As the winter constellations gradually start disappearing off the western horizon, their spring counterparts have started rising to prominence in the night sky. Three such constellations can easily be observed in the northern sky during […]
Orion is perhaps the most recognizable of all constellations and contains two of the night sky’s brightest stars, Rigel and Betelgeuse. The Orion constellation also straddles the celestial equator, meaning that it can be seen […]
Ara (“the altar”) is a small, faint constellation that is the southernmost of the 48 listed by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in his 2nd century astronomical treatise called Almagest. The origin of this southern hemisphere […]
Although some stargazers may consider the Moon to be a nuisance that spoils their night-time viewing, the truth of the matter is that the Earth’s only natural satellite has enough features to offer a lifetime […]
Vela (“the sails”) lies in the southern celestial sphere, and is one of three constellations created from an ancient constellation called Argo Navis, which depicted the ship of Jason and the Argonauts, the others being […]
Most people mistake the Orion Nebula for a star in the constellation of Orion, but it is actually the most easily detectable naked-eye nebula in the entire night sky. This magnificent star-forming region is also […]
Sculptor is a faint southern sky constellation that was created by French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille from his observatory in South Africa during the 18th century. Its brightest star, Alpha Sculptoris, is a blue-white […]
The March equinox is celebrated by people all over the world, and around this time of year there are the major spring festivals of Passover and Easter, with the latter occurring on the first Sunday […]
Andromeda is also called Messier 31, or M31 for short, after French astronomer Charles Messier, who cataloged about 100 stellar objects in 1771. M31 is considerably larger than our own galaxy, being approximately 260,000 light-years […]
Dutch-American astronomer Bart Bok once famously stated that “the Southern Hemisphere holds all the good stuff,” and he was right. Counted amongst the riches that belong to the southern celestial sphere are an astonishing array […]
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