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Among the stars of Pegasus, the Winged Horse, are some of the fall sky’s best galaxy groups for backyard observers. Stephan’s Quintet is probably the best-known example of such a compact gathering, comprised of four gravitationally interacting galaxies and a …
High overhead on early fall evenings, in a busy region of the Milky Way near Deneb, is a rather ordinary double star. With a small telescope at 60x you will see 61 Cygni as a bright warm white primary with …
Standing along the stream of the summer Milky Way is the large constellation Ophiuchus, the Serpent Bearer. According to mythology, Ophiuchus was the physician who accompanied Jason and the Argonauts in their quest for the Golden Fleece. Appropriately, he is …
The southern summer Milky Way is rich in globular clusters. Several are within about a binocular field-width of bright, orange-red Antares. M80 isn’t so prominent, but can be located easily halfway between Graffias (Beta Scorpii) and Antares. The discovery of …
The eyepiece is where your eye and the telescope intersect. Virtually all scopes come supplied with eyepieces, but, unless you are very lucky, these eyepieces will not normally do anything to sell the telescope. It is almost inevitable that, to …
Globular star clusters have always been the delight of amateur and professional astronomers alike. These wondrous swarms of ancient stars are impressive sights in almost any telescope. Because globulars are more numerous in the direction of the Milky Way’s center, …
To match the view through a telescope, turn the diagram with north (N) at the bottom. The planet’s disk is indicated by two horizontal bands and the curving lines represent the moons.
The areas colored in light yellow correspond to the exact dates of primary phases – New Moon, First Quarter, Full Moon, and Last Quarter.
The Visibility of the Planets Evening Midnight Morning Mercury (southwest) Jupiter (east) Venus (southeast) Uranus (southeast) Uranus (west) Mars (southeast) Neptune (south) Jupiter (south) Saturn (southeast) The information provided in this table is accurate only for the world’s mid-northern latitudes.
Located just outside the map are the four directions: north, south, east, and west. Turn the map around so the edge marked with the direction you are facing is down. The stars above the map’s horizon now match the stars …