are Lambda and fainter Upsilon Scorpii, known as the Cat’s Eyes. […]

The Sky: May 27-June 3

The Sky: May 27-June 3

Special to CosmicTribune.com, May 31, 2023 SATURDAY, MAY 27 First-quarter Moon (exact at 11:22 a.m. on this date EDT). Jupiter and Mercury low in the dawn, May 27, 2023 By now Jupiter is getting easier to see low in the eastern dawn. And little Mercury is barely coming into view. Bring binoculars. SUNDAY, MAY 28 […]

The outstanding Omega Centauri, largest and brightest star cluster in our Milky Way

The outstanding Omega Centauri, largest and brightest star cluster in our Milky Way

July 24, 2017 [CLICK HERE FOR HIGH RESOLUTION: Mike O’Day] Behold the largest ball of stars in our galaxy. Omega Centauri is packed with about 10 million stars, many older than our Sun and packed within a volume of only about 150 light-years in diameter. The star cluster is the largest and brightest of 200 […]

The magnificent Orion nebula, powered by Trapezium, and observable by small telescopes

The magnificent Orion nebula, powered by Trapezium, and observable by small telescopes

March 12, 2017 [CLICK ON IMAGE FOR HIGH RESOLUTION, Christoph Kaltseis, CEDIC 2017] Near the center of this sharp cosmic portrait, at the heart of the Orion Nebula, are four hot, massive stars known as the Trapezium. Tightly gathered within a region about 1.5 light-years in radius, they dominate the core of the dense Orion […]

Mars poses with the stars, Antares and M4

Mars poses with the stars, Antares and M4

[CLICK ON IMAGE FOR HIGH RESOLUTION, Sebastian Voltmer] Wandering through this stunning field of view, Mars really is in front of these colorful cosmic clouds. The mosaic contructed from telescopic images is about 5 degrees (10 full moons) across. It captures the planet’s position on Aug. 26, over 7 light-minutes from Earth and very near […]

Check out the magnificent M13 globular star cluster with your binoculars

Check out the magnificent M13 globular star cluster with your binoculars

[CLICK ON IMAGE FOR HIGH RESOLUTION, Dean Fournier; Inset: ESA/Hubble & NASA] M13 is one of the most prominent and best known globular clusters. Visible with binoculars in the constellation of Hercules, M13 is frequently one of the first objects found by curious sky gazers seeking celestials wonders beyond normal human vision. M13 is a […]