Dawn of the CrabOne of the all-time historic skyscapes occured in July 1054, when the Crab Supernova blazed into the dawn sky. Chinese court astrologers first saw the Guest Star on the morning of 4 July 1054 next to the star Tianguan (now cataloged as Zeta Tauri). The supernova peaked in late July 1054 a bit brighter than Venus, and was visible in…Read More

The Double Cluster in PerseusThis stunning starfield spans about three full moons (1.5 degrees) across the heroic northern constellation of Perseus. It holds the famous pair of open star clusters, h and Chi Persei. Also cataloged as NGC 869 (right) and NGC 884, both clusters are about 7,000 light-years away and contain stars much younger and…Read More

Meteor before GalaxyWhat’s that green streak in front of the Andromeda galaxy? A meteor. While photographing the Andromeda galaxy in 2016, near the peak of the Perseid Meteor Shower, a small pebble from deep space crossed right in front of our Milky Way Galaxy’s far-distant companion. The small meteor took only a fraction of a second to pass…Read More

NGC 6072: A Complex Planetary Nebula from WebbWhy is this nebula so complex? The Webb Space Telescope has imaged a nebula in great detail that is thought to have emerged from a Sun-like star. NGC 6072 has been resolved into one of the more unusual and complex examples of planetary nebula. The featured image is in infrared light with the red color…Read More

Blue Arcs Toward AndromedaWhat are these gigantic blue arcs near the Andromeda Galaxy (M31)? Discovered in 2022 by amateur astronomers, the faint arcs — dubbed SDSO 1 — span nearly the same angular size as M31 itself. At first, their origin was a mystery: are they actually near the Andromeda Galaxy, or alternatively near to our Sun? Now, over…Read More