Posts by 

Bruce McClure

Triangulum galaxy is 2nd-closest to Milky Way

The Triangulum Galaxy, aka M33, is the farthest object you can see with the unaided eye, if in fact you can see it. But seeing it is a challenge.

The Pleiades – or 7 Sisters – known around the world

The Pleiades star cluster - aka the 7 Sisters or M45 - is visible from almost every part of the globe. It looks like a tiny, misty dipper of stars.

Look out our galaxy’s south window, into intergalactic space

Use the Great Square of Pegasus to locate Fomalhaut. Then you're on your way to looking out our galaxy's south window into intergalactic space.

The year’s earliest solar noon is on November 3

November 3 brings the year's earliest solar noon - that is, earliest midday - by nature's clock. It's a harbinger of the Northern Hemisphere's earliest sunset.

Halloween is an astronomy holiday. It’s a cross-quarter day

A cross-quarter day falls between an equinox and a solstice. Halloween is the year's 4th cross-quarter day and the spookiest of them all.

Around now, watch for Taurid fireballs

Maybe you've been watching for them already. A nominal peak of the shower is November 4 and 5, and the North and South Taurids are overlapping now.

Double Cluster in Perseus on October evenings

The Double Cluster in Perseus is a breathtaking pair of open star clusters, easy to see in October. Here's how to find it in your sky.

Gamma Cephei, aka Errai, a future North Star

Gamma Cephei - or Errai - is a binary star system that will one day be Earth’s North Star. It's home to the 1st exoplanet ever discovered.

See the Trifid nebula aka Messier 20 tonight

If you have a dark sky, you can spot the Trifid nebula as a fuzzy patch within the Milky Way. And binoculars or a telescope will reveal more details.

Zodiacal light: Start watching for it now

The zodiacal light is an eerie light extending up from the horizon before dawn around the Northern Hemisphere autumn. Southern Hemisphere? Look after sunset!