This star cloud is the only one of its kind: the densest large concentration of stars in the entire sky! Image credit: Dan Bush of Missouri Skies, via http://www.pbase.com/image/115380497. “It […]
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Through a telescope, this swarm of star appears extremely oblate. But is it really? Image credit: via http://vilagbiztonsag.hu/keptar/displayimage.php?album=19&pid=19138. “If I take dust in my hand and ask you if that […]
On the shortest night of the year, a galactic giant — the faintest Messier object of all — towers overhead. “It suddenly struck me that that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the Earth. […]
At the top of the Teapot, a fantastic cluster dotted with Red Giants awaits. Image credit: © 2005–2009 by Rainer Sparenberg, via http://www.airglow.de/html/starclusters/m28.html. “The most difficult thing is the decision […]
The Virgo Cluster of galaxies is the richest nearby treasure trove of ellipticals; this is the final one Messier ever found. “We sail within a vast sphere, ever drifting in uncertainty, […]
The core of the nearest great galaxy cluster holds a glorious sight unlike any other. “Man must rise above the Earth, to the top of the atmosphere and beyond, for only […]
There’s no wrong way to be a galaxy, but this one sure does challenge our expectations. “Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it’s a way of looking at life […]
In the heart of our nearest big galaxy cluster, a massive spiral fights for its life. “Ali always said I would be nothing without him. But what would he have been […]
“Red and dead” might describe the stars in most ellipticals, but this nearby galaxy tells a different story. “The line that describes the beautiful is elliptical. It has simplicity and […]
And the unheralded astronomer who brought its secrets to light. “In a word, in the eyes of a giant, to whom our Suns were what our atoms are to us, the […]
What glitters with the brilliance of 100,000 Suns? This guy. “It’s not what you have on the outside that glitters in light, it’s what you have on the inside that shines […]
But with its gaps and unusual structure, we’re lucky it did. “But touch a solemn truth in collision with a dogma of a sect, though capable of the clearest proof, and […]
The brightest “planetary nebula” is actually a Sun-like star in its final death throes! “When he shall die,Take him and cut him out in little stars,And he will make the face […]
A big, bright, dust-rich barred spiral galaxy that won’t stay this way for long! “When we are sure that we are on the right road there is no need to plan […]
The brightest galaxy in a spectacular close grouping of three provides a beacon of insight into our far future. “Three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead.” -Benjamin […]
It’s not “particularly” any one characteristic, and that makes it a rarity worth looking at. “Conceit spoils the finest genius. There is not much danger that real talent or goodness will […]
Washed out by the full Moon on any other night, the lunar eclipse makes this one visible tonight! “All is well, provided the light returns and the eclipse does not become […]
A uniquely-darkened spiral galaxy is one of the most unusual sights in the night sky. But what gives it its one-of-a-kind appearance? “Some day I hope to meet you. When […]
A galaxy very different from our own may hold the key to seeing what our far future looks like. “We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum […]
Although we’re all under the same skies, those at Mexican latitudes will especially enjoy this one tonight! “Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on […]
Of all the galaxies in our local supercluster, one outweighs them all. “I recognize my limits, but when I look around I realise I am not living, exactly, in a world […]
How one of the faintest galaxies in the entire Messier catalogue holds some of the greatest sights for dedicated skywatchers. “There are so many more important things to worry about […]
A beautifully undisturbed, large spiral can be found right at the heart of the Virgo Cluster. “We’ll ride the spiral to the end and may just go where no one’s been.” […]
It’s the first Virgo Cluster galaxy to rise over the horizon in the Northern Hemisphere, and you can find it tonight! “The image is more than an idea. It is a […]
One of the only members of the Virgo Cluster… that isn’t located in Virgo! “[L]ife is a luminous halo, a semi-transparent envelope surrounding us from the beginning of consciousness to the […]
A surprising globular cluster found directly opposite to the galactic center! “A friend who is far away is sometimes much nearer than one who is at hand. Is not the mountain […]
The greatest Messier object of them all, a treat all winter long. “What caused me to undertake the catalog was the nebula I discovered above the southern horn of Taurus on […]
The handle of the Big Dipper leads you to Arcturus, the brightest star in the Northern Hemisphere. But there’s a deep-sky wonder hiding in plain sight, if you know where […]
[The See/Saw Contest for Japan Continues; see the end of this post]I never met the man or even heard him speak, but hearing that art historian and author Leo Steinbergpassed […]