observing – Page 7 – Astronomy Now

Don’t miss Rasalgethi, Hercules’ colourful secret

27 June 2022 Mark Armstrong

Look to southern Hercules and you’ll be thrilled to come across Rasalgethi (alpha [α] Herculis, the constellation’s lead star and a colour-contrast double star out of the top drawer.

The Double Double: Detach Lyra’s multiple-star gem

13 June 2022 Mark Armstrong

Epsilon (ε) Lyrae is a showpiece multiple star for double star enthusiasts, famously coined the ‘Double Double’.

Zero-in on Messier 13, the great Hercules globular

7 June 2022 Mark Armstrong

Messier 13 (NGC 6205) in Hercules is another of those truly celebrated deep-sky objects like the Orion Nebula, the Pleiades and the Andromeda galaxy.

Messier 5’s big appeal in early summer’s globular feast

30 May 2022 Mark Armstrong

Messier 5 in Serpens Caput is a dynamic and beautiful globular cluster that can easily be spotted through a pair of binoculars and fruitfully observed through even a moderate-sized telescope.

Messier 3: observe a great globular

23 May 2022 Mark Armstrong

There are very few deep-sky sights that can equal, let alone surpass, the magnificence of a great globular cluster filling the field of view of a high-power eyepiece, with myriad sparking suns crammed together and all vying for attention.

Get ready for Jupiter and Mars’ close confrontation

19 May 2022 Mark Armstrong

Keep the diary free towards the end of May to witness another very close conjunction between two of the major planets in the Solar System.

Don’t miss out on Messier 51, the wonderful Whirlpool Galaxy

16 May 2022 Mark Armstrong

Magnificent Messier 51 (NGC 5194), the Whirlpool Galaxy in Canes Venatici, is without doubt the best and most famous example of a spiral galaxy that is presented face-on to our perspective.

Watch Venus and Jupiter as they converge for this weekend’s great conjunction

27 April 2022 Mark Armstrong

Venus and Jupiter now lie close together in the pre-dawn eastern sky, providing a marvellous albeit lowly sight just before sunrise.

Don’t miss Mercury, now at its evening’s best for the year

24 April 2022 Mark Armstrong

Mercury is now visible soon after sunset in the west-north-western sky.

Link-up with the Lyrids

20 April 2022 Mark Armstrong

The return of the yearly April Lyrids meteor shower is very welcome for meteor observers, breaking the roughly 15-week hiatus since the maximum of the Quadrantids meteor shower on 3 January.