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Messier 101: Ursa Major’s spectacular Pinwheel Galaxy

6 April 2023 Mark Armstrong

Messier 101 in Ursa Major is a magnificent ‘grand design’ spiral galaxy popularly known as the Pinwheel Galaxy. Located high in the northern sky it’s an unmissable target for spring nights.

Mercury joins Venus in the early-evening

3 April 2023 Mark Armstrong

Elusive Mercury, the nearest planet to the Sun, can now be spotted in the western sky soon after sunset, on its way to greatest eastern elongation (19°) from the Sun on 11 April.

Messier 65 and 66: Leo’s magical galaxy pairing

27 March 2023 Mark Armstrong

The early-spring spiral galaxy pairing of Messier 65 and Messier 66 is one of the most sought after in the entire sky .

An Owl and a Ghost

20 March 2023 Mark Armstrong

The Owl Nebula, Messier 97 in Ursa Major, is springtime’s best planetary nebula, but the Ghost of Jupiter, NGC 3242 in Hydra, is well worth busting a gut to observe too.

NGC 2903 in Leo: the best galaxy not in Messier’s list?

15 March 2023 Mark Armstrong

Leo hosts five galaxies with Messier status but, inexplicably, the fantastic spiral NGC 2903 is not one of them.

Messier 81: the Great Bear’s grand-design spiral galaxy

13 March 2023 Mark Armstrong

Messier 81 in Ursa Major is an enticing target for visual observers and imagers alike, making it one of the best deep-sky attractions of the entire sky.

Venus and Jupiter’s spectacular early-evening coming-together

27 February 2023 Mark Armstrong

Venus and Jupiter are a marvellous sight soon after sunset on 1 March, when they lie just over a full Moon’s diameter apart. .

Track down a trio of great double stars

27 February 2023 Steve Kelly

Double and multiple stars are well represented in the late-winter sky. Here’s three great examples to enjoy through a small telescope.

The Eskimo: observe one of winter’s best planetary nebulae

20 February 2023 Steve Kelly

The Eskimo Nebula or Clown Face Nebula in Gemini is a bright and popular planetary nebula found through a small telescope.

Observe Gemini’s outstanding Messier 35

14 February 2023 Mark Armstrong

Messier 35 in Gemini is a big and bright open cluster that’s one of the GoTo deep-sky objects at this time of year.