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M6 and M7 in the Scorpion’s Tail
Messier 6 and Messier 7 are star clusters near Scorpius’ stinger. But you’ll need a dark sky to see these faint but stunning stellar aggregations.
July 23, 2020
M5, your new favorite globular cluster
Sure, M13, the Great Hercules cluster, is wonderful. But some amateur astronomers say this cluster, M5, is even better. How to find it in your sky.
July 3, 2020
Meet M13, the Great Cluster in Hercules
Many stargazers call it the finest globular cluster in the northern half of the heavens. It's M13, also known as the Great Cluster in Hercules.
April 12, 2020
The Beehive: 1,000 stars in Cancer
On a dark night, look for it as a smudge of light, with 3 times the moon’s diameter. It’s really a wondrous cluster of stars called the Beehive, or M44.
March 4, 2020
The Crab Nebula was an exploding star
The Crab Nebula, about 6,500 light-years from Earth, is the scattered fragments of a supernova, or exploding star, observed by earthly skywatchers in the year 1054.
October 5, 2019
See Messier 8, the Lagoon Nebula
The Lagoon - aka M8 - is the largest and brightest nebula, or cloud in space, in the vicinity of the Teapot asterism in the constellation Sagittarius.
August 19, 2019
Meet the Andromeda galaxy, the closest large spiral
The Andromeda galaxy is the closest big galaxy to our Milky Way. At 2.5 million light-years, it's the most distant thing you can see with the eye alone. Now is the time to look for it.
August 18, 2019
Dark Rift in the Milky Way
Standing under a dark sky in late July or August? Look up! You’ll notice a long, dark lane dividing the bright Milky Way. This Dark Rift is a place where new stars are forming.
July 31, 2019
M17 is the Omega Nebula
The Omega Nebula - M17 - is visible through binoculars and glorious in a low power telescope. It's one of our galaxy's vast star-forming regions. How to find it.
July 21, 2019
Triangulum: 2nd-closest large spiral galaxy
The Triangulum galaxy, aka Messier 33, is 2.7 million light-years away, and the 3rd-largest member of our Local Group, after the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies.
December 2, 2018
