View the full issue in the Magazine Archive Western Veil Nebula. Photo © Kevin and Adrian Shank. Rain was in the forecast, and clouds began to creep up out of the west. But as the sun sank behind...
Star Clusters
Delphinus, Sagitta, and Vulpecula
View the full issue in the Magazine Archive The Summer Triangle, a large triangle of bright stars (Deneb, Vega, and Altair), lies straight overhead on September evenings in the United States....
In Our Skies, July 2024
View the full issue in the Magazine Archive July 2 and 26 Pleiades will be very close to the Moon—less than .5°. July 22 Mercury will be at its greatest elongation east of the sun, meaning it will...
Corona Borealis and Serpens Caput
View the full issue in the Magazine Archive A little semicircle of stars known as Corona Borealis sits high overhead in the early summer sky. Corona Borealis, or the Northern Crown, lies just west...
Cancer
View the full issue in the Magazine Archive Cancer, the Crab, is a mid-sized constellation that lies just east of Gemini and just west of Leo. Cancer is made up solely of dim stars, and its shape is...
Gemini
View the full issue in the Magazine Archive M35 and NGC 2158. Photo © Scott Rosen. Gemini, the twins, lies northeast of Orion along the band of the Milky Way. The most obvious part of Gemini is the...
Orion
View the full issue in the Magazine Archive Horsehead Nebula. Photo © Kevin & Adrian Shank. Orion, the Hunter, is one of the most well-known constellations in the night sky. Most of its...
Perseus
View the full issue in the Magazine Archive Double Cluster, NGC 869 & NGC 884. Photo © Boris Stromar|Dreamstime.com. To the ancient Greeks, the stars of Perseus represented a hero. To me, this...
Andromeda
Andromeda Galaxy, M31. Photo © Shaphan Shank. Andromeda is one of those ideal constellations that is easy to find, and that contains a wide variety of outstanding telescopic targets. The main part...
Deep Sky Surprises
M78. Photo © Dogwood Ridge. Anxiously I scanned the sky as I stepped outside the door. Supper was over, and I was headed to the barn to do some chores. Darkness was falling across the valley, and...
Coma Berenices
M64 On May evenings, our planet is turned so that we are looking out the side of the Milky Way instead of looking edgewise through its arms. This orientation means that there are few star clusters...
Canis Major
Canis Major, the Great Dog, lies in the southern sky just southeast of Orion. Like Orion, many of the stars that make up Canis Major are bright. The constellation’s brightest star, Sirius, is the...
Taurus
The Pleiades. Photo © Shaphan Shank. Taurus, the Bull, is a distinctive constellation that lies just northwest of Orion, high in the evening sky in late winter. A V-shaped group of stars forms the...
The Rosette Nebula
Rosette Nebula. Photo © Morris Yoder. For most observers in the United States at this time of the year, the Rosette Nebula rises in the east at sunset and crosses high in the southern sky, then sets...
Backyard Stargazing
Andromeda Galaxy. Photo © Shaphan Shank. “Good night, Dad and Mom,” I said as I strode to the door, clad in a winter coat, hat, and boots.“Good night,” they replied—Mom with a sigh, glad she wasn’t...