Archive – Page 23 – Astronomy Now

See all the planets in January

16 January 2023 Mark Armstrong

The new year gets off to a great start with all the planets visible in the night sky at some point during January.

Rein in the iconic Horsehead Nebula

28 December 2022 Mark Armstrong

The Horsehead Nebula is one of a handful of select deep-sky objects that down the decades have acquired legendary, almost mystic status within the deep-sky community.

Observe NGC 2403; an M33 lookalike

21 December 2022 Mark Armstrong

NGC 2403 (Caldwell 7) is a large, bright galaxy that serves up good views for small telescopes but it’s position in the rather obscure northern constellation of Camelopardalis has stunted its popularity.

Geminid meteors burst out!

13 December 2022 Mark Armstrong

Watch out tonight (13th/14th) and tomorrow night (14th/15th) for the welcome return of the Geminid meteor shower.

Home in on the Hyades

12 December 2022 Mark Armstrong

The outline of the Hyades open star cluster in Taurus is one of the best naked-eye landmarks in the winter sky. It’s brightest stars form into a ‘V’- or wedge-shaped-asterism, or star pattern that’s an easy spot around 25 degrees to the upper-right (north-west) of Orion’s famous ‘Belt’.

The Crab Nebula: shreds of a supernova

8 December 2022 Mark Armstrong

It’s perhaps a surprising but definitely disappointing fact that no person alive has seen the titanic explosion of a star as a supernova in our own Milky Way Galaxy.

Mars comes to opposition and is occulted by the Moon!

5 December 2022 Mark Armstrong

The long-awaited opposition of Mars on 8 December is a great way to put the icing on top of another great observing year.

Uranus occulted by the Moon

4 December 2022 Mark Armstrong

A pretty rare observational event visible across the whole of the UK, a planet occulted by the Moon, occurs on the early-evening of 5 December when the Moon moves over Uranus.

Majestic Messier 45: take a peak at the Pleiades!

28 November 2022 Mark Armstrong

The Pleiades open cluster, or Messier 45, in Taurus is as good as it gets for night-sky eye candy.

Observe Messier 34, Perseus’ commanding open cluster

23 November 2022 Mark Armstrong

Messier 34 (NGC 1039) in Perseus is a gem of an open cluster that offers something for all observers.