Observing

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 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 observing year comes to a close with a bang as brilliant Jupiter comes to opposition on 7 December. Across the whole of the month the dominant gas giant planet offers its best observing circumstances of the year.

Brilliant and beautiful Venus is an increasingly conspicuous sight soon after sunset.

The innocuous visual appearance of the southern constellation of Sculptor, even at far southerly climes, sharply contrasts its true nature as home to some great galaxies, including the magnificent Silver Coin Galaxy.

Messier 103 is an impressive object located in Cassiopeia, Autumn’s home for outstanding open clusters.

The mighty Andromeda and Triangulum galaxies dominate deep-sky observer’s view of our Local Group of Galaxies. If you’re looking for more of a Local Group challenge however, check out Cassiopeia’s IC 10, NGC 147 and NGC 185.