This is the Helix Nebula! NGC7293, the Helix Nebula, happens to be one of my favorite deep-space objects. It has a visual magnitude of +7.59 and is believed to be between 650 and 790 light-years away from us. The Helix Nebula never gets much more than 33° above the southern horizon. It’s a fairly large […]
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Look to the northeast for Andromeda and Triangulum Galaxies, and the PacMan Nebula! The Andromeda and Triangulum Galaxies are two nearby deep space objects (DSO) that you can see with your naked eye or a pair of binoculars. The Andromeda Galaxy (M31) is the bigger and closer of the two. It is only 2.5 million […]
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September offers great views of Jupiter and Saturn, and you should be able to spot Saturn as soon as it gets dark on September 1. Look for it about 21° above the SE horizon. Saturn is the second-largest planet in our solar system and the sixth planet from the sun. It’s about 886 million miles […]
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This is M27, the Dumbbell Nebula. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1764. The name “Dumbbell” is credited to John Herschel, (son of William Herschel). He thought it looked like the double-headed shot commonly used for hunting, which are called “dumbbells.” M27 is a good target to find with a pair of binoculars. On […]
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The Crescent Nebula (NGC 6888) is a +7.40 emission nebula that’s about 5.5 thousand light-years away from us. William Herschel discovered the Crescent Nebula in 1792. The Crescent Nebula is believed to be the remains of gas that once belonged to the bright star, HD 192163, near the center of the image. About 400,000 years […]
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Have You Ever Seen a Globular Cluster? Globular Clusters are tightly packed spheres of hundreds of thousands of stars. The name “globular” comes from the Latin word “globulus” which means a small sphere! The first discovery of a globular cluster is credited to a German astronomer, Johann Ihle. In 1665, he was credited with discovering […]
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This is NGC 4631, the Whale Galaxy. William Herschel discovered NGC 4631 in 1787, but it wasn’t given a name until the 1990s. In a 1995 copy of Interstellarum, it was called “The Herring Galaxy,” but NGC 4631 had already been named “The Whale Galaxy” in “Supernova Search Charts and Handbook,” which was written and […]
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This is the Andromeda Galaxy. It’s the closest large galaxy to the Milky Way. With a visual magnitude of +3.3, you might be able to see it with your naked eye on a very clear, dark night. The earliest known record of it was made by a Persian astronomer in 964 B.C. It also appeared […]
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The eastern skies of February offered some great views of galaxy clusters. The Leo Triplet is one of my favorites: The two galaxies on the right part of the image are M66 on the bottom and M65 above it. M66 has a visual magnitude of +8.91, making it the brightest of the three galaxies. It’s […]
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The Orion Constellation is very well known for its famous Orion Nebula (M42), but there are other fantastic nebulae in Orion. Two of the most popular ones are the Flame Nebula (NGC 2024) and Horsehead Nebula (Barnard 33). Both of these nebulae are actually composed of two distinct objects. In each case, there is an […]
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