Open Observing Night

This article was last updated on December 4th, 2024.  In this post, I’ll break down how to photograph the Orion Nebula, one of the most spectacular deep-sky objects in the night sky. While it may just look like a smudge to the naked eye, Orion is the nearest, large star-forming region to Earth at just... […]

If you’re looking to buy your first telescope—or your first good telescope—this guide is for you. I’ll cover the most important aspects of a telescope, how much you should expect to spend, and provide four excellent examples to consider. The following choices are obviously not the only ones to choose from, but they offer a... […]

The Dwarf 3 smart telescope is a compact, ultra-portable device that was designed to make astrophotography easy and fun. While this device is in its third iteration, it is the first DwarfLab product I’ve ever used. It combines a small telescope, an astronomy camera, and a computerized mount to track and photograph objects in space.... […]

On Dec. 8, 1994, NASA announced the selection of its 15th group of astronauts. The diverse group comprised 19 candidates – 10 pilots and nine mission specialists, and included five women, two African Americans, one Asian American, and the first Peruvian-born and Indian-born astronauts. Four international astronauts, one each from Canada and Japan and two […]

The Next Full Moon is the Cold Moon, Frost Moon, or the Winter Moon; the Moon before Yule or the Oak Moon; the Long Night Moon; the Child Moon; the Datta or Dattatreya Jayanti Festival Moon; the Karthika Deepam Festival Moon; Unduvap Poya; and the Chang’e Moon. The next full Moon will be Sunday morning, […]

NASA’s Uncrewed Aircraft Systems Traffic Management Beyond Visual Line of Sight (UTM BVLOS) subproject aims to support the growing demand for drone flights across the globe.   Uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS), or drones, offer an increasing number of services, from package delivery to critical public safety operations, like search and rescue missions. However, without special waivers, these […]

A new view of archival Webb telescope data reveals small asteroids in the main asteroid belt are more numerous than we thought. The post New Webb Telescope View Shows Unexpectedly Crowded Asteroid Belt appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

Don't let the cold keep you inside — Jupiter beckons with a brand new storm! The post You're Invited to Jupiter's Big, Bright Opposition Bash appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

The Moon this week shines with Saturn at first quarter, then with Jupiter when full. No surprise; the two giant planets are almost exactly 90° apart. Jupiter is at opposition, and Saturn is at quadrature. The post This Week's Sky at a Glance, December 6 – 15 appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

 Anybody still coming here?

My own Hubble View! These galaxies lie between 10 to 50 million light years away. How many galaxies do you see? A pretty tricky part of the sky to image, really. You're utilizing almost your entire field of view with an 80mm scope, so dealing with all that comes with wide-field. This is the best […]

A nice clear night last night until around 12:30 when clouds rolled in. Managed to get this image of the lovely M51 Whirlpool galaxy. It lies around 23 million light years away and it is interacting with a smaller galaxy (yellow~ish bulge to the left). Three supernova (star explosions) have been detected in this galaxy […]