January 2025 – Astronomy Now

Hubble traces hidden history of Andromeda Galaxy

24 January 2025 Keith Cooper

Though the Milky Way and Andromeda formed billions of years ago, evidence shows they have very different evolutionary histories despite sharing the same cosmological neighbourhood.

Watch the Moon buzz Venus and Saturn

24 January 2025 Mark Armstrong

There’s a picturesque early evening scene at the start of February as the Moon passes dazzling Venus and fading Saturn.

Belt up for a journey to the heart of Orion and the Horsehead Nebula

23 January 2025 Mark Armstrong

The Horsehead Nebula is a small dark nebula in the constellation Orion. Resembling a horse’s head is located just to the south of Alnitak, the easternmost star of Orion’s Belt. Nearby, the Flame Nebula appears like its name in astrophotos.

Messier 67: Observe an ancient open cluster

23 January 2025 Mark Armstrong

Messier 67 is an ancient open cluster in the southern, equatorial half of Cancer. It was discovered by Johann Gottfried Koehler in 1779. It is a truly ancient cluster, with some astronomers calculating that it’s as old as five billion years!

The Quadrantids: a strong meteor shower to start the year

2 January 2025 Mark Armstrong

The Quadrantid meteor shower kicks off the meteor-watching calendar, peaking this year on 3 January. Renowned for its reliability, it consistently ranks among the best annual meteor displays.